Covering the Coverage

The Tumblr page for TVRA 7772x at Brooklyn College

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Indiegogo Campaign

Hi! I know that this blog is for news updates, and I have one! I am launching my thesis film Indiegogo campaign today! *my beat is movies, by the way* :D

I would really appreciate your support and hope you have a great summer!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pickpocket-thesis-film/x/11581463#/story

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End of the Semester

By Miguel Macias

The end of the semester is always a time of mixed feelings. To the satisfaction of getting through the term, a certain nostalgia is also added. This class was also different than any other class I have taught. I know that there are a good number of things that I could have done better, and I so much appreciate your feedback. But despite the shortcomings, and the 20 war documentaries I made you all watch (oh wait… I added an extra 0, it was 2 war documentaries!), I feel really good about this class. I felt like we all learned from it. This is not the first time I teach a graduate course, but it was the first time it felt like I was teaching a graduate class, where the openness and collaborative environment made me look forward to it every week, and made me go home filled with optimism at the end of our meetings. I think we worked together all semester long. You didn’t work for me.

I also think that in a way we barely scratched the surface of what you could do with your beats. The semester goes by fast, you are all overworked and overwhelmed, and there is not much time for reflection, evaluation and re-strategizing. Reading your self-evaluations made me feel like going on for another semester, and take the class blog one or two levels up.

Some thoughts for each of you:

Sara: It was a pleasure sitting next to you every week. Your posts were informative, revealing, and had an activist subtle tone that I loved. I am very glad you had a chance to explore this beat and inform us every week.

Lamont: I am very glad that you stayed with your beat and made it interesting for all of us. Perseverance is an underrated secret weapon that gets many things in life. You are a talented writer.

Rebecca: I felt that you really explored your beat and gave us some real insight on the cord-cutting phenomenon. I loved that you enjoyed the class, and that showed in your writing. You are good at this.

Christin: Your writing is so much fun. And I don’t really care about the topics you write about, but your passion and mix of reporting and personal blog, and your super spontaneous style made me laugh quite a few times.

Carolann: I think you opened up the world of BuzzFeed for many of us. It’s easy to go back to the same publications over and over for years. And thanks to your coverage I am now fully aware of what else is going on.

Jie: I was very interested by your story selection. I know you could have done more. But I also know you have a lot going on, and not much time. Still… I think you learned some valuable things from the class, and I appreciate your commitment.

Keisha: You transmitted passion about your beat every week when presenting. I am glad you pointed out differences in the coverage of reality TV news. It’s not usually noticed, but even celebrity news offer a diversity of angles and editorial lines.

Danielle: Apart from your weekly posts, I was also inspired by your midterm assignment. Something about it was very memorable. And I am very glad something good came out of it.

Leroy: I am so glad you were able to blog about something you are so passionate about, and that you have made new and beneficial connections. And I very much welcome your feedback.

Kevin: You were a great writer before this class, and with this class you have developed a voice as a hip hop blogger. I find your writing funny, insightful, but also respectful of the world of hip hop.

Andrew: The timing of your blog and the hockey season could not have been better. I was also impressed by your midterm assignment. Interviewing two such different journalists must have been a priceless experience.

Sarah: I really hope this was a great experience for you. Coming from Europe for a semester must have been a tremendous challenge. So I appreciate you keeping up with the class and making an effort to cover such a difficult beat.

Sally: I loved your enthusiasm and your diligence. I also liked that you commented on your classmates’ posts. Your coverage of movie reviews was always insightful and snappy.

Michael: I think it’s obvious by now that I am a tech fan as well. So I looked forward to your weekly post and learned a lot from them. I think you have great story selection judgment. You should keep doing this.

Haeni: I think you made a great effort, and it showed. Your beat was not easy, and you managed to find interesting angles and stories every week. I am very glad this class opened you to journalism. All media producers are a bit journalists.

Wendy: Your posts were so entertaining and interesting, but I also love your final reflection and was very glad to read about what your learned from this class.

Jeremy: Your blog posts reflected your voice accurately and were always very informative and fun. You also were a key part of the class. Great comments came out of your corner every week and your engagement with our guests was great. Also… thank you for the feedback. I most definitely will take it in consideration next time I teach this class.

My main goal with this class was to raise awareness about the way news is selected, edited and reported. I am not sure we achieved that to the extent I ambitioned. But I think we achieved a lot. And I am proud of that. I saw progress in each one of you. I hope you enjoyed writing and researching your stories.

For those of you who are graduating… I wish you the best in the world. For those of you who still have a year to go… I look forward to seeing you around and working with you.

P.S. And the winner of the award to the class favorite blogger of the semester is… Jeremy! Three votes. There were a few of you with two votes.

