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.”

SPJ talks repercussions of defunding news outlets

Story // Mat Roberts, Reporter

On Tuesday, April 19th, SPJ hosted another spectacular event on current events and media connections across the entire Appalachia region. The event was organized by Ohio University’s Society of Professional Journalists’ Ian Bowman-Henderson and Graylyn Roose. SPJ welcomed Jeannie Jeffers, director of WOUB development and communications, to speak on effects of media coverage in Athens and in rural areas across the country.

“Most people in the country’s larger rural areas have minimum access to media coverage and can only get Public Radio and TV,” Roose said.  Last month, Republican Doug Lamborn sponsored a proposal that passed in the House to prevent federal funds from going to National Public Radio. The Washington Post reports that the bill will ban any federal money from going to NPR, which receives $5 million in annual funds. NPR supports roughly 600 member stations that this bill will now prevent from using federal funds to purchase programming and to pay station dues.

“Our primary goal of this event was to raise awareness about the defunding of NPR and to recognize it turning public to private,” Roose said. “As a strong supporter of public radio, it’s important for citizens and reporting journalists to see that people living in rural areas will suffer from this defunding because now they have a significantly less amount of information availability.”

The cut has been locally damaging to Athens’ WOUB, which has had several funding cuts over the past few years making it difficult to manage. Roose later stated, “We want to show that NPR has very well educated people and they deserve support as a worldwide distributor of public radio news.”

This Tuesday at 5 P.M, SPJ will open the doors for a chapter segment on using personal computer programs to better enhance reporting skills. The event will show how to gather stats and facts from these unique techniques to better journalism reporting.

“The event should be very useful on learning how to use current databases to improve the depth of your interviews and using many programs to create your own statistics for stories,” said OUSPJ’s President, Jamie Raterman. Led by an all-star Scripps connected cast including Kevin Viever, Aimee Edmonson, and Lawan Williams, SPJ will look to bring Ohio University’s aspiring journalists an edge at harder reporting by finding their own facts on programs that aren’t usually used for the journalist profession.

Graylyn Roose commented, “The meeting will be very useful to student journalists because it can give them more knowledge on reporting and greater technology intelligence.”

Journalism particularly isn’t a profession that uses computer programs to improve reporting, which is why this event is a must see. “This event will bring focus to programs like Excel and how to complete in depth Google searches for a stronger story,” Ratermann said.

If you are interested in learning a few tricks to create better stories, stop by Scripps 111.

‘Worst weatherman’ serves as example to broadcast students

Story // Raquel Harrah, Reporter

Splashed across YouTube and even popular cable network shows like Tosh.0, the world’s worst weatherman from Ohio University can be humorously embarrassing for anyone to watch, but especially traumatic for broadcast journalists who see their greatest fear played out before their eyes.

The pressure of blinking lights, yelling producers and a large camera pointing in your face can evoke panic in the hearts of anyone. Broadcast journalists have to live with the battle between nerves and a successful show every time they go to work, and according to some reporters like Cleveland WKYC reporter Maureen Kyle, it doesn’t really get easier.

While a smoothly running show elicits no response from audiences, one slight flub or mess-up can cause a stir worthy of millions of YouTube hits, a shattered ego and quite possibly, the end of a broadcast career.

Things can turn sour rather quickly, even with people that have been trained to deal with the cameras. Miss Teen South Carolina made an impact at the 2007 Miss Teen USA Pageant when she froze in front of cameras and delivered a nonsensical answer filled with more than enough “and such as.”

To spare future Ohio University alumni from embarrassment, here is a simple run-down of common mistakes and how to handle on-air flubs.

The “deer-in-the-headlights”: This is more of a rookie mistake. Suddenly the lights and cameras cause a reporter to go from calm and prepared to a stage of shear panic. Most people can be sympathetic to this since it happens to most anchors or reporters when they first begin. This can happen when a projector suddenly goes out, leaving no words to read. Taking preemptive measures like reading through and trying to memorize the script can help to avoid this situation. Seasoned reporter Maureen Kyle still remembers the first time she was on air and had a “deer-in-the-headlight” moment where she could not speak out of nervousness and was quickly pulled off  air. Most producers recognize the beginning of this mistake and handle it by switching  back to the anchor. If this happens, apologize to the producer and other members of the show and learn from it. According to Kyle, usually people will find that after their first freeze-up, it is not as nerve-racking as they visualized and it gets easier from there.

