“Generation Y” Logs On, Tunes Out

The latest DIY tips, celebrity gossip and newest apps are available literally at the fingertips of smart phone users. This is a generation where social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have become the source of news for current events both domestic and international. In technology-infused environments from the classroom to the workplace where accessing information is easier than ever, many Americans still are tuning out important information in the media.

Americans now pay less attention to international affairs and consume less foreign news. Domestic news continues to dominate new American media. According to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 59 percent of Americans say they regularly watch the local news in their area. This has decreased significantly from the more than three-quarters of American who regularly watched local news in the early 1990s, but is largely unchanged from 2000.

“Our generation is so used to getting things instantly, everything is available in one click, and I think that makes us less interested in taking time to read and digest a traditional news story when we can get the gist in a 140-character tweet instead,” said Karah Finan, an OU junior studying journalism and political science.

Scripps Alumna Shares Tips for Time Management

When it comes to being successful, time management is a key component.  Jill Del Greco, an OU Scripps alumna, is an expert at time management and meeting pressure deadlines everyday at her job.

She has been working at the WHIO news station in Dayton as the crime and courts reporter for the past five years.  The members of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) skyped with Del Greco this past Wednesday evening to get an idea of what deadline reporting is all about.

As Del Greco began to describe an average 10-hour shift at the newsroom, many RTDNA students were in awe of all she manages to get done.  She even jokes that when she wakes up in the morning she “gets ready in front of my computer.”  She is constantly checking on the news beats and following up on old stories as well.

Scripps Student Spotlight

OU broadcast student Ryan Boyd talks about his JSchool experience

It’s been written that everyone has a story. In each Inc issue, a reporter will interview and profile a J-school student, asking him or her about extracurricular involvement, past experience, and future plans.

Name: Ryan Boyd

Year: Sophomore

Sequence: News and Info Gathering (Broadcast Journalism)

Q: What programs or organizations are you involved in here at Ohio University?

A: I am an anchor for “Ohio Sports Zone” with AVW Productions. Another AVW production show I’m on is “life and adams.” I am the color commentator and writer for Ohio Hockey. Something I have that doesn’t necessarily count for Athens but for my career is I write for an NHL website called ice insiders.

Q: In your opinion, how does being involved benefit not only you as a student, but for you future career as well.

A: “Being involved is important because it gives you opportunities that classes can’t give you. I know classes are important but there are so many general requirements and classes like that, that truthfully don’t do a lot for your major. So I have the opportunity to work with other people who are interested in the same things and I get to learn first-hand how to be on TV, be on the radio those types of things; not only does it better my experience here for classes I’m going to be taking in the future but it also benefits me for the future because it’s what I plan on to be doing for the rest of my life.”

The Face of the JSchool

Scripps ambassadors ‘give back’ to their school

E.W. Scripps 2010-2011 ambassadors pose outside Scripps Hall last fall.

Have you ever wondered what to study or how to prepare yourself in college? Some say that asking college professors or family members can give you the right tools, but sometimes speaking to an E.W. Scripps School of Journalism student ambassador will do the trick. The ambassadors give a student’s perspective of what college life is like and are more than willing to offer advice.

This year, there are 22 JSchool ambassadors. Their majors range from magazine journalism to broadcast and news media, and some even chose a Carr Van Anda degree. No matter your journalism interest, there is an ambassador for you.

Column: Networking with a Washington, D.C. Flavor

Inc. co-editor Emma Morehart deserts “networking,” makes friends instead

Networking. Say it aloud. Taste it, really savor it. I’ll wait.

I know, you’re probably as sick of that word as I was. I used to think it tasted kind of bitter like the pink nail polish I stubbornly bit off my nails during my self-proclaimed tomboy childhood.

Networking. We journalists love it because it pads our resumes and, let’s be honest, we’re generally good at it. But we also hate networking because it feels fake and overrated. Our clips should speak for themselves, right? We’re the watchdogs. We’re the good guys! No brown-nosers need apply.

While waiting to cross the busy street in Georgetown, Morehart poses for a photo taken by her best friend and Inc. co-editor, Graylyn Roose.

Networking, networking, networking – let’s just get comfortable with it now – networking. All of the professors, alumni and guest speakers who told you to network were right (like how my mom was right about the gross nail biting habit).

A few weeks ago, I returned from an internship in Washington, D.C. I worked for the Office of Public Affairs, the communications arm of the Administrative office of the U.S. Courts. Months before, with law school in my future, I sought out internships that combined journalism and law. I had a chat with Tom Hodson, a Scripps alum and professor, who insisted I contact Richard Carelli, the Senior Public Affairs Specialist who later became my boss. After working for the Associated Press, getting his law degree, and taking a job with the courts, Carelli became one of E.W Scripps School of Journalism’s Distinguished Alumni.