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Final Thoughts

by Haeni Kim

At the beginning of this class, I was so confused all the terms and stuffs are used in journalism. Also, I really didn't get interesting points from journalism. Honestly, that was the reason why I never got into journalism. However, when I learned to cover a beat and had great lectures in many classes (not only guest speakers, but also professor Macias's lectures and class discussions), I came out with a better  understanding how journalism is not only talking about issues around us. Journalism is important and interesting public view that can be considered as observing eyes for our world. I swore to God that I did many researches than any other classmates. My lack of writing ability interrupted but I read travel related articles as many as I can. Also, by covering a beat, I've noticed that I was enjoying this process at some point and I've started noticing lots of significant travel journalists. Especially, covering travel beats wasn't easy because travel journalism was so different than others. I've tried to find sharable stories about travel, not only the traveling information. If I had to give myself a letter grade, it would be B+ or B. The schedule conflict occurred a lot in between my production class and  journalism class, I tried to do my best to manage two big classes in a day. I know I missed classes and it probably affected to my grade but I caught all the missing stuffs from classmates and professor. Also, I was able to see my improvement from weekly beat posting. Personally, my favorite blogger in this class is Carolann and Andrew. Through her posts, I've learned about how new media outlet works and it was interesting to see different aspect than legacy outlets. As a big fan of sports, I really enjoyed Andrew's posts. Also, he nicely covered each post and his writing and reference links were so clear to catch all his covered stories.

My favorite part of the class was midterm presentation. Through this assignment, I met a person who is involving real industry. To meet Jennifer Parker, it wasn’t easy job but I had a really nice interview with her. Also, I loved all the guest speakers! They enlightened me so well. It was good to hear about the real world. 

I don’t think there was anything that I didn’t like in this class. Usually I don’t really speak in any of my classes but class discussion led fun and nice. Also, by sharing my stories, I think I get a better understanding of each post.

Personally, it has been a little bit hard semester to me but I enjoyed being in this journalism class with nice classmates and awesome professor :) Thanks everyone! 

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#7772x

By Michael

I have absolutely loved covering my beat every week on this Tumblr page. I already follow tech news very closely so it was awesome being able to research all this nerdy news for a class. As I've mentioned before, I've learned so many new things while researching my beat. For many articles, I would usually skim them and move on to something more interesting or to an article that was more relevant to me. With this class, I forced myself to really look through tech news and try to find coverage of something that I wasn't necessarily interested in. For example, I really enjoyed writing the Google Patent blog post because I learned something new. Not just in terms of what Google was doing, but how relevant tech news is to other industries and how all news is somehow connected.

I had so much fun writing these posts but even more fun talking about them to the class. Most of my friends aren't into tech news and I don’t really have an outlet to talk about these things. Even though I know most people aren't too interested in all of things going on in the tech world, reading through everyone’s self-evaluation posts and seeing that a few classmates really enjoyed my posts makes me feel really grateful and appreciative that people wanted to listen to what I had to say.

But part of the experience covering my beat also included reading and listening to everyone else’s coverage of their beat. I found many of the beats in the class to be really informative and often included news that I was also very interested in. Although there were a handful of bloggers that I really enjoyed listening to, I really loved Jeremy’s combination of quality news coverage and dark (corner) humor. His posts really resonated with me and his touch of sarcasm and unique voice that came through his posts was really great to hear and read.

If I were to give myself a grade, I think an A would be fitting. Honestly, one of the highlights of my week was receiving Tumblr notifications on Thursday and hoping that the Professor would have time to read my post before class. I've read every single response to my posts and always appreciated the feedback I received. Although I've remained fairly consistent with the quality of my blog posts, I do think I've grown as a writer/journalist. I've never really reported on news in this way and it was definitely a new experience for me. I've challenged myself every week to not just “cover the coverage” but to search for different media outlets and to try and cover the coverage differently than I did the week before. At one point my blog posts were getting better and better and my biggest fear was posting something that didn't live up to the previous standard I had set for myself. This drove me to try and write the most thorough and well sourced posts that I could.

My favorite part of the class was how relaxed it was. It definitely helped that it was the last class of the week, but I always looked forward to it. There weren't any in-class tests, or anything that I had to worry about coming into class. Although the Tumblr blog was weekly and all together we all produced some significant writing, it didn't feel like we wrote pages and pages. We wrote about what we wanted to write about and the rules for writing were always flexible. Coming to class, I was either excited to talk about my blog post, or excited about a guest speaker coming to talk to us, or just excited to talk with everyone about anything. We had a really warm energy in class and weren't afraid to speak our minds and make others feel comfortable about voicing their opinions.

I don’t really have anything that I didn't like about the class. Of course the no-food policy toward the end was disappointing, but we did get to eat in there for the majority of the semester. The war-related documentaries we watched in class would not have been my first choice, but I think it was important to view them because I honestly would not have watched them on my own. I think most of the class was so laid back and flexible that it was important to also learn about things that we weren't all necessarily enthusiastic about.

All-in-all, it has been a fantastic semester and honestly one of my favorite classes. I didn't think I would be excited about taking a journalism class but I quickly realized this would be the class I really enjoyed coming to at the end of the week. And don’t worry, when a new smart watch comes out or when YouTube finally announces 360 Degree Video support for iPhones, I’ll be sure to let everyone know :)

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Final Thoughts

by Salomeya Lomidze

As a filmmaker, I chose the “movie reviews” beat to learn more about how movies are evaluated and whether that evaluation is in synch with the audience taste. And, to my surprise, most of the times it wasn’t! The audience doesn’t really care about the production value as much as film critics, and some low-budget horror movies gross millions of dollars, while spending close to nothing on production (hope this formula will work for my thesis film :D). I watched most of the movies I covered and it really expended my knowledge, since I am not usually interested in horror, action or fantasy. 

