JRN 418 Journal
Here I will be sharing my experiences from my final journalism course at Michigan State Univeristy, JRN 418 or Sports Reporing II. For this class we work for WKAR's (PBS-member station owned by MSU) Current Sports radio and tv show.
Week 1: January 12-16
This week I was unfortuantely able to work on either the radio or tv show due to my outside work schedule and scheduling changes by the show. What I have learned from working along with being a full time student over the last few years is time management, multi-tasking, and flexibility. Things aren't always going to go according to plan and its up to me to stay relaxed and figure out how I am going to get everything done. I was set to work the Current Sports TV show on Wednesday night, but due to the guest for the night, the taping was moved from 6pm to 5:30 leaving me unable to make it. What this taught me is that while I am trying to make sure I get what I need to get done, there are other people trying to do the same. If a guest changes their availability to be on the show, the show must adjust and go on, which is exactly what happened.
Although working 40+ hours a week while being a full time student has been stressful and not the easiest, I have gained many skills and have grown tremendously due to it. Moving forward into post-graduate life I think that those skills obtained through my busy schedule will only help me to succeed.
Week 2: January 19-23
This week I worked my first WKAR Current Sports TV show. Myself along with one other student's main job was to come up with questions for the guest that week. Since this was my first show, the main thing I learned was the shows format. I also learned that most of the work for the TV show is done outside Wednesday night tapings, from putting packages together, writing a script, finding guests, etc.
I enjoyed my first shift with Current Sports and I look forward to the remainder of the semester. TV is what I would like to be doing in the future and helping put a sports show together along with observing how one is run and what goes into it will definitely be beneficial.
Week 3: January 26-30
This week I worked my second WKAR Current Sports TV show and went out of my first shoot. Immediately following the Current Sports tapin on Wednesday January 28, I headed to the Breslin Center with host Al Martin to cover the MSU Women's Basketball game against Indiana University. When we arrived at the Breslin we had an issue with press passes. After running to every office and talking to every person imaginable, it seemed like getting a second press pass just wasn't going to be possible, so Al and I headed to the press conference room to set up for post game. Once we got set up in the conference room though, Al had a different idea and decided to send me by myself to the court floor to do film the second half of the game.
I had never been to a MSU basketball game before and had never filmed a sporting event before, but I figured this would be the best learning opportunity I could get. So Al gave me directions to the court, instructions on how to film, and off I went. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but once I got down there and got set up it was clear sailing.
Following the game I helped Al Martin cover the press conference. I learned how to set up the shot in terms of angles for when Susie Merchant (MSU Women's baksetball coach) spoke at the podium and when individual players came out to answer questions at individual tables. While this wasn't my first post game press conference, it was my first Michigan State athletics one and it was still a great learning expereince. Looking forward to seeing what other opportunities will be coming my way this semester.
Week 4: February 2-6
This week I worked my third WKAR Current Sports TV show and turned in my first story for the class on an MSU swimmer who is a Churchill Scholar candidate. I have always thought my writing was my weakest journalistic trait and since starting at MSU it has been the number one thing I've wanted to work on. In my four years as a journalism student my confidence in my writing has improved greatly, but I know there is always room for improvement. Summer 2014 I interned at a newspaper in Israel and when I was debating on whether or not to take the internship, the only reason I could come up with for not doing it was because I didn't think my writing was good enough but looking then I realized working at a newspaper would be the best thing I could do to continue improving what I thought was my weakest skill. At the end of the summer with 16 stories published and two stories that made the front page, I felt like I had made the biggest improvement.
Writing my first story for 418 I was much more confident than I have been previously for written stories for class, in fact it was I think the first written story I did where I wasn't dreading it the entire time. Although I was confident while writing it, I knew that it was going to come back to me with edits because like I mentioned earlier, there is always room for improvemet. Also, each professor, editor, co-worker, etc comes back with different edits, different suggestions, and different tips to improve stories and improve ones writing. JRN 418 is just another great stepping stone in improving my writing, especially as I head to The Arizona Republic as a sports intern for summer 2015.
