Exercise 3: Customize the News Experience

In Online Journalism we are learning how to customize a subject’s news experience so for this one I chose a very close friend of mine’s mom. My friend’s mom consumes about two hours and forty-five minutes worth of news every day. She listens to some talk radio on the way to work and when she gets home she’ll watch TV and jump on the computer. In the midst of her own news consumption, she’s also married to my friend’s dad who watches CNN all day long. He will usually give her a lot of news via word of mouth.

If I were to create a news organization to serve my subject’s individual news habits it’d have to mostly be an online news source since the majority of her news comes from online. Like any news organization, I’d need to have a time of operation but my subject works during the day so I’d probably be a nightly news organization. I’d probably start posting news stories around six, this is prime news time anyway and it gives the organization time to get some material together for her to actually look at when she comes home. It’s no fun if there’s nothing available. I’d probably be active until around eleven at night because even though she goes to bed around ten, it’d be good to keep up with some of the things happening for another hour.

The topic my subject loves most in news is human interest stories so I’d probably primarily publish stories of this nature. The organization might cover some of the bigger events going on in the world but it’d want the face of its organization to be human interest. Hopefully because it’s so human focused it’ll attract more people like my subject so it can have a strong audience followership. People tend to like stories of this nature so if I promote it enough, I might have no trouble drawing people in and it would give news more of a variety.

The next bit to consider would be what tools the organization would offer to take advantage of social or mobile consumption. Unfortunately for me my main inspiration hasn’t quite upgraded to a smartphone so for her the organization would be mostly centered around social media which is where she spends most of her time as it is. However, given the way technology is I’d probably still have a lot of tools offered to take advantage of mobile consumption for others who are like my subject but do in fact have a smartphone. It’d give the organization a better shot at a larger audience.

Having tools available works out even more in my favor because the organization is mostly online. In order to have access to content available it’d probably offer a Facebook page for my subject to like so she won’t have to go too far out of her way to enjoy the content. The organization might make a radio station as well since it’d take into account that she has to drive to and from work so she might want to tune in so the organization could record some stuff for her to listen to on her trip. Another tool I’d have is an app for mobile consumers and I’d be sure to make the app easy to read and load decently on all smartphones and I’d try and keep it as close as I could to the original source. Maybe my subject will hear about the app and look more into smartphones as a result.

Being online is nice though because it means the organization would get to apply all three pillars to its stories as well as the tools. I’d probably provide a lot of visuals and audio because that’s what people like, especially if it’s human interest stories. So I’d have videos and pictures strewn throughout the stories and any interviews the organization conducts would probably be included as an audio file. This should keep my readers engaged. Having a page only increases the necessity for visuals though because if it’s all text who’s going to read it? For ease, the organization might include the option to have some of its bigger stories or more interesting stories post to my subject’s Facebook timeline so she can easy click them and read whichever stories she finds the most interesting.

Having links to the articles is a great way of practicing On-Demand Journalism so it’s another pillar the organization gets to use. Following this pillar I’d probably include a lot of hyperlinks throughout so she can find out more information easily, we wouldn’t want her to get lost on a topic. I’d also have a search bar and live chats if she’s interested in finding out more information about a particular topic.

Lastly I’d probably include a lot of interactivity throughout. So on her page I might ask her opinion which would allow me to include a comments section for her to post to. I’d also have a discussion board for her to look into and through here I might help her find others who share her opinion which makes things more interesting.

All of these together might help catch my subject’s attention and in the end she might consume more news as a result.

Keith Betts sheds some enlightenment with the LHU community

On September 3rd Lock Haven University’s annual Founder’s Day Convocation was held. The Key Note speaker has always been a very special part of the ceremony and this year LHU tapped into some English roots.

Keith Betts is an exchange student from a small coal mining town of Sherwood Forest, located in England. Betts was recruited to the States to play for Lock Haven University’s soccer team. As a proud 1985 LHU Graduate he shared some exciting personal stories from his time in LHU, one of the many involving a friend he’d met from Australia.

One thing that stood out most about Bett’s speech was that he talked about trying new things during his time at LHU. “The joy of life comes with new encounters and new experiences” he said. He spoke about trying different classes, going on different trips and more.

Along with his personal stories however, he gave students a lot of good advice where College was concerned. He told them to just “go with the flow.” Betts also connected to students more personally by using an unexpected metaphor where he compares life to being a running back “Always be able to reach the endzone” he said.

