Ethics of the VT coverage

Whenever such a huge national tragedy happens, I think it’s always good to look at how the media covers it. Have the media been ethic and responsible or are they using the tragedy as a way to help ratings? There’s never a clear cut answer, but here’s a snapshot of what I’ve found.

I came across many voices who think that the shootings were handled well. Washington Post writer Howard Kurtz was positive about the coverage, as of Tuesday morning. He praised the network anchors who hurried down to the scene as soon as possible. While I’ve heard some people say this was just the big wigs bigfooting the story, I have to agree with Kurtz. I like seeing anchors get their feet dirty in the field. Sure, any of the correspondents could have covered it on-scene, but I think it’s more respectful to have the anchors there. Otherwise, they’re just sitting in their comfy news stations pretending they understand what’s going on.

And of course there are the many voices who are seriously criticizing the coverage. Jack Shafer of Slate.com calls the way some reporters are acting as “Cold. Very cold.” I agree with some of his points. I'm sure the classic question from the insensitive journalist (How do you feel?) is making its rounds. The frenzied media circus on the Virginia Tech campus must be a striking contrast to the way students and faculty are slowly and silently trying to get through the days. The last thing they need is to be pressed for interviews and exploited.

In my opinion, it’s just too easy to completely trash the media coverage. Of course there are journalists who get caught up in the opportunity to make it big and end up covering it insensitively. But the world must know what’s going on. They must see the pain on these people’s faces to know the depth of what happened. It’s all in how it’s handled.

One thing I don’t like is NBC’s release of the "manifesto" they got from the shooter. What good can come of this? The public does not need to see the rantings of this lunatic. Pictures and videos of him are now posted everywhere, online and on tv. There is no need for that. I also don’t like the incessant 24/7 coverage. We need a break and so do those involved. It’s easy to get caught up in a hyper-reality with all of this coverage of a single event. There are other stories we should stay informed about, too.

All in all, I think the media started out covering the shootings well, but as time goes on, it’s moving towards exploitation and sensationalism. Maybe media outlets need to take a step back for a moment and calm it down a bit before it continues to get worse.

Your Invitation's in the Mail

Somehow it’s already time to think about capstone presentation invites. For class, we’re blogging about the top three people on campus who we would want to come to our presentations.

This one's obvious, but Dr. Barner deserves his own section. I am definitely inviting him. He has been such a support to me since my very first semester here at Westminster. I will never forget his Audio Productions class and how encouraging and positive he was to me. He continued to support me with all the difficult situations and decisions I had to make last semester and I know he’ll support me in the future. He believes in me and that means so much.

One person I’d love to invite, but can’t since she’s not longer a professor here, is Dr. Andrea Grove. She moved to California to teach, but I will never forget her or her classes. She taught political science classes that not only shaped some of my political opinions, but shaped who I am as a person. I wish she could be here for my presentation, but, after visiting California last week, I completely understand why she made the move!

My third invite goes to a group of people I like to call the Powers That Be: President Williamson, Dean Jesse Mann, Dean John Lechner, Dean Neal Edman, Dean Camille Hawthorne, and the fabulous Beth Brooks. I have worked with all of these people on various stories for Titan Radio and The County Line and I’m not sure if they realize how appreciated their participation is. Westminster’s broadcasting program is so valuable because the students get real-life experience with news. If these leaders weren’t willing to be patient with us when we were just beginning, tolerate us as we learn, and confide in us as we gain their trust, then our education wouldn’t be nearly as stellar. I also think the broadcast department can always use some good PR because we’re often over-looked and underappreciated. We all work tremendously hard for our campus publications and the Powers That Be should know about that.

Citizen Journalism and San Francisco

This past weekend, Mike Wolenski and I traveled across the country to San Francisco for the National Conference for Undergraduate Research where we presented our research. My presentation was on citizen journalism. This topic is so interesting to me because it’s very current. News outlets all over the world are trying to blindly navigate their way through this different option of doing the news. I say “blindly” because there are no rules or guidelines for this yet. It’s definitely exciting to follow.

Just today I saw an example of citizen journalism on NBC Nightly News. They used video from the Virginia Tech campus that someone shot on their cell phone. It was such a small, simple addition to the newscast, but it was a piece of information that the audience otherwise wouldn’t have seen since the professional journalists weren’t there. This is not at all meant to belittle the work of the producers and correspondents covering the shooting, but it shows that there is a place for audience participation in news.

