To be a Multitasks Journalists

To be a Multitasks Journalists

In my Broadcasting Class, we need to do 3 reporting shits at KOMU. I just finished my second reporting shifts and want to talk about the skills that journalists should have. That is Multitasks.

 Multi-tasking on different media platforms and the 24/7 news circles not only challenges journalists in technical ways, but forces them to reconsider classic notions of balance, objectivity, and bias.

 Before I got in to the Missouri Journalism School, I thought all I had to do, as a broadcasting major, was speaking correctly with clear pronunciation. And that’s why I choose broadcasting sequence. If you are doing sequence for Magazine and Newspaper, you need to write a lots and  you need to everything for convergence sequence. And Photo Journalism? I like to be inside of the photo, not taking in it.

 In J-school, they teach me the basics of how to use the products such as editing and multimedia production software, Flash, Dreamweaver, Avid, Cool Edit  and Final cut pro. But its up to me to decide how far I want to take it.

 When I work for KOMU, I realized the importance of Multitasks. All my package are shot, written, edited, and performed by myself. As a reporter at KOMU 8 News, turning day packages for the 5,6, and 10 pm newscast.  

One of the hardest parts for me was writing. Being a international student, writing script in different language is hard and it makes harder if there is deadline for it. Fast editing phase and nice shooting style including  the sequence is also important.

Those working for mainstream media seem to have an especially hard time adjusting to the new reality of information overload and continuing inequality.How to deal with a permanent overload of information will be the key challenge for journalists and citizens alike, and how to regulate this in a democratic way will be the challenge for public authorities.

Privacy v. Media’s Right

Privacy v. Media’s Right

Internet has been around for as long as I can remember. To me, Internet is my life. Like many people, I don’t know what I will do if there was no Internet. I have devoted my self to it. 

I had to moved to different housing two weeks ago. My room was just so mess because of all the boxes and load of baggage. I could not find my phone for three hours and I felt like I miss something really important. I went just crazy. Even thought, I didn’t use my phone when I found it, I felt much better to just have it next to me. 

To me Internet is an advancement of communication that has been around for years.

The most important thing the Internet does is reaching. Internet connects people together. Internet allows people to communicate with each other over vast distances, and across all kinds of boundaries that formerly made communication difficult or impossible.

But there is other part of the Internet that has been issues for a long time.  Because you only can express your opinion with the words and people will not know who you really are, many people posts dirty word or even threat people online.

 

In past one year, five South Korea’s popular actresses and signer suicide themselves because of the Internet. One of South Korea’s most popular singer, U-Nee was found dead in apparent suicide after suffering from harassment by online rumors.  

U-Nee came to the public's attention under the name "Lee Hye-ryeon" with her 1996 debut in the KBS TV drama "Grown-ups Just Don't Understand." She appeared in the movie "Seventeen" in 1998, then in the TV dramas "Theme Game" and "Tears of the Dragon." Her debut album "Go" was released in 2003 and she gained even greater popularity with the 2005 release of her second album "Call Call Call." Her sexy dance moves and revealing fashions made her a favorite of teenagers across Asia.

According to her family, she suffered from depression from all the anti’s she’s had on line. And even now, those same stupid Anti’s are – as of this moment- typing how happy she dies and are sending hateful messages to her poor grief stricken grandmother and mother. Police Office says that they found her diary under her bed, which says how her anti’s make her crazy and make her self the worst person in the world.  She also wrote more than 30 times that she would want to commit suicide because of Anti’s.

One of South Korea’s most popular actresses was also found dead in an apparent suicide after suffering from harassment by online rumors about her allegedly irregular financial dealing, police said.

 Choi Jin-sil, 39, whose fame earned her the nickname "The Nation's Actress," is believed to have hanged herself in the bathroom of her Seoul home, said Yang Jae-ho, chief investigator at Seoul's Seocho Police Station.

Family members said she had been depressed because distraught over rumors online linking her to the suicide of a fellow actor a month ago, he said. She had denied the rumors that she had pressed the actor to pay back a large loan.

"It's obviously suicide," Yang told reporters, citing a doctor's examination of Choi's body and testimony from family members and friends. He said an investigation was under way.

 Choi's mother told police that the actress returned home drunk around midnight Wednesday, crying and denying the rumor surrounding the other actor's suicide, before going into the bathroom, Yang said.

 

Choi had been under stress following the rumors online that she had lent money to actor Ahn Jae-hwan, who was found dead in his car last month after committing suicide.