Moreover, this class made me follow the news more. I majored in economics as an undergrad, and I was used to reading and analyzing news every day, but reading so much about wars, economic crisis and other issues made me quite depressed and overwhelmed, so for half a year, from June till February, I completely isolated myself from the world. But this semester helped me to look at the news from a new perspective: hearing the beats every week, I realized that issues are being solved all over the world, and it’s just a great source for stories and other people’s experiences.

I would give myself an A for this class, and not because I posted on time or anything like that, but because I researched more outside class. I looked through a lot of different movies before choosing the story of the week, and that is because the class thrilled me and made me wanna do more than was required.

My favorite blogger would be Kevin. I read all the posts every week, and his posts never failed to make me smile and get connected to the subject. Maybe because I love rap and hip-hop, but I was never interested in their lifestyle, and it was an eye-opening blog for me.

My favorite part of the class would be learning how to get a great story, through listening to the guests, that were really passionate about the people they wrote on, and also discussing those issues in class. The morality of documentary/news story making - that is what really interested me this semester.

My least favorite part was meeting the Buzzfeed manager (I don’t even remember his name!). After meeting so many great journalists that came to class and showed how passionate they were about their stories, this guy just ruined the whole image by being pretty cold and, most importantly, unprepared.

Overall, I loved this class, and I know that actually looking for original stories was not part of the class, but I would love to have had an assignment to create our own short news piece - be it an article, and audio piece or a minidoc.

I really enjoyed this class, as it made me interested in news and I was hoping we could keep the blog going, as I just read all the posts every week and I get a well-rounded understanding of what’s going on in the world :)

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This is the End

By Andrew Rocco

As a lifelong avid NHL fan, I had an enjoyable experience covering the league as a whole while trying to put a primary focus on our local teams in the New York area. With the NHL expanding into Brooklyn in the fall, it should be interesting to see if the league’s fan base will expand within the five boroughs. With covering this particular beat, I was able to share my personal experiences as well as inform many of my classmates who might be not so familiar with the sport. Covering the NHL provided me the knowledge of not only learning about how the sport of ice hockey and how it is covered in the United States, but also a bit more of an insight on sports journalism as a whole. I am now dependent upon multiple sites for my up to date hockey news as opposed to focusing in on one particular website. I really had a great time taking this class because it re-introduced me to the field of journalism, something that I haven’t been on top of over the years. Our class discussions were great, and it was always interesting to hear about what my classmates were covering. With the amount of “likes” that surfaced on my beat posting from last week, it has become evident that I have greatly improved in terms of my beat postings over the course of the semester.

If I were to give myself a grade, it would certainly have to be an A-.  Every week for class I had showed up both early and attentive to partake in the many discussions we've had over the course of the semester. Also, I certainly have been able to improve on my beat postings. Every once in a while, I had to take a quick peek at a hockey playoff game on my phone, but who can blame me…I’m just focusing in on my weekly beat!

My favorite blogger honestly had to be Haeni. Between the travel tips, perspectives, and crazy Japanese hotel robots, I was introduced to some notions about traveling that I will take on with me in the future. Traveling has always been a big part-time hobby of mine, and I was always excited to read Haeni’s post each week. People all over the world are always going to be inclined to travel in which people need to be informed as to what exactly is going on! This was a very difficult decision to make for me because I know that I can go around the classroom and talk about each student’s beat and what I had learned individually from each of them.

My favorite thing about the class had to of certainly been our mid-term assignment. With a meeting with sports journalists from both VICE Sports and WSJ, I was able to get two different personal stories and perspectives of the field. The two journalists each had their own different stories to tell and I was glad that I was able to share that with the rest of my classmates. Those two interviews inspired me that I should possibly not only look to improve on my writing skills, but to maybe consider writing about sports possibly part-time. I would also like to mention the many speakers we had in class were all interesting. I was very happy to be able to get professional speakers in the classroom discussing the field that I might possibly have an interest in. My least favorite part of class had to have been the documentary viewings. It’s very difficult for me to pay attention to war documentaries sometimes. Even though with each documentary I was able to learn a bit more about modern politics within in the United States and the world, it had become tough sometimes to sit through the overwhelming amount of content.

With my final thoughts for this class, I really am at a bit of a loss for words. This is not only my last class for the semester; it is my last class for the MS in Media Studies program. With graduation less than a week away for me and many of my classmates, it’s crazy to think about how time slowly slips away. The only thing I would like to say is that I encourage each of us to all try to keep in touch through social media.  

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The End Is Near

by Kevin Keating

` Covering a beat was certainly a fascinating experience. Not just did my general knowledge of hip-hop increase exponentially, but my knowledge of the world of hip-hop journalism did as well. 

  Before this course I received most of my hip-hop news from one site. Now I thoroughly enjoy taking bits and pieces of factual information from an array of sources and trying to put together my own opinions on what happened, instead of being spoon-fed what to think by one site. With all the scouring through different sites I have done this semester, I feel like I am adequately prepared to research and write about popular stories and stories of my own, in regards to my beat.

   Although I am a TV Production MFA candidate, this class helped me rekindle my passion for writing and journalism in general. I now feel like I can use both skills; video production and journalism, to market myself to potential employers as more of a package deal. Along with that, I am now in the habit of checking up on hip-hop news daily and following up on the stories by checking many sources instead of just one. Actually, I very well might continue with my weekly blog posts, and attempt to build both a body of work and some type of following.

