Volume 3, Winter Quarter, Issue 5

Internships News Commentary

Bent on Fashion: a Student Blog

Internship Listings

Scripps Student Spotlight

An Ohio University student showcases her love for fashion with an online publication.

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Check out our weekly list of opportunities around the country.

Freshman and Post writer Kristin Salaky is front and center this issue.
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Fashionistas take the Blogging Runways by Storm

Holly Moody n Reporter

hances are journalism students at Ohio University have heard one of their professors rave about the importance of blogging in this transitional stage of journalism by now. Many Jschool students have embraced this new medium not only as a way to give their readers a daily dose of the news but to express their personal tastes and or hobbies as well. From the latest fashion trends to bottle cap collecting, there are thousands of blogs on the web that appeal to even the strangest of in- OUs President McDavis, takes a look at the 2011 Student Expo. | Provided by the Ohio Univerterests. sity Student Expo Its safe to say that by now all of us either have a blog or have experimented with blogging somewhere in our journal- Emma Morehart n Reporter ism careers. Upon hours searching through Google, alf of any good news story is Drapac and Tony Guglielmi, senior and schmoozing with people around research and creativity. How- Visual Communications students and campus I stumbled upon one Jsschool ever, at OUs annual Student the founders of Project C, were hopstudents blog that caught my eye. Bent- Research and Creative Activity Expo, ing to get their name out to specific ley Weisel, a sophomore studying maga- communications students channel people. zine journalism, started her own fashion their innovation elsewhere. Community members and middle blog, Bent on Fashion. Last year, she Last Thursday, several students in school students come to the Expo, so was also a blogger for Thread Magazine the Scripps College of Communica- this is a good audience to reach out and has since been updating her viewers tion presented projects and research to, Drapac said. on the dos and donts of a modern day papers at the Expo in the Convocation The Athens audience is especially fashionista. Center. The groups first presented important for Project C because it Addiontally, her audience stretches their ideas to judges, then displayed helps Athens residents become directfar beyond fashion divas. Shes a cam- their work at booths in the Convo for ly involved in learning about and funpus reporter for the Athens News but has Athens residents and OU students and draising for community organizations. nevertheless used her blog as a tool to faculty. Next to the Project C booth, anothexpress her personal love of fashion. Although most students said that er group of VisCom students covered It was a really good idea for how to the Expo was beneficial, each group their table with computer monitors get started in journalism, Weisel said. had a slightly different goal. Annette and keyboards. Brandon Logan, a secont. on Page 2 cont. on Page 3

Expo Showcases JSchool Talents

Volume 5 Winter Quarter, Issue 5

INC.

FOIA & Gregory Korte take the spotlight at SPJ Meeting

Kaylyn Hlavaty n Reporter

earching for a topic or public information pertaining to a city can be time consuming for journalists, but the public records available can serve as a useful resource that can foster interesting and pertinent information. Last Tuesday, Scripps students and faculty had the opportunity to listen to Gregory Korte, a member of the computer assisted reporting team for USA Today. He works in the Washington Bureau of the publication covering Congress and politics. In 2007, he was named SPJs Best Reporter in Ohio. He discussed the utility of public records, along with helpful advice for students who are starting to use public records as part of their research basis. According to FOIA. gov, there were 144,000 submitted to the Department of Homeland Security in 2011. Public records databases contain a vast amount of information. Therefore, one can be used multiple times by a journalist. The accessibility of public records was made possible because of the Freedom of Information Act, which is sometimes considered the law that keeps the American people informed about their government. Obtaining public records can be a daunting task because of the time spent filing and working with a bureaucratic agency. Korte notes that there is no such thing as too much information as a journalist. He discussed some ways to make working with the staff and obtaining information easier and less of a headache. The first thing as reporters is to find out who has the information and how they keep it organized, Korte said. I always ask for things electronically any chance I get, becont. from Page 1 From man on the street interviews to fashion profiles of our very own OU Bobcats. Weisel keeps her blog full of colorful inspiration and tips to renew even the drabbest of wardrobes. She has also utilized the power of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in the past to update readers on new posts and style tips. Twitter and Facebook complement blogging, Weisel said.

