Extra Credit Blog from Mass Comm Week

I attended the presentation by Mark Ethridge during Mass Communications Week. The week brought in many people in the communications industry for speeches, presentations and forums. The week gave students insight into the communications industry. The week was a good alternative for students to listen to someone other than their teachers. To be honest, I am sure students were happy to have class cancelled because of the week. This week also gave professors the excuse to not have class.

According to the Virginia Commonwealth University Mass Communications Web site, Ethridge is the current president of Carolina Parenting Inc. The company prints Charlotte Parent magazine and parent magazines in other major regions in North Carolina.

The presentation concluded with a book signing by Ethridge. His book is called Grievances and chronicles his reporting experiences.

In the podcast below, Ethridge talked about the advantages local newspapers hold over other news sources. The first point he made and stressed is the ability to cover local news. He stated there are many ways to get international, sports, stocks and movies. He also said there were usually more reporters with the newspaper than with the local television station.

The second point was that newspapers can report in depth, with detail and authority. He stressed authority because there are so many ways of getting news by way of traditional outlets and new age outlets. He used blogs and Twitter as examples and he said we are "overwhelmed" by news in this new age.





Powered by Podbean.com

Sportscenter.com

Sportscenter is probably the longest running program on ESPN and probably the longest running sports program on any network. This is the best sports show and it never seems to get old. Now they have finally caught on to the multimedia wave with the launching of their site.

The main page is simple and easy to navigate. The top half of the page begins with top headlines in sports. The site is heavy with video coverage. Nowadays, video is a good way to draw viewers on the Web.

Having a time stamp is a popular method with news organizations. The site has their update at the top of the page. Currently, the last update was at 3:05 a.m.

Everyday, there is a new Sportscenter anchor featured. The feature is at the bottom of the front page. For Sportscenter fanatics (like me), I am able to learn more information about the people I watch everyday. Today, the featured anchor is Scott Van Pelt.

Next to the feature sports anchor are the featured Sportcenter anchor blogs. I find this interesting because like normal anchors they are supposed to stay neutral when reporting on television. It is hard to get a feel for their personalities when they are reporting on the air. The blogs of course let readers know what they are really thinking on certain issues.

The main page has the ESPN television lineup. The best part of this site is the archives of ESPN commercials. They are all entertaining and having this up is smart to draw fan interest to the site. Also, there is a discussion forum for fans about these commercials.

Here is one of my favorite commercials. This includes current professional football players Peyton and Eli Manning. They are quarterbacks in the National Football League. They are taking a tour in the ESPN studios. The funny part is they are acting like two little kids by messing around with each other when their parents are not paying attention. Their father, retired professional football player, Archie Manning also appears in the commercial.

Post Visit

Friday night my graduate class for multimedia journalism visited the Washington Post. In actuality it was only half of the newspaper. We visited the Internet side of the newspaper, which is located in Arlington, Va. I ended up taking the metro because there is a station located approximately two blocks from the company.

Overall, the visit was very informative and I enjoyed the tour of the Internet side. I expected the paper to have its own building or some type of sign indicating where they were located.

Chet Rhodes was kind enough to stay into the night and talk about what The Post.com is all about. He mentioned that his day on Friday started around five or six that morning. So he was very generous to us, plus he ordered pizza! He is the Assistant Managing Editor for news video at Washingtonpost.com. So, he is kind of a big deal. Actually, he is very much a big deal around the .com side of The Post.

He talked about the importance of story telling in news nowadays. He touched on in the next two years The Post will be converging the newspaper and .com sides into one building. Here is a video from Beet.tv, which has Rhodes talking about video training. The points he touched on during our visit are a lot of the same answers he provided to Beet.


During the visit, he talked about shooting video. It seemed that he just wants his reporters and videographers to implement the basics of shooting for their storytelling. He said he is more concerned with them building their video skills. He presented the process of shooting video:

1. The single most important part of the process is communication; he also said this is the hardest part for staff.


2. Shoot the video.

3. Watch the video and prepare a shot sheet.

4. My favorite part: send the tape and e-mail the shot sheet and names of people in the video.

The last part means letting someone else edit your video, which is what I wish I had right now for my final project. As I said before, I took a lot of valuable information from Rhodes. I think I might apply for an internship with The Post for the spring semester. I think working for them will be a valuable experience.

Journalism Ethics

Adam Reilly of The Boston Phoenix wrote an article about the recent conflicts of interest in journalism for the upcoming election. He raises the question, why some journalistic conflicts of interests gain more coverage than others?