  More importantly, this class helped me become better at networking and engraved a deeper understanding of the nuances of the journalism industry, particularly hip-hop journalism. Our interview project was a blessing in disguise. Although it proved troublesome at first for me to get in contact with a hip-hop journalist who was willing to spend some time with me while being relevant enough for me to want to interview, it ended up being a wonderful experience. After speaking with Manny Faces, CEO and founder of Birthplace Magazine and the NY Hip Hop Report, not just did I gain valuable insight as to what a life in this industry is like, but he said he would love for me to contribute some articles to his site for little to no pay, which could turn into actual employment in the near future (as his site is about to go through a period of great expansion).

  In terms of self-evaluation I think I grew as a writer and a journalist throughout the course of this semester. To be completely honest I still enjoy reading some of my blog posts from earlier in the semester, and I think they got better and better each time. My voice as a writer developed throughout the course of the semester to the point where the general tone of my articles comes naturally and is no longer pre-conceived. HOWEVER, I acknowledge that I gave a late post and asked for a brief extension for my midterm/final presentation; so perhaps i should not get the A+++++++ that I would like. I think a B+ would be a fitting grade (me being very modest), or perhaps an A- (me being modest/honest), OR an A (me being honest/hopeful). Nevertheless,  I may in fact be overlooking some other aspect of my student-hood that is deserving of reward or penalization; so let’s leave the grading up to you Professor!

  My favorite blogger in the class, besides myself of course, would probably have to be Michael Zhonga or Christin Gest. This is for a combination of reasons. Michael’s post’s always informed me of something new in the field of technology that I was previously unaware of. Not just were the post’s informative, but they had appropriate visuals to match them and did a great job of incorporating what different sources are saying about the products. Christin’s post’s were interesting to me because they were very well written, with  a consistent “voice” and “tone” throughout the semester, which matched nicely with the nature of her content . Although I do not know much about 1 Direction, she made it clear that Zane(?) leaving was a BIG DEAL!

So, in conclusion:

My favorite aspects of this course were: The weekly blog posts/ sharing them with the class, the extremely informative and engaging guest speakers, the interview a journalist project, and the choice of documentaries and radio pieces that we were shown.

My least favorite aspects of this course were: Traveling into the city after spending the whole day at Brooklyn campus.

THE END

P.S. - A local rapper by the name of Chinx (formerly Chinx Drugz), member of French Montana’s Coke Boyz crew, was shot and killed last week. He was form the project’s in Far Rockaway, and spent some years in prison in his early 20′s, but had finally reached a point in his career where he was on the brink of breaking through and becoming a big star. He was hit with 15 shots, execution style, while stopping his car near a Dunkin’ Donuts on Queens Boulevard. So, despite my humorous accounts of the trouble hip-hop artists have faced throughout this year, real shit does happen too. I would just like to give a R.I.P. shoutout to the homie Chinx! He was a talented lyricist, and a local cat who put on for the city; and despite his criminal past, many that knew him say he was a great guy to be around, always real with you, and full of life. I wish the best for his family and his children.

R.I.P. CHINX (LIONEL PICKEN) December 3, 1983- May 17, 2015 

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Final Post / Non-Spoiler Flash Season 1 Review

By Leroy Rivera

I’ve learned a lot of smaller basic things in terms of blogging when it comes to covering a beat. The topic I choose is a topic I am very passionate about so it made it easier for me to be able to write about. In fact, it’s been so helpful writing about comic books that I had an interview with a comic book website to write for them and continue to report on the comic book world, on a paid basis. Wether or not I get it is okay because I do plan on continuing to write my thoughts on comic books but not here on tumblr, I’m taking it to my personal website.  I feel that this class was made as a discussion class. Most of the work came from class discussions due to research and minor work outside of class and I feel like I excelled in it. My participation in class discussions as well as the blog were high. Now I will admit I was thrown off by one assignment because of my lack of understanding but I did make up for it though I was late. So I feel like my grade should be an A - or an A.

My favorite blogger has to be Michael Zhonga. I love technology and he did something very new for me. He reported on a lot of technology outside of apple, and even though I am an apple products fan he made sure he gave everyone an outside perspective from it. I also don’t think it’s fair I have to pick one blogger because I also LOVE Hockey and Andrew’s blog kept me upto date with what is happening in the NHL because I haven't been able to follow it this season. 

My favorite thing about class were the class discussions as well as the speakers but everyone spoke about that so lets keep it simple.

My least favorite thing in class were the lack of lectures. What I mean by that, and I have been vocal about it a few times, i was hoping this class would not only go through each beat but also have a mini discussion on HOW to write a news report/article. It was a Media Journalism class and I wanted a little more assignments on what Journalists go through and the only assignment that came close to it was researching on finding someone to report on. I wanted to learn a lot more writing styles and structures for news sites and even radio reporting. We heard a lot of radio journalism but not how they were made and what they go through. 

That is NOT to take away from the class I thought it was a fun class and the only class I looked forward to every week.

To keep this blog consistent I am also going to post a mini-review on The Flash Season 1 Finale after this sentence. 

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“To Understand What I am about to tell you, you need to do something first. You need to believe in the Impossible” 

Normally, comic book television shows are not for everyone unless they are fans. Comic book television and movies always have an established audience and even though they try to cater to everyone it can be difficult. The Flash is definitely not one of those shows. 

