Ciara's Blog

JOU 4500A

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Guest Speaker: Phil Cox

The main takeaway from Phil Cox's short film and lecture was the importance of making an interesting character the center of your work. In his film "The Spider-Man of Sudan" he lets the main subject speak for himself rather than Cox doing the narration. I liked that Cox said that as a storyteller you should give the audience a chance to decide whether they support the character and their actions or not. The phrase "show don't tell" comes to mind when I think of this way of storytelling. This idea is something I want to incorporate in our upcoming group project.

It also really resonated with me how Cox said he's generally shy, but forces himself to be outspoken and confident when doing his job. This is something I'm still working on. He also encouraged us to stand up for ourselves in our future jobs even though we are beginners in the field. This is something I'll carry with me regardless of if I go into journalism or not. Along with this, I think it's important to work for people and organizations that align with your own values.

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Pitching a Team Story

When thinking about what to pitch for our team story assignment, I thought about things that I find interesting and want to know more about. The first thing that came to my mind was a conversation I had with a professor about ChatGPT. She explained what it was, and when I asked her what her professor/teacher peers thought about it, she replied with "we don't talk about it." This prompted me to think about how this technology (and other AI) tech will be affecting students, but some teachers may not have the tools to address the issues that come along with it.

For this story, focusing on a how both teachers and legislators view ChatGPT and related technologies could be one angle. I think it would be good to interview professors at Elon (both comm professors and non-comm professors to see if their knowledge differs) and teachers at a high school or middle school in the area. I have some connections at The Burlington School, so that's a possibility. For the legislation aspect, we could try to reach out to Alamance County representatives, but if that doesn't work it could be interesting to ask teachers if they think there should be age restrictions or legal limitations on this technology. We could also interview students at these schools.

The point of this story is to talk about something that is clearly affecting education, both for students and teachers, but maybe isn't being talked about in the classroom setting as much as it should be. As teachers and professors attempt to figure out whether to educate their students on ChatGPT or choose to create restrictions, I think it's important that they voice their ideas.

I want this story to answer questions like: What are teachers doing/saying to address the use of ChatGPT for schoolwork? Do students and teachers think differently about the ethics of ChatGPT?

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Guest Speaker: Michaela Ternasky-Holland

Michaela Ternasky-Holland's presentation brought up many connections between my communications major and my art history major. I found her work to be very innovative, and it seems like she's at the forefront of coming up with the most interesting ways to use new technology.

Using tech as an immersive experience in museums is something that comes up in my art history classes. With exhibits labeled "immersive" on the rise, I think it's important to consider whether museums are trying to use this technology to actually make their exhibits more interesting and accessible, or just to use a new buzz-word to gain revenue. Often, it's the latter. I think immersive experiences can be entertaining, but it's important to understand that museums often exclude people of different ages and abilities when they use tech like this. (Museums are already an exclusive environment as is.) When hearing about Ternasky-Holland's commissioned work where vistors were instructed to put on VR headsets, I wondered if this installation would have been interactive at all to someone visually impaired, in a wheelchair, etc. I think there can be a way to use immersive tech in an ethical and accessible way, but it needs to be discussed more.

However, some of Ternasky-Holland's work focuses on sharing minority stories, which I think is one of the most important things to do. I enjoyed hearing about the short animated film that she worked on. Since she's a woman of color in an industry dominated by white men, I found her success and courage in her field impressive, as I'm sure it was difficult to get to where she is now.

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Reflecting on my personal story video

Overall, I enjoyed doing this project and I'm happy with the way my video turned out. I was able to use this project to get familiar with more creative ways to use Premiere and I was able to learn smoother ways to include photos in videos. Doing this project made me realize I would like more practice playing around with the coloring of a video.

The editing portion took longer than I expected and I struggled finding a good site with royalty-free music. I mostly enjoy editing, but having to hear audio of myself over and over felt more tiring than editing a video of someone else.

I really enjoyed watching my classmates' videos because it helped me get a more full picture of who they are as people. I was very nervous, however, to watch my own video in front of everyone despite being proud of it. This prompted me to reflect on my own anxieties about my work. I still think it was a good way to get used to presenting individual work in a class setting.

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Changing News Habits and Attitudes of Younger Audiences

At the beginning of this article written by Dr. Kirsten Eddy, the author discusses how young people today have less loyalty to news brands than older audiences. I found this interesting, but I also wonder if that's because younger audiences need more time to establish loyalty to news organizations. The statistics found in this article were relevant, but I wish Eddy gave more context as to how the data was collected and how the countries surveyed were determined.

