#nmjma

[williamjohnsonblog-blog]

Reflections: New Media Distribution and Publishing

My expectations for New Media Publishing & Distribution were to learn effective ways of publishing and promoting content for my website. Additionally, I was expecting to learn ways of improving the site analytics.

The course expectations of me were to learn successful ways to engage and cater to my target audience. I was also required to create a publishing plan as a primary guide for targeting content through traditional and new media outlets.

The primary goal of the course is to develop an efficient plan that promotes yourself and the content of your website. Overall, the class was a key component to other great resources in the New Media Journalism Masters of Arts degree program. Professor Jeff Sharon’s approach to teaching is properly planned, organized, timely, and beneficial to every student.

The content most helpful are the assigned course readings and reference videos. Although my classmates and I were not able to attend the live class sessions, Professor Sharon’s archive videos served as a great resource that helped us complete assignments.

The first assignment in the course was the soft launch of our capstone projects. The soft launch was a big help. The feedback received after the soft launch allowed us to plug up any holes that were left before the final launch. Without the soft launch, my final project would not have been a success.

The distribution plan we were required to complete helped me understand the importance of using social media as the primary platform for promoting our projects. I quickly learned that my old way of promoting my content was ineffective. I am happy to say that because of my distribution plan, the website numbers are up.

The course taught me that writing and publishing a story is the easy part. How well you promote your content to a target audience through traditional and new media platforms is the key to success or failure. Last, developing an honest and professional reputation is important. Once your credibility is ruined, it is difficult to regain trust from anyone.

[themasteryjourney]

New Media Publishing

Hello, hello! Welcome to the reflection of the most hectic and challenging month of my life. This month, I was enrolled in the course New Media Publishing. This course was both daunting and exciting as it was the penultimate course in my New Media Journalism Master’s Program. In other words - HOME STRETCH. 

First and foremost, let me start off by saying how important it is as both a journalist and a human being to pay attention to details. I neglected to pay attention to the timeline for my NMJMA Capstone Project that was clearly outlined by class/due date in the instructional booklet. Needless to say, I was really expecting that my Capstone would be due in July rather than in June. It was somewhat thrust upon me when I saw that the preliminary (soft launch) was due the first week of the course. However, I am thankful for proactivity as I had completed all of the necessary elements at that point and only needed to mold it all together into a cohesive project.

Following that, I had two weeks to implement the feedback given to me by Professor Sharon and to polish my Capstone so it would be ready for the world (or my small group of website fans) to view. Unfortunately, my story became an extremely timely piece due to the tragic Pulse Nightclub shooting here in Orlando, FL. The topic was exactly relevant to the content of my Capstone project and thus, I was able to amend my project before publication to incorporate valuable information related to that event. 

By the third week of class, we had reached our final launch and all the pieces of publication, social media posting, etc., had been put into place. All that was needed was the actual push of the ‘SEND’ button, which was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Buckets of sweat later, I received my grade which was exceptional. I couldn’t have been more thrilled. But even more so than that achievement was the speed with which my story was read and shared over and over and over. 

I attribute this particular success to my distribution plan which I spent much time thinking over. However, I also attribute this to the timeliness of the project and how important that topic is to a large population of the globe and to the open-minded thinking of those around me and those who read my posts/stories on my website. Shortly after, my story was picked up by The Huffington Post - a great honor in my opinion as I am a huge fan. I am eternally grateful to all who found my Capstone project to be important enough to be read, shared and published. 

Going back to NMP as a course, I learned much valuable information this month. When I originally had set my expected outcomes in my Mastery Timeline in Month 1, this is what I stated: 

Goal, Insight, Outcome:

To publish media on different platforms

To learn the fundamentals of journalism distribution

To best extend my work to the world

Strategy:

Observe how other companies do this and what are the best ways in order to create a publishing system 

Now, I was not incorrect. However, at the time, I was unaware that the publishing I would be doing was of my actual Capstone project. Keeping that and the above-mentioned ideas in mind, I would say that my expectations of the course were fulfilled. On the flipside, this course expected of me that I would do my best work to create and distribute my Capstone project. I believe I fulfilled all requirements related to that project and successfully fulfilled the expectations of NMP. 

