Twelve students and one adviser (yours truly) set out on a trip to Orlando, Fla. to the National College Media Convention from Oct. 26-30. We learned about how to be better journalists, better leaders and run more effective organizations. It was a great experience for everyone.
As our trip came to a close, I asked the students to reflect on everything about their experience from the sessions to the networking to the fun. To do that, I asked them to finish the following five sentences in as many different ways as they could, limiting each answer to 3 or fewer words. Their answers were thoughtful, funny, creative, silly and most of all, their answers show that you can have an awesome learning experience and the most fun of your life all at the same time.
1. Before I left for the National College Media Convention, I felt…
2. After attending the sessions…
3. Getting the opportunity to network with students at other schools…
4. Getting to explore Orlando was…
5. After I return from the conference…
Thanks to Lenny, Scott, Gerry, Sam, Maddy, Marcus, Kyle, Kira, Sam, Cassie, Mary and Sunny for a great conference experience!
By Lila Carney
Assistant Director, Student Media
I was a student again and it was wonderful!
Marcus Harun, Jamie Hill, adviser Lila Carney, Natalie Sgro, Amanda Carey and Rebecca Turco tried out some of the local fare in New Orleans.
In September, five students and I traveled to New Orleans for the Exellence In Journalism conference put on by the Society of Professional Journalists and Radio Television Digital News Association. I love being back in the classroom — on the student side — and it’s so rewarding to see Quinnipiac students just as excited and eager as I am to network and learn about the latest developments and topics in the world of journalism.
I also got to meet one of my reporting idols, Boyd Huppert from KARE 11 in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Students in my class tease me that I have a crush on him, but I truly think he is a storytelling genius. I already shared some of the lessons from his session with my Broadcast Writing class (JRN 263.)
After the conference was over, I asked my students to reflect on the experience and share what they found to be most memorable. Their thoughts on this great experience are below.
By Natalie Sgro ’12
Executive Producer, Q30 News
Natalie Sgro '12 speaks with KARE 11's Boyd Huppert about storytelling techniques.
There is one word to describe my experience at the Excellence in Journalism conference: Twitter. Twitter played a huge role throughout the conference in New Orleans. Up until recently, Twitter has been a hobby of mine, but I never thought it could turn into a full-time job.
Andy Carvin, National Public Radio’s senior strategist, changed that.
During his keynote, Carvin described his experience tweeting about the Arab Spring and how he created an elaborate network of sources across Middle East.
Through his connections, Carvin could see in real-time how the events in Tahrir Square unfolded. He could also turn to his followers when he had questions. At one point, Carvin used his network of followers to uncover a hoax. According to Carvin, “People who follow you on Twitter are your most important assets. You’re cultivating sources and you’re forming relationships with them.” Carvin managed to get exclusive information and report on what was happening in the Middle East without ever stepping foot outside his office. Although he does not consider himself a journalist, Carvin certainly revolutionized the profession. I doubt I will ever reach his record of 1,400 tweets in one day, but I will definitely take Twitter more seriously.
Although I was extremely focused during my sessions at the Excellence in Journalism conference, it was nearly impossible not to be completely star-struck.
Lara Logan and Linda Ellerbee, two extremely talented women in news, were a few feet away from me when they delivered their honorary speeches. The former, I admire for her amazing courage and reporting on CBS, and the latter I grew up watching on Nickelodeon.
Needless to say, I was in journalism heaven. Surprisingly, these weren’t the only famous faces at the conference. CBS News president Jeff Fager and CNN’s Soledad O’Brien both gave keynotes followed by Q&A sessions.
O’Brien actually took some additional time after her speech to speak one-on-one with students. Students, including myself, were able to ask her questions and just take some time to chat. Having the opportunity to interact with these prominent names in journalism and soak in their wisdom was simply irreplaceable. I was truly inspired by everyone at the conference. It was amazing to see students, faculty and professionals learning and growing together.
By Amanda Carey ’12
President, Society of Professional Journalists – Quinnipiac Chapter
Amanda Carey '12 votes on behalf of the Quinnipiac chapter in the SPJ national meeting.
In September, I attended the Society of Professional Journalists/Radio Television Digital News Association’s “Excellence in Journalism” conference.
I had a very rewarding experience. I was immersed in journalism and loved it.
We got to see big name journalists speak such as Soledad O’Brien, Lara Logan, Jeff Fager, Linda Ellerbee and Andy Carvin.