The first season just ended last tuesday and even though It has all the elements of a superhero show there is something in the heart of it all that can cater to anyone. The costume, the superpowers, the superheroes and the super villains can be a red flag to non comic book fans to stay away but if you watch it they have such a beautiful feel good family vibe from the very first episode to the last. 

Let’s talk about the show without mentioning superpowers or elements of it. The show is about Barry Allen, a forensic scientist who lost his mother at the age of 10 and was adopted by his best friend’s father. Throughout the show, he is still trying to find out who killed his mother because he feels his father was framed for her murder while trying to fight his feelings for his best friend who he has known and lived with since he was a little boy.

Now the scifi/superhero element involved in it is that he develops superpowers all while dealing with these every day problems.

This is exactly the way to cater to both fans and non-fans. You have to have a balance of character history from the books the fans know about in order to keep them excited and you have to have elements of everyday life for the non-fans in order to bring in potential new fans or at the very least. 

The whole first season had a great theme of family and friendships. We see Barry struggling with wanting to be with his real father while also realizing that the man who raised him was also his father. 

We also see Barry telling his best friend how he really feels about her.

All while he’s saving the world. 

I won’t spoil the very last episode but I will say this. Have some tissues ready because your heart is going to be ripped apart. 

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It’s The Final Countdown!!!!! = /

By Danielle Petito

I’ve learned a great deal since the start of this semester, whether it was through the guest speakers, to the audio/documentary videos, too our weekly beats, weekly discussions, and especially our midterm/final presentation project where we had to interview a journalist/reporter/doc. filmmaker. I feel I’ve come a long way since the beginning of the semester...(let alone the beginning of this whole program - sorry reflecting back on the past 2 amazing years, it’s insane how fast time flies by - but let me get back to this class) I really enjoyed this class because it let us see what it’s like to be a journalist - from their daily routines, what they do, how they structure their articles, how many articles they write a day/week, how they structure questions, how they choose their stories, and so on. 

Although the beats might have been a bit tough to keep up with every week, I liked the whole concept of them. I could definitely see why you chose to give us this assignment every week. That is, because, journalists are constantly on the look out and asked to write about the top stories of the day/week that will be interesting to the public. With the weekly blogs, you wanted us to get a feel and little taste of what it’s like to be a journalist or reporter, or you could even say filmmaker as well since they too should always stay on top of the trending stories, events, and issues going on each week. I guess I should actually be grateful you didn’t make us post up a new blog every day, considering many journalists are asked to write numerous articles a week!!! So thanks..ha.  Out of a 1 to 10 scale of how I did on my Fashion beat, (10 being the bet) I guess I would give myself a 7 - 7.5 ish? compared to others in the class. Sometimes I lacked the response of “what the People felt about my particular fashion story of the week.”  The reason for this was partially due to the fact that I wasn’t fully sure exactly where to find “statistics” on social media information every week for each story I chose.  For example, for my last post on the new 10 Victoria’s Secret models, I found countless articles stating Victoria’s Secret has 10 new angels or articles introducing the new angels, but when it came to statistics on what people have been saying, I would find people reposting the articles on social media, and maybe a handful of 4 to 6 comments of peoples reactions to the news, but I didn’t want to base an entire societies views on 4 to 6 comments found.  I guess I should have clarified or got help as too better sites or sources I could have used to find this information easier... 

That brings me to a grade.  I guess to be fair I’d give myself a B+ or A-. I was late on 2 beats, (I did in the end catch up on ALL blogs though) and missed 2 classes (I was excused for both but still). I think thats a fair grade. ?

As for my favorite bloggers, I would have to say Michael Zhonga and Wendy Santana. Michael for his dedication every week on his extensive research and very detailed blogs that introduced new technology, or what technology was “big that week.”  It’s always fun hearing about what’s new in the technology world. I also enjoyed Wendy’s blogs on Scandal, because, well come on, who doesn’t like to read about celebrity scandals!?! Those always make good stories!

Favorite: I absolutely loved the midterm and final presentation assignment to interview a journalist/reporter/or Doc. Filmmaker.  I’ve kept in touch with Laurentiu Garofeanu since I left Barcroft Media, but since I did this interview with him, he’s asked me to help edit videos for him, as well as, today I went on a 10 your shoot with him and got to see how he directs. Pretty amazing!!! He’s pretty much taken me under his wing and wants to show me the ropes of filmmaking/directing/producing etc. Best part is, it’s only just the beginning, we’re scheduling to do more shoots and more edits!!!! Pretty awesome... In addition, I liked the guest speakers, who told us about their daily lives as a journalist/reporter for major companies. That was cool getting to hear their stories and daily routines.

Least Favorite: I agree with Becca on the beats, maybe a handful of beats discussed a day would have been a better option, then everyone talking about their beats. But then again, I would have wanted to share my beat every week to the class so I’m in the same dilemma as Becca ha. maybe if we would have a a 2 minute time limit that could have worked a bit better?

Final Thoughts:

I had a wonderful time in this class, listening. participating, and learning. Being that I’m really into documentary filming, this class has given me good insight to do more research on the stories I am interested in covering and ALWAYS keeping up with the latest news to find out whats going on in the world around us which will help me address certain issues/topics that are trending/interesting/controversial to society at that given time. Which helps me become a better filmmaker. Overall, thanks for a great class and final closing to an AMAZING 2 YEARS. GRADUATION HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Signing off..... OR SHOULD I SAY.... FADE TO BLACK....