Overall, this course really showed me the importance of being organized and keeping track of how you engage with the world. I stepped up my social media game this month due to the requirements and teachings in this course, which resulted in strong engagement with my Capstone project as well as my personal brand as a whole. This course taught me how valuable newsworthiness of a story is and has prepared me with tools to share important information on controversial topics with the world. 

Last but not least, I just wanted to shout out to Professor Sharon for all of the hard work and feedback he gave to his NMP class this month. Without his guidance, patience, support and constructive criticism, I would not have been able to make this story what it is. Thank you for the valuable lessons! 

And with that, we are now officially in the home stretch - third base is in the dust. Just one more crazy and enriching month of NMJMA to go. I’m excited to see the horizon, pleased that graduation looks like a reality, and I am pumped for what this final course will bring. And if I’m being honest, home stretch or not, I’m going to miss being a student of this amazing program that I have learned so much from. Cheers to NMJMA! 

[themasteryjourney]

Public Relations and Reputation Management

Hello Tumblr world and other visitors! Welcome back to your monthly episode of Ruqayyah’s reflections on her New Media Journalism courses. In this month of May, I was a member of the course Public Relations and Reputation Management (PRR), led by Dr. Tom Vizcarrondo. What an exciting and informative course this was! I have always been interested in public relations and curious about what is associated with this field of study and career track. 

When I was first entering this Master’s program, I created a timeline where I listed all that I expected out of my future courses. In that timeline, I noted that my expectations of PRR were: 

To learn more about public relations and how to use that with my New Media Journalism study 

To use public relations to promote my website and increase visibility 

To make sure my stories are believable and will appeal to audiences in a strong and reputable way 

Essentially, from what I have learned in this course over the past four weeks, I was not far off in my expectations of PRR. During this month, I learned about working with public relations professionals, presenting myself as an individual and brand, maintaining a positive online reputation and writing persuasively. While I have dabbled with this in the past, this course really allowed me to expand my knowledge of an area that works alongside journalism but is very different at the same time. 

During this course, my favorite assignment was my first assignment on writing a persuasive story. This appealed to me greatly because I was writing a story for the greater good and not writing a story just because it was timely or interesting. The story that I created was promoting the purchase of This Bar Saves Lives, This product’s proceeds fund an initiative that sends one packet of nutritional food to a starving child around the world. I enjoyed writing this story because I knew that by encouraging my readers and others to purchase this product, I was helping to make a difference in the world - no matter how small.

As a new media journalist, there were definitely topics in this course that I think will benefit me greatly throughout the rest of my program and into my professional career:

Learning about PR professionals and how to deal with them was a great help to me. I learned that PR professionals and journalists often do not see eye-to-eye and also have a major trouble communicating. I can definitely use this information to help myself communicate effectively with any PR professionals that I work with. 

Learning about reputation management this month was incredibly helpful due to the fact that I was reminded how important it is to make sure and engage with my audience and show that who I am rather than just posting stories blindly. 

Overall, I do believe that all topics covered this month allowed me to increase my knowledge of journalism in a more diverse manner than before. As this course was centered mostly on public relations, it prepared me to really work and coexist with individuals from that field. PR professionals are essential to a journalist’s career because at some moments, they may bring stories to a journalist that will help both parties to build their reputations and to increase visibility and reputability of the journalist as well. In addition, PR pros can give journalists an opportunity to be the first release of information on a certain topic or event, bringing reputability to a journalist’s career. I believe the knowledge I have acquired this month will allow me to make the most out of my relationships with PR pros now and in the future as well as to improve my brand online and make it a trusted news source.  