As students, we also got an exclusive session with O’Brien in the presidential suite at the Sheraton. She offered advice to aspiring journalists such as seizing every opportunity while giving it 150 percent and to keep your mind open to anything.
Each of these journalists shared their stories honestly and discussed the industry; they were very inspiring and motivating.
In addition to the speakers I also got the opportunity to attend sessions discussing different topics such as writing online, the 10 commandments of video, social media and making your personal brand. Each session was very informative and gave me information I can use in my future journalism endeavors.
During the “Excellence in Journalism” conference, in addition to the speakers and individual sessions, I also got to experience sessions as a student leader. On the second day of the conference, I attended a campus leaders session. I discussed programming, recruitment, developing future leaders, etc. I made connections with other SPJ chapters and brought away great ideas for this upcoming year.
I also got to attend the SPJ closing business meeting. All representatives from all national chapters in attendance voted on SPJ board members and resolutions. I had one vote representing Quinnipiac University. We voted on resolutions such as condemning the use of illegal alien and illegal immigrant in news stories and reinstating the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement award. It was an interesting process and I enjoyed attending the meeting as well as being able to give our student chapter a voice.
By Jamie Hill ’12
Copy Desk Chief, The Quinnipiac Chronicle
Jamie Hill '12 waits to ask NPR's Andy Carvin about his use of social media.
While at the Excellence in Journalism conference, I attended a session put on by Lane DeGregory, a features writer for the St. Petersburg Times. There are two things I loved about the session: First, DeGregory provided handouts, and I love handouts. Second, she was a dynamic, personable ball of energy who seemed to absolutely love her job. Her handouts included the title of her workshop session, “20 tips your editor won’t tell you,” which would have been more appropriately labeled “20 ways to find a diamond among coal.”
DeGregory had an entertaining anecdote to accompany each “tip.” She got so carried away that she was only able to get through half of the 20 tips that she had on her list. That was fine though, because the real quality information I gained came from her stories.
Hopefully, she will be a speaker at a future SPJ conference, because she put on one of the best presentations I’ve ever seen (in class or at a conference.)
By Rebecca Turco, ’12
Associate Producer, Q30 News
Natalie Sgro, CNN's Soledad O'Brien, Marcus Harun, Amanda Carey and Rebecca Turco chatted after O'Brien's presentation on her latest work at CNN.
Who would have thought that a professional conference would have classes about Facebook and Twitter – that’s a college student’s dream!
These platforms were emphasized at SPJ/RTDNA’s Excellence in Journalism Conference for their journalistic capabilities. Social media at its core is about connecting with one another, which is exactly the goal of most news outlets.
With Facebook, I learned that posts should be “media-rich” to attract the viewer. With Twitter, asking for re-tweets and using hashtags, when appropriate, helps make your tweets reach more people.
These social media outlets can be used to grab people from the outside-in. After the Libyan and Egyptian uprisings, it has become clear the impact social media can have, and as journalists we must grab onto this to get the most out of our reporting.
I attended a session taught by Victoria Lim called “Creating Multi-platform Reporting.” This type of reporting duplicates stories across media platforms in order to reach the most people.
Lim explained that multimedia reporting has the same key information across all platforms, but that each must contain different additional information to bring the story further. This way, the strengths of each platform can be emphasized and new information can still be discovered for those who wish to read the newspaper, watch the news and read and watch on the Internet.
By its nature, multi-platform reporting leads to cross promotion, which increases viewership, readership and online hits. One reporter could be covering for a local newspaper, a local news station and both of those websites. As a result, multiple deadlines have to be balanced, which can make this type of reporting difficult.
By Marcus Harun ’14
Web Developer, The Quinnipiac Chronicle
Jamie Hill, Natalie Sgro, Amanda Carey, Rebecca Turco and Marcus Harun attended the Excellence In Journalism conference in New Orleans.
One of my favorite sessions of the Excellence In Journalism conference was about Facebook.
Not surprising since I am a teenager, I know – but I actually learned a lot about extremely useful features of the platform for journalists. I am very excited to begin implementing them in my reporting.
Vadim Lavrusik, journalist program manager at Facebook, explained how we could make best use of the Facebook journalism program to connect with viewers and sources.
The new “subscribe” feature will solve many of the problems that journalists have with balancing a personal and professional image on Facebook.
Lavrusik said journalists should permit the public to “subscribe” to them instead of “friending them” so all public status updates and information will be shared with subscribers while their “friends” can have access to all personal and professional posts.
