Grace Wilson

March 16, 2018

AP Literature and Composition
Final Reflection Questions

1. While writing your paper, what did you learn about the research process?
a. Initially, I was very concerned that I was going to have to write a very boring and
long essay about aspects of journalism that I was uninterested in. But through this
process, I learned to research topics that interested me. Salaries, and colleges were
not intriguing to me, nor to a reader. But the rich history of famous Broadcast
Journalists and the ways the media has shaped the nation’s discourse is
interesting. Due to the fact that I had never written a lengthy paper before, I did
not know or understand how to transition a paper from multiple topics and
combine research into one long essay. However, from this process, I learned how
to turn a 14 page long essay into multiple miniature essays, that flowed together
into one. By doing this, the paper became much less daunting, and I think it
helped me work more efficiently.
b. In order to write an extensive and accurate paper, in depth research is required.
The research process of my Pride Paper was a learning curve. In the beginning of
my research, I was taking detailed notes of each page of a source, but eventually I
realized that not all information in a particular article was relevant to my paper. I
learned to search for the information I needed and transfer it into my paper. I
struggled with paraphrasing often, but I ended the essay with a better
understanding of how to cite information without directly copying it as well.
c. This research process also helped me learn how to cite MLA format correctly and
how each citation can vary based on the source. Although many sources were
online, I used two novels and had to cite them differently. By using NCWISE Owl
/ EBSCOhost, I saw the importance of utilizing accurate sources. The difference
of a reliable source and a unreliable source became evident. I am grateful that we
were forced to use EBSCOhost because I think I learned how to cite and read
sources effectively.
d. Finally, by the end of the paper, I realized the actual important of a genuine
research process. The research is the base of the entire paper, and if it is not done
thoroughly, it will show in your final paper. I think by taking my research process
seriously, I had a better final product.
2. How was the research related to your mentor hours?
a. The main way my research was related to my mentor hours was the impact of
technology on the journalism industry. A large portion of paper was pertaining to
how technology has had a negative impact on the job market in journalism. I saw
this to be true during my mentor hours. My mentor was a MMJ (multimedia
journalist) so she films herself, edits her own videos and finds her own leads.
Whereas, before more advanced technology, there may have been a cameraman
involved and an editor. This also held to be true in the studio as the only people
found within during a live newscast are the two anchors and the weatherman.
There were no people controlling cameras or the teleprompters as it was all being
 done by a computer. The communication within the newsroom has also been
altered by technology, as no producers are present in the studio. They all sit in a
separate booth during live news, which is down 3 hallways from the live studio.
The anchors receive direction from the producers via earpieces.
b. I also researched how technology has shifted the news to a 24/7 news cycle and
how journalists rely on crowdsourcing much more heavily. Previously live news
broadcasts were delivered once a night, every weeknight. But now news is going
all day. At the news station I mentored at (WCNC Charlotte), news begins at 5
AM and the last live show is at 11 PM, which is the time my mentor reports at. It
was interesting to see how each different news station relies on each other to find
breaking news. In the control room, they have at least 4 televisions running
constantly on other news stations to make sure they are not missing breaking
news. Before technology, news stations were the gatekeepers of information, but
now there is no formal gatekeeper, so the news stations do not control the news;
the news controls them. There was evident at my mentor hours as my mentor and
her colleagues scoured the Internet throughout the day and evening to find news
stories. My mentor even sources Twitter and Facebook regularly, especially to
find people to interview.
c. Finally, the information I discovered about a major in Broadcast Journalism was
relevant to my major. Many sources I found advised students to minor in
something completely unrelated to journalism, but something one could report on
or eventually utilize in the journalism profession. My mentor minored in
International Affairs because it interested her and she can now report on
international news. The current curriculums in colleges are now also being
transitioned to more hands on learning, which my mentor experienced in college a
fews years past.
3. Summarize the mentor hours that you completed.
a. The first day was much more hands on than my second. I went on multiple
interviews and filming sessions with my mentor. First, we went to a school bus
crash in a local neighborhood in which she interviewed students and parents. This
was breaking news and was not planned in her afternoon. But in the end, she and
her news producer deemed it unimportant to air, as no one was injured. Directly
following the bus accident, we went to a scheduled interview with a family. The
mother had reached out to WCNC to shed light to fighting on her child’s school
bus. Her seven year old child had come home with a black eye after being made
fun of because of his hispanic race. His older brother had attempted to stand up
for him and received a suspension in return. The school was unwilling to speak to
the mother until the principal returned from a vacation, and the fighting continued
with the bus driver turning a blind eye. Savannah, my mentor, setup multiple
camera angles within the family’s living room and interviewed them.
Subsequently, she edited the footage as soon as she returned to the station.
