Journalism – Page 2 – KC Digital Marketing

Field reporting and fun story topics: Suburban Life Media Day 4

Blogging, Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, News Reporting, Suburban Life Media

Today, I was able to get out of the office to report a quick story! Even though it doesn’t seem like a big deal, my tush thanks me from all the long hours sitting in a chair. Our newspapers have sections called Street Talk where we talk with members of the community about a fun topic and we put their picture and answer in the paper. It’s a fun little section that personalizes our publications. I was working on the section for the Westmont Progress where I had to go to the beautiful Grocery Store called Standard Market on Ogden Ave. in Westmont. I talked with four different people about their plans for the summer. Most were excited to be in the paper, even for a fun, little section.

I also am working on stories with fun topics. I am writing a story for Suburban Life Magazine about fun ways to spice up your patio. I’ve spoken with The Great Escape and will talk to two other places about what fun things to use or how to furnish your patio. Another artistic story I’m working on is about Quilt Quest, a new quilt shop opening in Woodridge. The owner has had a passion for quilting for a while and she decided to open up the store with her husband to offer patterns, kits and machines to help the local quilter with his or her creativity. I’m stopping by the store tomorrow morning to get a look at some of the quilts and patterns, and I think it will be a fun story. Being able to cover artistic topics is a good change of pace for me than writing news briefs. Because I want to go into the magazine world, it is helpful for me to emerge into the local community in a creative way.

Diary at PTM Day 3: Photo Rights

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, News Reporting, Premier Tourism Marketing, Tourism

Yesterday at Premier Tourism Marketing, I was still working on my story about amusement parks in the Mid-Atlantic area. Having to only edit the story, I still needed pictures. I called a few places and also found some open-source images on the amusement parks’ media pages. There were pages sprawled with beautiful images with high definition. The only question was, did I have the right to those images? So I called some PR offices of Busch Gardens, Morey’s Piers and Beachfront Waterparks, and Hersheypark. Some had certain directions for how to credit the companies’ photos so we would have the o.k.

Although this seems like an obvious step, a lot of people do not follow this procedure to use photos. There are websites like Tumblr, Pinterest and IHeartIt where you can collect images from the internet in a snap! Except the rights to those images are not always secure. Many people take images they find as their own and don’t look back. This is a problem for those people who worked hard to edit the photo, let alone take it.

It’s easier for me because I’m a journalist and know that every image needs a source. It’s harder for other people to know that distinction Even though photo sharing websites like Tumblr are great ways to share images, websites like Flickr have more restrictions and give more credit to the photographer than the image. So I learned it’s important to credit your photos even if it seems petty otherwise.

Efficiency: Suburban Life Media Day 3

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, News Reporting, Suburban Life Media

Last Friday I was cranking out stories a mile a minute. The other Mizzou intern and I were talking about how it’s easier to write stories when you’re not in a hurry running to and from class or worrying about a test or after school activity to run to. I was able to finish three news briefs and have two published to the website. The information wasn’t anything new for me in regards to the procedure in how to get information. I would call a source and they would give me some quick tidbits of information to include in the story. I liked being able to focus for hours at a time without having to worry about anything else other than my deadline. I know I’m only an intern so I have less responsibilities, but it was satisfying to be able to go home from a long day’s work and not have a million things to still work on at home. This makes me excited to start working in the real world. To be able to have a sense of accomplishment everyday and not have to worry about a grade, but to just be accountable for your work during the day. I start the orientation for my third internship next week and that’s when things might get hectic. Hectic but in a good way because I’m doing what I love: Journalism!

Being Shown the Ropes: Suburban Life Media Day 2

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, News Reporting, Suburban Life Media

Last Wednesday was my first full day at Suburban Life Media. The other editorial intern and I learned about the scheduling and the map of the newspapers. Our supervisor told us that the papers were organized much like a magazine, which means the breaking news and less important things go online while the stories that go to print get published once a week. Suburban Life handles 22+ publications, not including its magazine Suburban Life Media, in the western suburbs of Chicago. I cover the newspapers the Westmont Progress and the Woodridge Reporter, which cover the areas of Westmont, Woodridge, Lisle and Naperville. I like the way the format works because things don’t seem as rushed as when I worked for another newspaper. Things are more timely, and more people take a look at your story before it goes to print. It definitely gives the vibe of quality over quickness.I also have a fellow intern who is a Mizzou Student as well and that’s always helpful as we compare newsroom experiences. I’m going to start on-the-street reporting soon as well as cover the page three feature stories and possibly write for the Suburban Life Magazine. More opportunities to come!

Unpleasant Day, New Opportunity: Suburban Life Media Intern Day 1

Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, News Reporting

I started my internship at Suburban Life Media on Wednesday and the day did not get off to a good start. I woke up at 6 a.m. in order to arrive in Crystal Lake for orientation at 9. It was an hour and 20 minute drive with traffic and it started to pour. I was rushed to the facility but the experience was rewarding. I filled out some forms and we were able to get a look inside the headquarters of the parent company, Shaw Media. We were able to talk with advertising, marketing, accounting, photography, newspaper editors and a magazine editor. It was interesting because I was able to see the inner-workings of the brand instead of just the newsroom. Shaw Media also has a coupon and event information website called PlanIt with sites for northern areas near Crystal Lake as well as a PlanIt Life for the area near our office in Downers Grove. The site has coupons for restaurants and events as well as articles about what events to attend in your area. The website seems like a unique place that combines couponing and journalism that caters to different areas in the Chicago suburbs.

