Week of March 16, 2014

Over the weekend, I added a link to Facebook so fans can click over to our website to listen to the latest production of SFJ.

Tuesday: March 18, 2014

At the top of class, I quickly worked with Dr. Petrich to formulate a status on the Facebook page, to promote the upcoming show. I just had to respond to it, so I did, with kind and thankful words. It's really amazing to reflect on how much I know about social media and how I continue to update the page. Dr. Petrich has been saying lately how nostalgic he gets looking at the videos and photos I have been uploading, and how since the middle of the semester, he's starting to miss his A-Team already! Dr. Petrich, we're not gone yet!! I was delighted to be able to have him write a personal message to the Facebook fans. I love the idea of seeing something personal from the brains behind the operation.

During class time, I listened to Aramei and Stephanie's two-way in class and commented on ways to add more of a local angle on her story. I thought her sound bite of President Obama in the beginning showed timeliness, but her story was general, so connecting back to the article she was assigned added more of a local aspect.

I then went on to record her two-way, Nick's two-way, and Hector's two-way. Out of them all, I think that Hector's definitely had the most information, but Nick's wasn't far behind. I can see how the two listen to Dr. Petrich and the A-Team to improve thus far in the semester with their writing and speaking skills while in the studio. They both seemed so comfortable in front of the mic, which can sometimes be intimidating. And that's where Aramei fits into this. She seemed very detached from her two-way, and I worried that she only had two sound bites. The article Markella assigned to her was based out of Delray Beach, about Cafe Luna Rosa raising the waitors' wages to $10/hr. Why she didn't go and interview the manager there is beyond me, because that's relative information, even if she wanted to take another angle. I just remember my two-way, and how much information I had going into the studio, that I actually had to eliminate some so my story didn't drag on. That's something she needed to have- more information, because I feel like her story didn't connect to South Florida, even after we tried to tweak her wording.

As Aramei and Nick were recording in the studio, I uploaded these two videos to Facebook. Check the page to view them.

When I got home, I wanted to add one more thing to the Facebook page. Markella created a website for curious listeners to see and get to know the faces behind SFJ. I love the idea so much. I shared a link for the page on Facebook:

On a side note, I wish more students seemed into this website. Markella sent out a very nice email about asking five or so questions, and their responses would be placed on the website. However, only four or so people responded so far.


Thursday: March 20, 2014

Because I did not attend class this Thursday, I wanted to make sure that I still updated the Facebook page. I didn't want to write something too similar to the hint that Dr. Petrich sent out earlier in the week, so it took a while to concoct this teaser. I can't wait to see how this week's show turned out. I bet it sounded amazing with Addison's deep voice as newscaster and Ryan K. as the co-host. Two great voices meshed into one program!

Week of March 9, 2014

Monday: March 10, 2014

... And school's back in session! Well, Spring Break flew by and all I did was get excited over this week! I'm co-hosting again and I couldn't be more thrilled. Today, I uploaded a picture from the Coverage of Public Affairs class that Markella sent to me, since I couldn't be there. I like how now they have a type of Progress Report due, which allows them to present an outline of what's to come for their semester Beat Story project. This gives them more structure, something the Coverage class needed last semester. Group projects always seem to take a turn for the worst, but it's good that this is a driving force for successful works at the end of the semester. 

Tuesday: March 11, 2014

Mentoring day is always my favorite. Today, I got the amazing chance to hear one of the two-ways I assigned come to life. Kimberly and Chris practiced in class, and talked about the entryway beautification plans for Coral Springs. I've never been to that area, and I was excited to see how she'd bring tension to the story, so it wouldn't sound PR-ish. I engineered the two-way recording also. 

Something I had Kim do while in the studio was a little sneaky, but I knew it would work. Because she became nervous as her interview went on in the recording booth, I called her back in alone, and asked her a couple questions relating to her story that she could expand upon. She didn't know I was recording.  I wish someone did that to me when I had my two-way. It was so much easier for her to speak to me as a peer, or a friend, than to sound rehearsed when talking to her co-host. I'm the queen of nerves, so when I saw how relaxed she was talking to me, I wished someone thought of this when I was in her shoes. I ended up using both of her responses to my questions in her two-way edits. It just added a bit more original reporting that was needed in her first draft. 

