A New Brand of Journalism

SPJ workshop teaches young journalists the importance of online branding

Grothjan demonstrates the basics of coding.

The age of journalism has gone digital. At least according to Ohio University student Sarah Grothjan, who indicates that students must find a way to brand themselves online, or they take the risk of going unnoticed.

Grothjan, a junior Carr Van Anda major and Society of Professional Journalists’ publicity chair, led an SPJ workshop Monday highlighting the importance of creating an online personal presence.

“Everyone should at least buy their own domain,” Grothjan advises. “Even if they don’t use it right now, they’ll want access to it in the future, if only for SEO [Search Engine Optimization] purposes.”

Her audience, a mixture of JSchool students from different sequences, listened intently as Grothjan guided them through the steps of creating a web page, designing the format and eventually getting it published.

Opportunity for Excellence

Students invited to submit media work

The Ohio University chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has been given the opportunity to submit entries to the Mark of Excellence awards free of charge. Each student who is an SPJ member can submit two entries of their work and they will be reimbursed by the JSchool for the entry fee.

The Mark of Excellence awards are given annually by SPJ’s national chapter to honor the best in student journalism. The awards offer categories for print, radio, television and online collegiate media. Entries are first judged at the regional level. Next, first place regional winners advance to the national competition and are recognized at the SPJ spring conferences.

Mark of Excellence submissions are due January 25, by midnight. This is the first year that the JSchool is paying these fees. OU SPJ President Taylor Mirfendereski brought this to attention.

“Every year we never have a turnout of entries like we should with how nationally known our program is,” said Mirfendereski. “SPJ always has winners every year and we understand that money is an issue for college students. So by being allowed to have two entries paid for, students are given a tangible benefit.”

A Lot of Work Earns a Little Play

Nicole Spears, Reporter

Everyone’s favorite things about kindergarten were learning their ABC’s, counting to 100, and drilling addition fact cards—right? I think not. For those of us who enjoyed the elementary school days, it was most likely the friends we met in class. We lived for recess, craft time, and the occasional field trip to the local petting zoo, because that was when we could socialize and be ourselves. Now, a decade and a half later, many of us feel the pressure to grow out of our child-like states and into more professional versions of ourselves.

One way that Scripps students gain this reputability in their field is by partaking in one of the many organizations offered on campus. Though students get down to a lot of hard work through these groups, there’s some fun to be had when the job is done. These social events let us revert to that kindergarten state of mind, showing our true colors and making new friends. The fun and friends made by becoming involved on campus is just another part of what makes college some of the best years of our lives.

What does your organization do for fun?

ACRN | All Campus Radio Network
“One of the first events we have this spring is our exec retreat, a chance to get together with the other executives in the department and the assistants and just celebrate the year so far. In mid-May, we usually have our $2 Prom dance party, which is a party at The Union where people dress up and we have a theme and Prom pictures. LobsterFest, our end of the year music fest, is also a social. It’s an incredibly involved event we put on for the community and the student body. It’s really another celebration for us to get to relax before the end of the school year, and we have our end of the year barbecue the next day.”
    Jacob Derr, ACRN General Manager

NCASC | National Communication Association Student Club
“NCASC has scheduled an array of events for Spring Quarter fun. At our meeting tonight, we prepared Easter baskets for professors. We will be having a litter pick up with our organization on campus, and we are planning to have a cookout on South Green.”
Hanna Menius, NCASC President

ImPRessions
“With ImPRessions, people can come into meetings and get really focused on the work itself, so it’s important for us to remind them to get to know people and socialize. Once a quarter, we have a big all-firm meeting, so that all our account members can come together and share the work they are doing with other members. We keep the tone fun and informal, and include silly awards or games to get the group chatting. Aside from professional benefits, many of my best friends in college are students who I met via ImPRessions.”
Devin Hughes, ImPRessions President

RTDNA | Radio Television Digital News Association
“RTDNA heavily emphasizes professional development, but we also like to have fun! In the past, we’ve played with dogs at the Athens County Dog Shelter,  held movie and ice-cream socials, and bonded over pizza at Courtside’s slice night. Because the weather is starting to get nice, we’re going to have a cookout at Strouds Run in a few weeks! We realize the importance of bonding with fellow student journalists on a personal level because we’ll likely be working in the same newsroom someday.”
Taylor Mirfendereski, RTDNA President

SPD | Society of Page Designers
“As a group of designers, SPD tries to think outside the box when it comes to springtime socials. We try to promote a positive image for our group with alcohol-free get togethers. This spring, we are planning to have a cookout at Stroud’s Run. Besides socials, SPD takes an annual trip to Columbus to visit The Columbus Dispatch and SBC Advertising.”
Marianne Simmons, SPD Secretary

