Mastery Journal for NMJ590 Multimedia Reporting
Time has flown by so quickly. It is hard to believe that we are already on week four and doing a Mastery Journal for another class. But I think that happens when you are staying so busy with schoolwork and reading lessons, going to lectures, and going out hunting for stories or setting dates to do podcasts.
I did not have to do an initial Mastery as I had already taken the class in 2017-2018. Since then, my goals have changed, and with every month that I finish, I add more skills to my resume. I am not sure if I want to work for anyone or freelance. I have discovered I am enjoying this MA in New Media Journalism more than I could have imagined. I have gotten so much out of this degree program and still have so much more to learn, In week one, I planned, produced, and published a follow-up second cycle developing story on MOD’s First Friday events. The goal was to use the skills that we have used so far in the NMJ program. The story was titled “June’s First Friday, Hits the Ground running at MOD Gallery & Space.” Week two was a little different. I applied an introduction to the two podcasts with Justin Canja, a local artist that showed for the first time at MOD Gallery & Space. Canja sold seven paintings. The title of the story was “Getting Raw with Justin Canja.” I also added a backup podcast with Brian Ousley, owner of MOD, that would verify my quotes with Canja. I hadn’t done podcasts in quite some time, so this was a great way to reuse my skills. In addition, I learned more about editing in Adobe Audition. What I did was take an interview I had started conducting at MOD, talking with the artist and seeing if Canja would be opened to do a podcast. I had photos and finally was able to get Canja to do a podcast with me. Canja was happy once he saw the results of the podcast and thanked me for giving him a platform to work! I had an excellent greeting and introduction and designed a logo for my podcasts. The goal for this week was to:
v Merging hard news and feature storytelling techniques
v Standards for evaluating feature and narrative stories
v Using various media elements to present the narrative interview
v Planning, producing, and publishing feature stories centered on narrative interviews
v Understanding the “Benton Curve of Interestingness” and the connection between breaking news and feature stories
In the discussion, I was to locate, describe, and evaluate a narrative multi-media story within the last three months and write about it. I chose to write about something important to me. Melting ice: What’s the big deal? Week three was different because I had to plan, report, and publish a multi-media story that talks about how a newsworthy issue has affected our story. I chose to write about how the pandemic has affected my subjects and how they survived through it. I have tried to stay away from reports on the pandemic, so this was a new style. In addition, I did a video interview with Brian Ousley of MOD. I also did a zoom interview with Noah Davis, which turned into a podcast on SoundCloud. The title of my story was “Surviving the Pandemic through the Eyes of Artists” I had problems with my audio and thought I had lost the interview. I took the video into different platforms and found that Adobe Premiere Rush was the best platform to work with the audio in and reduce the background noise from a fan and raise the voice audio of Brian Ousley speaking.
Covid-19 was a scary time for everyone. I provided two interviews, with one being able to support the story of the other. I used Brian Ousley, MOD Gallery owner affected by the pandemic, and came close to closing his doors for good. My accompanying interview was with Noah Davis, who reinforced the story because his band performed at the gallery’s soft opening after being closed for close to 18 months. I also added photographs and live music from the live performance at the gallery. My goal for Surviving the Pandemic through the eyes of Artists was to allow the audience to relate to a more important topic than just First Fridays. I wanted the viewers to connect to the owner affected by the pandemic and how he almost had to shut his doors for good. The story allows the audience to see the owner in a more humanistic light. Last but not least, I learned more about Search Engine Optimization. I still must investigate this further, but I got a good look at things I need to improve on in making my website stand out more assertive and get noticed. There is a lot of back-end stuff that I need to become more familiar with to improve my website’s reach to the public. I feel that all the platforms that I am working on will aid me in my future endeavors and will aid me in finding work, whether it is freelancing or for a publication. I also have graphic art skills with a bachelor's and an MFA in Media Design that will help me to further my goals.