Milca Rivera on 'Disabled Story'
I got the opportunity to write the main story for story six, and it was a wonderful and eye-opening experience.
As the main writer I got to interview a few students who require the aid of a wheelchair. The interviews averaged about one hour, and in that hour I learned a wealth of information. I don’t believe I went into this story with any misconceptions, but I still wondered how a wheelchair limits daily life. What I learned from interviewing Justin and Kimberly is that they don’t allow a wheelchair or their disabilities to limit them.
I also spoke with a few coordinators in the office of Student with Disability Services (SDS). They are a passionate group of people who are determined to make campus accessible to students with disabilities. They also gave me information on how to interact with students with various disabilities, which is knowledge I am glad to have acquired.
I would like to continue this story eventually and to continue to learn the stories of people with various disabilities. Working on this story was a great close to the semester.
_____________________________________________________________________Amanda Stone on 'Disabled Story'
For story six, the story about disabled students at the University of South Florida, I was in charge of coordinating the multimedia. While I had a couple ideas to incorporate video into the mix, I was unable to get that done. However, I believe what I did create for the multimedia portion of this story was sufficient. I really enjoyed creating the multimedia, as I have a passion for editing.
I decided to go a little bit 'artsy' with the photographs as opposed to a 'hard news' style. Since the story was more feature-like, I thought that would be okay. Incorporating what I have learned in my photojournalism class has definitely helped. I thought I would have some trouble finding photographs to take, however, once I began to shoot I realized there are so many things on campus that pertain to disabled students. The parking spots, parking signs, Braille, and ramps were among the easiest to spot. The bathroom photographs were a bit awkward to shot, as I had to make sure no one was in the bathroom, however, I believe they served a purpose within the story. Even though I did not personally interview those in the stories, I feel as if I learned valuable information about disabled students while completing the multimedia. This story was definitely "crossing borders" for me and I am glad that we chose this topic. Without doing a story like this, I may have never took the time to stop and think about students different than myself while at college.
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Cody Wilson and Joshua Litton on "Frat Story"
For story 6, Josh and I decided to cross a border and talk about fraternities. As we near the end of the semester we chose to use some audio clips in the multimedia and another picture slideshow. For the audio clips it was difficult because this was the first time that we actually did it. We learned how to do it, but did not put it to use until now. Also, it was difficult because we are not used to audacity. We are use to a PC instead of a Mac. We figured it out but it was definitely difficult to figure out the controls since we are used to a PC.
Also, it was hard to figure out how to put the audio clips on blogger. Even though Josh is used to blogger, he was not used to putting audio clips on blogger. However, we did figure it out and the most important thing with this was patience. We had to be patience and not stress out about it.
The picture slideshow went well; however, we had a problem at the beginning getting pictures. Some of our photos didn’t come out right, so we had to go back later and get the photos we needed for the project.
Overall, we feel that the project was a success. Learning everything we needed throughout the semester is definitely going to help us in the long run. Understanding how to use a website, learning audacity and learning how to use Picasa to make photo slideshows are important if we become journalists someday.
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Cody Wilson and Joshua Litton on "Bulls spend bucks on athletics"
For story five, Josh and I decided to collaborate as a team and work on the story together. We wrote about Athletics vs. Academics and how athletic coaches and staff make more than most academic personnel. For this story, we kind of worked together on all aspects, including the main story, multimedia graphs, charts and pictures as well as the captions.
After doing this story, we learned a little bit more about each aspect of the project. Putting the slideshow together was easier than before. After taking the pictures, we uploaded them and easily put them on the blog. Before it was harder and took longer because we were both new at it.
Something that we had trouble with this time was finishing things at the last minute. We had a little trouble hearing back from our sources in a timely matter. We tried to contact the president Judy Genshaft as well as the athletic director Doug Woolard but we were unable to communicate with them. It is understandable though because they are two of the highest paid individuals at USF and are probably busy most of the time and don’t really have time for students in their free time. However, we did find a way to get a hold of other contacts and make things run smoothly but it was kind of at the last minute. We were kind of scrambling to get things done.
Overall, it was a little different working together on this whole project but it went well and the project did get finished in a timely manner.
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Amanda Stone on "DUI Story"
I was the main story writer for the fourth story. I had originally brainstormed the story concept a couple weeks ago and decided to go through with the idea. Writing about the topic of drunken drivers is something I felt I had to do. One of my best friends almost died in a DUI accident a few years ago, and ever since I have felt passionately about getting the word out about the dangers of drunken driving.
I wanted to do as much research as possible for this story and came out with a good amount of information. I conducted a survey of 100 people, asking questions about drinking and driving. I thought the results were interesting. While some people did admit to drinking and driving, a larger amount admitted to being driven by a drunken driver. Ironic, I thought, and still dangerous.