SPJ | Society of Professional Journalists
“This quarter SPJ is planning a few socials to contribute to the spring quarter atmosphere and to thank our members for another great year in SPJ! We are showing ‘Morning Glory’ in the Scripps Amphitheater to members, journalism students or anyone who wants to join. We are also looking into having a social to finish out the quarter on a fun and positive note. We appreciate our members and want to provide a fun atmosphere to get together, talk, eat and say goodbye for the summer!”
Gina Mussio, SPJ Secretary

OUMS | Ohio University Multimedia Society
“We try to do at least one social event per quarter to get to know one another in a more casual setting. Last quarter we were able to have our website launch party at The Pigskin, and this quarter we are planning to have a cookout or potluck dinner. Major social events also include our trips to Chicago and New York City. Sometimes the best kind of bonding for an organization is experienced outside of Athens, Ohio.”
Annette Drapac, OUMS President

OU Advertising Association
“Advertising majors definitely have the most fun, so it’s not hard for us to get together and have a good time. In the spring we celebrate our Transitions social, a social celebrating the elections of new executive board members. We also have an annual Cinco de Mayo social, which also serves as a senior-send-off. Another tradition is the annual kickball game against PRSSA. We also go out after weekly meetings to Courtside’s Slice Night sometimes to get to know each other outside of the meetings. Having socials outside of meetings is a way to get to know the other members in a fun atmosphere. You definitely get to know them better than you would at the meetings.”
Stephanie Cesear, Ad Club Vice President

Research is a vital element to a story. Anyone in the journalism field would agree, but with the accessibility of public documents and places changing, a struggle to gather the proper information is emerging.

Ohio’s Open Records and Open Meetings laws, commonly known as the “Sunshine Laws,” define a public record as “any item that is kept by a public office that: (1) is stored on a fixed medium, (2) created, received, or sent under the jurisdiction of a public office and (3) documents the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of the office.”

In other words, the document must actually be used in the office’s operations, or it is not considered a public record.

The exceptions to a record being in the public domain are more clearly defined and include numerous documents. According to sec- tion 149.43, medical records, probation and parole proceedings, and adoption proceedings are a few of the many documents protected by privacy laws.

So what does this mean for journalists? Ohio University Professor Mark Tatge, with 30 years of industry experience and 3 1/2 years of teaching in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, offers some concrete examples of what is happening with the accessibility of public documents.

“You used to be able to look up the driver’s license number of anyone, if you had their birth date and their name,” Tatge said. “You can no longer get these records. Those records are all walled off.”

The issue of privacy is the main defense in restricting access to public documents.

“There’s been a concerted effort, not just in Ohio but nationally, to remove things that were in the public domain and make them private,” Tatge said.

In addition to laws restricting access to public documents, rules determining how the documents are issued and stored pose an en- tirely different concern.

“There’s a tilting of the balance of power between business and government,” Tatge said. “Businesses have been given the right to basically sell the information that was previously in paper form.”

In addition to the shift in power of handling public documents, more questions have arisen as a result of the advancements in technology and the ways to share and store information.

“There’s been a trend toward walling off things that were once public, on the privacy grounds; yet, in other areas, privacy is eroding quite rapidly when we go to the Internet, in terms of cookies, and the information collected on people that’s stored and processed,” Tatge said. “There are a lot of contradictions.”

On a local scale, OU has faced its own difficulty in defining a public document. Tatge said the university has not been very coopera- tive with opening information to the public. He further stated that OU does not have a clear definition as to what a public record actu- ally is. “They have a very mixed record here,” Tatge said.

Media students face similar situations with the university.

Patrick Henderson, a senior majoring in broadcast journalism, said in an e-mail that he and fellow WOUB students have encountered problems with entering public buildings to tape a story.

The main buildings on campus where students have encountered opposition include Baker University Center, Ping Recreation Center, Alden Library and numerous residence and dining halls, Henderson said.

“University Communications and Marketing has essentially made up new rules over the past two years to try and limit camera access to these buildings,” Henderson said.

The reasoning behind limiting media access varies by building.

Henderson cited an incident in Ping that involved someone taking pictures of women in their workout gear for pleasure. The incident resulted in stricter rules including permission from the center to use video or camera equipment in the building. Henderson added that Alden Library claims allowing media access disturbs the environment, while Baker University Center is another matter entirely.

“The key thing (in Baker) is that they have only enforced the new regulation when it has to do with a topic they don’t want to be covered, and when it is a topic that puts the university in a positive light, they don’t typically intervene,” Henderson said. “This kind of enforcement is typically seen in Baker Center and not the other locations.”