Last but not least, I would like to take a moment to thank Dr. Vizcarrondo for being so thoughtful about pronouncing my name correctly and for his excellent guidance throughout this month in PRR. His video feedback showed me what parts of my story needed improvement or functioned well in a visible manner. This allowed me to get the most out of my assignments and to view my stories critically so that I can create written and multimedia content more effectively as a new media journalist. I appreciate the time and effort that Dr. V took to make this course excellent and enjoyable!  

I look forward to my next course in New Media Journalism and the exciting two months ahead to completing my capstone project and becoming a Master of New Media Journalism!

[themasteryjourney]

Social Media and Online Community Engagement

Hello there! It’s been almost exactly one month since I last posted on here and what an exciting and eventful month it has been. This month, in addition to being a part of the Social Media and Online Community Engagement (SME) course as part of my New Media Journalism Master’s Program at Full Sail University, I have travelled for my job for two-thirds of the month. It has been both an adventure and challenge but I was able to still learn much from this course and contribute my 100%. I am eternally grateful to Professor Foley for being patient and understanding with me.  

Now, what did I originally think this course was about? From my Mastery Journey Timeline, I was able to see the goals, insight and outcomes that I had assumed this course would be about when I first heard of it in February 2015. These are:  

•Goal, Insight, Outcome: •To use social media in the best way possible •To use community engagement skills in an online manner •To build non profits and communities via the web and multimedia platforms •Strategy: •Use past experiences of creating virtual communities to do outreach

For the most part, I was on the correct track with thinking of what I would learn in SME. This month, we dove headfirst into the world of social media. I say dove because we did not only cover the basic social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. We were able to look at a wide variety of social media sites, some of which I’d never heard of, like SparkPeople, Digg and StumbleUpon. It was wonderful to learn about all of the different platforms and to get an idea of how many people use them, what kinds of people use them and how they reach audiences. 

Throughout this course, I was able to learn how to better draft social media posts in a way to engage followers and visitors so that they are intrigued by content and thus want to know more about a topic. This was done in a highly productive way, which was through drafting your own social media posts and receiving suggestion of improvement on them by classmates. This really helped me because my classmates are of all different ages. So while keeping in mind that they were also studying how to be strong social media users and had those skills, I also got some insight into how different individuals like different posts to sound and/or look. This gave me strong input into the styles of different journalists. 

For the most part, the above-mentioned information about learning how to use social media in the best way possible was definitely on target. I believe I was able to learn how to use social media in a very constructive and inspirational manner, which I will continue to practice throughout this program and my future career in journalism. That being said, the one aspect of this course that I misjudged was the community engagement. 

I come from a small, liberal arts college background, which is where I still work, and there - community engagement is service learning, community leadership and involvement. When I was creating my Mastery Journal Timeline, this is what I had in mind when I read ‘online community engagement’ – non-profit organizations, community service, etc.

The community engagement that this course was actually about was engaging with your community (those who follow and/or read your content) via social media. This engagement meant having an active and continuous conversation with individuals on the web that would allow me to build and promote my website and create content more specifically toward my beat. 

While I did not go into this course thinking that I would be doing that, it proved to be an incredible experience because I was able to learn something new. For me, I have always used social media for my personal use and with that, there are always people (friends and family) who are ready to automatically follow you and like your content. This way, I was able to learn about reaching out to people I do not know and getting more traffic on my website and social media sites.  

Throughout the past month, I have learned valuable skills on how to engage via social media with the vast online community. I have been able to acquire skills on posts and visual media that I was hoping for when I began this course and I was able to learn new information that I did not know before SME. Social media and multimedia are two area that I am extremely interested in this field of journalism and I believe this course was able to give me insight into how I can build my social presence and become a strong news presence. 

I am very glad for what I have learned and hope to continue learning and growing my knowledge in online community engagement and social media throughout the remainder of my New Media Journalism program and beyond. I am looking forward to the month of May! 

