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Archive for the ‘Jeff City/The Missourian’ Category

Lotsa links: where journalism is headed

Posted in Internships/Careers, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism on February 14, 2009| 2 Comments »


Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all! On a loving note, here are a couple of V-Day links I’ve scored up via Twitter:

As a visual journalist, I’m especially a fan of this one from the second link:

Things that I’ve been doing over the past few days (some of which are still works in progress):

  • Working on my application for the Washington Program. I’ll be turning it in on Monday.
  • Not checking Twitter for almost three days. This is due mostly to an economics exam (Money, Banking and Financial Institutions), about which I do not feel good about. The worst part is, this class is not required for my degree: I’m taking it purely out of my own interest in the current economic recession and want to learn background on it.
  • Consolidating all my reading schedules for four classes into one document.
  • Scanning film taken last weekend. I’ll be posting the best photos here, later this weekend.

On the side, I’ve been reading a lot about the journalism industry. I think the Time cover story by Walter Isaacson has fueled a lot of discussion, some of which I’ve been reading via links on Twitter. The variety of responses is stark. One of the most poignant and personal is this: NYU’s paper published a piece by its former editor-in-chief, who begins the feature with “I want someone to tell me I will be unemployed if I stay in journalism.” It’s a good but frightening read.

Other articles/pieces I’ve read regarding our industry, somewhat in response to the Time cover story and definitely in response to the economic crisis facing the media:

I’ve at least skimmed all of these, and still have more reading to do — that is, a dozen or so articles about the federal economic stimulus package. Now that it’s passed and on its way to Obama’s desk, I’m hoping that next week in Jefferson City will be far busier and more productive than the past two weeks have been. I feel like everyone from the legislators to the budget officers have been waiting for some closure on the stimulus package before pressing forward with their own agendas.

And on that note, I’m going to continue with my “to do” list for the weekend and hopefully have some scanned film posted by tomorrow afternoon! Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

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NPR discusses journalism students’ unease

Posted in Internships/Careers, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Mizzou on February 6, 2009| 1 Comment »

Today, via Twitter, I came across this NPR article about how journalism students are “uneasy about job prospects.” Featured very prominently is the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism (which I attend) and several people with whom I’ve interacted this semester — namely, Missourian executive editor Tom Warhover, masters student Emily Younker and senior undergraduate student Chad Day.

Perhaps the most frightening and dramatic component of this article is the following graf:

Right now, the economy is especially bad news for these students. When they graduate, they’ll head into an industry that shed a staggering 15,000 jobs in the newspaper sector alone last year.

Intimidating? Rather! Maybe that’s why I’ve received three times as many notifications of internship program cancellations as actual rejections.

 

Previous, related blog entries:

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Why am I still on the Jeff City beat?

Posted in Internships/Careers, Introspection, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Mizzou, Photojournalism on February 4, 2009| 1 Comment »

As of this week, I have entered a strange place in my life/mental state. That is, I’ve begun to question exactly what I’m doing in journalism.

It all started when I had to present my goals for this semester to my editor Phill Brooks, as a component of my Advanced Reporting class. After discussing my goals with him, I was to e-mail him and my class instructor a memo recapping the discussion.

Initially, my goals were enterprise, in-depth analysis and connecting with the reader — all of which I’d outlined in a previous blog entry. But when I told Phill, he laughed and said my real goal should be figuring why I am still working — and with gusto — in the bureau when, as a photojournalism major, this class is not a required component for acquiring my degree.

The following is the memo I sent to Phill and my instructor last night.

(more…)

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Lesson learned: you never know where an apology can get you

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Politics on February 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Today in the statehouse bureau, I learned there is no shame in apologizing.

First, some background. This might take a while.

As soon as I arrived at the bureau at 11:50 a.m., my editor Phill Brooks told me to report on a Senate bill sponsored by Senate Democratic Floor Leader Victor Callahan

This quickly became the article that almost never happened. (But it happened, and you can read it here.)

None of my sources responded to me. The governor’s communications director said he hadn’t heard of the bill but would get back to me after looking around (he didn’t). Budget Director Linda Luebbering’s aide said Luebbering was at a meeting. Callahan’s aide said he wouldn’t be in until 3 or 4 p.m. (Senate would convene at 4 p.m.)

I returned to Callahan’s office at 3 and again at 3:45 p.m. His aide — a former state representative — said Callahan would be on the floor of the Senate chamber at 4 p.m. and advised me not to try to pull Callahan off the floor for an interview. I reported this to Phill, who promptly told me to disregard that and ask the doormen to pull Callahan from the floor. Callahan refused. I told Phill. He told me to try again. I did. Callahan refused. Again.