Choi denied the rumors and asked police to investigate who circulated the claims that Ahn killed himself after Choi pressured him to repay the debt.

There could be many times when Journalists need to decided what to put on the online. There are a lots of people, especially public figure, who suffer from the media

After Choi and U-Nee suffer from several South Korea Entertainments came to TV and ask media not to across the private line. While one Media corporation, SBS, said they will keep that line, many other broadcasting corporation said no because of the public interests.

 How should line between Privacy and Media Rights should define?  What is Journalists Ethics? I am not sure….but there are 10 Ethical Questions that, I learn from my Broadcasting II class, you can ask before you make decision.

1.     What happen? What is happening?

2.     What is my Journalistic purpose?

3.     What us my Ethical Concern?

4.     Which guideline should I follow?

5.     How can I include other people’s voice? What about the community?

6.     Who is going to get hurt? Who is going to get hurt?

7.     What if the roll is reverse?

8.     Am I doing what’s right? Is this conflict with my personal ethic?

9.     What are  my alternatives to maximize truth tell and minimize the harm?

10. Can I justice to others? Can I justice to myself?

Never lie and Invent Details

Never lie and Invent Details 

The reason millions of healthy – minded Koreans either quit eating beef or eat only organic and natural beef is not because they don’t want to consume beef from North America bovine but rather because of ‘PD Notepad’s over exaggeration reporting’. 

PD (Producer) Notepad has built a strong reputation over the years with groundbreaking reports that have sent ripples across the world, such as the scientist Hwang Wook Suk’s stem cell reports and president Lee Myung-bak’s election. PD Notepad aired a wrong report on mad cow disease. The Seoul District Court ruled that the report by MBC, one of the country's three major broadcasters, on the danger of mad cow disease was partially wrong and exaggerated the threat.

After the report aired, tens of thousands took to the streets against an agreement Seoul and Washington signed April 18 to unconditionally resume U.S. beef imports. Tens of thousands of people have rallied for weeks, many of them apparently responding to Internet scare campaigns and MBC's investigative news program 'PD Notepad'.South Korea court ordered TV station to correct the mad cow report. MBC, a Seoul-based broadcaster, has offered an apology over its controversial report about the danger of mad cow disease that triggered public uproar against U.S. beef imports. MBC, one of the country's three major

 networks, said in a two-minute broadcast Tuesday night, "We would like to offer a sincere apology to our viewers (over the report)." He also saying the report was partially wrong and exaggerated the threat of mad cow disease, upholding the government's complaint over the report. 

The Protests also led to President Lee Myung-bak offering apologies on two occasions and renegotiations on details of the beef import agreement. 

One of the most famous journalist in Korea, Hong Suk Won says, "I hope this incident becomes an opportunity for PD journalism to return to normalcy."

Journalism ethics can seem as simple as rules I learned in Kindergarten, ‘Be Honest and fair, don’t lie or steal." We, as a journalist, are not writing a novel or essay. Do not exaggerate or heighten the details. We are just reporting an event or situation as it really happened.

 

Time to be smart

Time to be smart

With summer on the horizon, many people will be heading to the tanning salons in search of a healthy bronze glow.  I also would like to go tanning in the summer to have golden skin. One day I visited the tanning salon after my class as usual and there was a small argument at the tanning store. A customer was complaining to the worker that she burned herself because the worker set the time wrong. She said she wanted to tan for 10 minutes but the worker set the time for 20 minutes. The customer was red as a ripe tomato. 

She claimed that she felt hot in tanning bed but she just decided to wait 10 minutes but she had tanned for 20 minutes. The worker claimed that this was her fault because they always advertise for the customer to stop the tanning bed button when they feel too hot.

 I don’t know if the customer got her money back but I got my news package idea from them. Many people using tanning beds but they don’t know enough on tanning safety. Maybe they do know but they don’t care because they are more into their appearance than safety.

I called several tanning salons but they did not want to be filmed or talk about the safety issues of tanning bed. And one of the tanning salons that I called was actually very offended by it. I explained the story idea and she kept repeating. “Our tanning bed is very safe. Actually all tanning beds are safe.”

 I was about to change to a different topic because I cannot have a news story about tanning beds without a shot of a tanning bed or tanning salons. I called one tanning salon in Jefferson City and explained what I wanted.  She was curious about me calling Jefferson City from Columbia. I told her that I could not find any tanning salons to be on camera about safety tips. She said her sister also owned a tanning salon in Columbia and she gave me a permission to go to the tanning place for the shots. The Sun will shine for whom he waits…!