Unavoidable biological problems: Sometimes bodily functions like voice cracks, coughs, sneezes, etc.,cannot be helped. “I remember one time my voice cracked on air and I said, ‘Well puberty just hit me like a ton of bricks.’ You have to acknowledge it and move on, say ‘excuse me’,” said Gabe Ross, weatherman and anchor for WOUB.

“That guy”: The background shot: Sometimes on-air mistakes go beyond the territory of the reporter. When reporting from another location, people will do nearly anything to get their 15 minutes of fame, even if it means ruining your professional integrity. “Everyone wants to be on TV and sometimes you’ve got to play in the fun but still be professional,” Ross said. Have someone on the side quietly usher them away from the shot if they are being too disruptive, or move away from the situation and continue as if nothing happened.

Technical difficulties: Any live program can experience  technical problems, and it is the job of the reporter or anchor to work through them. Ross suggests pretending as if what just occurred was supposed to happen. Again, humor can also help to handle the problem with grace and integrity. Ross said he was anchoring the weather and the technical director pressed an incorrect button which made Ross disappear from the green screen. “I appear to disappear,” he said, and then the director immediately corrected the mistake.

With all mistakes, it’s important to keep in mind that as humans, they happen. Humor can be the best ally in dealing with them, but always stay professional and maintain composure to preserve journalistic integrity.

Ohio Sunshine Summit issues call to change

Story // Mat Roberts, Reporter

For university students, the journalism profession can be a challenge in respects to learning journalistic rights and public policy.  Unfortunately, the ability to access public records and to maintain first amendment freedoms has hit a barricade for some public universities.

On February 26th, Ohio University’s Society of Professional Journalists and Radio Television Digital News Association will be co-hosting the first Ohio Sunshine Summit. The conference is being put in place to discuss press freedom issues between student and professional journalists. The goal of the conference is to draft a policy to the Ohio Board of Regents and the University System of Ohio. Over half of general public records cannot be reached student journalists in Ohio, making the summit a necessary step to preserving rights of accessibility.

“Last year, OU conducted its own audit to fix this problem that has spread all over the country, so it will be interesting to see what student leaders do to stand up and standardize the issue,” said Evan Millward, former president of the Ohio University Society of Professional Journalists and chairman of the Ohio Sunshine Summit.

While the OU chapters of SPJ and RTDNA sponsor the summit, the co-hosted event invites other JSchools in Ohio to partake in the conference as well.  The two organizations have collaborated to deliver a presentation that will provide attendees a better understanding of the open records issues faced at their respective institutions.  Jamie Ratermann, president of OU SPJ, said one of the functions of SPJ is to keep people on their toes with pertinent issues in the journalism industry.

“It is the jack of all trades and being a part of the society informs you about things that you should be fighting for such as knowing your rights as a journalist and how to perform at the best quality,” Ratermann said.

The summit will open with a discussion of the growing debate of university policy and first amendment rights. Led by Amiee Edmondson, a Freedom of Information Act specialist and Dennis Hetzel, executive director of the Ohio Newspaper Association, the conference will begin with an overview of rights protected by Sunshine Laws.

After the opportunity to network with a wide array of panelists and speakers, the students will work together to propose a plan for clear policies to Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut. SPJ President Hagit Limor will end the day with a review of the many ideas and questions discussed by attendees.

“My experience at Ohio University, specifically the week I spent summers ago working with WOUB and the upcoming Ohio Sunshine Summit, will be as close to the real world, hands-on experience one can get,” Millward said. “Everything I learned will be here.

Millward added that is excited to hear Chip Mahaney and Lawan William speak about ways to obtain information in an ever-growing world of online media. Another important speaker to be present at the event includes Vince Duffy who will help in the student rights seminar.

“We need to build a foundation so that we can know our rights and freedom of information not only as journalists, but as taxpayers,” Millward noted.

Ultimately, the main purpose for the journalist of this summit is to understand the importance of fighting for the right to information and how to go about protecting that right.

“The speakers are important for this issue because they bring such a different perspective and help us get what we want from the university,” Ratermann said.

For more details on the event or to view the full agenda, head to www.ohiosunshinesummit.com.

While Ohio University is in the midst of a hiring freeze and anticipated budget cuts, Tom Hodson recently started his new position as interim director and general manager of WOUB.

Hodson, the former director of the Scripps school, will now face a new task of taking on the financial difficulties WOUB is facing.

He is replacing former director, Carolyn Bailey Lewis, who applied for state disability retirement in early October and is expected to hear the official ruling this week.