The big news is about Gwen Ifill, she was the moderator for the recent vice presidential debate. Ifill has a book coming out about Barack Obama and his breakthrough into politics. The assumption by Republicans was Ifill would not be fair to Sarah Palin, vice presidential candidate.

Also, other big news during the financial crisis is about NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell. She reports on financial matters and is married to Alan Greenspan, who is the former head of the Federal Reserve. She made a statement on NBC programming that financial troubles started in some financial institutions in 2006 and 2007. This was after Greenspan stepped down as head of the Federal Reserve. Some media outlets believe she was trying to save her husband by pointing out that he was not apart of the financial troubles.

So the real question is how can journalist stand clear from being exposed to conflicts of interests and reporting bias?

A journalist needs to figure out...

1. What is their affiliation with a news event, story or person? (If the story involves a person.)
-If a journalist has a personal relationship with a person, there is going to be some type of bias.

2. Can I cover another news event?

3. Have I ever written anything in support of a person, outside of my profession?

4. Do I have a strong support or dislike of the subject matter?

5. Is it possible for me to stay objective on the topic?

6. Can I let the public know my affiliation with a subject matter before providing a report?

7. Will the public think any less of my credibility if I am in strong support or dislike of a certain subject matter?

8. Will I be able to answer questions from the media regarding my conflicts of interest on a subject matter?

The changing media

Jim Brady says he expects new hires to understand how people are consuming media. Brady is the executive editor at washingtonpost.com. He had an interview on the Mediashift Web site with Alfred Hermida, who is an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at British Columbia. One of the topics they touched on was job interviewing. Brady says he first asks in a job interview: assess the changes in media in the last five years and where do you see it going?




In the past five years the media has changed drastically. People are used to receiving the news instantly. News organizations are in a race to report the news first. They are in competition with each other and also with other non-traditional outlets. The social media has played a big role in the past five years. Traditional news organizations are starting to fall behind. The You Tube's, Facebook's and Myspace's are taking over the attention of Internet users. Myspace.com has been taken over by the corporates. They provide links to news, sports, jobs and other options, just like traditional news.

Citizen journalists plays a key role in reporting news. They provide an alternative to the traditional news, who usually filters out stories that are not as important. Even on the Internet there is still gate keeping by traditional news organizations. News organizations are beginning to decrease their staffs, which means there will be even less news coverage. Citizens doing their own reporting allows for more issues to be brought to life. Also, in some cases these stories can be brought to the attention of traditional news organizations as apart of their agenda. Usually citizen reporters are experts of their community. They bring a hyper local aspect to news, which is an advantage for small traditional newspapers. Small newspapers need to take advantage of citizen journalists in their community.

Blogs of course are the new alternative for newspaper coverage. Once an article is published the blog can be used for additional information and allow for reader comments on a story. The blog has provided a new way for people to get their voice heard. This is a good device to connect with small communities. Traditional media is consumed by the blog world right now, which has picked up over the past five years. Anyone can start their own blog.

The downside to these new forms of media is that they allow ordinary people to do their own reporting. They do not have to follow rules of concrete journalism. They are not held to the same standard as traditional news organization journalists. Bloggers do not have to worry about fact checking or providing sources. This will lead to inaccuracies of course.

The election coverage is beginning to pick up. I think there will be some inaccuracies in reporting, just as there was in the past couple of elections. People will turn back to the traditional journalists for their concrete reporting. News organizations have to continue keeping their audience involved in their work. Even if it is just providing a forum for people to discuss. Interactivity is the root to driving readership.

The web is in motion

Web 2.0 is taking over the Internet and most importantly the mainstream media. Cole Camplese wrote an article about Web 2.0 and used 'Charlie Bit My Finger' as a classic example of what the Internet is becoming. The article was posted on the Christian Science Monitor (CSM). CSM is an international newspaper published by The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Mass.

'Charlie...' is a simple home produced video about a baby biting his older brother's finger. Who would believe such a simple concept for a video would become a big hit on the Internet? There was no concept to begin with for this video. The parents were just trying to record home footage of a big brother playing with his little brother. The funny thing about this video is that the kid continues to let his little brother bite his finger. He even puts his finger to his mouth basically asking him to bite.




Camplese uses this to discuss how any person can become famous on the Web. Camplese is the director of Education Technology Services at Penn State. He brings up how this video had no marketing or significant cost to producing this and it turned into a Web sensation. This video has more views than some movies in current theatres in the United States.