[themasteryjourney]

Multimedia Reporting

Hello again! It’s been a little while since you all here on Tumblr have heard from me - just about two months to be exact. I have been absent from academic since January due to my grandmother’s passing. A time in which I tried to work through this course but was unable to and thus here I am in March, finally completing this course. 

This course has been very much what I expected it would be and more. When I created my Mastery Journey Timeline in my first course last February, this is what I thought Multimedia Reporting would be all about: 

•Goal, Insight, Outcome: •To learn how to report via multimedia •Multimedia will have a different style than verbal or written reporting •To tell stories through many different ways •Strategy: •I will research the ways in which multimedia has been used to report information 

In a sense I was right because I was taught how to create content in ways different that verbal or written content. I learned how important and effective it is to include multiple forms of multimedia into a story - whether that be audio, video, infographic, photos and text. These add an extra element to a story which really allows the reader to engage in multiple ways or their favorite way. 

One thing I will mention about my learnings this month is about text. Text is highly underestimated. I have always considered text to be my strong suit because I have loved writing for many years. I thought that when I came to Multimedia Reporting, I would have to lessen my love of text and embrace more audio-visual forms. However, when I looked at my first assignment, I noticed that Dr. Thomas had included text as a multimedia element. I immediately became very excited because this form of communication is one of my favorites. I realized then that there is power in text and while at first it may seem lesser than audio, visual or creative components- it is not. Text allows us to put context to our other multimedia elements and to make a story succinct and cohesive. I was able to appreciate this element even more than I had before. 

This course truly met my goals as it allowed to expand on my knowledge of multimedia in general. In all honestly, in some past courses, the lessons for the week have no been particularly engaging. In this course, however, I was able to do all of the lessons because they were very visually engaging and easy to understand. I learned oodles (yes, oodles) more than I have learned in many of my other courses thus far. That reinforced my objective of learning how to create solid multimedia stories because I saw how positive the effect of creating content in that style is - from my own personal experience.

I know that for both my course writing as I get into these final four months of New Media Journalism and in my personal writings and freelancing that I will definitely incorporate multimedia elements into all of my stories. This really diversifies journalism and has brought me into the light of more dynamic audience engagement. 

I truly believe this course has helped me to become a better journalist and I look forward to using the skills I have gained here in my upcoming courses and in my career as a multimedia and new media journalist moving forward. Thank you, Dr. Thomas! 

[themasteryjourney]

Digital News Production

This month I was enrolled for the second time in the course Digital News Production. Second time because I was unable to finish this course last month due to personal health issues. This time around, I have made it to the end of this course - hopefully with success. 

When I looked at this course outline when I was in Mastery: PDL, I had the following expectations and goals set out for my participation in this course-- 

Goal, Insight, Outcome: •To know how newsroom functions •Previous experience with reporting verbally and with digital media would help •To know the ins and outs of putting media content onto the screen 

Strategy: •I will use my verbal and digital skills to create projects worthy of being in digital online and visual media and in newsrooms  

Once I was enrolled in this course and I had a chance to read the syllabus and the outlines, I realized that my earlier goals/insights/expectations were mostly on the right path. I realized that not only would I learn how to put media on the screen but that I would get a step-by-step refresher of documentary style journalism. For my capstone thesis project in my undergraduate career, I shot and created a 15-minute documentary video which took all of four months to make and still, was not 100% exactly what I wanted. However, I was able to take those skills I had from before (interviewing, angles, creative shots, sound, b-roll, etc) and develop them in this course. I was able to hone them into better versions of what they were when I was a younger student. 

I expected the course to give me more skills in the area of video journalism, interviews and creative compilation of the various aspects of video. I believe the course definitely assisted me in this area. The course expected of me that I would perform my best, learn the various ways to shoot b-roll, audio, interviews, and mesh all of these aspects together to tell newsworthy and visually/audibly appealing stories. I believe that I did not put my best foot forward in this class due to unexpected family circumstances. I was distracted through the latter half of the course which restrained me from my full potential. However, I did try to the best of my ability that I was capable of and I learned (based on feedback from Professor Sharon and grades) that I was able to pull through even in adversity which gives me encouragement for the future. 

