Communications Exploration

Since When Is This A Sport??

2008-03-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

I was perusing the Internet the other day trying to kill some time over break and I stumbled across a website that had video of people covering a professional video game tournament. You can check out the website here. I just found it interesting because I enjoy video games and I can't believe that they are covering gaming tournament and considering them to be a sport now. They also have a 30 minute segment devoted to video game news with a "Sportscenter" kind of feel to it. I am a huge fan of sports center and my favorite part is the "Top Ten Plays" which is a showcase for the top ten plays in all of the sports. Well now they have a top ten section for just video games. Although I don't expect to see the two being mixed in the future, I think that its refreshing to see that people are taking gaming seriously. The ESPN videos can be found here.

Internships Part 2

2008-03-09T19:04:00.001-07:00

Well I start my internship at WKBN this coming week or when I get back from spring break. I'm so excited to be doing this internship. I was talking with one of my friends today and he asked me if I was upset because I would be doing so much at my internship. Before I even had the chance to think about it, my body immediately said no. I said no because I really enjoy shooting and everything that I learned while I've been at college. I love being outside shooting or talking to people about what happened in an accident and making sure that the rest of the public gets to know about what happened. Thats one thing I love about school. I like what I do, and I know that I'll be happy doing that for the rest of my life. I like the fact that its competitive and that there's always ways to improve and make stories more interesting through good story telling and good video. I'm on the home stretch and things are finally falling into place. This is by far the best semester I have had at college and this internship is going to make it so much better.

Competition Should Breed Creativity

2008-03-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

I feel that there is a high level of competition between television stations within the same coverage area. With this high level competition for ratings and advertising income, one would think that there would be a difference between stations. This is true in the most part but it always seems that there is always the same stories on each station. I was flipping between stations the other day and I went to one news station, and saw a story, yet as soon as i went to the next station, there was the same story. Although they didn't do the story the exact same way and didn't have the same video, it still upset me to see the same thing. I know that they should be covering the event, but i think that reporters and camerapeople should take a step back, look at the situation, and then think "What can I do to beat station XYZ?" I think there needs to be more creativity within news markets. My instructor always tells me to find a "nugget" and use that to relate to people and make a story interesting so people put down the remote. Without stories about people and the amazing things they do everyday, life will only be a meeting where some stuff, that no one remembers, happenens.

When I was reading...

2008-02-24T19:19:00.000-08:00

I read a blog entry recently by Lenslinger and it really made me excited to get out and do my internship at WKBN in the next couple of weeks. The title of the entry is called Gladiators at Bay and it vividly describes the type of competition in the news markets today between stations. I think its going to be fun to compete with neighboring station. I already consider myself a competitive person since I have been an athlete for eight years. It sounds rough in the 1st paragraph of the article, but if it were easy, then everyone would be doing it! It only sounds rough because I will be helping the photographers make the top story for that day and give people an insight into whats happening in thier community and explain it in the most interesting way possible. I like how WKBN runs their internships though. They let the interns do whatever I want to whether it be shooting, editing, and even writing. I don't really want to be in front of the camera so I'm happy that I can do so many behind the scene jobs. It's also exciting to leave the little bubble of college and get my feet wet in some real news and real shooting.

Internships And The End Of College

2008-02-15T11:49:00.000-08:00

Well my college years are quickly coming to an end and it's time for me to start looking for a job. Although it will be tough, I am taking the right steps to getting a job. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do when i get out of school but only time will tell that. I am taking on an internship when I finish swim season in a couple of days. I will be looking to get one with WKBN or WYTV and I'm pretty excited about it. I will be able to do anything that I want to whether it be shooting, writing, or editing. I will want to shoot most of the time so that I can get a lot of material to choose from for my senior presentation at the end of the year.

Alumni Contact

2007-11-25T15:54:00.000-08:00

I recently talked to an alum at my school by the name of Jason Gonzales. He is a photographer at WPXI in Pittsburgh. I gained a lot of information about my resume tape which I will be completing soon and about how to get a job. I was told to look professional, act professional, and then I will be a professional. It all makes sense to me. Also it is good to be flexible and be able to move away. He said in this business I may not be able to find a job close to where my hometown is. I guess I will not find that out until i start applying for jobs, or start applying to grad schools, which I also see as an option.

Research Halfway Mark

2007-10-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of research that I have to do to complete my senior project which is a resume' tape that i can send to potential employers. I have read a lot of magazines and also have talked to professional photographer Jason Gonzales who works for WPXI in Pittsburgh. I will be doing a presentation on him in two weeks and I feel that I am well prepared for it. I feel that I am on the right track with half of my research done now.

End of the line?

2007-10-07T09:21:00.001-07:00

It's now almost halfway through October and it's exciting to think that in seven months I'll no longer be at school, I'll have taken my last final, but more importantly, I'll be getting a career, not a job. At the moment I am doing everything I can to make myself more marketable to different places. I have finished my senior comprehensive exam and I am beginning to work on my capstone project, which I need to complete to graduate. This is all exciting but scary at the same time. No longer will I be in the bubble called Westminster College. I'll be an "adult" and on my own. I put adult in quotes because I'd like to think I'm still a kid, somewhat. I feel time running out and I'm not sure how i feel about it.

Resume' tape!!

2007-09-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

Well going on with what i talked about last week, which is my senior capstone project, is what goes into a good resume' tape. He said that it really depends on what position you are applying for. If you are looking to be on camera, then there better be a lot of video of you in front of the camera covering things that the station is looking for whether it be spot news, or features. Also if you are applying for a camera job, which is what id like, then you have to show that you have an adept ability at working a camera and show what unique shots you can do to make more compelling video.

What are they looking for???