Week 5: February 9-13
This week I worked my fourth WKAR Current Sports TV show and worked on editing and improving the story I turned in from last week. Unfortunately I woke up sick on the 9th and ended up staying home for the remainder of the week and wasn't able to go out on any additional shoots or start working on my second story. Hopefully next week goes better!
Week 6: February 16-20
This week I worked my fifth WKAR Current Sports TV show. Besides my typical duties while at the set and then transcribing the show for the subtitles later that night I didn't do too much. The guest on the show this week was Rico Beard, one of the voices of the "Ryan and Rico Show" on Detroit Sports Radio 105.1 showing that guests aren't always athletes, but even other sports reporters. It was really cool to hear Rico give his take on some of the thing happening in the sports world currently and to also get his opinion on being a journalist. I think the greatest thing Rico said was that it's important to have an opinion and to voice it, but the most interesting thing Rico discussed on the show was in regards to athletes choosing not to speak to the media. Rico took the side of the athletes such as Marshawn Lynch and Kevin Durant saying, "Why should they talk to us?" and that the media tends to blow-up and dramatize every little thing they say. I thought Rico was a great guest to have on the show and changed the show up a little bit.
Week 7: February 23-27
This week the biggest thing I learned was that sometimes stories/story ideas need to be abandoned as things develop and change on a beat. MSU Swimming and Diving is my current beat for WKAR Current Sports and their season came to an end with the culmination of the Men's Big Ten Championships this past weekend. Leading up to the Women's Big Ten Championships which was two weekends ago, I was planning on doing my second feature story on Shelby Lacey, one of MSU's top senior women swimmers. Lacey was one of MSU's top contenders leading into Big Ten's and was one of MSU's best hopes of making Nationals. The plan had originally beento do a phone interview with her, but that unfortunatley did not work out. With the phone interview not panning out and Lacey's performance at Big Ten's being successful for her, but not as successful as predicted, it didn't make sense to keep pursuing. Also, with the end of the season being reached it makes more sense to start looking towards next season.
Week 8: March 2-6
I think the biggest thing that stuck out to me this week is how much coach's from less popularized sports want to talk to you. Having MSU Swimming as my beat for the semester, a smaller less popular sport on MSU's campus, has made my life somewhat easy. Coach Matt Gianiodis from day 1 has been excited to have someone interested in doing stories on his team and his athletes and has gone out of his way to get me in contact with his swimmers as well as getting in contact with me.
This week I interviewed Coach Matt for the second time for my story on international student swimmers on the team. When I mentioned I was interested in doing this story, Coach Matt went out of his way to make himself available to me. Then, post interview he recommended two of his five swimmers to be interviewed and provided me with their contact information, that definitely wouldn't happen with MSU basketball or football.
Week 9: March 16-20
This week I learned about international student athletes and the draws of coming to the United States. I interviewed a male swimmer from Australia and a female swimmer from New Zealand who both have aspirations of swimming for their naional teams. The biggest thing I learned was that the term "student-athlete" is an American term and the U.S. is perhaps the only country where universities work with athletes as they go through school. Both swimmers told me that in their countries swimmers post high-school either don't go straight to university and continue to train, train at their club and study part time, or retire. Universities in other countries don't work with athletes: have a competition that makes you miss a week of school - good luck trying to get your professors to make some adjustments or exemptions. Universities in America, exams get changed from in person to online, assignments are given a head of time, exemptions are made. Both athletes said that being a student-athlete in America is amazing and almost non-existent in our sense, in their countries. As a former student-athlete and college athlete, and a firm supporter of college athletics, thank you America!
Week 10: March 23-27
This week I learned that sometimes I'm just not going to like how a story turns out no matter how many different variations of it I do. For my international swimming story I wrote three different versions and in the end I wasn't really happy with any of them. It wasn't that I thought any were written worse than the other, but I didn't think any of them were the best version of what the story could be or what I had envisioned for it. I had my three roommates read the three different versions, I had my neighbors read them, my boyfriend and they all like a different one, so thanks for all the help guys. In the end I decided to turn in the first version I wrote because while it was the original one I was unhappy with, it was also the foundation for the next two. Of course I received edits&feedback and realistically I didn't think I would go unscathed, but the thing I learned through the whole process was that you aren't always going to be 100% happy with a story and sometimes the feedback is just the push you need to make it a story you feel good about publishing.