cause anything in paper is useless because you cant sort or manipulate (search) it. He recommends that the data be sent through excel spreadsheet. Finding specific information can be easier with a spreadsheet, especially when the data has statistics and graphic analysis. He advises putting a request in by phone, or if an article is approaching deadline just go in person and ask to see the document. When thinking of a story idea or angle, looking six months ahead can help get more information in a timelier manner. If you want precision in your writing or to be punchy, you need facts and numbers to back it up, Korte said. People allow their math phobia to get in the way of doing some good database reporting. In every story you do, you ought to be seeing if there is a data component in it. When in the process of requesting a public record, ask for the entire record as far as it goes back. He tells a story about a bureaucratic hurdle he jumped in the past. At the Cinnicinati Equirer, Korte wanted to know the jail booking records and called a city official. The official responded by stating that information which is entered into the database

can not always be taken out. That the point of having databases is to take information out and use it, Korte said. Korte has written stories about the cash for clunkers program, dollars for dishwashers, how location affects gas prices and other topics of public policy. He gets many story ideas listening to talk radio on the way to work. He said that sometimes government employees will try to say the public isnt entitled to the information. But the public is entitled and especially as journalists because the interest is for the public under law. Public records have a vast amount of information pertaining to government policies that affect the public. Journalists have an obligation to expose problems with government decisions and the effect on tax payers. Finding specific information and obtaining the records can be intimidating at first. Korte recommends to start small, with the information requested and leave enough time for the request to be processed.v

Gregory Korte pauses to think. | Provided by GregoryKorte.com She has gained around 200 readers since her start. Her effort is an example of how journalists can market themselves in the digital age. Websites such as WordPress and Blogger have been popular platforms for students to get their start spreading the word online. They are not only easy to use but allow students to express their visual creativity through several themes, layouts and widgets to maximize their audiences. Blogs similar to Bent on Fashion have also been used as tools to connect readers to other news articles. Weisel uses her blog to connect readers to her online portfolio that showcases her work from publications including Thread, The Post and The Athens News. Blogs continue to prove to be an essential tool for student journalists to promote their work in the convergence era of journalism. Things are so digital these days, Weisel said. v

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cont. from Page 1 tors and keyboards. Brandon Logan, a senior studying interactive multimedia and a member of Cremedia, endearingly called the Expo shameless self-promotion. Cremedia is a group of media students hired to create an online presence for different clients. The company specializes in video production, web design, and branding, and is nine months old. Cremedia helps clients get their particular message to the appropriate audience, and the Expo helps Cremedia find new clients, Logan said. A few E.W. Scripps School of Journalism students jumped on the innovation train, too. For her political communication class, Courtney Astolfi started a project called Are We Getting the Whole Scoop? Im trying to get a pulse on whether or not we still have a functioning fourth estate, Astolfi said, a senior studying magazine journalism. I want to explore if the press is living up to its roles. To do this, Astolfi dug into the top U.S., international, and political news stories of the top eight news outlets, and compared the coverage. Because her research is only a couple of months old, the Expo helped her get input and advice from other students, she said. Andreya Carlson, a junior studying magazine journalism and psychology, ran the booth next to Astolfis. Carlson and other JSchool students work for the new e-magazine Global Town, which covers the international diversity of the campus. The team expects to drop its first issue this week, and hopes that the magazine will connect and introduce different types of people on campus to each other, Carlson said. Although tables and displays filled the Convo, communications students had a strong presence. Whether they were getting input, finding clients, gauging interest, or simply selfpromoting, innovation is key in the changing media industry - and these Scripps students have tapped into it.v Students and Facutly take to the floor at the 2011 Student Expo in the Convocation Center | Provided by the Ohio University Student Expo

Q&A Spotlight
Name: Kristin Salaky Year: Freshman Major: Journalism Hometown: Canonsburg, PA Why did you decide to come to Scripps? My dentist actually told me about it because his daughter was a journalism major. He told me how good of a program it was. Then I went to a summer camp here and thats when I fell in love with it. What do you like most about journalism? I like taking things that people normally dont see about everyday things and showing the cool things about it. I know you work for The Post... What has been your favorite or most interesting story and why? My favorite one was on Take Back the Night. It was about survivors of sexual assaults in Athens. I got to go to all the events and hear all the stories. It was very eye opening. Where do you hope to see yourself in five years? Probably living in a city because I love the city. Hopefully I will be doing theater reviews for a newspaper.