Tips from the some of the best

On Friday I got to spend time with some of Westminster’s finest alumni: Melissa Batulis and Pat Sandora. They actually made me feel a lot better about graduating. They've taken the broadcast communications major and used it for different things. Pat works in NYC for a production company, and Melissa is a reporter for WFMZ. They both seemed so happy about where their lives had taken them and are so competent and talented. I hope that in 2-4 years, I can be as successful and happy as them.

For capstone this week, we’re taking a look at free online job postings. I am constantly checking online job postings! I have a huge list of links in my “Favorite’s” folder on my browse. Pat also told me about a few other sites I’m adding to my list.

The site I like the most right now is Indeed. It’s clear and reliable and I like the way you can search different job titles. One of the producers of the Today Show suggested this one to me and I’ve liked it ever since.

Website vs. E-Portfolio

What’s at the top of my e-portfolio? What do I want prospective employers to know about me? That’s a good question.

Even though I’m still not positive what direction I’m going into, I know what I enjoy doing and hope to carry on with: TV storytelling. This means that my packages are what I need to put at the top of my portfolio.

But I’ve actually decided not to make an e-portfolio. Instead, I’ve put together a website. I still have some things to add to it, but once it's complete I can use it in place of an e-portfolio. I think the e-portfolio is too restrictive because all employers aren't going to want to sit there and shuffle through the different sections. It seems like more of a road block to getting them to see my stuff. It's also more difficult to get out there to employers, at least compared to a website that they can access at their leisure. Hopefully the website idea will also cater to employers looking for someone internet-savvy and ready for the future. That's me!

What We Call The News!

What We Call the News | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab

Leave it to JibJab to put everything in perspective! I love this video not only because it's hilarious, like most JibJab videos are, but it's also so true. And it brings up a subject that I've been thinking about for awhile during all the job search insanity.

What has news become today? It's so suffocated by money and politics that a lot of the really important stuff gets pushed aside. That's not to say that I don't think the news does good things. It definitely has its redeeming qualities. But I think it could do so much more.

Maybe that's where this new era of news is leading to. Taking some of the power out of the hands of the few and putting it in the hands of the masses. Hopefully this will help relieve some of the business and politics that so consumes the news business. I mean, look at PBS. They have some high quality programming and they don't have to deal with the money/politics issue quite as much.

Down the road, I want to do something meaningful. I realize that I might have to start out reporting on the fires and shootings and scandals, but eventually, I hope to be involved with better stories that actually help people. There are so many issues going on in the world and even in our own backyards and I wish the news would do more in bringing those things to the public's eye.

Career Day--So Worth It

Today Mr. Weaver, Leanne, and I went to the West Pacs Arts Career Day at Grove City College. It was more beneficial than I thought it would be. There were some great speakers, like the founder of Sports Illustrated TV Ted Shaker and KDKA Traffic Reporter Jim Lokey.

But the person I got the most out of was Scott Baker, former WTAE anchor and co-founder of soon-to-launch breitbart.tv. Scott had a lot to say on citizen journalism, my topic for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research . He is on the cutting edge of news. He and his co-founder Liz Stephans are launching an interacting website for news (breitbart.tv). It sounds incredibly interesting and really re-iterated what I’ve been thinking lately—that I need to seriously consider internet positions in my job search. Whether that be at a cutting edge site like that one, or as an internet reporter for an established station. I’m not in this for the fame (and clearly not the fortune) so I don’t care if it’s “just” for the internet because that’s where it’s going and where there's opportunities and I want to be a part of it.

Mr. Weaver always says we don't hear advice when they come from him, so he tries to get professionals to tell us the same things so we actually listen. I think he's right. Ted Shaker said something I’ve heard a thousand times but really connected with today. He said to not be afraid to just make a choice when it comes to taking a job because these days no one has lifetime careers. Make the decision on something you can stand to do for now. Don’t think of it as a lifetime commitment.

Then one of the other professionals said something else that hit with me. Don’t wait for the stars to align and for everything to feel right for you to make your move, in whatever you’re doing. In this business especially, you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Basically, it’s all about taking risks. Be a risk taker. Just dive right in—and hopefully there’s some water underneath.

Field Trip to WTAE!

Last week the capstone class got to head on down to Pittsburgh to visit one of our alums at WTAE, Sarah Bowers. I remember Sarah from when I was a freshman. She was that super-cool senior who was so good at everything broadcasting. I was always thinking how I wanted to be just like her when I was a senior! So it was so great to see her in action.

