Journalists’ Toolkit semester in review

When I first heard about this class I was nervous that I wouldn’t learn anything new.  But, after taking the class this semester I’ve realized how wrong I was.   At first, I was wary of the reporting element because I really dislike reporting.  Funny thing for a journalist to say, right?  But over the past few years I’ve come to realize that I really love to edit and produce and reporting just isn’t my cup of tea.

Either way, there was one thing that I particularly loved about this class.  At the beginning of the semester the only experience I had with a camera was taking pictures of family and friends who were smiling, laughing and having a good time.  Throughout the semester I latched on to some of my photographer friends and picked their brains, trying to learn as much as possible in order to have good pictures for my slideshows.   By my last project, I really think I was able to take some decent pictures, and maybe eve a few good ones.

I have grown as journalist in many ways by taking Journalists’ Toolkit.  If anything, I have learned what I don’t like to do in the world of journalism and reporting.   I really enjoy the technical aspect of all of our projects - audio editing, working with Soundslides, creating the story package.  Of course I really loved editing the code and playing with the Fusion Charts, but what do you expect from a Web geek?

Overall, I was very satisfied with what I learned in this class.  In today’s market, every journalist needs to at least have the basic knowledge and skills that our class learned this semester.  I am confident that, after completing a semester in this class, I am better equipped to work as a journalist.

Deadly Roads: Multimedia story package

When I began thinking of topics for this audio slideshow and story package, pedestrian safety was not my first choice. But after studying the topic now for several weeks, conducting an emotional interview, and learning to take photos like I had never taken before, I am glad that this topic became mine.

My favorite part about this whole experience was learning new photography techniques. I think I took some of my best photos in this audio slideshow. Now, I can’t say that all of the photos are really great because, let’s be honest, people crossing the street are not that interesting. But, after constantly asking questions and bugging my coworker for several months now, I think I’ve finally got a good foundation for taking pretty decent photos.

The hardest part of this story was the interview. My interview subject was very close friends with the girl who was killed. It was really difficult to sit through such a heart-wrenching story, hearing it from the mouth of such a close friend only about two weeks after the accident. I had never done an interview on such an emotional topic before and it was really difficult to sit there and watch my interviewee go through so many emotions.

Overall, I enjoyed this project. I was challenged to find interesting pictures for a subject that is not extremely visual without being too gruesome. I was also challenged to extract a useful, interesting and emotional interview from a person who was closed off after being constantly berated by the media. But, I’m looking forward to my next challenge.

Data-driven journalism sites

The first time I ever saw Chicagocrime.org I was amazed at the simplicity of the idea, yet awed by the complexity of the information. Like Brittany, I thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Once I was introduced to the idea of data driven journalism sites I started noticing them more often. I wonder, though, why more newspapers don’t implement more data into their websites. We see charts, graphs, and statistics all over newspaper sites but I don’t think the newspapers have yet to use all of the data they collect on a daily basis for something on par with Chicagocrime.org. With the exception of the few examples shown in class, it’s hard for me to think of a really useful data-driven journalism site that I would use daily.

While browsing the Internet one day I came across Rotten Neighbor. This site, although not built by a journalist or media company, had a similar goal as Chicagocrime.org in that it sought to put useful data on a site where users could quickly access important information. Similarly, many police stations report sex offenders in local areas and make that information available online to the public.

The usefulness of the statistical information brought to light by many newspapers is profound, but does that mean that journalists also now have to become statisticians? No. In fact, most of this data is already out there waiting for someone to make it useful and easy to read. Or, like Rotten Neighbor, there is data waiting to be collected and reported by readers. I don’t think journalists need to know the ins and outs of statistical reporting, but I do think it is very useful for journalists to understand the importance and power of the numbers they report.

Widgets, chicklets, meters…

A few weeks ago I was introduced to the world of site meters, rss feeders and blog aggregators.  I hadn’t used any of these features on my blogs before, but use them almost daily through blogs that I read.  In fact, I have quite a long list of blog subscriptions in my Google Reader.  I enjoyed learning how these features work and what they can do to increase traffic and visibility of a blog.  I’ll be interested to see if they actually work like they are supposed to.  For the past few weeks I’ve been getting statistical reports on my blog traffic, and although my traffic has increased, it could just be a result of my classmates reading my blog.  It will be interesting to see whether or not traffic will continue after this class is over.

Soundslides 3: Deadly Roads

This was our last Soundslides of the semester and definitely the most difficult.  Being an issue story, the subject matter was much more sensitive than in previous assignments and it made it very difficult to find people to talk.  For some reason, maybe the holidays or end of the semester buzz, access was also much more difficult this time around.  Deadly Roads talks about pedestrian safety in Gainesville, Alachua County and Florida. This year, law student Catherine Barclift was hit by a car on her morning jog.  With all of the joggers and bicyclists in Gainesville, there is a major issue with pedestrian and bicyclist safety.  I was able to secure an interview with Barclift’s best friend and running buddy for this Soundslides.  A few minutes into the interview she started crying.  Luckily, i had the microphone on the couch, out of view, but running.  As I sat there listening to her cry, it was really difficult not to reach over and turn the microphone off.

I had two major struggles with this slideshow.  First, getting enough interesting audio to last nearly 2 minutes.  A lot of the interview was not usable because the interviewee spoke very quickly, got emotional, and even left the room once.  My other struggle was getting enough interesting and diverse shots to illustrate the issue.  After my 10th picture of feet and cars, the photos started to get really boring.  I had to step out of the box and try to make the same thing look different.  I think I was pretty successful, but it was absolutely my biggest struggle.