For three months, I lived in D.C. with Kevin Zieber, a Scripps journalism grad, and Ryan Ford, another Scripps college alum. By the end of the internship, I had made more new Bobcat friends in D.C., many of them former Scripps kids, than I would have if I had stayed on campus for fall quarter. And I emphasize the word “friends.”

Free Press brings media awareness to Scripps

Sarah Grothjan, Contributing Writer

Free Press CEO Craig Aaron discusses the future of public media.

Last Thursday, Ohio University students and faculty filled the seats of Baker University Theatre to discuss the future of public media and the quality of journalism.

Craig Aaron, CEO and founder of Free Press, a nonprofit organization working to reform the media, led the discussion.

Free Press launched in 2002 as a nonprofit and relies solely on support from its members to continue running.

“We started Free Press, as some of you know, because we believe in real change on any issue that matters,” Aaron said. “It is impossible (to promote change) if we don’t discuss these media issues.”

The change Aaron referred to is the reversal of various media platforms operating under the ownership of only a few corporations.

Free Press works to ‘promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, quality journalism and universal access to communications,” according to freepress.net.

“Democracy requires journalism. We can’t have journalism without democracy,” Aaron said. “But also, journalism requires democracy.”

Aaron said the current media crisis will actually determine whether democracy in the U.S. continues to flourish.

He presented multiple clips from several different news outlets to show just how many stations utilize the same anchors and even the same newscasts. He emphasized the point that the need for independent news stations is more critical than ever.

“Change comes from mobilizing the public at critical junctures, and we’re at one of those junctures right now,” Aaron said.

And while Aaron said he believes the current public media system is one of the best solutions to filling the gaps left by commercial journalism and the mainstream media, inadequate funding is slowing its progress.

Only one dollar is currently spent per capita on public media, ranking the U.S. as one of the lowest funded public media systems, Aaron said.

A public media trust fund bringing money from small device taxes or even regular auctions is one solution to the meager funding efforts, Aaron said.

“The money is already out there, we’re just spending it on other things,” Aaron said. “What’s missing is the public will.”

JSchool Students to Embark on African Adventure

Holly Moody, Reporter

From the familiar bricks of Athens, Ohio to the plains of Zambia in South Africa seventeen journalism students are in for a change of scenery over the upcoming holiday break.

Students will take flight the day after their Thanksgiving feasts to embark on Scripps’ new study abroad program, Zambia: Media, Society and Governance. This is the first year Scripps has offered this program thanks to the efforts of Dr. Kalyango, Director for the program and the Institute for International Journalism at Ohio University.

“Zambia: Media, Society and Governance” participants. PROVIDED.

“I went over and set up the program on the ground in Zambia, ” said Kalyango.

After making the proper arrangements, building a curriculum and proposing the program to the University, the trip was approved.

The program is to be offered in the future with slight scheduling changes due to the switch to semesters.

In addition, to taking J466 International Mass Media, students will also be taking one specialized course through the program to learn more about media and government operations in Zambia.

“We have lectures like [every] other class, but every session we will have a guest speaker where they will hear from various policy makers and advocates,” said Kalyango.

Students will also intern and volunteer with various media organizations and work on putting together a documentary that will be showcased during winter quarter.

Whether this is their first time traveling overseas or they’re frequent flyers, participants are eager to build themselves as journalists in foreign territory.

“I had thought about going to Africa ever since I came to college,” Adam Flango, senior magazine journalism major, said.

Flango applied for the program and was accepted over Memorial Day weekend, as were other admitted applicants. Since then, Dr. Kalyango has been preparing the group for what they are going to experience during their weekly orientation sessions.

“We’ve been immersing ourselves in learning the ins and outs of the culture,”said Flango.

For example, the group was informed that they are not allowed to use their left hand for anything while in Zambia because it is a sign of disrespect.

Despite the cultural adjustments they will have to make, students are looking forward to a variety of rewarding experiences during their stay.

“I am looking forward to working with the non-profit organizations,” Danielle Parker, a junior public relations major, said.

Participants of all majors will have something to take part in on the trip that is geared toward their major sequence.

For example, public relations majors will be working on campaigns with different organizations, broadcast majors will work on editing and shooting the documentary, and every participant will have a say in the stories that will be shown in the documentary.

“Everyone will have the ability to do what they do best,” Flango said.

This cross-cultural learning experience will be a cornerstone in the students’ careers as journalists.

“A journalist with the most perspective and the most knowledge is the best journalist,” Parker said.

 

Carr Van Anda winner shares passion for local news

Kayla Hanley, Reporter

Ever wondered who was number one on the Klu Klux Klan hit list? Well as it turns out, renowned publisher H. Brandt Ayers was after covering the March of Washington for his community newspaper, the Anniston Star.

Last Monday Ayers was awarded the 72^nd Carr Van Anda award, which was established in 1968, by the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and is the highest journalism award the school gives.

Ayers is the current chairman and publisher of the Anniston Star, which serves as the site for news in all of east central Alabama. Ayers also has a current column with the newspaper titled “The news stops here.”