Sophomore Communications Major, Meghan Maustellar tweeted “Betts recommends exploring new experiences in college in order to learn more about oneself.” The moral of college is to experiment and figure who you are or who you want to become. “You are [now] entering your most important quarter, your college career” said Betts.

Currently, Betts is Vice President for Student Affairs at Western Connecticut State University. In that position Betts provides management and leadership for the many offices and campus life.

Tweet Courtesy of Daniel Healy

Snakes at Sieg

Reports of Snakes at Lock Haven University’s Sieg Conference Center have sprung up.

These reports have spooked teachers and students and brought them to an even split. Half the population is still willing to visit the conference center while the other half is not.

Photo Courtesy of pawildlifephotographer.blogspot.com

Marchal Rote, the LHU Facilities Planning & Scheduling Coordinator, reported the reason for the snake spotting in an email, “Due to the cooler weather, they are out sunning themselves.”

Also according to Rote, Dr. Overton was at Sieg over the weekend and he spotted them near the kitchen door, near the fire pit, and on wood or leaves and other debris near the bridge.

The two snakes mentioned in the many emails are rattlesnakes and copperheads. According to Penn State a Timber Rattlesnake’s bite is very serious and if you are bitten you should seek medical attention immediately. However, Penn State also reports that these snakes are very docile, they will try and run before even attempting to bite you.

A Coppehead Snake’s bite, according to Penn State, is usually not life threatening, unless you are very young or a pet. Cooperheads have a tendency to bite more than other venomous snakes and they will strike much faster then other snakes. Even though a Coppersnake’s venom is mild, like with the Timber Rattlesnake, a victim should seek medical attention as soon as possible.

Budget cuts strongly hit LHU’s Theater department

Budget cuts run rapid through the LHU community but some areas are being hit worse than others.

Lock Haven University, like most state schools, has taken the blow for many cuts. President Michael Fiorentino says that LHU has had a 4 million dollar budget cut this year alone. With so many major cuts going on, the University has had no choice but to make reductions.

“Student numbers are really critical to how you maintain an academic program,” said President Fiorentino. “If you have fewer than 5 students, it’s impossible to offer the courses that you need entirely.

“The visual arts still have what would be considered reasonably good enrollments but music and theater enrollments have been really low over the last 7 years and we do make a major effort to recruit students, it just hasn’t yielded many results.”

According to Sean Temons, a junior theater major who started really attending LHU in 2009, the theater department has gone through a number of cuts. One of the consequences of these cuts that Temons has found are that there are no longer any concentrations left in the department, it’s just one general major.

Temons also says things got really bad when they went from having 5 professors to only having 3 and started rotating technical directors.

“We had a technical director, David Tidwell, who was only here on a half-time salary but he was working full-time hours because it’s impossible to do anything technical-wise on half-time, anything less than full-time is impossible,” Temons said.

Kailyn Mayshock, an Interdisciplinary Studies major with a concentration in theater, also sees that the theater department is being hit worse than others. In her experience, she’s found that they are losing 2 professors this year which means they are only down to 1.

Mayshock also sees that the courses beings offered are getting less and less with each passing year. She says that her and other people involved in the theater program are beginning to get worried because they aren’t sure what will happen to their department.

“We haven’t really been offered a lot of classes in 5 years. Tech Theater, I’m going to be a Senior next year, it’s never been offered since I’ve been here. Theater History, this is the first time in 5 years it’s being offered and for people who need to graduate on time, it’s impossible,” Mayshock said.

Alisha Tyler-Moore, a Freshmen Theater Major, also sees that the University is not offering enough classes.

“I get a full ride here at Lock Haven and it’s really sad that I can’t get a proper education for the amount that I can pay because they’re not offering my courses. I’m being forced to transfer to Penn State, a school which I cannot afford, because I’m not being offered my proper education,” Tyler-Moore said.

So far there has been no evidence of the University’s theater club, University Players, being affected by these cuts. However Chelsea Smith, a Senior Education Major and Secretary for the club says that she and her fellow officers are not sure about the future of the club.

“At this point we’re not entirely sure because the club is through SAS,” said Smith. “So we’ll still have our funding, we’ll still be able to function as a club but if there’s no director how are we supposed to have main stage shows.”

Smith also said that they’re currently trying to find a quarter time technical director but they aren’t sure who’s going to take that position. It seems to them they are going to have to student run everything.

Lock Haven University Students Group Together for a Real Conversation About Bullying

Lock Haven – Gathered together in a small room in Woolridge Hall at Lock Haven University a group of college students sat listening intently as the speaker spoke about a sensitive topic.