I agree with his point that people are posting to the Web for attention. As Camplese states, many traditional news organizations will cite the social medias, such as Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, Myspace and others in their news reporting. Since we are so close to election time, he says the social media will play a big role in news reporting. I have to agree, especially when people with little knowledge about computers can post a video on You Tube and receive air time.

One phenomena that reminded me of 'Charlie...' was the craze around new teen rapper Soulja Boy. He had a song called 'Crank That'. You Tube will not allow me to embed the video in my blog, so just click on the link and it should take you to the video.

He self-produced the song and posted it on You Tube initially. He made millions of dollars off the song. By typing in the key words 'Crank That' on You Tube, viewers can find so much material relating to the song. Here is one example.



Viewers can find the official video for the song, home videos and mash ups from popular media. Someone on You Tube took the time out to do a mash up with the loveable purple dinosaur, Barney. I know I do not have that much time to create something like that. A creation like that still takes talent.



A major chunk of Camplese's article talked about teens and their heavy usage of social media. As from the Soulja Boy example, the social media is another alternative to becoming discovered.

The Death of Traditional Print?

A blog post by Bob Guccione, Jr. published in the Huffington Post talked about the future of media. He broke down the future of media into four major points.

His first point: "Within two years, a major city daily will transform itself into a free paper. Home delivery will still require a paid subscription. The Sunday paper will continue to be sold and will morph into a hybrid of the best of a pleasurable Sunday-paper reading experience and a week-long events resource."

A newspaper won't make a profit providing a free paper. If it was free I would take the time out to go to a store and pick up the the paper instead of paying a subscription to have it delivered to my home. Majority of people that work jobs do not have time to read the paper. Majority of workers look at the news online while they are at work. Workers do not have to wake up earlier to get their news because they can do so at work. Plus, the news they are reading in the paper is considered old.

His second point, "A cable channel will pass one or more of the Big Four broadcast networks in total viewership, chiefly because it makes better programs."

The Big Four of course is NBC, FOX, CBS and ABC.

I agree with this one. There are so many alternative programs on television. Many cable networks are appealing to niche groups. The traditional big four do not offer programming for alternative groups. For example, Music Television (MTV) appeals to a younger audience. They were once known for just playing music videos, but now they only have about one show dedicated to music on their main channel. They have expanded so much that they have other channels dedicated to music and different cultures. There main channel is dedicated to reality shows. Cable networks are able to compete with the big four networks because of the popularity of reality television.

His third point: "Google will lose significant market share, because viable competitors will create as good or better search engines and incentivize people to use them."

Google losing their significance, right now I find that hard to believe. Maybe we can talk about this in a couple of years. I know I have been using Google as my search engine forever. Even now, Google continues to reinvent itself. So like I said, when there is a true competitor then we can talk about this.

His last major point: "The Internet will not consume print, because it's not strong enough, it's not better, and it's too busy consuming itself."

The internet provides an easy alternative and cheaper alternative, especially for college students who have little money. Nowadays, a person can do anything on the Internet. Overall, I think print and Internet will continue to co-exist for a while. Internet will prevail in the end. Information is literally at a person's fingertips.

I do not understand how Guccione can say the Internet will never be stronger than print when the rest of his article bashes traditional print. He basically says that traditional print needs the Internet to survive:

"Offline media companies should use the Web to do a better job of competing with one another..."

"The Internet hit traditional publishing like the asteroid that struck the earth and killed the dinosaurs."

"I know the conventional wisdom: that readership is being lost to the speed and efficiency of the Web."

He also talks about traditional media outlets and how they ignored the Internet as a new wave of media. So I do not understand how he came to the conclusion that the Internet will never be stronger than print.

That is all I have to say.

Compelling Journalism

I would have to say that CNN.com does do a good job of integrating news coverage from users into their traditional journalistic coverage. This allows users to be engaged in the news coverage. News organizations are always looking for ways to provide continuous traffic to their sites. CNN does a good job of making sure "Joe Blow's" voice is heard. I find one of the easiest topics to provide video is storm coverage. I always find it interesting and exciting that CNN will not waste time to incorporate home video of a hurricane or tornado in their coverage. They even provide links in their search database of people that track storms. I need to incorporate some interaction with my users on my own Web site.


The first thing that strikes me about the Oregonian newspaper piece is that it's about a woman preparing to die. This is a piece that must be taken seriously. This is the true meaning of a human interest story. If a person dies of course there is going to be reporting done, especially if the person is well-known or famous. I have not seen too many reports about a person knowing they are about to die. So this is a unique topic.