I also headed down to the Hillsborough County Sherriff's Office to pick up public records. The process was much more simple than I thought it would be and the people working in the records department were very nice, as well as helpful. I have a feeling, though, that it will not always be that easy.
I hope that anyone who reads this story will truly understand the impact of drinking and driving. While it can result in fines, community service and other things like that, it can also end up with death. Drinking and driving needs to end, however, I realistically know it will not. I hope I can at least reach one person with this story and change their mind about driving under the influence.
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Joshua Litton on "DUI Story"
Although I have a decent understand of Blogger.com and HTML, this story in particular has taught me to be patient.
With all technology, no matter how much the world depends on it, there are going to be setbacks for reasons that are difficult to understand. Blogger.com or any other website designed for blog postings is destined to have a glitch that will provide one with a substantial road block. Many times, one may think they know how to fix it and others, there isn't an answer. As a blog editor, patience is key.
When resubmitting the stories, random HTML code or structure elements would ruin the planned design causing frustration and anger. I learned that deleting the problem area and opening up a brand new post or gadget will almost always solve the problem. If not, there is also the trusted Google.com search to guide you to another fix.
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Cody Wilson on "DUI Story"
After performing as the mojo, main story and blog editor, I had to be the sidebar writer. My job was to take an idea from the main story and make a separate story out of it. We wrote after drinking and DUI’s, so I decided to write about a college student that does not drink. Majority of college students drink to have a good time so I wanted to find someone that does not drink and find out why he does not drink and what else he does.
As the sidebar writer, I learned that you have to get ahead. It is a good idea to get the interviews done early in case you have any questions. I did my main interview just a few hours before I wrote my story. I then had to stop in the middle of the story and ask him some additional questions because I rushed the interview because I was in a rush. So it would have been a good idea to have enough time for the interview and ask any follow-up questions later.
Since I performed all the other tasks already I had to be the sidebar. Performing the sidebar was one of my favorite tasks. I like how we could take a spinoff of the main story and make it another story. I felt like all together it went well.
Overall, learning to perform the mojo, main story, sidebar and blog editor was good for the future. We had the chance to use each of them as well as help our other partners out if they had any trouble because in story two, three and four we could find someone in our group that performed that function already.
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Cody Wilson on "Parking Story"
For project three, I was the blog editor. I had the task of setting up the blog for the mojo, sidebar and main story. At the beginning, I thought this task of being the blog editor would be the toughest but in the end I learned quickly and it ended up not being too bad.
When I first started, I was pretty confused. I had a web design class when I was in high school, but that was years ago and I pretty much forgot everything. All of the HTML signs and codes were confusing to me at first. It was pretty tedious because you have to get everything right in order for the blog to work properly.
There were several times when I thought everything was in correctly and I would view the post and it was all wrong. So being patient was key in finishing the blog. Also, when I would put a story into the editing part, it would all bunch together. Therefore, I would have to go back and look at the original copy and make necessary spaces for each paragraph.
Overall, I was glad that I got to be the blog editor because I learned a lot of important things about setting up a web page. I learned a lot of good editing techniques and codes that will help me in the future. I want to be able to set up my own web page someday so learning this will definitely help me in the future.
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Joshua Litton on "Parking Story"
As an inspiring journalist and amateur photographer, I now have a new respect for photojournalists. For those who think being a photojournalist is just a simple point and shoot, they are extremely mistaken.
For Story 3, my role was to capture images that corresponded with our parking topic. I thought finding events to take pictures of would have been a lot easier than it was. I thought if I shot a few photos of a crowded parking lot and a bus stop, that would suffice and give me the images I was looking for. However, after many attempts, I still didn't have the photos that were sufficient enough to add to our story.
Instead of planning a time to go out and photograph students and the parking issues, I just through my camera over my shoulder and focused on my regular school course load. This made for much better photos. Instead of going out and finding the photos, they came to me. In between walking to class or finding parking, I found my shots.
One really wouldn't understand "putting yourself in their shoes" until you try it. Who know something as simple as taking photos for a parking story would be so simple. All I had to do was "be a student" rather than "be a reporter" to find my shots.
As for the other aspects of my responsibilities, I really enjoyed editing the images, creating the link collection for more information and recording audio to add even more "detail" to our story. Although I didn't use any audio in the final project, the collection of the audio helped me think like a reporter. I felt like a reporter for the first time in my young career. I wasn't reporting on sports which is within my comfort zone. I was reporting on an issue that was common among almost all of the student population. The whole process was exciting, entertaining and informing.
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Cody Wilson on "Bulls basketball program sees $11 million boost"
For story two, I was the main reporter. My responsibility was creating the story for our group. I ran into some trouble but I figured everything out.