One point that resonated with me was how social media is the main source of news for younger audiences. I get most of my news from organizations like the New York Times and The Washington Post that I follow on Instagram. I enjoy their social media format better because it's more brief and breaks down the news into main points that are more digestible. I also think this format might be more accessible for people in general. However, I think there is a major downside to getting most of your news on social media. Apps like TikTok have more fake news than other sites, partly because of the type of content being posted. When I learn something on TikTok, I always make sure to fact-check it because it's often partially true or not true at all.

Another point Eddy brings up is how depressing the news cycle is, especially if you're consuming it frequently. Young people, including myself, unfortunately avoid the news because of how upsetting its contents often are. For me, it's important to remember that actively avoiding the news is a very privileged way of looking at life. The topics being presented are struggles that others are affected by and have to live through every day. Simply ignoring the news is ignoring those issues. An alternative to this would be to focus on one issue that bothers you and take action on it so that you can positively influence the news cycle.

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Environmental Journalism

Environmental journalism is gaining in popularity and will continue to, as both global warming and environmental disasters are on the rise. Environmental journalism is important so that people know how the external world will affect their personal lives and the lives of people in their community. Upon looking more into environmental journalism, I found this list of the top journalists in this field. Many of the journalists on this list are advocates for world leaders to consider the environment more in their policies. Environmental issues are global, which is what makes this branch of journalism so important, and often requires journalists to travel for this job.

Environmental journalism is especially relevant because it crosses into topics such as politics, agricultural issues, and social issues.

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A Story About Myself...

When I first heard that I had to create a story about myself, I felt nervous because I knew the only person who could help me with this story was me. I immediately started thinking about major moments in my life that could be interesting to others.

I had spinal fusion surgery at 16 for severe scoliosis and a documentary was made about me

I went to the world championships of Irish dancing

I love creating and looking at art. I've done ceramics, painting, darkroom and digital photography

These three points are big parts of my life, but I've started to think about the small things that I could focus on that maybe have more meaning than I initially thought. I think this project will take a lot of self-reflection before I come up with a solid topic. The first thing you think of when you think about yourself might not always be the best option.

Here are some smaller events that have impacted me:

Raising silk worms as a child and failing

Going to the mall every Friday with my friends in high school

Road-tripping with my family across the country to my great aunt's funeral

These smaller stories might resonate better with people. Having this story be relatable is important to me because I don't want people to have to wonder why I filmed it and why they had to watch it. This project brought out some of the imposter syndrome I feel about my journalism major. Journalism is definitely not my strong suit and definitely not what I want to do with my life. Art history is my real passion, which is why I worry when I have to rely on just myself for a journalism project.

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Building Trust

            The “Building Trust” video created by the Pulitzer Center helped me rethink the way both sources and journalists should deal with sensitive topics and trauma. Reporting sensitive topics isn’t easy, and I think it’s important for journalists to follow their own personal ethics and the ethical guidelines for their profession.

            One of the main takeaways I had about reporting on sensitive issues is that the person you are interviewing should always be put above the story you are telling. At the end of the day, your source’s wellbeing and safety are a priority and hold more value than your deadline. Sometimes a story might not come out the way you expected or may not be able to be published without jeopardizing the safety of the source, and that’s okay. One of the journalists in the video made a similar point to this and said that your editor might be upset with you, but you just need to let them be upset. Some scenarios will be out of your control. I believe you shouldn’t have to persuade a source to share any information they feel uncomfortable with.

            It’s also crucial to get to know your source on and off the record. Building a relationship with someone needs to happen in an environment where they know they don’t have to think about everything they say. This way, the source can feel like you aren’t there to solely use them for a story. It will also hopefully make it easier for the source to open up when the cameras are rolling. Along with this, it’s important to be fully transparent about how you’re planning on writing the story or creating the video. Letting your source have input can help them feel more in control of the narrative. Regardless of whether the topic is sensitive or not, I think it’s polite to send the story to your sources first before publishing, so you can get their approval and double check that everything is factual.

            One topic I feel strongly about that wasn’t covered in the video is interviewing children. For me, I think interviewing children directly after they experienced something traumatic should be off-limits. I’ve seen broadcast stories where children are interviewed after a school shooting, and this has always felt unethical to me. Children aren’t equipped to process their trauma by themselves, let alone discuss a traumatic event right after it happens without worsening their trauma. Children also can’t consent to an interview, and even though their parents can give permission for them, I don’t think they should. (I'm not a parent, however, so I can't speak for all situations.)

            Finally, it’s good to take time away from your job as a journalist to process your own feelings about what you witnessed and discussed. In the moment, many journalists are focusing on the story and the person they are interviewing, so it’s good to be able to take time for yourself later as well.