From the beginning of the first video they used a very simple approach and just performed interviews in her home. From there they just let her tell the story. This video is appealing to people that are going through the same situation or have a family going through this. So having a simple shooting concept was good when a user is focused on what the person in the video is saying. I can say from my own experience how rough times like these can be. My grandmother passed away this month from lung cancer.

Bashing your own school, who would do such a thing?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Especially when you have valid reasons to your opinion. Alana Taylor, NYU journalism student gives her opinion why her school is lagging behind in the new age of journalism. This was posted on the PBS site called Media Shift. She starts off talking about one of her classes called Reporting Gen Y, which is one of the few classes focused on new media.


I am surprised by this because NYU is supposed to be a good school to attend. I always hear the school in the media because they are known for graduating some of the best young minds in the country.

They are in the media capital of the world, which is obviously New York city so its shocking this particular program is lagging behind in the digital age. I mean they have access to top notch newsrooms in the city, so one would think they would have caught on to the new wave of media.


Back to her journalism program, she pretty much says the focus is to become an editor for a magazine or newspaper. Also, she brings up the point that the program pretty much discredits writing for blogs or Web sites. I find that odd since newsrooms are turning their focus to the Web. They are trying to find ways to generate revenue from the Web. Newsrooms are trying to beat out their competitors to have breaking news on the Web. I just do not understand how a program in the number one media market could be so narrow-minded.


Taylor goes on to say, "Obviously, I am being a bit facetious here, but the truth of the matter is that by the time my generation, Gen Y, gets into the real world there will be a much higher demand for web-savvy writers and thinkers than traditional Woodwards and Bernsteins." I thought this stuck out to me. She is saying by the time she graduates, but I think that high demand is now.


As I touched on earlier, all the newsrooms are trying to be the first with new information. Relying on the newspaper at this point in the media age will have you far behind in the competition standpoint. Even waiting on a television report is pushing it nowadays.

She touches on no one in her class of 16 students had a blog besides her. I thought this was interesting because it seems like an almost essential part of being a serious journalist nowadays. Blogs give a journalist personality and a better connection with readers. I admit I did not have my first blog until I started my graduate program with VCU. I wish I would have been blogging before this program though. I did not have much knowledge about blogs until this program anyway.


I find it very odd that these students are being asked to bring the hard copy version of the New York Times every class. It seems like they have to prove that they are reading the paper and from Taylor it seems as if they are only supposed to read news from the Times.


She goes on to say, "I don’t understand why they don’t let us access the online version, get our current events news from other outlets, or even use our NY Times app on the iPhone. Bringing the New York Times pains me because I refuse to believe that it’s the only source for credible news or Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism and it’s a big waste of trees."


I agree with her suggestions. Internet is so much easier and cheaper than getting the hard copy version. You are essentially receiving the same information. I think also the ability to get information from other outlets lets you have more access to different stories. Some stories deemed important to other newspapers in the country, may not be important to the Times. Students would miss out on more stories if they only trusted one outlet for news.

Taylor brings up very valid points in her post. I think sooner or later all journalism programs have to incorporate classes catered to the digital age. We are at the point where nobody reads newspapers. The late breaking news is on the internet. Blogging is the new fad. It's pretty much get with it or get left behind.

It's Back!!

I have regained my love for sports. I really never lost it, but I just took a little break. Maybe because of the season I started my blog. The only major sport was baseball. Fortunate for me, football season is back. I always enjoy watching the sport and I think there are Web sites that do a good job of covering the sport. ESPN is one of them. Having the ability to follow your own team online is fun. It is better than not being able to keep up with them all. I am a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the San Francisco 49ers. I rarely see 49ers games televised in this area, so in order for me to follow the game I have to look at play by play on ESPN. As we speak, I am following the Jaguars game. They play the Tennessee Titans this week. The 49ers game does not start until 4:15 p.m.

I love the main page of ESPN. At the top you can get quick score information on games around the league. At the top of each score, the channel is listed if viewers want to watch. Depending on your area you can only get certain games. In the future, when I get more dinero or money I would like to get NFL Sunday Ticket. This allows you to watch all games played on Sunday, so I could always follow my favorite teams.

Anyway, back to the site the front page has a nice photo of four top quarterbacks in the league. I do not necessarily agree with the bottom right quarterback, who is Vince Young. He is the Titans quarterback and they play the Jaguars today. So boo to him. David Garrard, the Jaguars quarterback, was a better player last year, so he should be on the front page in my opinion.