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Broadcast Journalism: Series Finale

by Keisha Creft

What I Learned:

Aside from looking at credible and valuable sources, I learned that for every source that is used the story can be told differently. For example, TMZ may cover a news report in a gossipy fashion, while MStarz will cover it in a similar way but more aggressively because they are on a smaller scale than TMZ is. Also, platforms such as NBC, CBS, and Fox will cover beats like this in a non-gossipy and news format. I also learned that, while some of this celebrity drama is news to us, it is not news to all. There were beats that I did this semester that TMZ didn’t even cover. 

Least Favorite Post:

My least favorite beat would have to be the coverage on Real’s death. Not only was it a sad beat, I feel like it was very short. Covering deaths are a lot harder than I thought. Especially in the early stages of death. The autopsy isn’t quite out yet, no funeral coverage, and majority of the material comes from the reactions from family, friends, and fans. Although, we didn’t need an autopsy report on Ahmad’s death because we all knew he was battling cancer, my coverage was almost immediate which still made the task somewhat difficult.

Favorite Post:

My favorite beat was the BuzzFeed post. It’s always great when you can have full creativity in your work. With this I played with the idea of being a writer for BuzzFeed and discussed some things that I would like to see on their page. This was the only post that I did not get to share with the class however, which was a bit disappointing. But I really enjoyed working on this post and it was fun to create content that I would like to see more of.

Final Thoughts:

This class was fun and fundamental. Doing these posts made me play with the idea of doing written work in the future. I can see myself covering reality tv and reality stars if the opportunity was given to me. For now, doing this in class was a good enough experience. Watching everyone else’s beat also helped guide how my next posts should be. I was in class with some really good writers and it was helpful to see everyone bounce off their ideas. 

PS...

Did anyone see Monday’s episode of Love & Hip Hop Atlanta? Favorite blog goes out to Lamont & Kevin.

Peace Out

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This summer will be all-time high for air travel✈️

by Haeni Kim

Summer is getting back to us. Are you ready to pack your bag to enjoy this summer vacation? Hold on, if you’re still planning on your vacation, you should be aware that you don’t get open middle seats for this summer. 

Many experts and airlines are expecting that this summer will be busiest time ever for air travel. From memorial weekend to August 31st, an estimated 222 million travelers are planned to fly. USA Today reported that according to Airlines for America, it’s been about 10 years from the previous peak, which was 217 million travelers in 2007, before the economic down.

The reason why this summer will be a historical record for air travel is lower gas prices and overall economic stability. Those two big factors fuel consumer optimism, according to the AAA spokesman, Ragina Cooper-Averella.

Nearly 31 million travelers are expected to fly internationally. The top five international nonstop travel spot from U.S. are Canada, Mexico, the United kingdom, Germany and Japan. Also, top three domestic destinations are New York, Los Angeles and Denver. 

Chicago Tribune commented that U.S. airlines planned to accommodate high demand of travelers, they’re not only adding flights or seats but also, they increase staffs to enhance the air travel experience. 

The one thing we all have to notice that the strong demand doesn’t mean driving ticket prices down significantly. In fact, many airlines increased their fares and service fees like baggage, meals, and in-flight Wi-Fi.

Some people who are still planning to go somewhere read articles about high air travel demands for this summer and feel dejected that the air ticket prices are getting high.

Because of high demands, Best Western made a video to give tips to travelers how summer travel will be. The travel expert, Christ McGinnis also predicts the summer travel will be one of busiest summer ever.  

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Bye for Now, Buzzfeed

Carolann Falotico

When asked what beat I wanted to choose, I wanted to pick something that I interact with on a daily basis. Buzzfeed provides me with everything I look for: news, heart warming stories, long form articles and absurd quizzes. If there is a breaking news story, I know Buzzfeed will be reporting on it. They report on many stories that may not be considered news to most, but none the less, deserve recognition. Most recently, a Buzzfeed editorial assistant published a article about interviewing Mad Men star Paul Johansson. The article was not about Johansson himself, but how the article was actually conducted. The author and two other female colleagues faced sexism and inappropriate comments. Instead of keeping quiet, this editorial assistant posted the incident on Buzzfeed, revealing the horrible interaction that went on in the interview and even posted the letter received from the actors lawyer. This why I enjoy Buzzfeed because they give an inside look into their operations and you learn the personalities behind the stories. What I learned from Buzzfeed is that news doesn’t have to be what the typical definition of news is. News can be many different types of stories.

I think I should get an A for the class. I feel that I covered the beat very well and addressed many issues with Buzzfeed people may not have normally looked at, especially the comments section. This was the most important part of studying Buzzfeed because they rely so much on their readers for content and ideas. I carefully read through that section to find out what the readers were saying and what they wanted to see.

My favorite blogger is Sara. We both have similar interests with feminist issues, especially in the media, so I enjoyed reading her posts. It’s something I know she is passionate about and that she really put her heart into it. 

My favorite part of the class was the guests that came to speak to us. They gave insight into how to work in the real world and the steps we should take to get there, whether we were going to pursue a career in journalism or not. It provided us with guidance and gave us a chance to ask questions we may not normally have the opportunity to. 

My least favorite part of the class was the amount of war documentaries. I would have liked to have seen documentaries not just focused on war but on other topics that news journalists have covered. And maybe some documentaries that weren’t so depressing. 