Stuednts wait for the opportunity to enter the 2011 event. | Provided by the Ohio Univeristy Student Expo

Where would you like to travel in your journalism career? Italy, France and Toronto.

INC. Volume 5 Winter Quarter, Issue 5

Will Journalists finally be Replaced by Computers?

Kaylyn Hlavaty n Columnist

t wasnt long ago that the future of journalism was as stable as a seesaw due to the steady presence of online media. Newspapers had online content, bloggers were seen as credited writers, twitter was the main news source and jobs were eliminated left and right. The state of journalism seemed uncertain and the merging of news organizations only made those in the field fearing for their current or prospective jobs. But today, with every organization having an online presence, the media has come to adapt and use online to its advantage with videos, photos and more in depth coverage. The most recent technological addition to journalism has many worried about the future of the way news is covered. Narrative Science, a company that trains computers to write news stories, has caused a stir and has some criticizing its newest innovation. Yes, I said a computer and not a writer, intern or reporter, but a computer. Its hard not to dwell on the fact that this newest technology is a potentially or inevitably job-killing advancement in the media. The ironic part is that this idea rooted from Northwesterns Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communications. Every 30 seconds, the algorithmic bull pen of Narrative Science, a 30-person company occupying a space in Chicago produces a story that doesnt read like a robot wrote them, but rather an actual person. These articles produced by these machines have appeared on Forbes and other Internet media organizations that are keeping their identity a secret from the public according to Wired. com. There are some news services who hire Narrative Science to produce up-

dates in sports and the financial areas. I think transparency should be in the back of the minds of editors and those head of a news organization. If the public finds out by word of mouth that their news organizations were producing stories with the help of computer, credibility could be lost. According toan article written by Steve Levy in Wired, he asked Narrative Sciences CTO and cofounder, Kristian Hammond, what percentage of news would be written by computers in 15 years. His response was more than 90 percent. That number is scary and mind boggling, in 15 years we will be in middle of our careers reporting and strengthening our niche. This computer is currently used to produce articles on anything with a data component, specifically sports and investments. It may be these two areas that the company focuses on for now, but when do we as journalists draw the line to prevent other areas falling subject to computer-based writing. The sole positive element that I am able conclude to after reading the article, is that areas that are lacking writing and reporting will now have some presence in the media. When foreign bureaus are dismantled, the last thing journalists have the time and money to do is cover Little Leagues and financial updates. This computer generated writing may be able to write data based stories that interest readers, but, for now, I still believe the public yearns for thorough reporting and the emotional angle in Kaylyn Hlavaty | Provided any story. v

Remember to schedule a meeting with your advisor to discuss your schedule for fall semester, as well as any concerns or questions you might have about the upcoming Quarters to Semesters change.

ScrippsTip

Internship Listings
Online Journalism
TheCelebrityCafe.com Work from campus
Email neal@thecelebritycafe.com

Public Relations
Ask April Love Public Relations Atlanta, GA Contact Melanie Mitchell at 404-403-2315

Print Journalism
Washington City Paper Washington, D.C. Contact intern-application@ washingtoncitypaper.com

Marketing

Freespirit Media LLC Long Beach, CA Email: tiffany.champagne @gmail.com

Co-editors I N C Jimmy Roller Staff Lindsay Friedman

Copy Chief Emma Morehart Copy Assistant Kayla Hanley Design Graylyn Roose

PR Chief Heather Wilson Web Designer Holly Moody

INC. Volume 5 Winter Quarter, Issue 5