While Kim and Chris practiced their two-way in class, I shot a 30-second video of her responding to the first question. Check Facebook for the entire clip. 

Wednesday: March 12, 2014

Today I put out a teaser for this week's show on Facebook. I'm counting down the hours until I'm co-host again. I'm actually updating this blog now and annotating the script/ marking inflections at the same time. No, I don't love being part of the Advanced Broadcast class- what made you think that? 

Thursday: March 13, 2014

I attended today's production class, as I was one of the co-hosts. Before I get started talking about today, I want to make mention that I added a photo to the Facebook page of our tasks at hand for the day! This gives the students an idea of what the process on production day is like for SFJ. 

I am going to miss co-hosting so much, and I was very lucky to be able to do that twice this semester. While in the studio, it reminded me that I only knew four people really well going into this semester, and now, I feel like I know everyone's backstory. For example, Addison engineered my co-hosting with Taylor, and we had such a blast together that we all couldn't stop laughing for some odd reason before we got our serious faces on and recorded. It's those unexplainable times that I'll always remember from SFJ. 

After I recorded the co-host script, I edited out all the whispers and mess-ups, and cleaned up the recording before having to leave for my next class in Boca. I really regret signing up for a class that causes me to cut my SFJ production day short. I love the atmosphere on any given Thursday and wish I didn't have to leave and attend a lecture each week. It makes me realize that Journalism is my love, and Sociology (my class that night) is just fine as my minor!

Week of February 23, 2014

This week is a bit of a hiatus for the Advanced Students, myself included, because there is no show this week, and the Broadcast students are taking a Midterm exam.

Even though there wasn't a mentoring session this Tuesday, I still made sure the Facebook page was updated. I added a link to listen to the newest show.

I also had my turn this weekend in finding Two-Way stories to assign to the Broadcast students. I sent an email out Monday morning to the students in the Tuesday class, and sent an email to the two students doing Two-Ways the week after Spring Break. I'm so excited to see how these kids find the tension and turn these articles into interview pieces. It's still surreal to see how I assign an article, and the Broadcast kids bring it to life. 

Thursday: February 27, 2014

Dr. Petrich treated his "A-Team" to lunch today!  Thank you so much for this delicious "nice" Italian lunch! Today we reflected as a class about how far we have come, along with the Broadcast kids too. It's unreal to be at the halfway point in the semester already. Can I repeat these last two semesters, please? I'm going to miss Broadcast and Advanced so much. 

After the relaxing and reflective lunch, we headed into the studios and recorded a couple Wavelengths promos. I was the engineer, along with Markella, for the entire class, as no one was willing to help us with our recordings. We stayed after class to make sure we could record each other too. 

As I sat back recording each student, it's great to hear how far we've all come. Some people had more trouble than others in the beginning with inflections, but now we are all so well trained in picking up where we didn't feel comfortable with something we said. We know when to stop and ask to re-record. 

Along with engineering the recording sessions, I snapped a photo for the Facebook page. It's always nice to be on the other side of the mic, as I watch the Broadcast kids hog it each and every Tuesday! Just kidding about the hogging part, but it's definitely something I miss. 

Because the show is taking a bit of a break from production, because of Spring Break and midterm exams, I made sure to let our Facebook fans know of our hiatus. Is this semester really half over? Where's the rewind button?

Week of February 16, 2014

Tuesday: February 18, 2014

Chris and Aramei presented their two-way in class today, and I helped critique them. Chris just needs to watch his pacing, and that was something I had to deal with also last semester. I'm from New Jersey, and we tend to speak fast there. So I definitely had to adjust.

After, Kylie and I recorded their two-way. I think Aramei needs to loosen up a bit. I can't tell if it's nerves, or if she's just a really quiet person. But when I sit on the opposite side of the mic and listen in my headphones, she just sounds a bit disconnected. Kylie and I tried to get her to change her voice a bit and add more inflection, but she just wasn't taking to direction.