Overall, I think the class was a great experience to learn about broadcast journalism. Whether we choose to continue a career in this or not, we have learned how to study different news outlets and just how many variations of reporting there is now. 

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Closing Thoughts

by Christin Gest 

FINALLY IT IS HERE. Sorry, absolutely no hard feelings but I am glad to be peacin’ out of this bitch in a blaze of glory and as this is the last mandatory class assignment of my ENTIRE ACADEMIC CAREER, I figured I’d keep it 100 and display my pure joy of everything being done with. 

That being said, covering my beat of teen pop culture and teen celebrities has been a blast. I do this on the reg anyway, so to be able to two birds one stone my passion has been quite rewarding. What I have learned covering my beat is that J-14 by far is the least accurate online publication of all time, I am pretty sure they get their info from Hollywood Life and Hollywood Life is the actual worst. However, J-14 still rules hard they have the best photos. I also never really went on JustJaredJr much prior to this assignment so it was really cool to have to branch out to get my teen news elsewhere. 

To be fair, I feel like I deserve at least an A- as I was always timely and thorough with my posts. I will blow up my own spot and say that if I did receive a lower grade than that it would totally be because of texting during every war themed documentary. 

My favorite blogger would obviously be myself, but since we cannot nominate ourselves, I am going to go with Kevin on this one. Everyone in the class did such a SUPER great job being passionate about what they were writing about but I feel like Kevin really hit it home with his posts about rap music and its scene. Also would be v interested to hear his thoughts about that sick Chris Brown/Pitbull song whatever it’s a good song OK??????

My least favorite part about the class was probably every and any war documentary? I know it’s really selfish to say but damn that sh*t just killed my vibe? I know there are a lot of great investigative journalists out there with an array of topics they cover so maybe focusing on issues other than class and war could be sort of cool? I mean attack the food industry you know? Anyway! 

My favorite part of the class was probably how chill it was. I really enjoyed not having to stress out about major papers and the interview with a professional journalist even though she was my friend was SUPER fun. I think it’s a good exercise for us. 

Lastly, what I have left to say is that it has been one wild ass ride, and to all of you first years who will not be approaching their second year of graduate school, sh*t flies by fast and intern your ass off for a job job. 

XOXO

1DAF FOREVER. 

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Final Reflection

By Becca Schneider

I really enjoyed covering the happenings of Netflix over the course of the semester. As an avid Netflix-binger, this assignment was a really great opportunity for me to learn (and share!) the business side of online-streaming, especially since it’s developing its place in the global market as we speak! I’ve learned about the hurdles that Netflix has successfully jumped through, as well as how competitors (Hulu, Amazon Prime) are keeping up. Now, whenever I hear of any change in the Netflix model, I research into it and how the developments they are making will further change how we view TV. It has also allowed me to look at reviews on programs that I do not follow. For example, a few beats ago I covered Netflix’s “Daredevil”, where I learned about the uphill struggles that affect how the sight and hearing impaired communities access the same programs that the rest of the community accesses without these limitations. I wouldn’t have known that the deaf and blind community have been fighting online-streaming platforms for years now---nor would I have been aware that Netflix is actually behind its competitors with these viewing options! As Netflix is expanding its global reach, I am interested in how the arrangements with specific countries will pan out and ultimately impact the global market trade.

2. Evaluate yourself and suggest your final grade for the class (be fair but also strict with yourself).

I would give myself an A-. I believe I covered my beat thoroughly and detailed each week, with a variety of topics covered. I would give myself an A, but I will be honest and say that my attention-span really got the best of me, and some classes I had trouble paying attention to the class discussions. It’s hard when I can see the sky getting darker and can hear my stomach rumbling!

3. Nominate your favorite blogger (not you).

I really enjoyed the variety of beats in class. It was a real opportunity to hear my classmates speak about issues and topics that concern them, and can watch the passion in their eyes as they present their beats! It’s hard to pick my favorite blogger (without nominating myself HA), but I really enjoyed Jeremy’s posts. I think he presented a wide range of topics affecting the LGBT community, more than what the media presents to the public. I think he did a great job in bringing out these issues as well as stating the importance in a broader light. Great job Jeremy!

5. Tells us what your favorite and least favorite things about the class were.

I’d say my favorite and least favorite thing was the structure of the class. I really enjoyed hearing all the beats, but I think it took up more class time than needed. But then I think I would have liked to have more time to hear about the beats! ARGH. Maybe if only a handful of students presented their beats each class--would leave time for discussion of those stories.

I really enjoyed the guest speakers, and liked how they fit into the course. For the future, I think it would be really cool if some students (if possible) reach out to possible guest speakers. I’m sure we, as media students, have contacts with professionals in the general media industry, and maybe reaching out them to come in and speak would be a great way to engage students with the professional community as well as pitch themselves to professionals.

But of course, that’s easier said than done!

4. Say anything else you would like to say.

This was one of the more interesting classes I’ve taken in this program. It felt like a “real” masters lecture. The small class size allowed for great discussions and personal connections, and I enjoy the flexibility of the schedule!!

It’s been a pleasure meeting with you all every Thursday night, even if I missed every week of my Shonda-TGIT primetime lineup! 

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY SUMMER TO ALL!

