Being a Journalist at the University of Florida

Being a senior here, at the University of Florida, I think back on everything I have accomplished. Over the last few years I have spent the majority of my days within Center for Media Innovation + Research (CMIR). I have worked my way up from an amateur reporter to a producer and anchor of a local NPR segment known as the “Front Page Edition of All Things Considered”, which we no longer have but used to be run directly out of a one of the studios in the Newsroom (or the 21st Century News Laboratory, if we’re being formal).

I’ve spent many nights studying in AHA! The Innovation CoLab, which is basically a small study area within the journalism building with coffee and conference rooms with televisions, where anyone can meet with groups and work on projects. Its a great space to have, especially since its smaller than going to the library and everyone in the AHA! Lab is majoring in journalism as well.

I have a passion for creating and disseminating news. Most of my experience has been in radio broadcasting, but I have learned much about broadcasting for television; and I have even taken classes in production.

There is nothing I haven’t at least practiced doing within the CMIR. From learning about the digital medium of journalism (blogging) to reporting, cutting, and editing news packages on my own, my time spent within the UF College of Journalism has been invaluable.

The Tipping Point

I found the book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell to be incredibly insightful. In an era where anything can instantly go viral via social media, it was interesting to get an idea as to why certain things stick over others.

I was intrigued with the notion that a small change could, over time, build up until it reached this “tipping point” that creates an epidemic. Gladwell uses the example of HIV  at the beginning of the book to exemplify these small changes creating an epidemic. His example claims that in the 1950s there was an epidemic of small children dying of, what they discovered, was HIV. However, most of the children lived. They “did what today would seem almost impossible” by fighting off HIV and ridding it from their bodies. This implicates that the strain of HIV has evolved – or slowly built itself up – into a much deadlier virus than it may previously have been. Much like how the flu virus is continuously changing.

Having a younger sister (by seven years) I spent a lot – and I mean a lot – of time watching Blue’s Clues with her when she was little. That being said, I found Gladwell’s example of Sesame Street verse Blue’s Clues to resonate most with me. He uses this example to illustrate the Stickiness Factor in practice. Before I go into the example it should be noted that the Stickiness Factor is one of the three “rules of epidemic” Gladwell discusses. It identifies factors that make something memorable enough to “stick” in the mind of individuals. In the relation between Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues, Blue’s Clues was appealed to children more so than Sesame Street. Why was that? Well, different factors played important roles in its success – from the length of each show to the repetitiveness of it airing every day. Another thing that made Blue’s Clues a more successful children’s show was its running story line and its interaction, as opposed to Sesame Street which its producers did not believe children would pay attention to a story line for a full half hour.

However, I feel that the rule used most often is what Gladwell calls the Law of the Few. It is the spread of information through peoples’ social networks, or social connections. It explains the 80/20 Principle which states that 80 percent work, in a given situation, will be done by 20 percent of the people. That 20 percent is then divided into three types of people: the connectors, the mavens, and the salesmen. Connectors know a lot of people and spread information to all these people and bring social circles together – much like a social networking website would. Mavens are people who know a lot about a certain topic and want to share their knowledge with other. Salesmen, lastly, are those who persuade others – for instance through ads. We see this used on a day-to-day basis everywhere, especially now with social media sites like Facebook where people can easily spread information to masses.

A current example that continues to pop into my mind that has gained much traction recently is the video of a woman being harassed by men while walking down the street. It is an issue that women deal with daily, and a problem that is consistently ignored or dismissed as false. It was not until this woman took it upon herself to film herself walking around New York – completely covered, may I add – and being whistled at and disrespected over and over again.

Gladwell’s novel gives us the tools to recognize change, but more importantly gives us the tools to make change ourselves.

Different Content, All Journalists (Part 2)

There are a few more blogs I would like to share with you.

The first (or I guess fourth depending on how you look at it) is a well-written blog on the entertainment world. Jessica Alpern takes us through all things entertainment, from celebrity pet adoptions to viral videos. She has a lot of experience in reporting and even won an Emmy as a broadcast journalist.

Another well-written blog is that of Larissa Scott’s. She knows how to move people – or at least me – with her words. She provides insight into the mind of a journalist, and the difficulties that come with that responsibility. Keep writing Larissa, because you’re really great at it!

Since I am a bit of a foodie, I couldn’t resist discussing a food blog created by one of my fellow classmates, Kara Hudgins. I’ve only been to some of the places she mentions – such as Reggae Shack and Dragonfly – but would love to check out some of the other great eats around Gainesville she wrote about! Pop on over to her page to see what other restaurants are good throughout the college town.

Different Content, All Journalists (Part 1)

There may be many journalists, or aspiring journalists, all over the world. However, there is an endless amount of content and an infinite number of stories that can be created.

Being a huge fan of the entertainment industry, and a theatre minor myself, I enjoyed reading through Jonathan Perez’s blog on “Movies and Heroes”. I found his blog to have an interesting style of synopsis and opinion mix – almost like a movie critic – which made it very easy to read and understand.

Another blog I find to be a fun and informative read is that of Megan Gannon’s. She explores the hidden gems in Gainesville, Florida as well as local treasures – such as our football stadium, The Swamp. You should check out her blog if you want to learn about things to do and places to visit in Gainesville.

And for those of you that have ever thought of something only to find yourself wanting to share it with others, you have to take a look at Carla Bayron’s blog! Her blog is great; filled with random stories that touch on all aspects from television shows to funny videos.