2007-09-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

The general manager of a local television station WYTV in Youngstown came to visit one of my classes today and gave some important tips on what a general manager like himself is looking for in a broadcast student. He mentioned to be on time, professional, and neat. But these things are pretty much a standard for an interview. He also said ,and this is what stood out in my mind when he was speaking, ask questions and don’t be worried about the pay, because you will get paid. If you ask immediately what the pay is in the interview then he knows exactly what you want from the job, which is money. I’ll be going over next week on what he wants in a resume’ tape as well.

2007-09-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I learned a lot about looking for a job and how to work with others within my field. My class participated in a team building exercise yesterday which really opened my eyes. One task within this exercise was to get all the members of the class through a "spider web" which was made of rope and bungee cords. The hard part was that the holes to get past the web were only allowed to be used once. The exercise took strategy and critical thinking skills. It was a metaphor for a lot of things when I get out of school. It taught me to never give up, even if I don’t find a job. I also learned that everybody has their own niche and if you need help with something that isn’t your specialty that there is always someone there to help you. Overall I think I feel less anxious about leaving school, but not completely.

2007-08-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

This week is the first that i will start to detail about my senior capstone project. It will entail all aspects of trying to create a resume' tape for an entry level broadcaster. Since i am going to be graduating this May I am also going to talk about how i am going to get an internship as well. This is the first step of many in which i am going to take on the road to becoming a better and more well rounded broadcaster.

Is that really who they are?

2007-04-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

We've recently been talking about identity online and how people can pretend to be someone else on the internet. I don't really see a huge problem with this but when people pose as someone to get private information out of people that they wouldnt know otherwise brings up an issue of ethics. I don't think it's very ethical when a boy friend or girlfriend poses as someone else to get information that they shouldn't know. But I guess this also brings an issue of trust into the picture. I think that if theres suspicion and someone is lying about a certain situation then I think there is a plausible cause to see if the person is lying or not. The "To Catch A Predator" series i think displayed a good example of posing to be someone online. Catching criminals in the act is something that they deserve especially if it's something as serious as having sex with a minor.

Power Outage

2007-04-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

A recent power outage has made me realize how relient on technology people are. Just think of everything you use everyday and think if it needs electricity. The digital alarm clock, hair dryer, lights in your room, your car, and computers. Just think of how different your life would be if you didn't have all these luxuries. More than half of the world deals with it yet when things break or go down on us, the world stops. This power outage rendered everything useless pretty much and all of the people I know were saying they couldnt do anything because the power wasnt on. It was just so suprising to think of all the people not doing anything because the power was off. I wonder what the future will be like and will we be even more relient on technology and everything will be shut down when the power goes out or will we learn how to continue our day even though we have no technology.

Changes In Entertainment

2007-03-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

As I was laying around and watching old episodes of Are You Afraid Of The Dark that used to be on Nickelodeon when i was a kid, I thought of how entertainment for kids has changed so much since when i was a kid. I remember watching shows all of the old Nickelodeon shows when i was a kid and they were all trivia game like Legends Of The Hidden Temple or just scary shows, but nothing was really violent. There were some scary things but the most scary thing would be a clown or a mad scientist. Now kids are watching shows with so much violence in them. All of the new anime shows have violence in them and kids are constantly bombarded by this. It just amazes me that in ten years, there has been such a change in what kids are entertained by. It's just sad to see all the shows I loved when i was a kid go out like that, but I guess thats why I'll always call the shows I loved watching "classics."

2007-02-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

In my experience, whenever people "badmouth" technology, it seems that video games are a big part of their arguement. It's not like it doesnt bother me when I see something on the news about a school shooting or a student acting out and killing some of his classmates. But what bothers me about that is how the parents want to blame the way that their kid acted on music, video games, or something along the lines of that. What the issue really is, is whether or not the parents were good parents. I like to believe that my parents brought me up well. I didn't shoot up my school. But I also listen to heavy metal and play video games. What was different in my situation? If I was looked at by someone who doesn't know me, I would look like someone who would shoot up a school, but i never have, and never will. Why? I think that it's the parents responsibility for how their children act. If children are brought up correctly then there shouln't be any problems. Yet this still happens and parents blame heavy metal and video games, when the problem is bad parenting. Parents need to wake up and realize that it's not music or video games that are making kids crazy, it's bad parenting.

Parents and Technology

2007-02-15T13:03:00.000-08:00

This has been something I have been thinking about for a while now, even though I personally won't have to make a decision about it until I reach this stage in my life. This issue I've been thinking about is how the relationships between parents and children will change with all this introduction of new technology. I know that I spend time with my family by watching TV and Movies or playing videogames. But what i really think about is, if I decide to have kids, how will the technology at that time affect how they will grow up? I think that kids that do not watch cable or satellite television will have more active imaginations. Also I think that it could lead to them not having as many friends because they don't know everything about Spongebob Squarepants or any other kids shows. Also if cable is resricted, should video games be restricted too? I hear all these things about videogames making children more violent. Although I don't personally believe this, I think it plays at least a small factor in making kids more violent. I can be considered an avid gamer. I don't think that just because I have been playing a violent game, that I will be more violent. It just doesn't sink in with me, maybe because I'm just not violent to begin with. I've been playing video games since I was seven and I don't think it has made me more aggressive.

How much information are people putting on the internet about their lives?

2007-02-11T13:17:00.000-08:00

This seems like an very interesting question and i thought of it the other day when i was actually going to start this entry. It just makes me wonder what information people do put on the net for people to read. More importantly, how many people actually read what you write? I guess if you are blogging for a while, people may read your blog often, and get to know you, partially at least. But i think thats only if you out a lot of information about yourself and all the things you think about, because essentially you have as much space as you want when you type on here. I'm sure though that even if i dont put many personal things in here, some people that read this will actually get to know a part of me.