Speaking with the editor of Kane County and McHenry County magazines, I was able to get an insight on how local magazines work. Because they are county magazines, the magazine is able to cover different areas that may carry over to be content for other regional magazines. Each magazine has a theme each month and they coordinate sources to talk to based on that. The May issue was the Women’s Issue while June will be the Father’s Issue.

I also spoke to the editor of the new Suburban Life magazine, which covers towns such as Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale and Lagrange. The first issue just launched for May and she said I might be able to come to photo shoots and write features.

So far, my experience at Suburban Life Media seems potentially exciting with many opportunities The newspapers are organized well with content throughout DuPage, Cook County etc. And I might have the chance to work with the new magazine.

Diary at PTM Day 2: The Tallest and Fastest Rollercoasters

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, Premier Tourism Marketing, Tourism

As I am working on my mid-Atlantic roller coaster and water park story I did some research that only a visual learner would think of. I was looking at parks like Kennywood and Sixflags Great Adventure Youtube videos showing the point of view of a rider. I had the same anticipation to get to the top of the first hill and nervousness when waiting for the ride to launch from 0 to 60 in a few seconds. So because they are only videos, they cannot capture how the speed feels and how fast the ride is in miles per hour. So I went to the websites to see the numbers. Looking at theme park websites, I noticed they all used adjectives such as, the tallest, fastest, the only, the unique, in describing their roller coasters. I wanted to figure out “Is the Nitro really the fastest? Or is it the Phantom’s Revenge?” Or even, “What if it’s not even in this country?” So I did some digging and I came up with Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today is a news source that catalogs entrepreneurial happenings in the roller coaster business as well as debuts in the industry and its parks. El Toro, Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, came at the top for the best and fastest wooden coaster because it reaches a top speed of 70 mph and is 181 feet tall with a 176-foot drop. While Formula Rossa, Ferrari World in Dubai, is the fastest steel-framed coaster that goes from 0 to 149.1 mph in 4.9 seconds with the use of a hydraulic launch system. Other coasters are ranked highly such as The Nitro at 80 mph (Six Flags Great Adventure) and the Intimidator 305 at 90 mph (Kings Dominion.) So I think it may be fair to say that the quality of the ride is not necessarily the top speed but the experience of the ride as a whole. This information has helped my story because I didn’t know that much about roller coasters before I started my research. Now I can say I know more about amusements in the mid-Atlantic area as well as around the world such as the Schlitterbahn water park in Texas and Ferrari World in Dubai. In the future I would like to look more into the companies that make the roller coasters and their machinery like Instamin and Gravity Group. This is a subculture that I would never have tapped into if it weren’t for this story and I’m glad I know more information about the amazing feats people achieve in order to produce speed and recreation.

Learning More About the Fun Side of Life: Diary at PTM Day 1

Chicago, Diary, Intern, Internship, Journalism, Mizzou, Premier Tourism Marketing, Tourism

Today I started my internship at Premier Tourism Marketing as an editorial intern. I am going to be writing stories for their magazines and online content for Leisure Group Travel, Student and Youth Group Travel, Religious Group Travel and more. The story I am working on now is about the top mid-Atlantic amusement parks and water parks. I think this topic is interesting, not only because I have a passion for thrill-inducing activities, but also because I am able to venture into more fun and recreational topics.

When I reported for a newspaper, I was able to learn about unfamiliar topics, which is worthwhile, but this time I am able to venture in unfamiliar topics I can relate to. When I would report stories about a new police vehicle or a legislative meeting, they would be useful stories with useful information but I could not apply them to my life in a tangible way. Vacationing and travel I can apply to my life because I sometimes partake in those things and have aspirations in those categories. Travel helps people escape from the harshness of reality and I am able to do so in a work environment. I am creating a reality that involves the joys and wonders of life. Back to my roller coaster story, rides give me an adrenaline rush and it gives me joy to know that I am helping other people by giving them information about how to plan a group outing to obtain that rush.

Being able to combine business with pleasure is a great thing. When you’re at the airport in customs the attendant asks you whether you are taking a trip for business or pleasure, now you can say both. I think this is a great opportunity that I have ventured into because I can help others obtain happiness through fun activities that everyone covets.

True reviews from True/False Film Festival

Chicago, Columbia Missourian, Journalism, Missourian, Mizzou, News Reporting

This passed February I had the pleasure to review a film and a panel during the True/False Film Festival through Vox magazine. The atmosphere at both events was fun and inviting that included things such as a folk band with an excited drummer and a cozy room with comfy chairs.

