The University of Blog

I love public radio. I have always loved public radio from listening to Morning Edition before school to Car Talk on Saturday Mornings. The dial was always tuned into NPR, and I continue to love it and wake up to it. That is why I was super excited for my shift at KBIA as part of the convergence reporting class.

The first shift, I worked on a day turn story. The most challenging part was figuring out how to record a phone conversation on the phones. It is fairly simple if you push record. I didn’t. Needless to say, I had to do the interview again. Not the most pleasant experience, but good for me to learn. I feel like I learn by mistakes more than anything else.

Also, I pitched another idea about the volunteers for True/False Film Festival and was able to work on it. The most important thing about this class is coming up with solid story ideas (and a lot of them). I really enjoyed working on this story and talking to the volunteers. I got some killer natural sound (nat sound as they say in the radio world) and some interesting characters to highlight. The piece turned out well. Give it a listen.

I had a simply fabulous birthday. Much better than the previous year where I had to wait two hours for dinner. First off, we had a dance party at our house and we had a great time. I danced. A lot. Any party with dancing is a good party. Mission successful.

The rents came Saturday and we ate breakfast at Café Berlin. It serves ethnic breakfast like eggs with tomatoes, feta cheese, olives and deliciousness. We ate there and then I was off to work on my birthday eve. No worries, my parents were able to see where I work when they came into Sycamore.

My parents then took me to the Le Bourgeois Winery in Rocheport. Last year we did the same thing and it was quite delightful. My parents asked them to bring out a CostCo cake (this serves 50 and contains 2 lbs of chocolate mouse frosting.) Needless to say, it took up half the table and the server had to put it on a platter.

Then we went to Macaroni Grill with the roomies and had a delightful evening. They brought out a cake- another chocolate cake (with candles). Then back to eat some more cake and open gifts. I am proponent of birthdays- especially birthdays filled with attention. Thus, birthday wish fulfilled.

I completed my last KOMU shift. It was so much better than spending ten hours on a flash graphic. I went out with a reporter for what was originally going to be a salt truck ride-along. It turned out that on route WW, a salt truck actually turned over and we went to cover that—in the ice storm. It was very cold to say the least. My photos suffered because of it. I learned first hand that I do not want to be a spot-news reporter. I would love to work in the television medium, just not with regards to broadcast news.

Once I could feel my fingers again, I wrote a story for KOMU.com and edited the photos.
And I am very glad that I am done with my news shift this week. Free time for me at last.

Living off campus has a wonderful plethora of advantages. Not sharing a small rectangle living quarter with another person is a cause for celebration. Luckily, I did get along with my roommate last year; enough that we are living together again. However, there is nothing like having a space that is all your own. The aspects that make living off campus wonderful include more space, personality through adding decorations and the freedom to dance in the middle of the night to what others deem as “euro-trash” music.

Our apartment is an old east campus house divided into two apartments. The selling factor was the Van Gogh mural in the livingroom. However, we have to deal with everything on our own including utilities, laundry and cleaning. In the dorms, a friendly knock at the door meant a clean mirror and sink, but here a knock at the door could mean anything. Today it meant a man equipped with a net would have to get out the bird that was flapping around in our chimney. A chimney is not the most delightful place for a creature intended to fly. We’ve had a squirrel (we’ve named Franklin) in our attic before. This only became a problem when he wanted to get out and couldn’t figure out how. Otherwise, it was nice to think that we had a pet for a few days.

Laundry is an issue, but only a small issue. There is a coin washer outside and downstairs (only annoying with weather). Recently, the Columbia Appliance delivery truck was a cause for celebration. This would mean no more walks downstairs only to find clothes seeped in half a load of blue water. The only disadvantage is that our new washer does not like to stay in one place. Instead, it wants to be free and proceeds to dance all around making it impossible to open the door to the laundry room. Once we harnessed the strong powers of the machine with a cinderblock to keep it in place, we were set.

These are small issues that of course we can deal with because, after all, we have a space of our own. Which, besides the occasional animal that visits, it is quite a happy house.