Hodson, who was notified Nov. 26, 2010 by Dean Gregory Shepherd of the College of Communications regarding his promotion, only had one month to develop a “game plan” before officially beginning his new job on Jan. 3.

Shepherd asked Hodson to take on the new role because of his “unique set of skills and experience (and)strong association with the broadcasting business, but also great experience as an academic leader,”  Shepherd said.  All of which play a factor in Hodson’s goals.

During his month of planning, Hodson identified three main goals to focus upon during his time as interim director.

The first of his goals  is “making sure the center [WOUB] is financially solvent and on a good financial footing,” which is “a major challenge with dwindling service resources.”  This includes maintaining the center’s six TV and six radio stations.

Hodson plans to research what money is available for WOUB and identify cost saving efficiencies while planning to “keep the same services or figure out how to improve service but at a lesser cost than in the past.”

For starters, Hodson plans to use much more website-based distribution to reduce cost.

He will also be researching some national Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) content to determine how cost-effective they are compared to more locally produced shows.

With the next fiscal year beginning in July, WOUB will not know its budget allocation until March at the earliest.  From there, Hodson expects to spend from March to June tailoring the budget.

“The budget is a huge issue, with so many unknowns,” Hodson said. Historically, the annual budget is around $5 million, although it’s expected to decrease this year with anticipated budget cuts.

WOUB receives the majority of their funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) who helps underwrite the cost of the PBS content.  The problem WOUB is currently facing this year is PBS changing their formula for programming fees, and the money received from CPB are from essentially interlocking formulas, Hodson said.  Meaning both will need to be determined before WOUB will have any idea of the upcoming budget.

WOUB receives funding from grants, donations and directly from the university just as other units of OU. This  is dependent on all the sources of revenue the school is receiving.

Also on Hodson’s to-do list is the integration of the center with the five Scripps schools to help make it possible for students to receive academic credit for certain jobs performed at WOUB.

“[We] want to promote use of student and faculty together,” Hodson said.

Approximately 250 students work through WOUB without receiving academic credit, though some do earn a small amount of money, an aspect Hodson wishes to improve.

“[We want to] give students real professional experience with academic credit,” Hodson said.

Most work done at WOUB is categorized under volunteer enterprise when used to update professional portfolios.

It is already a work in progress since Hodson has started reaching out to the schools to integrate them more toward an academic mission. He will also be working with classes and talking to directors to see what common ground they currently have.  Currently, Hodson said there is some linkage between academics and WOUB but nothing very productive.

Eventually, Hodson hopes to update and modernize the approach the center takes to news and entertainment and bring it more into the 21^st century.  With technology having changed  more in the past five years then in the past 60, it presents a major problem, Hodson said.

“I am especially interested in seeing WOUB become an even more important player in the education of our students, providing them cutting edge experiences in all aspects of media production and delivery,”  Shepherd said, indicating it will be a problem that Hodson can solve.

Some of the more modern and cutting edge techniques are surprisingly more cost-efficient, Hodson said.  For example, “It’s much cheaper to populate a website than to do a live television program.”

Although the budget will have an effect in the development of the center, “The budget won’t keep us from modernization,” Hodson said.

Meanwhile, Hodson is unsure if he will fully become the permanent director and general manager at WOUB.

“I have an uncertain time frame here,” Hodson said.  “These are times of change and excitement in the media professions and we are dedicated to ensuring that our students graduate with the abilities to lead the way.”

The discovery story of Ted Williams is one that could inspire just about anyone. It offers hope to the homeless man, searching for means of survival. It offers encouragement to the healing addict, that there is life after dependence. But what does it offer to the journalist, laboring day after day, who finally made an impression?

It was a long night of studying when, from across the room, my friend pulled up a video someone had e-mailed him. That was the first time I experienced The Voice. I was shocked — as most were — when I saw the face issuing the words, sounding just like the professional dialogue of a radio host.

A reporter from The Columbus Dispatch allegedly had the first video copy, the same one that many of us first saw on YouTube. There are many sides to the story surrounding the exposure of Ted Williams’ talent, but underneath all of the politics lies a powerful story.

I bet I can tell you the first thing that came out of just about everyone’s mouth when they first caught wind of this story: “Wow, what a lucky break.” But when I think of this story, I see that it can be boiled down to more than any fabulated coincidence. In fact, it is this kind of story that many of us will someday strive to find. In turn, this is the standard of work that can offer new inspiration to our studies and our time spent in the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism.