The Expedition to the End of the World from http://houseofhayduk.com/news

I was able to experience an exciting environment at the Blue Note when viewing “Expedition to the End of the World.” There were brightly colored stained-glass art works and a warm environment of people excited to view their first film of the weekend with a beer in hand.

When participating in the panel called, “Every Cut is a Lie: Editing the Truth” I was able to be in an intimate environment with well-known documentary film writers and editors. The chairs were just as comfortable as the room. We were able to have a conversation with these well-known artists to understand the ethics and psyche behind documentaries.

Robin Schwartz the editor of the documentary America's Parking Lot was a panelist. Photo from http://tbdpost.com/work/americas-parking-lot/ — Robin Schwartz the editor of the documentary America’s Parking Lot was a panelist. Photo from http://tbdpost.com/work/americas-parking-lot/

Having True/False under my belt, I was able to explore the world of documentary film, and I would definitely like to venture in the genre further. It was the first time I conducted a film review and been to a panel about video editing. Considering I love movies and have experience with video editing, I thought it was rewarding in a journalistic sense and was just as entertaining. Every one was so kind and creative, from laughs from conversations in line to the quirky responses of the films producers and editors; it was an effervescent crowd. I hope you enjoy my stories as much as I did writing them and I hope my experience of my first True/False Film Festival is able to translate from mind to page.

Instead of just writing about a conflict, being in the conflict

Columbia Missourian, Congo, hotel rwanda, Journalism, Missourian, Mizzou, Multimedia J2150, News Reporting, Paul Rusesabagina, Rwanda

In class a few weeks ago we watched the documentary entitled “Reporter” by Nicholas Kristof. Kristof has won the Pultizer Prize twice for this documentary about reporting in conflict areas such as Darfur and the Congo. His bravery and courage is not in question, but towards the beginning of the film I wondered, “Instead of only helping the people in trouble, is reporting enough?” As the film progressed Kristof saw people starving and dying and reported on these events and the conflicts at large. The humanitarian in me wondered why they didn’t help these people. When they helped a woman named Yohanita who was raped by a soldier, dying of starvation and taken to the hospital where she died shortly after struck my idea down. Kristof argued that there were millions of people just like Yohanita who have died because of the Congolese Rwandan conflict, and when put on paper, people only cared about the one person. Since 5.4 million is a daunting number, when people read the statistics, they only feel sorry for a few seconds because that fatality rate is not a number people can wrap their heads around, according to Kristof. I later realized that it was effective to report on these issues because people need someone to angle the idea so people will care.

Screen Shot 2012-12-10 at 3.48.25 PM — From left to right: Paul Rusesabagina, me, his wife Tatiana Rusesabagina

On a related note, I was an intern for the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation last summer and learned more about the Rwandan genocide in a perspective I could have never imagined. I met Paul Rusesabagina, his wife Tatiana, and his children through that experience. Paul is an inspiring man. He saved about 1,300 refugees by giving them shelter in the hotel he was managing in Kigali during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The first time I watched the movie “Hotel Rwanda,” based off his story, it made me sympathize and feel sorry for those people. Watching the movie after meeting Paul was a completely different experience. Being able to see what happened while watching the movie a second time and the pain he endured through was almost hard to watch. Feeling sorry for an actor in a movie based off historical events and understanding the pain for a person you met while watching the same movie changes things. Working in that internship helped me to be able to advocate for Paul and people of Rwanda in an active way. It took a burden off my conscience and helped me to be able to understand a complex concept and be able to help in a tangible way. I will remember that experience for the rest of my life, and in Paul’s words:

“History keeps repeating itself but doesn’t teach us any lessons. ‘Never again’ has turned into ‘again and again and again.’…Take Hotel Rwanda as a wake-up call and a message to be our messenger that people are the ones who can change what they want to change.”

The Holiday Season is upon us!

Columbia Missourian, Journalism, Missourian, Mizzou, Multimedia J2150, News Reporting

I wrote a story today about the Mizzou Forestry Club having their annual Christmas tree sale this weekend and next weekend at the Reactor lot off Providence Road. Ben Tiefenbrun, manager of the MU Turkey Farm Lake and member of the club, said they relocated from Memorial Stadium because of construction.

This article was interesting because I learned that the Forestry Club raises money to go to a lumberjacking conclave. It’s like a lumberjacking carnival, expo, competition thing for Midwestern college students. Like the timber Olympics. Although I did not put a lot in the story about the conclave, it sounded pretty cool. They have events like cross-cut sawing, underhand chopping, ax throwing and pulp toss. Tiefenbrun said the last place winner won a cross-cut saw that was worth $3,000.

I talked to the president of the Forestry Club, Abby Kircher, and she said as one of the few girls in the club and at the conclave. As one of the few, she said she did a lot more events than some of the other members and said it is quite the workout.

It’s impressive for me if a girl carries anything weighing 50 pounds. It’s a whole new level if you can chop down a tree. That’s pretty awesome.

Back to the tree sale, Kircher said she enjoys the sale because she can help kids and families find their perfect tree and kick off the holiday season.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of summer I think of fresh cut grass; but when I think of winter, I think of the smell of Evergreen from my Christmas tree in my living room.