  The problem with the indoor tanning is that most people don’t take pre – cautions when using beds. I talked to several customers and found out they read and heard about the danger of the tanning bed but it didn't bother them at all. Despite the dangers and the health warnings, some people felt like they just have to tan.

 

My CCC was a fourteen year old named Regan. She loves what she refers to as her “Healthy Glow.” She comes everyday except for Saturday and her mother thinks she is ‘addicted to the tan’. Regan know it’s not good for her to be bronzed all the time but that doesn't keep her from tanning.  My angle was about safety tips in tanning beds but tanning addiction was my follow up for the future. I think many people who use tanning beds often will agree with that angle as well.

 

Getting sources and gathering information about the indoor tanning bed was fun for me. Since I'm an indoor tanning bed lover, I learned so much too. But one of the most important things I learned was no pain and no gain. Yes… there will be plenty of times people will say ‘no’ to the interview, especially if the topic might damage their business or themselves. I, as a journalist, need to prepare for those moments. And I also need to pay attention to details and what people say. The tanning idea was from my tanning store that I go to everyday, so pay attention to your surroundings.

 

4-2

4-1

Save Money on Air Conditioning costs

With summer just around the corner, temperatures will be in the triple digits and it will be a priority to stay cool. According to statistics from Brown University , your A/C usage can be as much as 50%-70% of your total energy bill. It also says A/C systems are one of the biggest energy guzzlers in a home.

 

So I called several electronic stores to get permission to visit their store and get some video of A/C and maybe CCC, if I am lucky enough. While I made contact with several stores, I realized two of the electronic stores were shut down because of the wrinkled economy while three used electronic stores were still open. I thought that could be good story idea for my next news package.  Maybe people use less money on electronic but spend more money on used good. On top of that, two used clothes stores were still open in Columbia last months.

 

I got permission from Best Buy and Sears. I also called several Wal-mart in Columbia but somehow it was very hard to get permission from the Wal-mart.  If journalist or reporter wants to use the Wal-mart for their TV or even Radio, they need to tell a Wal-mart executive director for permission at least two weeks in advance.  I learned something about Wal-mart’s media rule but I thought it was very unconvincing for us as journalists because normally, we have to finished the news package at the same day we got the story.

The next day when I went to Best Buy to get a video, I was lucky enough to get a CCC for my story. He was Clem Dung, and he says he came to the store to get a small A/C for his bedroom to lower his A/C bill.  We ended up talking each other for 45 minutes at the store. He served in Korea with the United States Army when he was 20. While there, he met this Korean women when he was in Korea and got married when he came to American with her. He showed me his son's photos who goes to university in Mississippi. He said he visits Korea almost every year because his wife’s family is still living in Korea and he says he misses original Korean food. I felt like we got close together and he did several acting for my news package so that’s how I got some sequence in my video.

 

Sure, it is important to stay professional with your CCC but I learn that friendly behavior and a connection is an easier way to get close to your CCC and can be very important. I also interviewed the  manager at the Best buy about A/Cs and got some suggestions on lowering the energy bill.

Before I left Best Buy I got a shot of Dung leaving the store with his new A/C. I planned to use the scene as my ending shots. I had not planned for his truck to be out of the frame but I accidently moved the camera without thinking.  It could have been a very good ending shot. My professor Greeley Kyle also suggested in class to follow him to get a shot of him setting up the new A/C in his bedroom. I also learned that journalists need to have some creative thoughts and excellent ideas. 

Please pray for Laura Ling and Euna Lee

Candlelight vigils were held throughout the South Korea coinciding with the beginning of the trial in North Korea of American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. As most of you know, Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean Labor Camp.

 North Korea has stated “they’re suspected of hostile acts” and has charged them with spying and illegally crossing the border.

 There are many times when journalists get in danger in different countries. such as Iraq, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and North Korea. Journalists can be killed on duty if the person died as a result of a hostile action such as reprisal for his or her work, or crossfire while carrying out a dangerous assignment. According to the statistic from CPJ, Committee Protect Journalists, 139 journalists were killed in the last 7 years. 36 Photojournalists, 9 producer, 7 Technicians and 85 reporters. Baghdad Providence was the location with the most deaths. 