Week 11: March 30-3
This week I went to my first WKAR Current Sports radio show and I thought it was a really good experience. Radio was much different than TV in the sense that it is live and not pre-recorded. My favorite part about the radio show was the guest call ins and how Al and Alex handled them. Considering it was my first radio show I wasn't able to help out with anything, but I did learn what Al needs help with to make the radio show go smoothly and I learned how to do it for future radio shows I may be able to go to.
Week 12: April 6-10
Two weeks ago in class we discussed the uproar that Indiana's "religious freedom" bill caused within the sports community due to the NCAA March Madness championship rounds being held in Indianapolis. We discussed the effect that the media had on making the bill "a big issue" and talked about how while the bill may be ridiculous depending on who you talk to, the way people were reacting to the bill was pretty out of context. The way the media was reporting on it made it seem like Indiana was the first state to implement a "religious freedom" bill when in fact there are 19 other states who passed bills long before Indiana. I mean Charles Barkley even went as far as trying to boycott the tournament and there were talks of a potential relocation of the tournament.
In the end the tournament went on as planned in Indianapolis and as far as we know, no one didn't show up because of the bill, but I decided to keep an ear out for any mention of the bill during the Final Four and the Championship. As much as I would like to say that I was surprised by what I heard, I wasn't, for I didn't hear the bill get mentioned once during the games, nor did I hear about it on ESPN. While I am not sure if it was still a top topic in the print world, I am going to assume not so much. The popularity, intensity and need to make it a story was lost when the NCAA decided to have the tournament go on as planned.
In my opinion I feel that the tournament going on as planned should have been the larger story for if the NCAA and its supporters made such a big deal about it in the beginning, why didn't they move it? Do sports, especially college sports, have as much effect on society as people think they do? Thats the question I am now left with.
Week 13: April 13-17
I am currently working on my final project for JRN418 on Cuban Baseball. I traveled to Cuba over spring break in the beginning of March and it was an amazing experience. With that being said I decided to use my experience to write a first person account of the baseball culture in Cuba, a culture that most people know nothing about. While working on my story I realized that with the exception of Yasiel Puig and Yoenis Cespedes, I knew of no other Cuban players, but I knew that there had to be more currently and many that have played in the past. There are currently 26 Cuban baseball players playing Major League Baseball and while not all of them may be a Puig or a Cespedes, the baseball culture in Cuba is making an influence on the baseball culture here in America.
Week 14: April 20-24
Today culminated my JRN418 class. I turned in my final project and Sports Journalism III, my final sports journalism class at Michigan State University, is now complete. Looking back on this semester I feel the greatest things I learned was from our mini class discussions. From March Madness and Indiana's "religious freedom" bill, to the Mayweather vs. Paquiao fight -- class discussions has reiterated time and time again the impact that journalism can have on the public. Through my beat this semester: Michigan State Swimming and Diving, I was reminded by how often smaller college sports are in a way tossed to the side to make way for football and basketball. The students on the team were still accomplishing great things though, some in the pool some out, and having an "off-spotlight" sport as a beat can actually be really rewarding. The athletes and the coaches go out of their way to talk and I am able to share stories that otherwise may not have been heard. Through my final project I learned a great deal about Cuban baseball and gained more experience with writing first person stories. Writing stories in first person, contrary to popular belief, is not the easiest, but I believe it is a skill that will help me and allow me to stand out as I start to make a name for myself as a journalist.
I have learned so much in my four years as a Spartan. In the classroom, out of the classroom, within the Journalism School, through university prerequisites, they have all led me to where I am today. I am so thankful to Michigan State, my professors, advisors, and classmates who have helped shape me into a person who is confident and ready to take on post graduate life. As I head to Palestine and Israel in a month for a journalism mission trip and then as I take on Phoenix, Arizona in two months at the Arizona Republic, I will take all that this university has provided me with.