Savannah had to edit all of the interview to turn into the producer before the 11pm
show. Later that night, Savannah would go live from the actual school, even
though it would be dark and closed. The live report would cut between
Savannah’s face and the edited interview.
 b. The second day in the studio was much calmer than my previous visit. First, we
sat in on a meeting discussing a new format for the channel. This would include a
new color palette for each time of the day. The breaking news would stack along
the side of the screen rather than rotate on the bottom of the screen. Employees in
this meeting included, the news director, assistant news director, head producer,
evening producer, and the evening anchors and reporters. Next she showed me
around the set in the studio and then we sat and watched the live news. She
explained how the cameras and teleprompters were all controlled by the producers
in a separate room. We went into the producer’s control room and saw the 5 pm
news from their perspective. Each producer had 3 screens in front of them, with
an entire wall covered with different screens and buttons. After the complete tour,
she began working on her stories for the evening, but ran into multiple dead ends
where she had to turn to the producer, who turned to the news director. As a result
another meeting was held in the news director’s office in which a new game plan
was drawn for the evening news.
4. How did working with your mentor affect your understanding of the topic area and /or
the professional world?
a. Working with my mentor affected my understanding of the professional world of
broadcast journalism by giving me a clear understanding of the “ladder” that must
be climbed. Prior to working in Charlotte, Savannah worked in Columbia, South
Carolina. She noted that she was lucky to begin in such a good city, and I
disagreed stating my (unrealistic) expectations of working in New York City. She
explained that directly out of college working in a city that is at least recognized
when said is an accomplishment. She added that many of her friends got first jobs
in small towns scattered in the south. Apparently, Charlotte is a major media
market and is considered a big city to report in. I was aware that a successful
broadcast journalist much work her way up, however, I never acknowledged the
validity of it until then. Savannah explained to me that a journalist job in New
York City is where one ends, not arrives. I got a better reality of how competitive
the professional world is. I also gained a better idea of the difference between
local news and national news. My goal is to become a national news reporter
rather than reporting on small local stories. But that connects back to the point
that, every single broadcaster must start small and work their way up. Overall, the
mentor hours gave me more realistic expectations as an aspiring broadcast
journalist.

5. How did creating a product and completing the hours challenge you personally?
a. My product challenged me personally by forcing me to put myself out in front of
the entire school. Although I understand being a broadcast journalist entails
putting my face out on television, I feel it will be different when I have no idea
who is watching it. With the Roar, I know exactly who my audience is, as I walk
the halls with them every day. While editing I often became very insecure with
how I looked and I would notice the tiniest details that I disliked and stress over
what my peers may say about me. But over time I stopped worrying about it as
much. Which is a positive consequence of the Roar personally, because I gained
 confidence. It also challenged me to be prepared on time, because I was the
leader, it was up to me to ensure everything got filmed, a script was made and
there was news to announce. Each responsibility fell on myself, and at times it
was very challenging to juggle the Roar with all of my other activities. But
eventually it became a routine and I planned for the Roar. It was not an
extracurricular, it was a commitment.
6. Do you feel prepared academically and emotionally for the presentation?
a. I feel very prepared emotionally for this presentation. A lot of my peers are
nervous to present, but I feel prepared with the timeline. I think over this process I
have matured and I am at the end of the product, and I am proud to present it to
the judges. I am excited to show the evolution of what the Roar began as, what it
is ending as, and what it has the potential to continue as. My favorite part of the
project so far has been making the pride presentation slides and learning myself
how the newscast has evolved and how much I have learned. While I was making
the newscast, it felt very stagnant and unchanging. But when I look back,
everything has changed. I have become a much better editor, leader and anchor.
For example, we used to take a solid 5 takes before we could get through a
segment, but now it only takes us one. The first day of filming I wrote the scripts
on looseleaf paper, but now I come prepared with a typed script in the same
format everyday. There is not much I would change about my product, and I think
that explains why I am ready to present.
b. Academically, the preparation has been brutal. Initially, the pride presentation felt
like the straw that broke the camel’s back. Each class has been getting
increasingly more difficult and more time consuming, it seems, and the
presentation is just one thing on top of the long list of other things to complete.
Therefore, when we began making the slides it felt very rushed, and like I did not
have time. However, since then, I have worked to make my pride presentation a
part of my daily academic activities, as it is a priority. When the time comes on
March 29th, I think I will be academically prepared, as I have given myself time
to create an interactive, engaging and wholesome presentation.
7. How did the entire process “stretch” you as a learner and as an individual?
a. The entire process “stretched” me as a learner because it gave me a real world job
to consider and to find a way to incorporate it into a product. I fully believe the
paper made me a much more mature and polished writer, which will be useful in
college. The product has also enhanced my critical thinking skills, as I am having
to go through the process of creating an actual news cast 3 times a week. It has
also made me a more accountable individual because for my product, I was
expected to create a video 3 times a week, and if I didn't do it, there would be no
Roar. I had no one but myself to rely on, so I was forced to just do it. I have also
learned to manage procrastination better. Procrastination was a major problem
during the pride paper for me, but I have not struggled with procrastination nearly
as much since. Finally, I am much more confident in what I want to study and
why. Initially, I just wanted to be on television. But now I have discovered a
passion for delivering factual, unbiased news because I think it has the ability to
help inform people honestly. I can speak intelligently on this subject for hours and
 before this project, I could not hold a conversation about my future career for
long.