 For Journalists, there are many kinds of dangers, from the militias, terrorists and even from the government. Kaveh Golestan, Iranian freelance cameraman for the BBC said that there is always a feeling while you are on the street in Iraq that you will be killed. So wherever you go, you need to think straight and make sure you are with your troops and do not ever go to the restrict area.  It may be one thing to get a great angle or shot, but it should never be at the cost of your life or another individual's life. As a journalist you are in the middle of danger, so the possibility of being killed is probably more than ordinary people.

My parents were at church on Saturday nights for the vigils.  They said that they signed the petition to free Laura Ling and Euna Lee. I will sign the petition for them too.  No lawyers, no appeals. My thoughts and prayers go out to these ladies and their loved ones. Please pray for their families and for their release.

Dry Cleaning Story

American Dry Cleaner Reports that 5.6 % of locally owned Mid-West Dry cleaning Business closed on the past year.  I wanted to find out how Columbia locally dry cleaners are doing with their business.

 I talked to the locally dry cleaner and learned that their business is decline due to the wrinkled economy. Consumer are also using less dry cleaning today due to the casual dress trend in the workplace, increasing use of home dry-cleaning kits, and changing fabric trends and care labels.

First my angle was on immigrants who own the dry cleaning but it failed because there was no dry cleaner that is owned by the immigrants in Columbia. The foreigner owns most of the Dry Cleaner in the city, especially Korean and Chinese. Because

One of the hardest things that faced was to find customer who is willing to talk on the camera. Most of the customer came to dry Cleaner to drop the clothes and left.  I was at the Dry Cleaner during lunchtime so I had to go back to the Dry Cleaner afternoon and interview them again.  I learn that people are more willing to talk in the afternoon and in the morning because they have more time after they are done with their job.

One of the important things that I learn from this news package is to be open to new experience. Good reporter should be prepared to write about anything and good journalists should be able to do it with creativity and curiosity. I got net sounds of phone rings for my package and that happened because of the curiosity. Someone called dry cleaner when I was Interview my source, my source ran into the phone and answer the phone right away. I did not understand why she had to picked up middle of the interview, but she told me later that because of the economy, people don’t call her for the order anymore. Curiosity is important thing to have for journalist.  

How to be a good Journalist -STEP 2. Communication Skills

Good communication skills help us to express our ideas clearly, learn from other people, and resolve the conflicts. For the journalists especially for the reporter, communication skill is one of the most important and must have skills. A major part of Journalists skills is nothing but communication skills. The Journalist gathers information or listens to the sound bites, and changes that to more digestible format so the audience can understand the format much better and

 easier.

Reporter has to communicate to research people, interviewers, editors, cameramen, producer and many more people.  But more importantly, sources.  After I carefully watched professional reporter’s reporting and did several news packages for my broadcasting class, I learned that communicating with the source is very important.

Here are some communication skills that I learn from my experience.

1.     Listen, Listen, and Listen: Listen is important for the interview. This means being engaged ad alert. While you are interviewing your sources, pay attention to their answer. One time I was interviewing one of the doctors about skin damages. I asked the questions what skin caner looks like. She showed me the photos of damage skills and explains to me for the 2 minutes, but because I was so pay attention to my next questions, I couldn’t hear her answer. I ask her same questions at the end, and when she said “ I talked about it already”, I realized that I n

eed to listen more carefully, it is also important to pay attention to the people around you and details.

2.     Ask for Feedback: This involves asking confirmation. If there is some information that you don’t understand or confuse, make sure you ask for the confirmation. When I did Ammonia water story, I had a hard time to understand the theory of the water system. After I came back the editing room, I had to call him again for the confirmation. It is better to ask for the confirmation right after the interview.

3.     Friendly, Yet Professional: If the reporter is personabl

e and friendly, there is more opportunity to engage is small talk. Look at the items around his or her office as they may offer a clue as to their interests. Finding a commonality can bring people together and will bring better interview.

4.     Non-verbal Communication: Be aware of the message body language sends. Unnecessary movements such as bouncing legs or playing with hair and clothes will give your sources the impressions of nervous.

5.     Keep up the relations: To survive in Professional Journalism World is to have many sources for your future story. Sources and relationship with your good interviewers might be needed again in the future. 

How to be a good Journalist - STEP 1. Interview Techniques

No train, No gain

One of the most interesting shows that I like to watch is “Pepper & Friends” on KOMU.  It is the longest running local variety and talk show that is hosted by KOMU Paul Pepper and co-hosted by ‘Uncle” James Mouser with the show in its 27^th year as a mid –Missouri staple.