H. Brandt Ayers (left) receives Carr Van Anda award.

“I was born into [the business] and I just didn’t have the skill to be a drummer in a rock band.” Ayers said.

Ayer’s grandfather was the first publisher for the Anniston Star who passed the position of owning the paper on to his son who then passed it on to H. Brandt Ayers.

The Anniston Star is a community paper that Ayers said he holds very true to his heart.

“Local stories are the lifeblood of a community. Caring about everything in the community has the same impact with the publishers, as with the citizens,” he said. “There is no passion in the writing of a New York Times writer compared to a writer of a community newspaper.”

Throughout his years of writing, editing, and publishing for the Anniston Star, the one memory Ayers said impacted him most was when the newspaper published an article about a white man being convicted of murdering a black man, by an all-white jury. The trial was called the Night Rider Murder in which Ayers said a “white KKK thug was convicted of murdering a black man,”  and every person on the jury allowed for their names to be published on the front page of the paper to show that the murder was not right.

Ayers said this was a turning point for the Anniston Star because it showed their community that they were going to do everything to publish their opinions and what they believed was right.

“In community newspapers nobody is afraid of giving their opinion. We try to be fair, and we dig through to cover, or uncover, stories in and so our community believes in it,” Ayers said.

Ayers has a very strong passion for local and community news and believes that there should be a community newspaper in every town.

With regard to the changing field of journalism and the future of print news Ayers said, “We at the Anniston Star are the centripetal force pulling everyone to the center, yet the field of journalism is in trouble.”

However, Ayer has hope for the future of journalism and local news.

“Are we going to survive? I think we have to,” he said. “The news is the only connection our readers have connecting them to what’s going on in the world around them. I am absolutely convinced that until the repeal of human nature there will be a need for us.”

 

Resumes are InDesign

Kenneth McNulty, Reporter

On Tuesday, September 27 ,the Society of Professional Journalists will be hosting an InDesign workshop from 5-7 pm in the 002 Mac lab of Scripps Hall.

Sarah Grothjan, Publicity Chair for SPJ organized the event to help out journalism students who may not know what InDesign is or how to use it.

“We felt that it was important that people could get skill sets at these meetings that they can’t necessarily get in the classroom unless they take courses within the school of visual communication,” said Grothjan.

Grothjan said she wanted to hold this workshop to help journalism students of all fields.

InDesign is an ever-growing tool in the journalistic field and Grothjan sees the program as vital for students to be comfortable with early on.

Grothjan will be teaching students how to use InDesign and will specifically go through how to make a resume using the program. She wants the students to not only be able to use InDesign comfortably after the session, but also to come out with something to prove what they have learned.

President of SPJ, Taylor Mirfendereski said,  “We just wanted to benefit our members however possible, so it was kind of like a two birds with one stone kind of deal.”

Mirfendereski sees these events as a very beneficial force in helping students get a more in depth overview of the software, which are skills they may not be able to fully encompass during their classes.

“Really whatever programs our members are eager to learn, we will find a way to make it happen,” said Mirfendereski.

SPJ encourages students who may need help with learning the mechanics of the InDesign software, or just want a head start on their resume design, to come to Scripps 002 this Tuesday and leave with the skills and materials desired.

 

Newcomers flock first SPJ meeting

Amy Worrell, Contributing Writer

Last Tuesday journalism students of all sequences gathered in Scripps 111 for the first SPJ meeting of the year.

The meeting began with a Powerpoint presentation by President Taylor Mirfendereski who explained what the Society of Professional Journalists is.

SPJ, a national journalism organization, awarded the Ohio University SPJ chapter the 2009-2010 National Chapter of the Year award.

Each week, SPJ hosts a variety of workshops and speakers who are knowledgeable about the industry.  Mirfendereski informed the newcomers of the many networking and leadership opportunities the organization provides year after year.

Mirfendereski also encouraged members to make suggestions on how to improve SPJ.

“We will do anything to make sure you’re getting out of it what you want,” she said.

Hallie Rawlinson, a freshman attendee who heard about SPJ at the involvement fair, said she thought the networking possibilities were intriguing.  Getting an early start on being involved was important to her, she said.

After the presentation, the executive board introduced themselves and described their positions.  All members stressed the importance of becoming involved within SPJ and encouraged everyone to consider running for positions.

The board also informed attendees of how SPJ provides opportunities for freshmen to become noticed right away through the freshman liaison position, which allows the student to act as a member of the executive board by helping the board with decision making and programming ideas.

Another major theme of the meeting was how members are able to use SPJ as a launching pad to other activities on campus that involve journalism.

“It’s easy to be involved in other publications because SPJ isn’t a publication,” said Mirfendereski.

Next Tuesday SPJ will host an internship panel that will discuss information about how to apply for internships, what types of internships are available, and descriptions of various internships.

SPJ meets every Tuesday in Scripps 111 at 5 p.m.