Last night, I completed my first shift at KOMU. For the convergence sequence, we have to complete shifts at each of the news stations and KOMU was the first one. It was a complete learning experience. Mondays are generally slow news days (compared to today when both Edwards and Huckabee are coming to Jefferson City to campaign). Thus, I searched and asked producers and news directors what I should work on for KOMU.com.
Once I had an idea of what they needed (a map tracing Edwards’ and Huckabee’s campaign, I was set. Or so I thought. When I got there at 1 p.m., there was a news meeting at 1:30 and it was not until 2:30 that I got my assignment. I worked on a map in Flash from 2:30 until 11 p.m. It was quite daunting and I am not even sure if they will use it, but it was a good exercise in Flash. And just being in the newsroom gave me a good feeling for what it is like at a broadcast station.

The beginning of the semester started with a bang. It is always overwhelming to look at a semester’s work from the beginning. Receiving syllabuses in each class and discussing tests, papers and work can be challenging to keep into perspective. However, I am trying to keep my schedule in perspective.

First of all, my Tuesdays and Thursdays will be manageable. I have one class (History of American Journalism and the starting time is 12:30. History of American Journalism is a required class for Journalism majors and will cover the history and trends of modern Journalism.

However, my MWF will be harder. I start at 8 a.m. I have never before had a class this early. On my walk to class, the street was empty. And cold. Today I had my Convergence Reporting class. This will probably take the most time. We rotate among the three news stations (KBIA, KOMU and The Missourian). My first shift will be at KOMU next week. Every other week we will work on group projects. I am looking forward to seeing the inner workings of all the newsrooms.

Journalism is all about communication. No matter the venue or the way of telling the story, reporting is still at the center of the field. Radio is going on the Internet. The Internet is going to phones. Phones are being used to upload stories to the Internet. All of this multimedia convergence is taking over the field. And reporters are tackling the challenges.

At SPJ we put on a convergence program with presenters that have worked in the multimedia field. They were not trained in online media, yet took on the new job descriptions since journalism is all about convergence.

Brent Martin, Managing Editor of MissouriNet discussed the problems of convergence including obscure working hours and increased workload with less funds to support those products. However, telling a story and communicating this is still the center of convergence. Jason Rosenbaum of the Columbia Daily Tribune, is a recent graduate and writes a blog for the newspaper. He spoke to the challenges of being a newspaper reporter as well as being a blogger. He said that once you get into the field, it is possible to learn how to take on the roles of convergence.

Our last speaker was Antionio French, Editor of PubDef, which is a St. Louis based political blog. French mentioned that this is really a product of today by feeling “cool and productive” through measuring the membership.and constant updates to get more readers.

I had the pleasure of attending the University Concert Series production of Mel Brook’s musical The Producers at Jesse Hall. My brother makes me so jealous when he says that he attended a performance of The Producers with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane in Chicago before it opened in New York. However, I got to see the winner of twelve 2001 Tony Awards on Sunday night. Even though it was a traveling company without the original cast, it was absolutely fabulous and so funny. Easily one of the best Broadway shows that I have seen.
Dancing old ladies, sexual innuendos and colorful characters made the performance simply fabulous. I haven’t been able to go to enough professional shows this year. I remember when I as in highschool, we were able to get tickets for $5 and I would review the shows for the local newspaper. I miss this option. However, I hear that if a show is not sold out, that you can get a ticket for $6 for the remaining seats. I have not tested this theory, but the program is great.

Some upcoming shows include Evita, Kenny G, Moving Out, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hairpray and Ira glass. There is a diverse program and so many great show come into Columbia, it would be a crime to not take advantage of the great cultural offerings.

Despite the cold weather and my perpetual runny nose, I decided to go to the Media Fair this week. I did not feel in my best state of mind to go get an internship but thought that I could get good advice from the recruiters. The Media Fair is where recruiters come in and hold open interviews for students in the journalism school. I decided to get some advice on what I should do to prepare myself for a summer internship.

I learned that they look for students with experience in daily newspapers. Even though convergence is a great thing, the emphasis is still reporting and working on deadline. Recruiters like to see that potential interns can write especially on multiple deadlines as well as cover breaking news. This is the experience that I still need to gain.

Last night there was a newspaper reception with a more casual gathering. A forum on diversity followed this. Few students showed up to learn about the state of diversity of the media, but I learned that there is still a lot of work to be done to promote a diverse newsroom. This becomes especially important considering newsrooms are being reduced, which takes away the potential for hiring a diverse news staff.

All in all, I’m glad that I decided to go and learn what experience I need to gain to have a reputable internship next summer and the following summers.