A Little More About B

I don’t like to think that my resume defines me, because it is only a sliver of who I am. I enjoy telling the news and writing stories, but I would like to use my experience in the telecommunication field to tell stories of people and cultures in places foreign to Westerners. In my spiritual healing post a few weeks ago I uploaded a video from National Geographic, and that video illustrates the kind of stories I would like to work on in the future.

I find great pleasure in exposing people to different ways of thinking, and expanding their minds – or at least trying to. I myself used to find things like crystal energy and meditation to be…well, strange methods of healing, to say the least. However, once I did some research and opened my mind to the possibilities, I no longer saw these concepts as ludicrous or intangible.

In the same way research gave me the opportunity to see things from a different point of view, I would like to open peoples’ minds to other perspectives around the world through video storytelling.

Spiritual Healing

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/zimbabwe-healers-pp

Unfortunately I could not embed this National Geographic video into my post, but it is a very interesting look at how people in other countries (specifically Zimbabwe) use spiritual healing over modern medicine.

The type of spiritual healing used, however, is less of a self healing form and more of a literal “spirit connection” (as in communication with the deceased). This type of healing, though a little more extreme, is used after – as NatGeo puts it – “modern remedies fail”.

Whether or not you believe in this kind of spiritual healing, it is interesting to look at how people of different cultures, in different countries characterize and practice spiritual healing.

Qi Gong

Qi Gong is a Chinese exercise that practices controlled breathing and assists with the energy flow within the body. It promotes “self healing of the body and the mind”. The Qi Gong practice uses rhythmic breathing and motion to create a “calm meditative state of mind”.

With that said, I have personally practiced this form of martial arts mediation and have found it extremely beneficial. I went to a Qi Gong class locally and, after learning the exercises a few times, was able to practice them on my own. I mostly use Qi Gong to re-energize my body during long, tedious days.

I have done some research on Medical Qi Gong and found it to be almost like an internal massage. What I mean by this is that it is meant to relax and rejuvenate your body, while at the same time assist in emotional releases, all while not being physically touched by the practitioner.

If you enjoy experimenting with different meditative techniques and are a believers of self healing efforts, you should definitely look into a Qi Gong class near you.

Healing Powers of the Body

This video is a TED Talk with Lissa Rankin, MD. She looks into how the body and mind can heal itself, and cases of where it has worked in the past (for instance, a placebo effect).

I found this interesting – in relation to spiritual healing – because it shows how whether or not you believe these nontraditional methods work, for those that do anything is possible.

Its a fascinating perspective on the true power of one’s mind.

Meditation for Beginners

Personally, meditation has helped me reduce excess stress in my life and focus on the here and now. So I have posted this video for those who have never meditated, or think it is too time consuming to practice regularly.

This video is a guided meditation and only fifteen minutes long – perfect for just about anyone’s schedule.

I find this video particularly to be a more relaxing meditation than others, and a good one to do before bed (especially if you’re someone who has a hard time falling asleep at night).

Enjoy

Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think”

…Was interesting in the sense that I finished it feeling as though I already knew most of what he was saying. Then I remembered, that’s exactly what he says at the beginning of the book when he writes “much of what I do is just common sense…I spend a lot of my time telling people things they already know”.

Personally, I do not plan on becoming a web designer or developer; however, I found some things to stick out the most to me when it comes to what makes a good website. The first being, omitting needless words.

“Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left”
– Krug’s Third Law of Usability (pg 49)

I am guilty of not practicing this technique. Taking out unnecessary words in my online stories is not something I do well. Being a reporter one would think I would have mastered that art by now, but when I’m actually writing I feel the need to explain in detail.

Sometimes a story can be even more powerful or memorable if the writing is concise and not wordy. This is a powerful tool in writing news stories for television – since there’s only a small amount of time to tell the story.

However, it can also be a powerful tool in writing web stories. As a consumer of online information I know I don’t want to be reading endlessly. I want the site (as well as any story on the site) to get right to the point – and no busy framing with an overload of information.

When it comes to online stories, I want to see the main points at the top and not have to be reading for a long time to get to the heart of the story.

The second thing I picked up from this book was the idea of a web site’s usability. Steve Krug defines usability as:

“A person of average (or even below average) ability and experience can figure out how to use the thing [i.e., it’s learnable] to accomplish something [effective] without it being more trouble than it’s worth [efficient].”

It is something every journalist or blogger should learn about.

A journalist in today’s world has to understand the basics to social media and writing online stories. One can’t be too long winded or else there’s the risk of boring your reader; paragraphs need to be broken down into smaller, digestible bits of information.

When I read Chapter 9 – which went into the most detail about the process of conducting usability tests – I realized I can test my personal web site’s usability on a smaller scale. For instance, making sure my friends and family can easily get around my resume site before sending it to potential employers. I felt this was a similar concept that I could tangibly practice. Given, I wouldn’t be using random testers, but I could see if people find the site easy to navigate. If not, I’d be able to go back and fix the site before sending it off. Its almost like getting a second (or third or fourth) opinion on your web site; a fresh set of eyes.

I also learned a little more about the mobile aspect of a website. I had never thought about the process of designing a mobile site and the layers of links and pages that have to be created.

Overall I think a good website is simple, clean, easy to navigate, and concise. I’d like to think I follow some of my own advice in creating my websites.