When your team is not televised on your local Fox or CBS affiliate, football fans have the option of following live play by play online with ESPN. There is a digital field, where you can follow precisely where the play is taking place. Updates are instant on each play showing who threw the ball, ran the ball and caught the ball. The updates tell you how many yards on the play, total yards overall, current position of the ball, how much time left in the game, current score, team statistics and individual statistics. This is a good technique to keep fans involved with football even if they are not watching it on television.

Even though I do not care for him today because he is playing one of my favorite teams I still think Young is a great talent. I am sure if you do not know about him then you will get a good idea of what I am talking about below.

First Podcast

Embedded below is my first podcast on general news. I covered topics on Tropical Storm Hanna, the Nascar Sprint Cup Series and a breast cancer golf tournament in the Richmond region.

Powered by Podbean.com

On the Rise

Last month, people-press.org posted a study done by the The Pew Research Center about internet usage. One of the first and main point from the report is that online usage has increased and this means the internet is not going anywhere in the near future.

The report stated, "Overall, 37 percent of the public - including more than half of those who go on the internet (55 percent) - say they regularly get news online. A decade ago, just 13 percent of the public, and 35 percent of internet users, went online for news at least three days a week."



Commentary: These stats prove the internet is still a growing outlet. There are still many places around the world where there is no internet access. Eventually these places will have to get with the program. News is becoming so fast paced with the use of online as an outlet. Newspapers are becoming out of date because they can only report yesterday's news. The internet allows the opportunity to report up to the second news. The internet outlet can be changed and modified, before a newspaper can print one story about a topic. Once everyone has access to the internet, then more people will be knowledgeable at a faster pace.

One of the most important statistics would have to be the amount of African-American users. The amount of users have tripled, but white users of the internet still dominates compared to black users. Whites use the internet for online news consumption 38 percent of time compared to blacks use for online news 24 percent of the time.



Commentary: The amount of broadband usage in personal homes for blacks has increased according to the Pew Research. Even though there has been an increase, whites still have the advantage because their internet usage continues to grow. African-Americans started out behind on this outlet. Ultimately, they will never be able to out grow their white counterparts. Blacks are still lacking on the concept of using the internet for news and they are more interested in watching videos, listening to music or checking out their social networking profiles. They do dominate whites in the aspect of using social networks.

The use of social networking is one the biggest things on the web right now. From the report, "Fully 65 percent of people 18 to 24 - 82 percent of those who go online - say they have a profile on MySpace, Facebook or another social networking site." Another point about the social networking is that blacks are more likely than whites to have a social networking page. Blacks use the internet for social networking 44 percent of the time compared to whites who use it 29 percent of the time.



Commentary: Social networking is popular because people are able to keep up with friends and make new friends. They are able to connect with people around the world and promote themselves. Blacks use these social networks to promote them self as an artist. Myspace allows people to post original music and expression and people all over the world can view their page.

Going for the Gold

Once again, the Olympics are almost here. The biggest American sport seeking redemption is basketball. The U.S. Men's Senior National Basketball Team is looking to reestablish the country as an international powerhouse in the sport of basketball. The multimedia package put together by nba.com has good writing and visual coverage of the team. They have a behind the scenes look of the team as they prepare for the Olympic Games in China. The overall package is called the, "U.S. Team: Road to Redemption". This is actually the name of the documentary put together by ESPN, but 'redemption' is the overall theme of the 2008 mission for the U.S. Men's Basketball Team. In 2004, the men's team finished in third place at the Olympics. For American basketball this is seen as a failure.
The coverage provides up to date stories on games played and practices held. There was also a story on the U.S. Select Team, which was picked to help the Senior team prepare for the Olympics. There is a notebook section, highlighting key events during the minicamp held in Las Vegas. The notebook touched on different situations to help convey how the team was forming. There was a descriptive segment of the notebook used to explain how the coach wants the team to have a sense of nationalism. The next section discusses the injuries on the team. There are a couple of sections that profile some of the players and focus on how they are a key to the team. A notebook or a journal is a good way for a reporter to collect their thoughts before writing a story. In some cases, there might not be a particular story, but just providing a notebook for viewers is a useful multimedia tool. The fans feel connected with the team because they are not receiving a report, but just some highlights of important issues with the team. This is also an informal and efficient way of presenting information. One of the profile stories I read on the site can be closely compared to the profile assignment we were asked to do in class. The story was on Lebron James, one of the younger leaders on the team. The story allows the coach and other players to talk about James and his impact on the team. There is also the use of a video to give visual proof to the story. Overall, the video gives viewers an inside look of preparation for the men's basketball team.