By this point, it was about 5:30 p.m. Phill said he wanted a story even though all I had was Callahan’s Senate bill text and an interview from another senator about an unrelated resolution regarding MOHELA. Anticipating a 10-inch story at most, I began writing.

At 6 p.m., Phill said he’d just talked to Callahan’s aide, whom he reported was frustrated about the persistent reporter who kept trying to get the senator off the floor during a tumultuous debate about allowing laptops in the Senate chamber. Phill then suggested that I apologize to the aide — not that I’d done anything wrong, but just to apologize for the confusion and unnecessary anxiety.

So, without agenda (i.e., without a recorder or my reporter’s pad), I went to Callahan’s office to apologize to the aide. Upon knocking on and opening the office door, I ran into Callahan himself, who correctly assumed I was that persistent reporter.

He took me out into the hall, where he interrupted my apology by saying there was no need to apologize — and did I want to ask him a few questions now?

I was stunned.

“Well, actually my recorder and notepad are downstairs in the bureau,” I said. “Should I run down and grab them, or would you want to come to the bureau?”

Much to my surprise, he came down to the bureau, told Phill there was nothing to apologize for and gave me my interview.

Lesson learned: you never know where an apology can get you.

I need to emphasize that I went to Callahan’s office solely to apologize to the aide. I had no hope or expectation to see the senator tonight, much less get to talk to him any time soon. I simply wanted to follow through on Phill’s recommendation and try to make amends with someone whom I had no intentions of frustrating. But had I not done this, I wouldn’t have gotten the interview and, therefore, wouldn’t have gotten the story.

That said, I certainly don’t advocate groveling to sources. My point is simply that having a little humility and wanting to mend fences never did any harm.

P.S. Ten minutes later, I sat down and began writing. At 7 p.m., Luebbering herself called the office and said she had a few minutes to talk to me. My story became so much better because another dimension was added. And you can read all 27ish inches of it here.

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On the Jeff City beat

Posted in Introspection, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Politics on January 27, 2009| 2 Comments »

Reporting in the State Capitol building in Jefferson City is a little stressful; I can’t lie about that. Two years ago — or even nine months ago — I didn’t expect to be reporting in the statehouse, much less returning for a second semester. But here I am, well into my second semester and first legislative session in the capital.

When I first started out, the following truly intimidated me:

  • Who is everyone? Thanks to my experiences at The Maneater student newspaper, I knew the names and faces of Columbia/Boone County legislators, the governor, the lieutenant governor and the House speaker. But I knew I had to become familiar with the names, faces, polices and other affiliations of many more legislators and elected officials.
  • What is everyone saying? Political jargon can be a little confusing. I’m somewhat embarrassed now to admit it, but because I swore off political reporting as an option back when I was applying to colleges, I never really kept up with politics until the 2006 midterm election season. (Thank you, Maneater, for introducing me to the wonderful world of Missouri state politics.)
  • What is the political process? Everything — from how a bill becomes law to how all the offices and committees are connected and interact — was so foreign to me. I’ll admit that I’m still no expert on the political system/process, but I’ve certainly been learning as fast as I can, as well as enjoying it.

Last semester, I covered Chris Koster’s successful campaign for attorney general. That experience and my reporting on the state economy and budget compelled me to return for a second semester, so I could report on legislative session and follow up on all the issues I’d been covering. At the end of the semester, I told my editor I would cover the budget/revenue beat.

As such, I flew from Texas to Missouri two weeks early.  (more…)

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Getting out into the Columbia community

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Mizzou on January 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Our first assignment in Advanced Reporting was to partner up with a fellow classmate and complete the following assignment:

You will spend time in talking in select communities in the Columbia area to explore the immediate world in which you live, and to discover issues of significance to your neighbors.

These discussions should take you outside your usual environment and introduce you to a part of the community you are unfamiliar with or know only through assumption and generalization.

The goal is to discover issues or topics of most relevance to people’s daily lives, and to learn a bit about their media needs and habits.

The following is what I reported to our Advanced Reporting instructor, Tom Warhover:

— — — —

This morning at 9:30 a.m., Valerie Insinna and I went door-to-door on Rose Drive in northwest Columbia. It’s a relatively small neighborhood consisting of homes built in the mid-70s. We weren’t sure who would be home on Friday morning — our original plan was to talk to people at the Greyhound bus stop, which we couldn’t find — but here are the five people we talked to.

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