Sarah's really made a place for herself at WTAE even though she's not a reporter, which is what she first set out to be. I asked her if she's wants to get on-air and she looked at me and said, "You know what? No. I'm happy where I am right now." It was so nice to hear that even though she left college thinking she wanted one thing, she just fine--even happy--doing something else. That is definitely a relief in these planning-for-life-after-graduation times.

All in all, it was great to hang out with my other broadcasting buddies, see a real news station, and speak with some great professionals. Every time I hear from someone new, I think of other possibilities for my future. So the job search will continue...

Spring Break Update

I’ve been pretty busy this break trying to figure out job things. I went into the city on Sunday to visit a friend and stopped by the Today show studios to say hi to everyone I worked with last semester. Then on Monday, I called one of the producers I’m friends with to talk to him about what I should be doing right now and he helped me out a lot. I told him about my thoughts of looking towards non-news jobs as well and he has a few contacts of his own that he’s going to introduce me to. He also said that many employers are now looking for personal websites, in addition to or instead of the resume reel. I’ve been working on putting one of those together as well. He said there are a lot more jobs out there for web producers/web correspondents than for TV positions.

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Network TV news is definitely changing these days and I feel like I need to look towards the future with this job-searching, so I’m widening my search to internet positions as well.

I also figured out how to update my resume reel on my laptop, so I've been working on that as well. So that's three things from my to-do list (contacts, job search, resume reel) that I've worked on already.

Now I have to get on the "pass class" thing and do some homework!

Where is the time going?

It’s spring break! Halfway through the spring semester of my senior year. (gasp!) From here on out, it’s on! Here are a few things I need to get done:

• Resume Tape: My number one priority right now is getting more stuff for my resume tape. At least another package and some more stand-ups.
• Career Fair: I also want to have a resume tape and a paper resume updated and ready to go to the career fair on March 28th. It looks like they’ve got a good line up of employers going, so I might as well take advantage of it.
• Contact the contacts: I need to re-connect with some of my main contacts just so they don’t forget who I am!
• Radio Resume Tape: I’m not thrilled about this one, but I feel like I should have a radio news resume tape ready just in case.
• Career Search: I want to continue to look at my options, as I’m considering looking at non-news places now. I just want to see what’s available in my area.
• Pass Class: I suppose I also ought to do my homework for my regular classes. The whole passing-so-I-can-get-a-degree thing always seems to fall at the bottom of my to-do list, but at least it’s getting done.

That’s quite a list and I’m sure it’s missing something, but at least it’s all definitely do-able. Here's to an awesome finale to my college career!

Thinking about thinking about a new focus?

Lately I've had job-searching on the mind and I'm starting to change my focus (actually, I'm thinking about starting to think about thinking about changing my focus!) I'm feeling like I should direct myself towards the internet as well as tv.

I feel like the opportunity on-line is huge. Not only that, but there also seems to be more chance to take creative control and it seems to me like the quality online varies, so it's totally do-able right out of school.

Here's something that helped spark these thoughts. I'm really excited about baseball season, so I was at the Met's website and I stumbled upon "Next Stop: Shea." I'm not sure what you'd call this (a vlog? a webisode?) but it's similar to a package, just online. I really feel like I could put together a piece with just as much quality on any subject (especially since the host looks like he's on our Coach's Corner set, but just switched the Titan uniform with Mets uniforms.)

This is all just something else to think about I suppose...

This week in broadcasting...

This week I anchored for The County Line. We did our show live during half-time of the men’s PAC basketball game, which was broadcast live over the internet! It was really fun to get back to anchoring and we showed my Taser package again. It was also good practice because we had to read from hard copy scripts since there wasn’t a teleprompter set up down in the gym. I think it all turned out pretty good.

We also had the first meeting of the Future Media Professionals. Our fabulous president Stevi Nelson has really gotten the club going. I think it’ll be good for the younger kids to keep up with and build on. We’re hoping to use the club as another way to network and share information and tips among students with similar goals. Hopefully it’ll prove to be quite helpful.

Spring break is coming up in a week. I’m really excited, despite my lack of amazing plans. I’m going to use it as time to catch up on the little things I need to do before graduation.

When I grow up...

I still use that phrase all the time. “When I grow up, I’m gonna….” But it meant more ages and ages ago, when a little Liz roamed the earth, wanting to do and be everything! It seems like every week I wanted to be something new. It’s hard to even remember them all, but here are a few of the biggest:

I’ve always loved writing and used to want to write plays or books. Some of my most famous works include the play that my fourth grade class acted out, “Tommy Tomato,” in which a journalist goes all around town reporting on a giant tomato that’s attacking the town. Or you may have heard of my first novel, “All These Rabbits,” based on the true story of my best friend’s rabbit’s babies.