It was February 17th when an event entitled “Real Conversations” took place. Dr. Erin Kennedy, one of the Psychology professors at Lock Haven University, gave a speech about bullying in social and professional communities.

Bullying is an extremely large problem in our society and it has been for many years. Kids will always find something to tease one another about because kids can be cruel. A bully will pick out someone they see as an easy target, usually someone who’s very quiet and withdrawn. Once they find their victim they will tease them because of their weight, height, style, or something else. There are so many possibilities.

It’s becoming an even larger problem on college campuses, especially with the coming of the digital age. There are a few different forms of bullying, two examples being physical and vocal. The form that seems to be becoming the most problematic lately is cyber bullying.

Kennedy stated “Bullying has been found to occur for college undergraduates with 18.5% reporting having been bullied once or twice and 22% reporting being the victim of cyberbullying and 38% of students report to know someone who had been cyberbullied,” she said.

Cyberbullying is just as it sounds, bullying that occurs online. People will often do this through various social media networks such as Facebook or Twitter. It can also occur through text message. Cyberbullying is becoming more frequent because it makes the bully feel empowered because they can pull up a fifth wall and not be seen.

This is an issue because it prevents people from having somewhere safe to go. Before cyberbullying people would deal with the problem at school and then they’d be able to return home and have a break from it. If a break is no longer an option it can have devastating results such as low self-esteem, issues academically, depression, etc.

When asked if Lock Haven University Resident Assistants should have special training for bullying, Shana Fish, an RA of 2 years for Smith Hall, didn’t fully agree. “It depends on the RA, some RAs don’t see the whole picture. Residents should be able to go to any RA they’re close with,” she said to explain her reasoning.

As big a problem as cyberbullying  is, face to face is also still a real issue. Studies show it’s more common for girls to use verbal bullying and boys to use physical bullying. Verbal bullying is a series of hurtful comments, gossip and rumor spreading. Physical bullying is not only laying a hand on the victim but also threatening to do so.

Mary Jones, a junior English major, speaks on her experiences with verbal bullying with a club on campus. “Verbal bullying can be just as damaging as physical bullying. Especially when it’s the entire club. I winded up getting sick on my way back to my dorm after my last meeting with the club,” she said.

The “Real Conversations” events are important for students because it allows them to go and speak with other people who are in their shoes. There are five “Real Conversation” events per semester, the next one being on March 13th.

Write-Tight Assignment

1. The most important paragraphs in a news story are the paragraphs that make up what is known as the lead group or the introduction to a news story.
– Your rewrite: The important paragraphs in a news story are the ones that make up the lead group or the introduction of a news story.

2. Although traditionally a lead was one paragraph, usually one sentence, that summarized the whole story and always contained all of the of the five W’s and the H (the who, where, when, why, what and how) and these paragraphs were often awkward to write and sometimes were difficult to read as well.
– Your rewrite: Traditionally a lead was one paragraph and usually one sentence. It summarized the whole story and contained all of the five W’s and the H (the who, where, when, why, what, and how).

These paragraphs were awkward to write and sometimes difficult to read as well.

3. Leads written this way seemed, at times, to have too much information crammed into one sentence to be clearly understood. As a result of these reasons and the changing habits of readers, the way a lead is written has changed.
– Your rewrite: At times, leads written like this seemed to have too much information crammed into a sentence to be clearly understood.

Since the habits of readers have changed, the way a lead is written has changed as well.

4. It is no longer considered necessary to summarize an entire story in the first paragraph (or to include all of the five W’s and the H in the first paragraph).
– Your rewrite: It is no longer necessary to summarize the whole story in the first paragraph. (Or to have all of the five W’s and the H in the first paragraph)

5. Currently, leads are referred to by many journalists as a lead group since a lead may be one paragraph but more often two or perhaps even more paragraphs, and hence they are usually a group of paragraphs.
– Your rewrite: Right now, journalists refer to leads as a lead group. They refer to leads like this because it might be one paragraph but usually it’s more than one, making a group of paragraphs.

6. But a lead group is most often (but not always) the first two paragraphs of a news story. They are also extremely important since they are the first paragraphs that a person reads. Often a person will decide whether or not they will read a story after only scanning part of the first paragraph.
– Your rewrite: Lead groups are most often the first two paragraphs of a news story. They are crucial because they are the first paragraphs a person reads, usually they will decide if they’re interested or not after scanning part of the first paragraph.