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My Final Thoughts

By Lamont Baldwin

Being able to cover the happenings of reality television and how major news outlets covered these stories really affirmed my desire to work in the reality television industry. I was a little apprehensive to cover this beat because I thought I would grow tired of the subject, but each week I was excited to write about the coverage and continue to learn about the genre. I believe the best way to know if you love something is to do it everyday. As far as the coverage is concerned, it was so interesting to find that there are certain networks that didn’t get any coverage for their shows, even though they did well in ratings. I really am glad that I stuck it through and was able to really get the full experience. 

For a grade, I would honestly give myself an A-. As you mentioned, I’ve struggled with adequately editing my blogs before submission,but I think I’ve improved a great deal. I also believe that my posts were pretty strong. There were slow reality news weeks where I felt like my content suffered, but overall I was really proud of my work this semester. Unfortunately, I did miss one class, but my attendance was overall stellar. I believe that I did some great work and wish to continue of improving. I was never late with a post. I felt that my presentation was strong. I took the time to read everyone’s post before class when I had time. I stand by my work this semester one hundred percent.

My favorite blogger would have to be Jeremy. I really enjoyed his stories and he also made excellent, well-researched points regarding the coverage. I am very interested in LGBT stories, and I think he did an amazing job at covering the relevant stories in his beat.

This class has truly reignited my interest in journalism again. I’ve had a few freelance gigs with some major outlets, but it was never anything more than great resume experience. Now, I’ve realized that I just needed to be able to write stories that interested me. I was so grateful that I had write every week. I think it strengthened my writing. I also enjoyed the speakers in class the most. As students, we rarely get to talk to media profession in a classroom environment, so having the opportunity to ask questions, and be inspired by them was invaluable. I think it would be interesting for students to create some visual or audio content for their beats in the future. I had so many ideas for content for my beat, and I think it would be great to possible incorporate that aspect for future students. Although. the elective isn’t exclusively offered to MFA students, I believe it could be a great idea. My least favorite thing about the class would have to be the commute from the city back to campus.  Other than that, I absolutely loved the course.

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Final Thoughts...

By: Sara Cutcher

Covering the women’s news beat this semester has been an enriching experience for me, and I hope it was to my classmates as well. I am very passionate about bringing attention to important issues affecting women and this I know that many of the stories were hard to read sometimes, but I think it’s reminder of the world we live in and why many changes need to be made in our current society. Covering this beat has made me even more passionate about women’s issues, and I do hope it’s made you more aware and interested in the issues that affect women in their day to day lives. 

For a grade, I’d give myself a A- or a B+. I feel I delivered even, decent work on time throughout the semester and fulfilled the requirements of the assignments and the course. 

As for favorite blogger, I’m going to have to vote for  Christin Gest. Not only were her stories fun, but I really enjoyed her enthusiasm while presenting them in class. 

Finally, I really enjoyed the class. I feel like I gained a lot of knowledge, and it’s made me want to look into journalism as a possible career path. I don’t really have anything negative to say except I would have preferred to stay on campus for the class, which I know is not in your control. 

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NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2015 Second Round Results, Third Round Preview and Predictions The Discovery Channel Vs. The Pittsburgh Penguins

Four teams gone, with only four teams remaining. This is a huge time for the NHL and a big time shot for the four teams that still stand in contention for the Stanley Cup trophy. The Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, Washington Capitals, and Montreal Canadiens have all been eliminated. From this point on, it’s going to be difficult to paint a clear picture of who might be the victor for the cup. Each team is coming in very strong, with all of them having a clear shot at winning the most prized trophy in the NHL.  The New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Anaheim Ducks each have an enormous amount of strengths that all make them strong contenders.

Round 2 Results:

Eastern Conference:

Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Result: Tampa Bay Lightning in 6

Personal Prediction: Montreal Canadiens in 7

New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals

Result: New York Rangers in 7

Personal Prediction: New York Rangers in 5

Western Conference:

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild

Result: Chicago Blackhawks in 4

Personal Prediction: Chicago Blackhawks in 7

Anaheim Ducks vs. Calgary Flames

Result: Anaheim Ducks in 5

Personal Prediction: Anaheim Ducks in 6

Round 3 Predictions:

New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Personal Prediction:  New York Rangers in 7

With the New York Rangers playing a tough series against Ovechkin and the Capitals, they are able to come out on top just by one goal in a game 7 overtime. The St. Louis Callahan trade is in full effect with each man facing each other in this Eastern Conference Final. Tampa Bay is coming in strong having a 3-0 record against the New York Rangers in the regular season. Both Bishop and Stamkos are ready for a long series with the New York Rangers.

Anaheim Ducks vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Personal Prediction: Blackhawks in 7

With the Blackhawks getting a bit more time to prepare themselves for the third round, I feel that they have what it takes to overcome the monster of a team that is the Ducks. With Chicago’s speed and Anaheim’s overall size, this series can truly go either way.

With headlines like The “Penguins should delete their Twitter account after this Discovery Channel burn”,  “ The Discovery Channel Just Killed the Poor Pittsburgh Penguins”, and “ Discovery Twitter handle trolls Pittsburgh Penguins playoff ouster”, it’s interesting to see two unlikely opponents of a twitter war. After a round 1 loss to the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, you would think that the Pittsburgh Penguins would of taken a step back from the trash talk. Unfortunately, like the in Round 1 of the Playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins have fallen flat on their face.