Journalists can use Facebook.com/search to search for people they need to contact, find sources based on interest or location, or see what is trending by searching public posts.
Lavrusik also described that while working for his college paper, he was able to get an exclusive interview with a woman in a high profile case because he reached out to her via Facebook (since she was able to see him as a person via his profile), while other media harassed her by phone and outside her home.
SPJ/RTDNA’s Excellence in Journalism conference was a chance like no other — so many professionals in the field I am striving to work with, all in one place. Over the four days in New Orleans, I had the opportunity to meet so many different people from all branches of journalism, both students and professionals in newspaper, television and online media.
The conference is one of the best networking opportunities a student journalist could ever want. I think this was very helpful in connecting graduating seniors with representatives from the media organizations which they hope to work for after college.
I was able to meet some amazing people, including representatives from Google and Facebook, and CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager.
Questions I had always wondered about were answered by some of the smartest people in the business.
Above all, I learned that I need to get back on Twitter. Seeing all the student and pro journalists tweet all through presentations was astounding; not only is it the norm, but it is necessary! I gradually lost interest on Twitter, but since returning from the trip I am again an avid user of Twitter and I also know how to tweet the right way.
By Mary Greeley ’13
Editor-in-Chief, Summit Yearbook
From Sept. 2 to Oct. 1, I attended Jostens’ National College Yearbook Seminar along with
Mary Greeley '13 (third from left) and Kira Riley '13 (third from right) attended Jostens' national yearbook conference.
the yearbook’s General Manager, Kira Riley and representatives from schools across the country. Kira and I attended workshops all day Friday and Saturday discussing yearbook theme, coverage and design. We learned so many good ideas to incorporate into our book such as the importance of visual and verbal elements that represent the theme. Friday night, we attended an editor’s roundtable discussion. I found this to be the most beneficial session of the weekend. We got to hear ideas and problems other editor’s had, offer our ideas or advice and discuss some problems we have had in the past. Kira and I left with new ideas, inspiration and some new friends. We can’t wait to pour all we learned into the 2012 yearbook!
Read more about Mary’s experience at the conference on her blog.
By Lila Carney
Assistant Director of Student Media
This summer, I attended the College Media Advisers summer workshop in Tampa, Fla. The things I learned completely blew me away. The capabilities and tools to enhance storytelling, some of them free, are endless.
Now that the academic year is about to begin, I’m sifting through some of the most inspiring things I learned to share some with my media students in hopes it will inspire them to do great things.
Some of my favorite sessions were the ones I took at the Poynter Institute. For years, I’ve heard wonderful things about Poynter. I describe it as Mecca for journalists.
One session I attended was about storytelling across platforms. The instructor showed us the publication “i” from Portugal which was awarded the world’s best designed newspaper. Some of the reasons why include form, color and variety of coverage. “i” is a small-format saddle-stitched daily that bridges the gap between magazine and newspaper. It varies the cover content including some features and photography. The paper incorporates lots of informational graphics and the staff is bold with its use of big photos. I think the students will love how different it is from what they’ve come to expected from a newspaper.
I’m a huge fan of photojournalism. The staff at Poynter introduced me to The Big Picture on boston.com. Every few days, they post a particularly poignant picture that really captures the feeling of a story. I like to think of it as the story told with just one look.
They also showed some some interactive masterpieces like the New York Times piece called Memories of Sugar Hill.
I was also introduced to Nigel Holmes who has a knack for using motion and explaination graphics to demonstrate concepts.
“Always get the name of the dog.”-Roy Peter Clark, a Poynter Vice PresidentThis is a quote the instructor shared with us as a great way to summarize the idea that good storytelling comes down to getting concrete, specific details that appeal to the senses, the things that make you feel like you’re there.
I also attended a session on mobile journalism where I learned about lots of different programs that allow for multimedia creation. Among them:
I’m so excited to share this information with my students over the next few days as they’re holding back-to-school training sessions. What will excite me more is when I see them putting some of these cool tools to use in their school work, their student organizations and eventually the professional world.
This inscription is in the garden at the Poynter Institute in Tampa, Fla.
Students sift through college newspapers to study best practices in journalism.
By Michele Snow ’13
Managing Editor, Quinnipiac Chronicle
This spring, I was promoted to managing editor of the Quinnipiac Chronicle, the university’s student-run newspaper.
