Final Post

My career path choices have varied throughout my four years of college, and even in high school. I never thought I would be in the broadcast journalism industry. As a senior in college, almost ready to graduate and get a job in the “real world,” I am up for many different job positions but I think my ideal job that I would love to pursue would be a reporter, sports preferably, at a big network.  I think that would be a job that I would love to do, because I have loved sports from a young age, and broadcast journalism is something that I am very passionate about. Ever since I started the program at Florida Southern, I have really enjoyed learning the ins and outs about reporting, and behind the scenes work. Starting off in this career isn’t always easy, and the entry level positions are difficult to get into. I have been researching and it seems that the salary for a reporter, whether it be TV, radio, or web is around 25-30K a year. Depending on the network and area that you are going to work for would affect your pay. If you are going to a bigger city/network, then your pay would probably start off higher. Entry level jobs are often times ones that pay the fewer amounts and you would not necessarily be doing the ideal reporting work right away. Many entry level reporters are the ones that are getting the b-roll film, doing interviews and such, but not getting the big, hard-hitting stories quite yet. Many entry level salaries that I researched started at either 12 to 15 dollars an hour. The requirements for these types of jobs would be reporting skills, the ability to be able to write fast, good interviewing techniques/skills, able to work through multiple computer programs such as Final Cut Pro X, only to name a few. Entry level reporters are expected to have all of these skills, and able to apply them to their everyday work. Being able to write a story/video package in a short amount of time is required. So far at FSC I have learned to do these things. Working on Go Healthy FSC and the sports show it has taught me the importance of meeting deadlines, because in this industry, the show will not stop because one person does not have their story on time. Having classes such as News Reporting and Broadcast Writing taught me that there will be stories due every week, and you have to get that information right away and write the stories quick. I want to make my story writing skills ever better and be able to write a great story in just an hour or so. Making video packages is something that I really enjoy doing as well because you choose what to put and where and making it your own is fun. The things I have learned FSC and will continue to learn I think will help me in getting a job as a reporter when I graduate.

Tonight I went to the men's basketball game and filmed and helped Tony and Charlotte with 3 interviews, Coach Church and 2 players.  3 hours.

hours

Before Thanksgiving break I also completed a package for Go Healthy FSC which gave me about 3 hours as well.

hours

Before Thanksgiving break I made a package for Go Healthy FSC with Maggie Sutton. Between shooting, logging, and editing I gained 3 more hours.

It's been a couple weeks since I've posted but I have been working on packages for Go Healthy FSC such as the Chick-fil-a and cycling class. All together with interviews and editing I have gained about 10 hours from it.

Hours

I did a package for wellness TV on cycling which all together with interviews, b-roll, and editing it took me about about 8 hours. Wellness TV meeting the past two weeks 2 hours.

Hours

For hours this week I went to the Interlachen meeting Monday, took photos for the yearbook at the women's volleyball game on Tuesday, Wellness TV meeting Monday, and did interviews for my package for Wellness TV with Michelle Cash at the Wellness Center. 5 hours total.

Interlachen

On Thursday August 30, I took pictures at the men's soccer game for the yearbook. 2 hours.

Final Report

Before joining practicum I was not entirely sure what to expect out of the class and what I was going to be doing exactly. Throughout the course and semester I have come to realize that there is so much I learned and even more that I want to learn in the coming semesters. Coming from print to broadcast is the best choice I have made in my education because I came to know that I enjoy doing the broadcast side much more than print and I feel that this class has led me to this conclusion.

During the semester I did a lot of different things with the camera and the editing process. In the beginning I did a lot of shooting games; men’s and women’s soccer, basketball, volleyball. I had been in Introduction to Broadcast before and knew how to use the camera, but I felt that shooting these games made me a lot more familiar with the camera and how to properly use it. Getting the different angles during the games helped me learn that when making a package, the b-roll is very important in telling the story in an interesting way. After filming some games I went through the tapes and made highlights out of them in Final Cut Pro. I really enjoy using that program because you can do so many different things with it and make your package however you want. 

As the semester went on I began shooting more and more games and did almost every men’s basketball game. Shooting different sports helps me learn as well. I began to get bored with shooting games so I began to help Kirstin McIntyre with her news media project packages. I would go get interviews with her and help her shoot the b-roll. Seeing something different was very refreshing for me. I would spend hours in the studio with her logging the tapes and then helping her edit them. I learned a lot in Final Cut Pro from Kirstin. She showed me how to make a package and how to work through problems in FCP. Making videos was a lot easier for me because I knew how to use the program more efficiently and now I really like using the program and just messing around with the different features of it.

Every Friday in class we would have students speak about the news in the broadcast industry and listening to these articles was interesting. I learned a lot about the new technologies in the industry that I never thought would be possible. The industry is advancing so quickly. There is a new way to make things more simplified for us coming out every day. Hearing the class opinions on them was also educational, for the most part.

I definitely did not want to wait to get my hours in until the very end of the semester then end up rushing to do things, so I got a lot of mine in before spring break. I had at least thirty hours in before we went on break, and that helped me a lot because I wasn’t worried about getting all my hours in, only 10 or so. I could focus on my other classes and projects because that is when the homework started piling in.

Overall I feel that this class was very beneficial for me and I am looking forward to what next semester has in store. 

Friday April 6 I shot the women's lacrosse game, 2.5 hours. April 7 I shot another game and did interviews with the coach and a player, 2.5 hours.
Total 36 hours.

I took part in the sports show March 7, shot the women's lacrosse game with Kirstin March 13, and edited footage for packages with Kirstin for 3 hours. Total hours 31 hours.

Sunday February 19 I shot the women's lacrosse game (2 hours). On the 22, I helped out with the sports show operating the camera (1 hour), and I have written sports blurbs for three pages of the yearbook for the Interlachen thsi week (3 hours). Total 25 hours.

February 15 I shot the men's basketball game with Kirstin McIntyre and Dakota Thurow (2 hours). February 16 I came and edited in the studio for two hours doing highlights. Total hours= 19

Total 15 hours.

February 10, 2012 Kirstin McIntyre and I went and shot the women's lacrosse practice and interviewed Coach Reber and player for 2 hours. Sunday February 12, went to women's lacrosse game and shot for a package, 2 hours and helped edit with Kirstin for 2 hours.

On January 27, 2012, Justin Richards, Kirsten McIntyre and I interviewed the men's basketball coach Linc Darner for the Rollins game. I was the interviewer while Kirsten and Justin shot the interview. Later that night, all three of us interviewed Jon Williams and Michael Burton. We collected 2 hours for this shoot/interview to help Kirsten complete her package.

Practicum Hours

Saturday January 28, 2012 I was at the boys basketball game shooting highlights with Kirsten McIntyre for her package on the men's basketball Rollins package. We shot from 7:30 p.m to 9:30 p.m.

Practicum Hours

Saturday January 21 I worked the men's basketball game with Justin Richards for two hours. I took notes on the game and helped film.

Practicum Hours

Saturday January 14 I helped out at the men's basketball game with Jordan Tickell, Justin Richards, and Nadine Rager from 7:30-9:30 pm. I filmed and took notes on the game.