7. As a result, it is very important for a news writer to use a very unique aspect of the most important fact in the news information in the first paragraph and present it in an interesting way with good action verbs.
– Your rewrite: It is important for news writers to use the most interesting part of an important fact in the first paragraph of the news information. They also should present it in an interesting way with good action verbs.

8. It is felt that (and readership studies have supported this) there is little point to using something unique in the fifth or sixth paragraph if most people will simply stop reading out of boredom before they even get to that point.
– Your rewrite: It is felt that (and readership studies have shown this) people will lose interest if something unique isn’t used until the fifth or sixth paragraph.

9. The most common type of first paragraph in a news story lead group is one that is still a summary of a news event, but is very brief and often only a deliberately partial summary.
– Your rewrite: The most common first paragraph in a lead group is one that is a summary of a news event but is very brief and only a deliberately partial summary.

10. This summary lead paragraph which is usually one fairly short sentence which uses most (but not always all) of the five W’s and the H (the who, what, when, where, why and how) of the news event and is usually written in such a way that it tells the reader most of what the story will be about but it also leaves out just enough information so that the reader will be enticed to read the next paragraph to get the entire picture of what the story is about.
– Your rewrite: This summary lead paragraph, which is one fairly short sentence using almost all of the five W’s and the H (the who, what, when, where, why and how), is written so the reader knows what most of the story is about. However, it leaves out just enough information so that he or she will be curious enough to read the next paragraph for the entire story.

11. The problem that many seem to have with this one short sentence is that it not only contains a lot of information (perhaps all, but not always all, of the five W’s and the H) but it has to be written so interestingly that it really grabs a reader and gets them to read the story.
– Your rewrite: An issue many seem to have with this short sentence is that it contains a lot of information. It also has to be written in an attention grabbing way so the reader will keep going.

12. As basic as this may seem, there is another difficulty that some seem to have in writing leads and it’s that in complicated stories (or even in some stories that are not so complicated) it can sometimes be difficult to determine exactly what the five W’s and the H are.
– Your rewrite: As basic as this may seem, there is another issue that some seem to have with leads and it’s that in most stories it can sometimes be hard to know exactly what the five W’s and the H are.

Three Leads

1. Midnight at Fox Woods Apartments, Judy Voss heard screams signaling a brutal murder in the parking lot.

2. Today at Green Hills College John X. Hughes was suspended for plagiarism, claiming he wasn’t properly informed on the school’s Judicial Board.

3. Pronounced dead on arrival at 4:30 at Plain View Hospital, Jamie Hind was last seen alive shoplifting a coat from Sadler’s Department Store when three huge guys jumped him.

 

Who’s A Reporter?

The question of “Who’s a reporter?” is an interesting one because reporters are many different people.

Our society likes to assign certain stereotypes to people and reporters are not excused in the slightest. We view reporters as people who are either really scattered brained and eccentric or stuck on themselves. This isn’t an accurate assumption at all, reporters are actually some of the most well organized and passionate people you can meet. They do so much just to get one story out. The idea of a reporter doing absolutely anything to get a story might be the only glint of truth in this stereotype.

Every news-bound story takes a lot of preparation. There’s such a vast audience who have many different ways to get wind of a story. It all depends on what a person is doing and where they are at that moment. Some people get a story through television, radio, newspapers, magazines, or, in this day and age, the internet. For this very reason reporters work tirelessly to create many different versions of one story, a day of work for a reporter can be as long as ten hours, sometimes longer. It is for this same reason that reporters are really many different people. They are not always the person behind a desk typing away at a computer in fact, it might be the person sitting next to you on a bus, scribbling away in a notebook.

If you wanted me to define a reporter I’d say he or she is someone who is very passionate about what they do. Someone who wants all the facts not some. If a major fire starts in a store they are there on the scene, taking notes and interviewing different people as soon as they get a chance. They work hard to get the news out to as many people as they can so they make sure there’s a version of the information that is easily understood for everyone. They also make sure they give their best on every single story they cover.

A big point I’d like to stress is anyone can be a reporter. A reporter is not someone limited to the professional world. If you see something interesting going on that you think other people might like to hear about you can cover it yourself, as long as you put the time and work into it. Living in the digital age certainly helps with this as well because we have access to something called the internet. The internet is a fantastic resource when used right. The introduction of social media also helps to give us the ability of being a reporter. We are always connected with the world no matter where we go. You could be on a walk and see something and put it up in a detailed status on Facebook and tons of people will end up seeing it. It’s incredible to think about.

So who’s a reporter then? To make it short and sweet, everyone is a reporter. They are not limited to one certain place or one certain type.