Even though I applied for the position and really wanted it, the title originally felt like an oversized T-shirt. I was suddenly apprehensive to assume more responsibility on the paper, considering that I am a history major with only a media writing course under my belt and not a trained journalism authority. My experience consists of the few hundred hours I’ve spent in the Chronicle office.
So when I got an email from my oh-so-generous and thoughtful editor-in-chief, Lenny Neslin, with an invitation to a seminar for college editors at the University of Georgia, I jumped at the chance to grow into my new position.
On July 24, after playing in-flight trivia with 50 high-school students who were on a youth group trip, and enduring a shuttle ride past Chick-Fil-A ads, a billboard with nothing but the word “JESUS” on it, and a sign for “Hot, Boiled Peanuts,” (exit 53 if you’re interested,) I finally arrived in Athens, Ga.
My fellow attendees of the Management Seminar for College News Editors had already been tweeting with the #mscne11 tag, deft, social-media-centric journalists that they are, which conveniently allowed me to find them. I was also pleased to discover that meeting my roommate was like staring into a personality mirror.
The other attendees were mostly editors-in-chief, which made the few of us who were managing editors feel that much luckier to be there. Although working on college newspapers was the one thing we all had in common, and though we came from different corners of the United States and universities of different sizes, we were all passionate about making our papers and ourselves better.
All week I was so impressed by the quality of the presenters.
On Monday morning, Butch Ward of the Poynter Institute, spoke to the 60 of us about being leaders in our news organizations.
Adults I’ve known in the past love to talk about leadership, taking initiative, being a good listener, claiming responsibility and encouraging communication. Then they have the students engage in fluffy team-building exercises in matching T-shirts before sending everyone home.
Ward didn’t do that. He gave us real, attainable goals that we could work into our own schedules and tailor to our own processes.
We learned the most from him, but perhaps more importantly, we learned from each other. We shared difficult situations we had all faced on our papers and later, in the legal seminar, we shared stories about censorship and valiant attempts at gaining access to public records.
This became a theme throughout the week: learning from our presenters and learning from each other. The longer we sat in that seminar room, the more comfortable we felt addressing each other directly or offering up solutions that had worked for our own papers.
Our presenters were all prominent, experienced editors and professors, from the Associated Press, the Dallas Morning News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others.
Similar themes emerged from their presentations:
Students toured the CNN headquarters in Atlanta.
We had the opportunity to tour CNN’s headquarters, and an overhead view of the central newsroom revealed at least two monitors in every row of computers running TweetDeck. The importance of a social media presence was not lost on any of us. It’s Newspaper Survival 101 at this point.
Have a plan in place to handle breaking news, the industry veterans urged. Wednesday’s itinerary centered around a staged bus crash, complete with actors, vehicles and caution tape. The mock crisis combined the importance of covering breaking news effectively and the critical nature of covering all your multimedia bases.
Divided into teams of seven or eight students, we covered the event with an impressive seriousness and had two hours to get the “breaking news” up on our “website” with lots of multimedia content.
It was incredible to watch everybody ditch their nonchalant curiosity in the classroom and shift into full-blown journalist mode.
And if nothing else proved to us the importance of having a plan for breaking news, it was the presentation from the managing editor of The Crimson White, the University of Alabama’s student newspaper.
On April 27, a devastating tornado hit the area that devastated their community. The success of their coverage came from their effective use of Twitter, one of their only lines of communication after all cell service shut down, their ability to create a system for confirming student deaths before the university released the information and their brilliant idea of posting a Google map of the area which linked their coverage to spots on the map. This way, they saw what neighborhoods they hadn’t covered, and they went out and covered them.
This week was one of the most exhausting, challenging, enlightening and rewarding experiences of my life. I am so grateful for the opportunity, for the contacts I developed, the friendships I made and the knowledge and ideas I gained.
I realized the Quinnipiac Chronicle is already a fairly excellent paper as far as student newspapers go, but now I’ve got several ways to make it better. Plus, we do it all with a relatively small group of dedicated individuals working out of a student media trailer. We don’t have a marble building with two floors of cubicles, we don’t have a circulation or distribution team and we don’t pay everybody on staff. But our product is just as good as some of the best papers in the country that have all of those resources at their disposal.
We’ve been fortunate to have some really talented leaders at the Chronicle in the past as well as this year, but it’s time for our underclassmen (myself included,) to start rising to meet the standards that have been set. Butch Ward, of the Poynter Institute, told us on the first morning that journalists are a combination of patient and busy. It’s a healthy balance of the two that turns out some phenomenal work.