The Hidden Jewel: Gainesville Rock Gym

This week we were asked to put together a Soundslides slideshow of a place in Gainesville.  An old friend of mine, I remember, was an avid climber and used to practically lived at the Gainesville Rock Gym; I didn’t even know where it was located.  I decided to check it out and realized that there is this really cool community of people in this medium-sized college town.  I found out that the rock gym is not just a place to go on a fun date or something you try a few times - it’s a lifestyle.  After hanging out there for a few days I learned that those who climb, live for climbing.  They climb everything even when not at the gym; statues, onto roofs, fences, trees, you name it!  Creating this slideshow was a really cool experience and each time I make another one I learn new things.  I only had certain times when I could go to the gym so I ended up with cords all around my neck, microphone in one hand, camera in the other, bag on my shoulder, pen in my teeth.  I looked like a very strange Halloween costume.  In the end, it was a fun experience and there are a few things I would like to improve for the future including my audio gathering and editing skills.  I’m pleased to see that I’m making progress with my photography, but I’ll be the first to admit that this slideshow could probably use a more conclusive ending.  I’ll work on that for my next project.

Critique: Scooters on Campus

Scooters on Campus was the first Soundslides made by Kecia Johnson.  As a first attempt, I think she did a pretty good job.  In the beginning she had some trouble with the audio sounding like a chipmunk once it was uploaded into Soundslides, but after a few tricks, it works and you would never know that there were problems after listening to the final product.  Although this story is not a hard news story you would see on the front page of a newspaper, I think it tells a pretty good story of what it’s like to be a scooter owner and rider on the UF campus.  There are a few weak points in the story, but overall, I think I learned something.  The slideshow began with a scooter noise, which drew me in, but I would’ve liked to see a photo of a scooter with the noise.  I think the sound would have been more effective with a photo and it would have allowed me to associate the noise I was hearing with the picture of the scooter and realize more quickly that it wasn’t random traffic noise.

Although there was a clear beginning, I’m not sure I can say that there was a definitive ending.  The slideshow ended with a photo that didn’t mean much to me and that I had no connection to as a viewer.  The audio ended somewhat abruptly and didn’t feel conclusive.

This story was about 50% scooters and 50% profile.  The variety of photos made a great contribution to making this story not feel like a profile.  The audio interview contributed greatly to making it feel like a profile (unfortunately, the assignment called for one interviewee).  If Kecia was able to interview more people and include their voices it would have felt much more like a campus life story.

I would improve this story in two ways.  First, I would pay close attention to the framing of the photos.  There were a few times when wheels were cut off or limbs were cut in funny places.  Some of the pictures had very flat angles.  For instance, the photo of the parking sign fell short even though the photographer got low to the ground.  The angle didn’t quite work.  Also, many of the shots of people on their scooters were all profile shots and did not have dynamic angles.  Next, I would improve the captions by adding more information that the reader could not infer from the photos.

The thing I like best about this story is the very first slide.  When Grant’s voice comes on there is a really strong picture of him on his scooter and it really draws you in to hear what he has to say.  Overall, I thought she did a really great job for a first attempt.

Sound in the Story

This article by J. Carl Ganter and Eileen E. Ganter of The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a really great resource for storytelling through sound.  It gives great tips on interviewing, capturing audio, and storytelling.  It’s motto, “Don’t Tell Me. Show Me.” brought me to a better understanding of what “story-showing” is all about (no, that’s not a real word).  After completing my Soundslides 1 project, I went back and listened to it again after a few days of not hearing it.  Of course there were things I could’ve done better, but overall I didn’t think it was half bad for my first Soundslides.  I’m hoping with my current project that I’ll be able to learn from some of my mistakes and take in some of the advice and criticisms and put them to work.  I highly recommend anyone still struggling with audio storytelling to read this article. I hope it helps!

Soundslides 1: UF College of Law Moot Court

In the past few weeks I’ve been following around a UF law student in her third year. I had an assignment to report on a campus life activity and chose the UF Law Moot Court Team. The process of organizing, tryouts, and the Final Four competition was several weeks long. I followed third year law student, Giselle Mammana, throughout these weeks in order to discover what Moot Court was all about. In the end, I interviewed Mammana about the Final Four competition, which is the culmination of the semester’s work. I took photos of the tryout process, daily life as a Moot Court Member, and the final competition. At the competition, five Florida Supreme Court justices and judges came to listen to a mock trial with oral arguments presented by the top 4 Moot court members.

I learned a lot about photography during this assignment. I shot hundreds of photos in order to get 20 good pictures that really told the story of life on Moot Court. I’m excited to have already started my next assignment and am facing all new challenges in order to tell the story of a place (I’ll reveal where in a later post).

Ethics concerning journalists and citizens

Kobre discusses the difference between acting as a citizen and acting as a journalist. One great example of this is the journalist who captured some of the first shots of 9/11. James Nachtwey lived close to the World Trade Center towers and was able to shoot some pictures from his rooftop. Although he was not on the clock for a publication at the time, he knew that this was an important event to be captured. The other side of this is citizens acting as journalists in the digital age. With advancements in cell phone cameras, witnesses are acting as journalists and becoming a primary source of breaking news footage. One of the most prominent examples of this happened in April with the Virginia Tech shooting.

I wonder where the line is. Where do journalists end and citizens begin? What are the standards for journalism now that essentially anyone can report news? There are major ethical questions that come into play when citizens who are not trained journalists begin gathering and dispersing information. The system of checks and balances may be skewed in the eyes of untrained journalists. Does this contribute to or detract from the credibility of information from once trusted sources?