You Witness

I found something that has much to do with the assignments in our class. The Olympic games are coming up and the biggest attention has been about the protests. There is a photo slide show on Reuters.com highlighting events regarding the protest. The first photo is of supporters of China, which serves as a good opening scene. The photographer had my attention because usual coverage has been catered to the protestors. I have not seen much media coverage on supporters for China. I like the next photo showing how chaotic the London area was when the torch passed through. Another photo has a pro-Tibet protestor and a London cop. The London cop is looking down over the protester as if something is wrong with that person. I just like it for his expression as he looks at the protestor yelling. I would have had an annoyed expression on my face too if someone was basically yelling in my ear. There are always people during a protest that get out of hand. This photo shows a protester pinned down to the ground and three cops in the process of arresting him. The slideshow would not be complete without a shot of someone being arrested. I like the website overall because Reuters invites people to submit footage of important events around the world. The section where this slideshow was found on the site is called you witness. Eventhough the pictures were submitted by basically a citizen journalist, the photos were good quality. Eventhough this is not discussing a specific sports event, I believe this post does discuss the real life surrounding the Olympics and their sporting events.

Tiger Woods

One of the better websites I have seen in a while is the Tiger Woods official website. Even though he is injured, he is still the top golf player in the world. His website not only has updates on him, but also on other events and players in the golf world. Mainly the events in the Professional Golf Association (PGA). The sites home page has a strong image of Woods with his famous fist pump and smile. There is an official Woods symbol in the left corner of the page with a 'T' and a 'W' connected. The front page has headlines of the four top stories related to Woods or golf. Right now Woods is not participating in any PGA events, but there is still coverage on the events. The latest headline is of the ESPY Awards. Woods received three awards. The site has a spot showing the last PGA event he participated in. There is a place for his next event he will participate in and the specific network for television coverage. There is a space for random Tiger trivia. Under the links section of the page, there is another website dedicated to his own golf course design. There are interactive designs so golfers can get a feel for the courses. The seperate website also shows pictures of the hotel located by the golf course. The website also has a chart for his awards, mainly the amount of golf majors he has won. At the bottom of the main page is a quote from Woods. The quotes change daily and they give personality to the website as if the viewer is actually talking to Woods. Also, there are some quick golf stats, such as his scoring average, driving distance, driving accuracy, putting average and sand saves. There is also a link to a seperate website called the Tiger Woods Foundation. He has a promotion encouraging young people to talk about their own positive moments. Since Woods is known for his 'fist pump' after something good happens, he calls the promotion the 'Fist Pump Challenge'. This provides some feedback and interaction from the viewers. The website also encourages viewers to buy. The top product is his video game. Also, for more interaction the site allows viewers to receive alerts through their cell phones.
The website has his biography and a link to his blog, but to access the blog the viewer must sign up for fan club membership. The site has a chronology of his life and random facts about Woods. One of the best aspects is learning about his diet and nutrition. This allows Woods' fanactics to eat and drink like him. Also, this promotes his products with Gatorade and turns out to be a winning situation. Also, there is a section to write letters to Woods and there is a section showing his response to some of the letters. That is also apart of the club tiger benefits.

From Baseball to Basketball

Searching some of the top stories in news for the day I came across an Alex Rodriguez headline. Rodriguez is the starting third baseman for the New York Yankees. The story is about his wife filing for divorce. I thought the photo included with the article was humorous. It is him and his wife in the stands of what seems to be a sporting event. He looks to be annoyed with her because she seems to be talking to him to . The article talks about his extramarital affairs so the photograph is fitting to the description of Rodriguez by his wife in the article calling her husband an adulterer who "emotionally abandoned his wife and children."

I looked at headlines from cbssportsline.com, espn.com, foxsports.com and mlb.com and noticed they all had the same top story. The story was about pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers from the Cleveland Indians. Both cbsportsline and foxsports.com had interesting plays on words for headlines. It seems sports news organizations are into clever headlines and in this case they are incorporating a players name. CBS used the headline "C.C. (ya) Sabathia." Fox used the headline "C.C. you later." The coverage on Sabathia is different between the news organizations such as foxsports.com which talks about the Sabathia trade in a news story along with other important story lines in professional baseball. Espn.com does a similar job but instead looks at the particular division the Brewers are in. The article looks at the effect the Sabathia trade has on the Brewers and the two other teams in contention for winning the division, which are the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. The MLB page focuses more on video content to help tell the story. There is a video with baseball experts discussing the impact of the trade. There is another video included showing the report of the Sabathia trade by mLB.com. This was apart of a package including other top stories in baseball.