Some controversy has risen following the release of this divisive story. Many believe that Williams caught a break that he didn’t deserve, considering his sticky past that has been called to attention. Apparently, this was a past that Williams’ newly found fame could not shake. Just days after his video hit the Web, news circulated that he had broken his alleged sobriety. In response to this controversy, Williams checked himself into rehab.

In my opinion, this validates the fortune he came upon. Given the opportunity, it seems that Williams will try to turn his life around, and he deserves that second chance, no matter what luck or talent may have brought him to it. The point I’d like to stress here is this: If one journalist’s inkling can bring this much favor to a man who has an exceedingly shaky track record, imagine the possibilities when applied elsewhere. This single account shows us all the effect that any one piece of journalistic work can have.

Setting aside the personal convictions anyone may hold on this topic, it is an anecdote alive with morals that journalism students should be thinking on mulling over. Such ethically challenging stories are the ones that keep our field in constant flux, reminding us to set our own standards as well as our own priorities.

If this can get you thinking on one thing, let it be your motivations for your future career.  What will be your incentive to flourish as a professional communicator? If you’re still riding on, “Because I like to write,” maybe it’s time to dig a little deeper. Stories like the discovery of Ted Williams prove that if we set out to use our talents to make a difference, we may hold the power to change lives.

With the new methods of journalism emerging (or rather, merging), many  aspiring journalists wonder exactly where the industry is heading, what works and what doesn’t.  For magazines, the production options appear to be determined simply by what works financially while still achieving specific goals. The campus publications at Ohio University provide insight into this magazine production world.

OU’s print magazine, Backdrop, distributed throughout campus since winter of 2008, uses various sources of income to produce an issue.  With print copies distributed each quarter, approximately 30 percent of the magazine consists of advertising, which is how most of its funds are acquired, said Annie Beecham, a 5^th-year senior and publisher of Backdrop.

Backdrop also holds fundraisers, , receives aid from the Student Activities Commission (SAC) and $20 quarterly dues from the magazine’s members, Beecham said.

When it comes to expenses, Backdrop’s main cost is printing the actual magazine, consisting of 48 pages.

“Sometimes if we have events we need money for, odds and ends, or if we print flyers, that can add up,” Beecham said.

Elizabeth Sheffield, Scripps senior and editor-in-chief of Backdrop, said that these smaller costs are often out-of-pocket expenses.

Beecham also commented that Backdrop breaks even with every issue and maintains the constant expenses for each  quarter.

“It’s not how much can we spend, so much, it’s how much is it going to take,” Sheffield said.

Backdrop also has its content available online.

“There’s no incentive to hoard the information and make it only available in one location. Since the students don’t have to pay for the magazine, the objective is to make it obtainable regardless of any obstacle,” Sheffield said.

Beecham added that page length extensions are to be added when the funds are available.

“I’ve been really happy and kind of surprised that, while everyone harps about this economic crisis that we’re going through, that we’ve really done as well as a non-profit organization,” Sheffield said. “Even though we live in a college town and in one of the most impoverished counties of Ohio, I’m impressed that we manage to do this and that it works every time. We’d be lying if we said it was easy, though.”

Conversely, OU’s first fashion magazine, Thread, uses similar financial approaches, but with slightly different goals in mind.  Utilizing a strictly online medium, Thread faces different challenges.

“The main reason we wanted it to be online was to expand our readership from just here in Athens,” said Jamie Ratermann, founder and editor-in-chief of Thread. “We get not only Ohio, but all over the United States, and we’ve gotten overseas (readership).”

Ratermann added that the concept of an online magazine “is still a new idea.”

Publishing costs for the magazine on the website are approximately $200 to $300 per issue. Styling is an important part of the magazine, since it is a fashion publication, Ratermann said.

Last quarter, Thread began adding advertisements in the magazine, which help  pay for a large quantity of the costs. The magazine also plans to use SAC funding this quarter

“I’ve looked into printing costs for other things, and I know that printing costs can get up to thousands of dollars,” Ratermann said. She added that with publishing twice a quarter and having no page limits for the magazine, online publishing is more financially efficient.

Ratermann said  that the recent integration of print and online, because  many people don’t desire to purchase print anymore,  is what makes Thread successful and “effective for students who might not have the cash.”

Ratermann also commented that being online is helping model magazines such as Vogue, and that “the application (of online) is where we’re headed.”

The university’s magazine publications, while differing in content and publication processes, demonstrate that the goals of a magazine can be achieved, whether they are to provide full-access or go global.