To continue the fight for access to public arenas like Baker, Alden and Ping, a designated week known as Sunshine Week will take place March 13 through March 19.

According to the organization’s website, Sunshine Week is “a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.”

Henderson plans to attend the 2011 Ohio Sunshine Summit at OU, hosted by the Society of Professional Journalists and taking place on Feb. 26.

“It should be a really good experience for the students who are coming and it will be a great forum for the exchange of ideas about freedom of information,” Henderson said.

 

Innovative thinking and student initiative come together to form Ohio University Media Business Association, a new addition to the portfolio of organizations inthe E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Co-founders Emma Morehart, a junior studying magazine journalism, and Brian Grady, a freshman pursuing the broadcast sequence, have developed a fresh idea for a JSchool group, and they are nowworking to close the gap between thinking and doing.

OUMBA is an entrepreneurial-focused group with a current interest in new media.This organization broadly defines media in order to foster new ways of thinking about the possibilities it can offer. Morehart and Grady are currently workingwith advisor Tom Hodson, former director of Scripps, to bring their inspiration tolife. Committed to their goal of innovative thinking, they welcome students with avariety of majors to their meetings, which are held Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in Scripps114.

A combination of in-class and true-to-life experiences brought Grady and Moreharttogether to create this organization, which extends further into Catalyst, anincubator that develops project ideas for members of OUMBA. Both students agreethat other peers have many great ideas, but they can’t be put into action without some guidance on how to make them a reality.

“The school offers opportunities for new media,” Grady said, “but we don’t have the tools to make them happen.”

Professionals often advise student journalists to take the steps necessary to get ahead of the game, but in this case, it’s much easier said than done. With the right resources, like those that will be available through OUMBA, it will be much easier to practice this outside of the classroom.

Grady has real-world experience to place this idea in motion as well.

“Last year I tried starting a business. It didn’t work out. Getting the team executed and organized was tough,” Grady said.

This adventure helped Grady see the need for such an organization as OUMBA within Scripps. A lack of business knowledge and experience quiets many students’inspirations, and with good reason, since there is a large amount to learn in this area.

Although this concept is new to our university, many other schools have already established a similar type of group.

Louisiana State University has developed a small business incubator within their School of Business. Kent State University, renowned for its business school, has a similar mission for its Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation.However, OUMBA stands apart from such competitors being that it is organized by undergraduate students.

The co-founders hold big ambitions for the future of OUMBA. However, they realize this is not a short-term goal. For now, they set out to offer all the help theycan to students with an entrepreneurial aspiration.

“We plan to gather resources as an incubator in order to make people’s ideas happen,” Grady said. “This is an initiative that OU as a whole has been trying to establish.”

Morehart is excited about their future plans of running the group like a business in itself.

“We’re starting this as a media-based thing, but in the future, if the businessschool wants to try this, we’ll go for it,” Morehart said.

In a few years, she hopes to see OUMBA with its own resources, including office space and technology, needed to maximize its potential. The biggest constraints they currently face include collecting money and developing personal business knowledge needed to move forward with this concept.

Being surrounded by motivated students like Grady and Morehart is one of the many priceless contributions given to Scripps students. With such great aspirations,the future of OUMBA is sure to be filled with growth and a remarkable outcome.

It’s one of those nights again. The female voice over the loudspeaker at Alden has already demanded that we relocate our weary study group to the second floor. I’m not sure exactly how long we’ve been here, but we’re on coffee number three and bathroom break number five.

As my fellow study buddies continue their schoolwork and try not to fall victim to Facebook’s temptations, I continue to stare at my blank Microsoft Word document. The blinking line is mocking me. I have only a couple hours remaining to write an article, and I’m having a hard time searching for the right words because they can’t just be any words. They have to be the words. The words that entice our audiences. The words that inform our public. The words that bring people the truth.

Sounds like plenty of pressure to put on just rearranging 26 letters repeatedly, right? Why do you think we like coffee so much? As journalists, we strive to deliver cutting-edge stories and to always be on top of our game and deadlines. However, that’s becoming increasingly more difficult to accomplish as the journalism world grows more and more competitive. Because Scripps is one of top journalism schools in the country, it can be overwhelming and intimidating when surrounded by some of the brightest students to step foot into the field. So how do we journalism students relieve the pressure and set ourselves apart from the competition?

That’s exactly what I’ve been asking myself for several weeks. I’m currently in the “I have no idea where I’m going” phase, and I need to do x, y and z to get a career. I stress about landing internships, building connections, joining the correct organizations and achieving the best grades. Although graduation is still years away, these thoughts cross my mind– as well as everyone else’s, I’m sure — constantly. It’s hard to imagine getting real jobs and difficult to think about the time when we have more expenses to cover than just cell phone bills and bar tabs.