I had a tough time finding people to interview at the beginning. I wanted to interview Stan Heath, the head coach of the basketball team; however, he was out of town most of the week that I wanted to interview him. It was a bad week because our assistant coaches and our head coach were in and out of town finishing up on recruiting. I had to interview one of the assistant coaches and our Director of Basketball Operations instead. Also, the Senior Associate Director of Athletics was busy, so I sent him an email asking him questions and he found time to answer before I wrote my story. Even though I was unable to interview Stan Heath, I was still able to get good quotes and information from everyone else.
I did have a challenge when I was doing my interviews. When I interviewed Reggie Hanson and Andy Hipsher I didn’t bring a digital audio recorder. I had to have them slow down when they were answering their questions so I could directly quote them. Next time, I will bring my digital audio recorder with me so it is easier and a lot quicker to do the interviews.
Overall, I think being the main reporter was good because if I am a reporter someday I will understand these things already and it will be a lot smoother in the future.
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Amanda Stone on "Bulls basketball program sees $11 million boost"
For our second story, I played the role of the "mobile journalist." A bit more of a daunting task than being the blog editor, I found myself somewhat nervous. I worried about getting the right shot that would best explain and portray the new construction. While my peers and I know about the Muma Center, those that do not know USF will have no idea what that is, let alone what it means.
I decided to get a basic shot of the construction site to set the tone of the story. That first shot allows people to get a sense of the magnitude of what the Muma Center will be. What I wanted the rest of the shots to be of took some time to think about.
After talking with Cody and Josh, group members who are associated with the men's basketball team, I got a better understanding of what shots I would need. Getting access into the current basketball facilities was great, thanks to Cody.
The "behind the scenes" aspect of my photographs are my favorite part of the whole assignment. These photographs allow those who would never have the chance to walk around in restricted areas, to see what really goes on. Personally, the locker room was completely different from what I had assumed.
Luckily, I was able to use my Nikon D50 to take these photographs. The quality of the camera allowed me to take good shots that looked professional.
Being the "Mojo" will probably be my favorite position.
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Joshua Litton on "Bulls basketball program sees $11 million boost"
After compiling my interview questions and interacting with the individual who was behind the motivation of my story, I learned that multimedia doesn't always help tell the story.
For example, I felt that my words and my story carried enough of the message that I was trying to put out for readers and that any audio or visual aspects wouldn't have aided in said message. I attempted to record some of the interview questions between the student manager and I but felt his responses carried more of a message via print than the audio files I captured.
Now I understand, in more of a personal piece that contains more dramatic information or captivating anecdotes that a sound byte could completely elevate the story to another level. However, I felt it wasn't necessary for my piece. I felt my story and quotes created a good solid, fluent article that could help connect the reader to the individual that I wrote about.
Sometimes old-fashioned journalism is the way to go.
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Cody Wilson on "How much is your textbook really worth?"
After finishing story one, I learned some important features. I was the mojo for our group and I put the slideshow together and put the chart on the blog.
I put the slideshow on the blog and came up with a problem with the chart I wanted to add. Originally, I added the chart as a slideshow. I needed to delete it so I could put it as a picture and when I did that I deleted my other slideshow. Therefore, I had to re-do the whole slideshow and come up with the captions all over again. That was a learning experience.
Also, when I put the slideshow on the blog, I didn’t make it big enough. So I had to go back and make it bigger. I found out how to center the slideshow by just adding center into the embed code so it centered the slideshow on the blog.
Finally, I realized that when you’re taking pictures, all you need to do is ask. When I was at Gray’s Bookstore, I took a picture of the building from my car. I should have went inside and asked them so I could have taken a better picture for the slideshow. When I got into the USF Bookstore, I simply asked to take photos of the books and they welcomed me to take as many pictures as I wanted to. When I went to the USF Bookstore, no one was buying books; therefore, I couldn’t snap any photos of students buying books.
Overall, I believe everything went well as being the mojo.
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Amanda Stone on "How much is your textbook really worth?"
As the blog editor for our first story, I was in charge of uploading all of the multimedia as well as the stories to our Blogger account. While I am somewhat tech savvy, Blogger posed to be an obstacle for me. This specific blogging account involves a great amount of Html to be used, and I do not have a strong background with Html codes.
Even though I had some trouble in the beginning, I soon began to pick up on what to do. After researching for more than an hour, I learned how to add a "page jump." Well, needless to say, we did not use the "page jump" option, however, I am now well aware how to use it. I learned to work my around Blogger and learned a few Html codes, such as the 'centering' option.
I am glad that I began to understand the Html process as I want to be able to do this on my own one day. I believe it is a great skill to have, especially when going into the incredibly competitive industry that journalism now is.
Even though I did not write neither the story nor the sidebar, I did have a part in editing them. I found it is difficult to edit a colleague's work as everyone has their own style of writing. The obvious grammar and AP errors were okay to change, but the style was off limits. I respect the writing styles everyone has, however, it is just very hard not to edit the story in the way I would write.