I wanted to be the first woman President for a while (around when I was president of my student council and thought I was powerful.)

I wanted to be Lois Lane and carry a cool brief case with a big notepad.

There was the archeologist phase, back when the rock tumbler was cool and I collected gemstones.

I was obsessed with weather for a while and wanted to be a weather forecaster. Not necessarily a “weather girl,” but I liked extreme weather and clouds.

Then of course there was always the beauty queen thing. I remember watching Miss America and Miss USA with my family and performing my walk and wave for them. That’s a scary one.

After seeing behind the scenes at The Today Show for the first time way back in middle school, I thought I would love to be a TV producer of some kind. That morphed into wanting to be a music producer or manager. I actually almost went to college for music business management, but thankfully I realized early on that wouldn’t work.

I know there are a lot more, and I’m hoping that when my dad reads this (because he always does) maybe he’ll remember a few others to tell me about (and perhaps have a better baby picture for me).

I did not expect this, but a lot of the things I wanted to do when I was little actually correlate quite nicely with what I want to do now. Writing, leading, weather, producing, the cool brief case (every job needs a cool accessory of some sort.) All of it could work in the broadcast communications field.

Now if I could only get “Tommy Tomato” to Broadway…

Life's To Do List

Imagine waking up tomorrow morning in your 70s. What is the one thing you refuse to let yourself miss out on in life and just have to do before you’re gone?

I love how imaginative these past few blogs have been. It’s a nice break from the realistic life planning of most entries. This question made me look into my List of Things To Do Before I Die (yes, I really have one of those.)

My initial reaction to the question was that I hope I had already done everything I wanted to do. I hope by the time I’m 70 I’ve already traveled the world, had a family, accomplished something great in my field, jumped out of a plane, helped save a rainforest, meet royalty.... If I had already accomplished all of that (and more), my wish would be to just be with my family and enjoy my life (which hopefully existed in a beautiful beach front home with a wrap around porch in the south somewhere.)

Maybe that’s avoiding the question, but I really hope to actually live my life. I found this quote from James Dean that I feel is an appropriate way to end this blog:

“Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.”

Small towns are full of character

I went to the New Wilmington Borough Council meeting last night and got a lot more than I expected from it. I realized how much I like small town politics. I think I could really survive in a small market—even enjoy it. I like knowing people and creating relationships with them. I like creating that trust with sources. The police chief gave me my first “off the record” information. It was very flattered that he trusted me with that.

I also just like the council members. Everyone’s a character. There’s the large and in charge president with the authoritative-looking moustache. There’s the pretty, feminine secretary with her rectangular glasses on the tip of her nose. The fun, young, chic parks & pools committee leader. And of course, the always smiling, kind-hearted, streets committee leader. I felt a bit like I had stepped back in time. And since they’re all volunteers, you can really see how they value their town.

I also realized that I would probably get bored with such an atmosphere, but it’s nice to feel like I could really enjoy starting out in a place like that. And the part that is most important to me about this job is the connection with people.

If I had a million dollars...

This week's capstone question is from Mike: "What would you do if you had a million dollars and didn't have to work?"

This question is pretty loaded. I don’t think I have any concept of how much a million dollars really is, so parts of my answer might be too much, but I’m going to go with the “fantasy” part of this week’s question and just pretend it’s all possible.

First off, there are a lot of things I’d pay my family back for. I would love for my dad to not have to work anymore and for my mom’s preschool to get everything it needs. My sister and I could always use a vacation. But those are just the first things that come to mind.

I know that I would still want to have a career. I could never handle having nothing to do. But I think I might feel a little more adventurous with my career choice. I’d choose a job that gave me plenty of time off so that I could travel—or better yet, a job that consisted of traveling. I’d love to do something to help international relations, whether that be something with the government or something with the church. Or just something fun, like using my money put together a travel show that I could host! (I'm thinking--the next Samantha Brown!)


If I had a million dollars, there’d be so much to do! But I don’t think my life would be all that different—there’d just be one less thing to hold me back from doing whatever I want.

A World Without Broadcasting...