After them, Hector and Alyssa had their two-way, as I recorded theirs too. I stayed after classs to edit Chris' two-way by cleaning it up a bit. I also stayed late to help Briana find ambient sound for her story, while helping her position it where it made sense in her story. She already had an idea, and with Dr. Petrich peering over my shoulder, he agreed on a slight move. It's so nice to see a student as bright as Briana get the editing process so early in the game. It's a little bit of a teary-eyed moment for me too. My teaching, as well as other A-Team members' and Dr. Petrich's teaching, have been wearing off!

I added a promo for this week's show on Facebook, making sure to highlight the first Beat Story being aired from the Fall semester of Coverage of Public Affairs. I'm sure they're excited!

I also uploaded a picture of the in-class practice session for Aramei and Chris' two-way.

Earlier today, I received an email from Sharlene with the list of Approved Story Assignments for this week's show. I sent an email out to the Social Media Team including the document containing the story links, and made sure each member had a task of uploading each social media outlet with those promos.

Thursday: February 20, 2014

I did not attend production this week, but will be attending next week. I did create a promo for Facebook though, once I saw the Co-Host script uploaded into Drop Box. 

Week of February 9, 2014

Tuesday: February 11, 2014

Yesterday, I sent an email out to the Social Media Team including this week's promos for the show. I included that I would be updating the Facebook with the promo, and that each member should update their social media outlets as well with current information for this week. 

I sat in the practice session of Jadarius and Kim's two-way, and then recorded them in the studio. Jadarius did a wonderful job on his two-way. I was concerned while assigning the story to him because he said the area in which he wanted to cover was Broward County. So, after confirming that with him, I chose a random but impactful charter school story in the Wilton Manors area for him to cover. 

After Jadarius recorded, I recorded Andrea and Ken's two-way. I could tell that Andrea will be putting forth more effort than last semester, as I remember in Coverage of Public Affairs, she tried to ask Markella and I about our ideas for the beat story project. She almost did the same topic as me too, but I changed mine last minute so we wouldn't have the same. But, I also preferred my second choice about the texting and driving ban anyway. 

Immediately after the recording, I began deleting the mistakes and multiple takes in between; and boy there were a lot of them. But, that's okay. I'm sure my two-way recording was a mess. I was so nervous in the beginning I couldn't even remember if I hit all of my bullet points I prepared. 

In class I updated the Facebook with a promo for the upcoming show. 

...As well as linking the first week's show to the Facebook page. I thought by doing this, we could give the current students an easier way to access the show. I know googling "South Florida Journal" doesn't turn up many accurate results in finding where we put our content. 

While in class, I snapped a photo of Hector getting his spot story critiqued before finalizing it for the show. He seems to not take criticism too well, and always offers a back-comment of why his story is worded as such. Hey, it's good to have confidence in your work. 

Thursday: February 13, 2013

This was the first week I attended the editing day for South Florida Journal. I filled in as Co-Host for Robert since he was absent. I did such a cold read of the script, and I just was so happy to be in that room again. What was even better was that I was Co-Hosting with my a really great friend! I've known Markella for almost three years and this was great that she and I could experience being Co-Hosts together.

Immediately after my recording with Markella, I jumped on the editing and dropped in the two-way bites into the actual recording with multitrack. I love this portion of Thursdays and see myself doing this each week.

As a new feature of the Facebook page, I wanted to try adding a video promo for each week's upcoming show. I recorded this one with Markella for this week's show, as we're Co-Hosting.

To view the video, go visit to the Facebook page.

Week of February 2, 2014

Tuesday: February 4, 2014

It's a huge honor to be one of the Assignment Editors for South Florida Journal. On February 3, I assigned my first round of stories to the Tuesday Group 2 students for their two-ways. Then today, I sent the assignments to Group 2 students doing two-ways in the Wednesday class. Picking stories was a bit harder than I thought. Picking two-ways meant that I had to find stories that had a bit more tension that say a possible spot story article. I was looking for familiar heated debates, and ones where there was obvious tension too. I didn't want to spring hard article and issues at the students right away. Those are for the end of the semester when they become more confident!