“Pepper & Friends” is based on people. Most of the time, the show is about people, for the people and by the people.  A typical day’s show might have interviews about health, style, relationships, home, food, car, money, cooking, and weather. Basically, “Pepper & Friends” covers everything that happens around us in our daily life.

One thing that I always amazed by the show is when Paul and James ask interviewee’s cooperation and participation. They ask perfect questions without makin

g the interviewee feel uncomfortable and always get the answers they want. Their questions come out very naturally and it flows very well with story.

Last week, I reported about the water issues in Columbia with residents of Columbia having a new chemical added to their water: ammonia. During this new process, ammonia mixes with chlorine to create chloramines and chloramines keeps trihalomethanes out of the water.  Even after 20 times of reading, I did not fully understand what trihalomethanes is and the steps of the new process. When I met my interviewee, I ask several stupid questions and I could not even say the word, trihalomethanes, correctly. I basically did not do my homework. So I had to go back there again for another interview because the answers I got were very basics about the topic and I realized that everyone can get that answer without seeing the news. It was an insult and a timewaster to ask information that I could have gotten in advance by doing my homework.

Here are the interview technique tips that I learn from my experience.

1. Plan Ahead: Plan ahead so that you can have enough knowledge about the topic and use the interviewee’s time wisely. Know as much as possible about the topic before you sit down for the interview. Make sure you have an idea of the key points that you want to address.

2. Be a good listener: Listen to what your interviewee is saying about your questions. Let them talk about their thoughts and feeling, maintain eye contact and showing that you’re interested in what they have to say.

3. Follow the style of a reporter that you admire: Look over a show or news that you particularly admire. As I said at the beginning, I personally admire “Pepper and Friends” because of the thoughtful questions that they ask. Think of the specific and the general questions that the journalists had to ask in order to get that information.

 

Columbia Add Ammonia to the City’s Water

I only had two days to come up with a good newsworthy story idea. I had three story ideas. The first idea was about Skinny Jeans and how it might be dangerous to our health. Experts found out that too tight of pants can lead to ‘tingling tight syndrome’. This story failed because it proved too difficult to find a person (ccc) who had ‘tingling tight syndrome’. It wasn’t doable.

The Second idea was about summer school. Enrollment for a summer educational program in Columbia is highest this year. This story failed as well because of the low new values and lack of the visuals.  Story about the summer educational program was on the news every summer and there was no amazing visual to shoot.

My third idea (which I really did not want to do because the topic itself was hard to understand) was about the Columbia’s water safety. It had very good news values because residents should be informed about the city’s new water process. Covering water issues was okay for me, but the theory and science behind water treatment was hard to understand and the professional words made the reporting harder.

So the first thing I did was read all the materials about the water, ammonia, trihalomethans (THM formation), chlorine, and disinfectant to understand the story better. After that I met three MU graduate students who are majoring in City water at the MU Water Research Center. Ja Xu(China), Ok Jin Choi (Korea) and Millesia Xadosue (India) helped me better understand the topic and taught me how the MU Water Resources Research center handled the issues.

The next day I had an interview with Floyd Turner who is the manager of water operations for the city and Jim Haymen from Water and Light. I basically asked about the safety issues and the risk of drinking water with THMs formation in it. I had a hard time understanding the water operation system in Columbia, so Floyd kindly gave a small lecture about history of water operation system in Columbia and the new process.

Because Columbia drinking water was cited as having a higher level of the THMS, the City spent more than $90,000 on a contract with the MU Water Research Center to identify the cause of the problem. So I tried to meet the MU Professor in charge, Thomas Clevenger but he was too busy. I emailed him twice and went to his office seven times but he was never there.  So I planned to interview two other professors but they were afraid to be on the camera. When I left the building with no interview, I had a big camera and tripod on my both hands.  And this one gentleman started talking to me at the elevator. 

“That thing looks so heavy on you.”

“ It is usually not that heavy but today it is…”

“ Why?”

‘ I came here more than seven times to get a interview from this one professor but he is never in his office!”      

‘Oh... I am sorry. Maybe I can help you”

“Do you know anything about the water issues in Columbia?”

“Yes! That is my research field!”

It was Dr. Clevenger. Earlier he had been to China for his research but he had come back. Unexpectedly, I had a great interview with him and my package was done. 

This story was very challenging and I spent a lot of time to find the right person for the interview but at the end, it all paid off.