I truly believe all of the content in this course was most helpful to my learning experience. In particular, the professor himself was an asset to me as being able to bounce ideas of of him and have his support made me a stronger student. Overall, I thought the course was very well organized and provided me with MANY supplements that I could reference, watch and learn from before I began my various projects. I believe this course has been most helpful in preparing me for my career in journalism because I realize that I love working with video and this course honed that love and those skills throughout the month. I hope that I will be able to continue to build on these skills and this knowledge and that I will become a strong journalist in the near future. 

[noonewillseethemselfinyou]

PLN -Multimedia Reporting

This month has restored my faith in the potential of the NMJMA program at Full Sail.  Since the section allows some much-needed flexibility, I’m going to be a little more comprehensive in my post.  

Multimedia Reporting 

This course has been the most useful in the program thus far.  It is the first course that really seems to acknowledge the role of a graduate student in such a program. 

Pros

Excellent and Honest Feedback - This course offers excellent feedback and insight for students.  I really appreciate this because until now the feedback has been decent but very boilerplate.  It’s obvious the instructor is invested in his job and the program. 

Flexibility - This is the first course where we have been allowed to use and hone our best judgment.  Editors want writers who are able to pitch and think on their own; this course encourages such behaviors. 

Social Media & Real World Application  - It’s hard to balance multiple tasks, but I think it’s really imperative for journalism faculty to actually walk the walk. Dr. Thomas is the first person in this program that really leverages social media to his advantage and is actively writing and researching.  As a working writer/editor, the last thing I want to do is keep up multiple social media accounts under different names and write but I know it’s necessary.

Cons

Texts - This is the only thing I see that could use improvement in the course even though I think it is leaps and bounds beyond the other courses.  The materials are a little outdated; I found myself really taking advantage of Dr. Thomas’ Pinterest sources more than the assigned texts. 

Additionally, some of the assigned texts were no longer available online or the course materials offered conflicting information (syllabus, weekly assignments) with the site.  I honestly think they attachments on the weekly assignments are not even useful (the project description) as it’s already discussed in the actual post.  

Program 

Courses - The courses have been hit or miss in the program.  I think they’re a little too rigidly structured.  Working journalists have to be able to follow guidelines but also have the ability to think critically about a situation and determine the best way to adapt and respond to get the best material for a client. 

Course Parity - I think this is a HUGE issue in the program.  The amount of coursework varies significantly from class to class. It would be nice to have an expectation of the amount of time required for classes across the program. 

Materials - Some of the materials in the program are outdated and there doesn’t seem to be secondary source materials. 

Faculty - I think most of the faculty has been excellent but distant.  It’s very easy to determine the full-time program faculty as opposed to lecturers or adjuncts.  

The only faculty member I have encountered who needs significant coaching/guidance is Christy Foley. She seems to be unable to admit when she has made a mistake and gave me an F on a story because she stated there was a factual error.  When I pointed out that a Google search was a poor choice for a research methodology professor to use and that she was, in fact, mistaken, she took the criticism as a personal affront and never updated the grade.  When I asked for the grade to be reviewed by the program director, she never followed through on the request. 

Suggestions

Embrace Social Media- This program should have a HUGE social media presence.  Students should have the opportunity to become part of an online community and share and exchange ideas.  Also faculty should be involved in this community; I understand the desire to have some separation between faculty and students, but it isn’t hard to set up professional social media profiles.  

Web Presence - I think it would be amazing to have a web magazine where students can pitch and submit their best works.  If the program created a partnership with other programs it would really create an environment for students to network and work together on much bigger projects and create a more diverse portfolio.  Imagine a partnership between PR and NMJ students!  

