Reflection on Comm 465
This course has provided me with the skills that I will need to become a successful journalist. The hands-on nature of this class has allowed me to develop technical experience so that my news packages can meet the highest journalistic standard. This is most evident in the editing practices that I have developed, and I think that this is one of the three most important skills to have in journalism. I can create seamless sequence shots as well as informative and engaging graphics that involve the audience and help them better understand the story. As a result, the flow of the story can become smooth and I am able to demonstrate the uniqueness of the people that drive the story. For example, in the package that I did on the power of the female vote, I was able to use sequence shots and graphics to demonstrate the impact the females had on the presidential election. People were better able to understand that impact as well as the differing opinions that women had and how that led to the outcome. I was able to use these skills from learning about these practices in class as well. We watched several news stories and our classmates stories in class, which helped me see these practices in action. The story about the man who had an antique collection was an example of a great use of sequence shots and that served as a guide for my stories.
Another skill that I found to be very important was developing my writing for online journalism. Making these stories visually appealing was something that did not come naturally to me at first but through the examples we saw in class, it ended up becoming one of my strengths. I learned that including images or links can engage your audience and can add more to the story than a standard news package. I can also add in other quotes and information that was not previously stated and the visuals can help guide that process. When we watched some of the national newscasts from NBC Nightly News and then saw the web version of the story, it was a great learning experience because I got to see how they use video links and images. I used these kinds of techniques to improve my own web stories, which is crucial for journalism in the modern age. Journalists in today’s society have to obtain many different skills, and incorporating this skill will be helpful in setting myself apart from other job applicants.
My stand-up on the power of the female vote.
The last skill that I think is very important is the use of creativity in my news stories. Throughout my experiences both in and out of the classroom, I have noticed that stories are often told in the same way by different news outlets. As a result, the biggest challenge tends to be finding that different angle. This class has done a great job at helping me practice doing this and, over time, I think I have developed this skill pretty well. When we looked at the story of the rock that went down the mountain and into the house, it got me thinking about how I can use creativity in my own stories. I think that stand-ups can be the greatest asset to a journalist in adding some creativity to their story, and I tried to use that to my advantage. In the hard news package on the election, I went into the studio to do my stand-up so that I could use the television. I wanted to show the power of the female vote with two graphics of expectation and outcome. This ended up being a great addition to my story because it made the impact more visual so that people could better understand it. I also noticed that this is a technique many other national news outlets used when they did stories on the election as well.
When I graduate in the spring, I will be able to utilize these skills in the field of journalism because they are crucial to having success at any news outlet. I will have an advantage of putting these skills into action and will be able to hit the ground running at my first job. I will be able to go into any story and make it my own so that the viewers can have a different perspective on each news package. These skills will make the stories more memorable and people will be able to connect with the message or the outcome of the story. I look forward to using these new skills that I have gained so that I can be a successful communicator and journalist.