8. Other than time management, describe an obstacle you encountered and how you
overcame it.
a. The largest obstacle I encountered was actually deciding how to make a newscast,
there were many questions that came into the newcast’s creation, such as: When
will it be shown to students? Who will film it and edit it? What equipment do we
have? The first idea was to create a live newscast to be streamed to Apple TVs,
but it would have required a consistent amount of time each day to live stream
and new, expensive equipment. The biggest problem was how to devise a way to
show the news without taking class time or clashing with Student Council’s news.
I tried to solve this problem individually and by reaching out to teachers. But we
reached a dead end, so I took it to Dr. Hoffman who decided study halls would be
the time to show the video and that it would be mandatory, and with his support
we started the Roar. I also intended to make a newscast each day, but soon
discovered that at such a small school, there was not enough new announcements
each day. So we slimmed it down to 3 times a week. This ensured consistency and
new information on each video. After I that decision was made, I had to
restructure the format of the Roar, and how Media Club would be run, so a few
weeks of filming time was taken. We complicated the filming process the first
few sessions by using professional sound, light and camera equipment, resulting
in painfully long sessions. That obstacle was overcome by switching to a green
screen, using a cellphone holder and simplu recording on an iPhone. A part of the
evolution of the Roar was creating an efficient pattern to film. Our record film
time is now 20 minutes, while our longest was 3 hours. The entire process of the
Roar was about overcoming series of obstacles.
9. What “life skills” did you acquire and how will they help you in the future?
a. A seemingly small skill, but one that will be vital to me in the future, is
annunciating my words and slowing down. In the first episode of the Roar, I
speaking very quickly and my words slur together. But I think I have learned to
slow down and speaker clearly. It is important for my future profession that my
public speaking skills are good. Another is my ability to lead. My leadership skills
have been refined in this process, as I had to direct every single episode. I had to
make decisions such as which role media club members were to be (i.e. anchor,
sports, birthdays etc.) and communicate with group members. I put out a schedule
on canvas, but eventually switched to a snapchat group because it was the best
way to reach members. I believe I polished my efficiency as a leader as well
because over time I learned when to be a friend and when to complete the task at
hand. I have always characterized myself as a leader, but I think I learned how to
truly be a leader in this process. Being a leader is a lifelong skill and one that I
will employ for the rest of my life.
10. If you had to go back and do parts of the project again, what would you do differently?
a. If I had to go back and do parts of the project again, I would do it three times a
week from the beginning. There was not enough news for everyday of the week,
and sometimes not even for 3 days. A lot of potential filming time was lost while
 I was restructuring the Roar and figuring out how to best create it. If I could do it
again, I would have come more prepared with a clearer idea of what I wanted. I
would have never tried working with another student as editor or using another
person’s equipment. I had no clue that the more simplistic the better the entire
process would be. I also think I would have taken over Student Council’s
newscast as my own (which was offered), instead of having two seperate
newscasts. I think both myself and Student Council did not have a clear idea of
what we envisioned our newscasts to be, so it was difficult to agree to combine
the newscasts. But if we had combined them we could have compromised and
taken the best parts of each to make a better, single newscast. I would also ensure
I was taking better video and that the audio was better. Although, I am glad we
switched to recording on an iPhone because it made the editing process much
easier, sometimes the footage was unfocused and shaky or there is too much
background noise. But overall, I am pleased with the way the Roar ended up.
11. Based on the entire Pride Project experience, do you plan to pursue this field as a career
or college area of study? If so, why? If not, why? Please be specific.
a. I still plan to pursue Broadcast Journalism as a career and college area of study.
This project has helped me realize exactly why I want to be a Broadcast
Journalist, because I desire and value the power to shape the discourse of the
nation. But since the beginning of the Pride Project I have changed my focus,
although ideally I still would be a great pop culture reporter on Good Morning
America, to make a real difference in the world I need to shift my gears to
something more along the lines of ABC Nightly News. Meaning, I am
considering a career in reporting on politics. I have discovered that my true
passion is to use information and news to help people form educated and logical
decisions. The media has the power to set the political agenda, and I want to be a
part of a change that uses that for positive influence. I do not believe in bias
media. News must be unbiased and accurate so people can actually know the
truth. Through the Pride Paper, I found this passion through writing about
Woodward and Bernstein and Walter Cronkite. All men who changed the
journalism industry by utilizing the media to do right by the people. I was inspired
while writing about strong woman such as Barbara Walters that broke into a
predominantly male career and made a name for herself through her dedication
and strong work ethic. The creation of my product also solidified that I want to be
a Broadcast Journalist because I learned that I enjoy editing, which is not
something I would have ever thought before. Another aspect of my project that
helped me realize that I still want to be a journalist is that, I like to be in the
“know”. I enjoyed being involved and updated in the current activities and events
of the Pine Lake Upper school on a day to day basis. Without the Pride Project, I
do not think I would have ever known why I truly want to be a broadcast
journalist.