Materials -  Full Sail has a great program for instructional design.  It would be amazing for students in this program to partner up with NMJ faculty and students and create a living curriculum that is regularly updated and strategically embraces new media.  It would be awesome to see things like an online library of resources that is curated by a students and faculty, Snapchat tips and reminders, Periscope feeds. It would definitely involve some legwork, but having students participate in these communities as opposed to a weekly writing assignment and discussion posting would really demonstrate Full Sail’s commitment to new media. 

PLN Transition  - I think transitioning the PLN posts from Tumblr to Medium would be a great idea as it allows more people to see these posts and lets prospective students easily learn more about this.  I know Columbia is teaching a course entirely on Medium this semester.  Tumblr was mean to be a micro-blogging site and these posts really acknowledge the desires and limitations of the platform.

ME 

This semester has been the first time where I’ve felt free to do the work I want to do and that has been both a welcome change and a huge surprise.  Here’s what I’ve been up to: 

Professional - I am finally slowing down on freelance projects and am going to stop accepting large assignments until I finish my thesis.  I am also working to integrate my professional identity with Steven Winkelman; this has been a much slower process than anticipated. 

Personal - I’m working on my site and developing two other sites currently.  The first site is focusing on artists and I am going to travel around the country over the next few months to interview more artists to create the final thesis project.  

I am also working on a site about living/working with ADHD. As a therapist and writer, I have unique insight about living and working with the illness.  When I started writing professionally in 1996 I didn’t know I had ADHD and it was very difficult to meet goals. When I moved to New York in the early 2000′s and worked in media Adderall was a part of life because it was an era of PPC and incentivized writing so it felt perfectly normal to take medication.  Now that I’m nearing 40, I am finally learning to take my own advice about self-care I provided for clients and creating strategies to help me continue to thrive. 

The ADHD project came out of a need and huge hole in the market.  This year I finally transitioned off of Adderall to a different medication and did so at a time when I had dozens of freelance projects going on (two of which were huge); I was drowning and procrastinating with Google searches.  Every search led to ADDitude Magazine, an absolutely dreadful website.  The stories were dated (suggestions included using a Palm Pilot) and really stigmatized people with ADHD as being people who are incapable of thriving.  If anything, we think too quickly and become too engrossed in our work!  

A site that is up-to-date and offers actual insight from people who live well with ADHD is sorely needed!  There is an entire generation of people who have been diagnosed with ADHD who are struggling and can’t find decent resources that doesn’t make them feel like absolute failures!  

What I’ve Learned 

This may sound incredibly dumb, but I’ve learned just how powerful Pinterest is in this course!  Even though I’ve been told numerous times about Pinterest by clients and others, seeing the way in which Dr. Thomas used the platform was amazing and made me really embrace the platform for all its potential.  

The other thing I learned, like Pinterest, was not really an objective in the course.  This lesson came from one of Dr. Thomas’ comments.  When I submitted a discussion post about Anne Coulter by Mitchell Sunderland, Dr. Thomas stated that Sunderland’s presence in the videos really did a disservice to the story. I did not agree with this statement whatsoever initially.  

However, as I began to watch the story over and over (I was obsessing) I noticed he wasn’t necessary for the story to progress.  As a person who loves literary and new journalism,  I thought about writers like Joan Didion and Renata Adler; they would put themselves into the narrative when necessary, but it was a definitely a conscious choice with the express goal of progressing the narrative or providing some sort of insight otherwise unavailable. 

What’s Next

Over the next few months, I want to focus on building my online reputation as Steven Winkelman and creating quality content that is published under my name on my site.  

After the Program - After completing the program I want to continue writing and really embracing social media tools in my work!  I also want to teach and work as a mentor to younger students and journalists.  I’m thinking I may seek out an adjunct position while continuing to freelance.  

Thank you for an excellent class and being an excellent instructor. I have gained a great deal from the course.