This week we’re writing about what we could offer to a career not in broadcasting. It’s actually a very thought-provoking question and maybe a good one to keep in the back of our minds, as I think many broadcast majors tend to be a bit obsessed with broadcasting (me included.) So what could I bring to a non-broadcasting career? Here’s a breakdown of a few things:

• I have good communication skills. I can comfortably speak in front of crowds or one-on-one.
• I’m a problem solver and a leader. If something needs done, I can figure out how to do it and get it done.
• When I worked with the Weekend Today show, the news producer, Don Ennis, always complimented me on my ability to stay calm and think clearly under stressful situations. This could be an asset to any deadline-driven job.
• I’m committed and hard-working and don’t believe in doing things half way.
• Finally, I’m respectful to those I work with and those in authority positions. This is something I think is often overlooked. I am a firm believer that if you’re pleasant to work with, the workplace will be a nicer place to be, and everyone will get more done.

I'm not sure what specific jobs I would look for, but in an ideal world, it wouldn't be stagnant, and it would include people, traveling, and fun. And maybe some warm weather thrown in there, too.

Capstone Stress

I've realized that I am always so much more stressed out when I leave capstone class then when it first begins. So, when I was venting to a fellow capstoner, he gave me some of the best words of wisdom I've heard in a long time. I thought it might be useful to the others who are stressing about life after college too.

"You'll do whatever you have to do to be happy, and what you think you want to do now might not be what you end up doing 10 years from now. But you're good at adapting, so whatever you want to do you can do it." --Mike Wolenski

So wise!

Me + 5 years

Our assignment for capstone this week was to write a letter as ourselves 5 years from now. It took me a long to even attempt to write this letter because I really have no clue what I'll be doing or what path I'll take. Although, I have kind of narrowed it down to two different paths (the on-air or the behind the scenes to work to on-air). I wasn't able to decide which to do, so I did both. Here they are (in absolutely NO particular order!):

Plan A
Hi Mr. Weaver!

I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since I graduated WC! I was finally able to afford a place in New York City with my friend from Westminster. Right now I’m still working with NBC as a researcher. I’m getting to do a lot more segment planning and interviews and stuff, but it’s tough with the crazy hours. I’m trying to keep up with my connections because I’m still hoping to transition to on-camera work. I’ve been going out with producers and shooting stand-ups and such whenever I can, but I’m generally too bogged down with other things. All in all, it’s great to work for NBC. I’ve gotten to go to so many amazing events and meet some really cool people. So for now, this is good.

Sincerely, Liz Farry


Plan B
Hi Mr. Weaver!

I’ve been reporting for NewsChannel12 for some time now, and I’ve just been offered a job at WNBC as a weekend reporter! Hopefully with a few years in that position I’ll be able to work up to weekdays or maybe a weekend anchor position at some point. I’ll keep you updated on the new job!

Sincerely, Liz Farry


I didn't expect these letters to do anything for me, but in actuality, they did. I realized how exciting and good it felt to write about Plan B, even though it was such a short letter and I'm not even sure if it's possible to hope for that. But while writing Plan A, I just kind of felt the stress and time-consuming-ness that I know that job brings. Maybe it's just because I haven't experienced the reporting side of it and the other side I've seen first hand. Or maybe it's a bit of a hint as to which direction would make me happiest.

Interesting assignment....

Back in the Bubble

First of all, I am so glad to be back at school! The transition from the real world to the Westminster bubble is a little bit odd, but working out okay so far.

For this week, our capstone class is revisiting a past assignment where we write a letter from our future, 5 years from now, selves. Thinking about what's going to happen in the future and what I have to prepare for tends to get my heart rate up a lot (in complete fear!) so this letter is proving harder to write than I thought. So, that will have to come a bit later.

For now, I want to do a quick update on my senior project. I was going to put together a sort of Intern How To presentation. I think I'll probably still do that, since it's fairly simple and I already have some of it done, but I don't really want to use that for my senior project anymore. Here's what I'm thinking I'll do instead:

I want do a little trip through time with my on-air work. I could start out showing some of my first packages and anchoring shows, in all their ridiculous messiness. Then I could juxtapose them with my most recent work, which (hopefully!) shows lots of improvement. I could even throw in some of how my time with the Today Show helped me to improve. This way, maybe it could be a little more entertaining, because we could all watch and laugh at how terrible I was in the beginning!

This could all also help me build up and fix my resume tape, which is something else I want to do. I also want to have a polished, ready-to-send-out paper resume, with my recommendation letters all organized. And the other thing I have to do is my e-portfolio, but first I have to figure out how. Eventually, I'd like to have a few different resume (tape & paper) and e-portfolios, some for TV new reporting, some for TV producing?, and maybe even some for radio news, so I'm prepared for anything.

Always be prepared. The boy scouts stole that from me.

:)