It doesn’t help that we’re being constantly reminded that our current economy is in a worse condition that it has been in years. It feels like I’m being bombarded with unemployment statistics everywhere I turn. With the unemployment rate so high, it’s even more crucial that I stand out and beat the next guy.

So with all these demands placed on our young adult lives, how do we students survive our college years and those after?  The best advice I was ever given was simply one word: breathe.

I’m hereby promising myself that although it seems like preparing the journalism world is too intense, there’s absolutely nothing we can’t handle.

Why? Because we’re Scripps warriors and we were bred for success. It’s time to turn a new leaf and leave the stress behind. I have three simple strategies to this game plan.

Firstly, it’s important to remain positive, focused and open-minded. I’m going to embrace more new challenges than Danny Tanner embraces people in an entire season of Full House.

For instance, if anyone has ever taken Professor Tatge’s Information Gathering class, then you know it’s challenging. After receiving grades for our first assignment, I think the entire classroom’s jaw collectively dropped. However, this is one of the most interesting classes as well as professor that I have yet to take. As Holly Colleta, a sophomore in the magazine sequence, said, “If you survive, you’ll come out a better person.” That’s the goal, isn’t it? So welcome, challenge!

Secondly, I pledge to be a knowledge-absorbing, experience-sucking sponge. I have so many brilliant professors and peers surrounding me that it’s impossible not to learn from them. I admire my fellow Scripps warriors mostly for their burning curiosity and desire to learn.

Finally, and most importantly, I’ll remember to breathe not only for my physical well-being (obviously), but for my sanity. After all, I take certain measures to prepare for the future, but nothing is ever certain. As the cheesy, elementary school statement reminds us, all we can do is try our best. We’re Scripps warriors and will do anything to achieve our dreams, even if that means chuckling at sleep and gazing at blank, white documents for a while.

Varied experience key to choosing JSchool track

Column • Alex Felser

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Do I want to follow the JSchool sequence of News Writing & Editing, Online Journalism or possibly Magazine Journalism? What about Broadcast Journalism?

How am I supposed to decide?

Thankfully, being a freshman, I will not have the challenge of selecting a specific type of news sequence to follow.  With The JSchool switching from seven sequences to two tracks, I will now be able to pick between a Strategic Communication Track and a News and Information Track.

However, I will still be presented with the tough decisions of what classes to take within a broad major, which is why I’ve become involved within the school to try to explore a bit.

Yes, I like news. So I ask myself these questions: What kind of news? Do I have the face for radio or the face for TV?  Do I perform well in front of a camera or should I stick to writing news straight from Microsoft Word?  Are my writing skills better than my speaking skills?

Luckily, Scripps has so much to offer I can try it all, even as a freshman.

It is not a lie that college is a time for changes, and it’s true that one can completely change his or her persona when trying to decide what to study.

Being more of a “slacker” in high school, I had no idea that nine weeks into my freshman year, I would already be involved in five different organizations.  From writing for The Post to trying out my radio voice on WOUB, I’m slowly learning all aspects of media.

It honestly never hit me how involved I was in the school until I was asked by a fellow student to do a video interview after she heard from friends that I was a highly active freshman. (You can find the interview on YouTube if you’re really that bored).

I had to ask myself, ‘Am I really so involved that someone wants to interview me about it?’

Then I looked at my phone calendar to see that I have meetings every week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, all for different organizations.

I’m still in my first quarter of college, but with everything I’ve done, I feel like I’ve been here for years.  The most rewarding aspect of college organizations is that you aren’t treated as a freshman when you start out.  Everyone gives you the same level of respect and opportunities as everyone else, while mentoring you along the way.

I took the advice of upperclassmen and signed up for plenty of organizations, and it’s hard to describe how much more confident I feel in the J-School.

Although I am still undecided regarding the type of journalism I want to study, I am, as many alumni like to say, “getting my feet wet” in many areas.

As a freshman, I don’t feel like I have to limit myself by scheduling classes only on a certain path but can take classes ranging from video broadcasting to news writing, giving me experience for anything I may need when I begin looking for internships and jobs.

Yes, my schedule may be hectic, but I still go to these meetings and plan on doing so until I can ultimately decide what I want to do — and, who knows, maybe next quarter I’ll try out a completely new organization.

So, my advice if you’re still undecided in Scripps: Do what I’m doing.  We all get those e-mails constantly from Debra DePeel telling us about a meeting here and there. Be adventurous one day, pick one that sounds interesting and go.  What is one hour out of your night?  You’re going to be here for four years anyway.

 

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