life...or something like it

Monday, October 23, 2006

And October is pretty much gone...

This year is going way too fast. I can't believe it's almost November already. There are still so many things I want to do before I graduate, and I'm just not sure if I can fit it all in. I still have to go down to Pittsburgh for my alumni interview, and start my senior project. For some reason this year, I can't make myself get things done until the last possible moment. I've never been like that. I'm really afraid of graduation lately because that is all everyone seems to be talking about. I'm just trying to get everything done day to day and thinking about my future keeps getting pushed back.

Last week wasn't the greatest in broadcasting. Pam and I were up here over the mid-break and were going to go to the Borough meeting, but we got there just as everyone was leaving. They called a special 5:00 meeting so we missed everything and of course got no sound. It was horrible. Our morning show went pretty well on Wednesday, but we were still bummed about the meeting and it wasn't one of our better ones. My newscast on Friday was one of the few things that went well last week. We pulled tons of sound on the Wilmington-Sharon game and previewing Westminster's Homecoming. I also pulled sound from the Arlen Spector interview and used that to relate back to election day coming up. We almost had too much sound...it was sweet!

My producing shift today wasn't too bad...Monday afternoons are always pretty slow. It's weird that my news shifts fall at the very beginning and very end of the week. It's sometimes hard to get into the flow of things.

This week, I'll be going down to Frostburg State (Maryland) with Titan Crew to broadcast the game. It's an overnight trip so it will take up the majority of my weekend. There's only a few more games though! I also got roped into doing the League of Women's Voters next Wednesday, which I've never done, but not really looking forward to. I'll be running graphics, but it doesn't sound to interesting.

I'm really enjoying the photo-journalism workshop that I'm in because it gives me a chance to take creative photos. My pictures are getting better each week, and I like discussing different pictures and hearing what everyone likes/dislikes about them. I'm glad I took it.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

senior project and such...

So...about that senior project...

I have an idea of what I want to do, but it is still in rough outline form. My article on dating came out in the WC magazine this week and I know I want to incorporate that into some sort of project. Mr. Weaver has suggested creating an infotainment-type web story that incorporates pieces of my article tied together with songs from Titan Radio. I like the idea...it's just the whole thing about actually knowing where to start.

Arlen Specter came to campus today to speak briefly and then answer some questions. I went to ask him a few questions afterward, which went really well. He discussed a lot of issues on the international/national level, and I followed up with bringing it back to the local level and asking him what he thought about the current race between Santorum and Casey. He obviously supports Santorum, but did not condone the "bad-mouthing" that seems to be the trend lately in campaigns. He explained that the negativity is inevitable in campaign advertising and debating because, unfortuneately, it works on swaying public opinion. I thought he answered the questions very well, and took clear stances on all of the issues presented. We got some good sound and video (I hope) from the new camera that can hopefully be used for newscasts and next week's County Line. Oh, and hopefully some web stuff :)

I'm also working this week on copying my County Close-Up Interview to possibly add to a resume in the future. I ripped the sound and put in on mini-disc and on Adobe for my long-format interview. So, everything is going pretty good there.

Other than that, I have my reporting shift for news on Friday, and Titan Crew (graphics) for the Homecoming game this weekend against Bethany.

Have a good rest of the week!!

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Just another week in broadcasting...

This was actually a really good broadcasting week for me. My producing shift for Monday afternoon news went really well...we ripped sound from TCL for 2 stories (an upcoming peacestudies coffeehouse, and a preview of the big Wilmington-Sharon game). Newscasts are definitely getting better.

Also, the Westminster College Magazine came out this week with mine and DJ's stories. I think they turned out really well, and I was excited to be published :) I liked writing for the magazine because, unlike news, I was able to incorporate a little bit of "me" into the stories. The research and interviews were fun, and I just really enjoyed that kind of writing for a change. I would definitely do it again if the opportunity came up.

Also this week was my first County Close-Up Interview on The County Line. For those of you who don't know what The County Line is, it is a weekly news magazine show that broadcasting students produce and report for each Thursday night. The interview segment features a different person each week that is somehow prominent in local news and usually lasts about 5-7 minutes. This week, I interviewed Mayor of New Wilmington Wendell Wagner about Homecoming weekend quickly approaching and how that affected our community. He was very nice, and a very good interview. I think it went pretty well for my first time.

I plan to attend the New Wilmington Borough meeting with Pam on Monday to get some stories for later in the week. Also, I'm going to dub my TCL interview onto a Mini-Disc to use for my long format interview for journalism.

Things to start thinking about:
Senior Project
Alumni Interview (capstone)
Phone Interview (journalism)
Figuring out what I want to do after graduation!!! :)

Thursday, October 05, 2006

I'm alllll about jobs

I definitely fell into the "general" job search category, mostly because I'm not sure what I want to do yet. Here is what I do know: I like writing about things that matter, but that I can also offer my opinion on and even incorporate some humor. I'm not big on newspapers, so I'm leaning more toward magazines and free-lancing. I looked at websites like Time Magazine and The New Republic, which both focus on political issues of today...which really interest me. I found more and more that blogging is a big part of these magazines. The majority of contributing writers to these magazines also have semi-professional blogs where they go more in depth with their opinions. I thought that was pretty interesting.

I also did a job search at RTNDA to see what was out there. Ironically, the first time I searched, I got zero results. So, that really pumped me up for my future.

For the subscription site, I checked out Media Line as well. I don't think I'm ready to pay for a job search site because I'm still trying to narrow down my interests. Plus, I'm starting to look into and apply to graduate schools.

I'd like to keep up with my writing and interest in political science. We had a very interesting discussion in Broadcast Journalism today concerning agenda setting. I am very interested in the media's role in framing...especially in the political world.

The whole job thing scares me...I'm not gonna lie. I feel like I will never find that one thing that I do well. Right now, I only have things that interest me that I don't really do anything with. It's very hard to narrow down my interests and actually think about life after graduation...