On a humorous note, the video showing Shaquille O'Neal of the NBA's Phoenix Suns badmouthing his former teammate Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers in a freestyle has to be one of the funnier moments for professional athletes and a low point depending on perceptions.

Showcase Article

Summer Job Hunt

Students should make use of campus resources to benefit from summer jobs

Students should make use of their career services office on campus and leadership opportunities to assist in a job for the summer. Students should find a job, which is beneficial to their career.

Leron Barkley

barkleyll@vcu.edu


As school ends in the months of May and June for most students there are possible options to passing the time during the summer months.
Students use the summer break for vacations, camps, workshops or to find a temporary job. If in need of help with the last option, students should contact their career services office at their school for assistance.
The Career Services Department at Shenandoah University provides numerous services and resources to students. Students have access to information regarding summer job opportunities. They also can receive information on possible majors or areas of interest if they are undecided on a career. Other major services include assistance with resumes and improving interview skills.
Career services at Shenandoah are set up to provide assistance to students with their careers, but students can also build a resume by taking advantage of opportunities on campus. “One of the best ways to build experience is through school organizations,” said Director of Career Services at Shenandoah University Jen Spataro. “Students can be come well-rounded individuals through their involvement in clubs during the school year.”
Rip Roberts, a recent graduate from Shenandoah University, believes the leadership qualities he developed as the president of the Black Student Union, a student organization on the Shenandoah campus, helped with his personal development through college. “I learned about the responsibilities of leading an organization and the importance of time management when conducting meetings and putting together events, which is a skill needed in almost any job setting.”
Along with schools organizations, students can develop skills through workshops provided during the school year. The career services at Shenandoah provide workshops in interviewing and resumes. Students perform mock interviews; discuss proper attire when completing job applications in person and at an interview. Students can also have their resume critiqued, develop a cover letter, put together a portfolio and attend etiquette dinners. “These services help students become prepared to enter the workforce and provides awareness to details for students to ensure they are presenting themselves to the best of their abilities,” said Spataro.
Presentation is as important as any other aspect of the interviewing process. “I believe my physical appearance is important when attending a job interview,” said Krystal Pittlekau, senior at Shenandoah University. “How I present myself separates me from other candidates in competition for the same job.”
Spataro says students should perform research on companies prior to the interview. This allows students to have prior knowledge about the company and discover how the job will assist in career development. “One of best techniques when in an interview is to write out a list of questions gathered from research because this is an easy way to show a strong interest about the company to the employer.”
Spataro says students in college should apply for an internship or practicum to build experience. An internship or a practicum, allows a student to find out if they like a certain career. She also said students should set up a time to job shadow a person in their career field to observe daily activities and ask questions.
Receiving on the job training is important for students before leaving high school or college because of the general skills developed in daily work activities. The Sportsplex in Winchester, Va., is an organization providing sports leagues and recreational activities to the surrounding community. The organization has indoor courts and fields for football, basketball, lacrosse and soccer. The organization also provides summer developmental job opportunities for students in different areas, such as management, food services and customer service. “Working the customer service desk allows students to develop service skills through their dealings with customers and answering phone calls on a daily basis,” said Sportsplex Customer Service Manager Michelle Novara. “I remember beginning my career with the Sportsplex in high school and how this job provided more experience than any other of my previous jobs.”
On the job training is beneficial to students along with knowing where to access online resources to gain tips and ideas about searching for a job. Visit the career services Web page of Shenandoah University to find out information on jobs, workshops, information on possible majors or careers and contact information to speak with the career services staff. Other alternatives include visiting an online job search engine specifically assisting students in job development. These job search engine resources include snagajob.com and about.com, which provide articles on popular jobs for students, finding internships, improving resumes, the job interviewing process and inside information on different career industries to name a few of the offerings.