The in-class practice session for Germaine's two-way with Briana went really well. I was blown away with how much Germaine knew, and how much thought/work she put into this practice session. I knew from the first day of class that she had a lot of potential. It made me wonder if I sounded that good when I had a two-way last semester! 

I then was the engineer and ears with Markella in the studio as we recorded their two-way. 

After that, I sat in with Stephanie and Shanea in that two-way. It was a little rough to get through, but I aided in trying to organize her wording and questions a bit. I figure that with time, both of them could soak in a bit more of what it's like to be Broadcast-like, stylistically speaking. 

I then updated the Facebook page with a promo for the first week's show, and took 2 videos of Germaine's two-way: one of the practice session and one while in the studio as teasers. 

Week of January 26, 2014

Over this past weekend, I edited Briana's Mock Spot Story via email. Nick also emailed me with his story. I can't be too critical because I'm a semester ahead and have a bit more knowledge of what makes a good spot story. So, I commented with ways to approach the story for corrections without actually saying what was wrong in each. I don't want to be that person that the students come to and expect me to do their work for them. I learned and found my voice in Broadcast, now it's their turn!

Tuesday: January 28, 2014

Because many students hadn't finished their Mock Spot Stories last week, we continued to work on them in class. I helped Briana record, edit and place together her story in the recording studios. Briana and I are familiar with each other from a previous class, and we tend to work really well together. She took such initiative today to take the mouse from my hand and edit herself, which I thought to be amazing. More and more kids seem to be less afraid of this new technology. I remember being afraid of messing my soundtracks and bites up. But that was before I knew of an "undo" button!

After Briana, Hector was ready to record so I helped him as well. I previously helped him focus his story while in class. He sounds like he has a lot of outside knowledge that he'll try to incorporate into his stories this semester. He said he worked at a radio station, or something similar, editing sound bites and things. Maybe that'll give him a leg-up this semester!

I stayed after class with Briana and Hector to have them play their stories and get a small critique from Dr. Petrich. I was so pleased to see the look on both of their faces when their stories came to an end. Briana was smiling from ear to ear, while Hector was doing the same, but made a comment about a slight stutter he made in the recording. Oh, he is a perfectionist and I see that I might have rubbed off on him already! Oh no!

During the time in which Hector was editing his Mock Story, I took some Behind the Scenes footage in the recording studio which I shared on Facebook. To view the video, please visit the Facebook page.

I also added a blurb on Facebook to see who would be our main audience this semester (as far as people who like the content) and noticed it was mostly kids who either are in Broadcast now, or are graduated. I was hoping to see some actual fans of the show outside of the University.

After class, I sent an email to my fellow Social Media Gurus and included a list of our names and tasks for updating social media each day of the week. I also attached the Approved Story Assignments for this week's show, that way we could all update each social media outlet with the most current information. 

Thursday: January 30, 2014

WORKSHOP

Today was our final workshop, and it was more of a wrap-up. We discussed what we felt we needed to still learn more about, and that was the billboard. So, in between getting into groups, we tried our hand at creating the billboard.

I wrote and edited a portion of the Co-Host script to include the tag lines for liking and following South Florida Journal on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Vine. I think that will be a vital portion of the show where a listener will recognize that we are becoming more social media friendly, and that soon we will be fully involved in it all.

I also wrote a promo for Facebook to be used the next week, and recorded a similar version for Owl Radio. Nikki and I sent an email to Owl Radio Station Manager, Anastacia. I'm excited to be teaming up with Owl Radio. I think that this will boost listener audiences! If only I could walk through the breezeway where this will be playing and hear my voice. That would be so cool.

I conducted a Social Media Team meeting in class today, and we discussed who would update what media platform each time we meet for class. We decided that we want to split up the roles of updating Facebook, Twitter, Vine and Instagram

I made sure to post a photo of some of the team on the Facebook page (pictured below).

Just for a new fresh vibe on the Facebook page, I uploaded a video that shows that the A-Team really is a family who still is young at heart and likes to joke around. Kadeem transitions his voice for a segment with South Florida Journal. To view the video, go to the South Florida Journal Facebook page.