Contacts

Jen Spataro, director of career services at Shenandoah University
(540) 665-5412

Michelle Novara, customer services manager at Winchester Sportsplex
(540) 868-2200

Krystal Pittlekau, senior at Shenandoah University
(540) 272-9792

Rip Roberts, recent graduate of Shenandoah University
(540) 846-0824

Dallas Pryor, recent graduate of Shenandoah University
(301) 305 2779

Links

Shenandoah University Career Services Website: http://www.su.edu/studaffs/careerservices/

College Central is a Website helping students with searching for jobs and posting their resume. www.collegecentral.com/su

Career 15 is a Website connecting students from private institutions to top corporate employers.www.vfic.org/career15.html

Snagajob.com is a Website with quick reference guides for students providing tips to a successful job search. http://snagajob.com

About.com is another quick reference job Website assisting students. About.com Careers

What Could Have Been: A multimedia look at a sad day in sports

A new rookie class will be drafted on June 26 for the National Basketball Association (NBA). ESPN.com takes a look back at one of the top players from the 1986 NBA draft and remembers the legacy he left behind in a special report. The elements brought in to telling the story enhanced the interest in a highly debated topic. The person is Len Bias, who was a two time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. He played for the Maryland Terrapins and was drafted by the Boston Celtics. Two days after the draft, Bias died of a cocain overdose. Twenty-two years later, the issues surrounding the death remain topics of discussion. The photos used throughtout the story connect readers to the situation. For instance, the picture of Bias' grave, which is located next to his little brother, Jay Bias, is really a sad photo to see. For added feeling to the picture, the Boston Celtic jersey of Bias is layed over his grave and the high school jersey of his brother is layed over his grave. According to the article, Bias was held at the standard of Michael Jordan when he was drafted to the Celtics. His legacy lives on to this day because of the changes his death caused to laws regarding illegal drugs.

The story overall is very well done because of the different perspectives. In one part there is a segment about his mother and how she believed her son died to be used as an example to the world. Another example is told from a buddy of Jay Bias and how the effects of Bias' death changed his life negatively.

The different videos posted tell additional stories, such as an Outside the Lines report discussing the social impacts of Len Bias' death, which is located in the story. Also, the highlight films which cover the on the court success of Len Bias.

An additional picture of Jay Bias crying at the funeral was posted with the story, which is very vivid and gives a feel to how devastating his death was to his brother. As explained in the story, Jay Bias never really recovered from the death of his brother and eventually died less than five years after his older brother. The photos from the funeral and of Len Bias on his draft day are easily distinguished as old photographs in comparison to the new photographs in the story. The older photos have an orange look to them, but there was a good editing job done to these photos.

Overall, this is a good job of multimedia uses in telling a sad story, which took place 22 years ago.

Happy Father's Day from MLB.com

I know Father's Day is over a week over due, but I really liked the multimedia presentation done by Major League Baseball in honor of the celebration. Father's Day and baseball seems to be a sport closely linked to this special day celebrating fathers all over the globe. The MLB website does a great job of providing a human interest element for their players. Leagues always need to do public relations assignments like these to portray their players as more than athletes. For examples, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has a campaign called NBA Cares, which is a program that allows players to become involved in their surrounding community. The National Football League (NFL) has a campaign teamed up with the United Way, which is the same as the NBA by involving players in their local community. To bring this back to baseball, the NBA and NFL profiles certain players in their public relations campaign for human interest.

The page dedicated to Father's Day begins with photos of players with their families. There are photos of players with their fathers, mothers, children, wives, other family members or a combination of these people. One of my favorite pages is of Lastings Milledge, who is a player for the Washington Nationals and they are relatively close in geography from the Richmond area. He has a picture with his father, who obviously played a big role in his life.

I also like the PR the MLB uses to get people to buy tickets by putting on the link to purchase 'Take Dad to a ballgame: Buy tickets now'. Also, a link to shop for MLB merchandise to 'Shop for Dad'. They are at the top of every player profile for Father's Day.

Interactive Sports Websites

CBS Sportsline has an interesting multimedia format, which allows readers to receive their report on headline news and have access to other neat tools. For example, headline news yesterday was of Atlanta Braves third basemen Chipper Jones being hit in the face with a baseball. I could only find the link to Jones being hit in the face with the ball on MLB.com. I notice many news outlets showed the amateur videotape on television, but chose not to post the video next to their stories on their websites. The story is not very long, but at the bottom is a place for fans to comment. The website seems to have a focus on this aspect of multimedia to have fan involvement.

Sportsline has created a cult following for fans of a sport and of specific teams because there is information on each fan that posts a comment. Each fan has a link to their own personal fan sports page. On the Braves website I looked at the first comment that appeared at the top of the fans comment link and it was by the user BravesGurl1983. In her profile there is information on her personally and there are links to her other favorite teams and tracks her latest postings. The top rated Braves fan is SaintsFan85.

To come back to the story on Jones there are links to other headline stories in the organization and each story has a number beside it. The number tracks the amount of comments on stories, which allows users to see the popularity of certain stories. There are links to other Braves headline stories and a section of headlines of Major League Baseball.