I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in print journalism in May, 2009, which if you remember was one of the low points for newspapers in our nation’s history. Newspapers were closing their doors permanently or cutting their staffs to make ends meet.

With the current climate in mind, I decided to go back to school and pursue my master’s degree with the rationale that when I graduate, hopefully the job market will pick up and my graduate degree will look good on my application.

My only reservation was a thesis. I had no earthly idea what to right about and even less inclination to write one. But my professors convinced me that a thesis would be the easier way to go (as opposed to a project and comprehensive exams) and after much thought and rejections of my ideas and more thought and more rejections, I came up with a topic. My topic would be a content analysis of how newspapers from around the country covered the BP oil spill.

Easy right?

In my first research class, my professor tried to entice us to perform a content analysis for our theses instead of experiments and surveys because of the additional steps in receiving permission from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for any research involving people. I took his advice and decided to perform a content analysis.
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Not many people understand what working in a bureau entails or what a bureau is. Having worked in three now (all of my broadcast jobs), I am a self-nominated Bureau Queen.

Bureaus are little satellite offices (if you can call them that) of main TV news studios. I wound up in bureaus because I will do anything to work in the industry. So, yes, it was a choice when the job offers were made, but not really a choice.

It was either take it or don’t work at all. Some of the places I have worked have been home to bugs, mice, etc. I would even venture to say, I would not stick a dog in some of them, let alone a human being.

My first job working at MTV entailed me covering the State of Illinois as a backpack journalist. All of my producers were located in NYC, more than 5 states away. So, I never had an office to go into. I either worked from my kitchen or found a coffee shop to set up my editing gear. When I could not find a coffee shop, my car was my office. It was not the traditional bureau setting, but you still had to be a mini-MacGyver because if your equipment broke, it was your job to fix it.

For my second job, I headed south to WCTV and worked their Valdosta, Georgia, bureau. I originally applied for a reporting position at the main station and the ND told me they promoted out of the bureau and that was the only spot he had open. So, I took it. The bureau, located 80 miles east of the main station, came equipped with one camera and the ability to go live from inside. My bureau mate and I had to share one camera and one car.
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This is not a blog about Tim Tebow. But if you came across this article by way of a Google search, then your thanks can be sent to Jen Floyd Engel.

Engel, a writer for FOXSports.com, wrote a roundup piece on the BCS Championship Game which posted on the Web Jan. 10.

As a sports fan, my opinion about this game was that it was an abysmal one – two consistently top-ranked NCAA football teams playing fairly sloppy for much of the game, particular the previously undefeated LSU. College football seasons often feel longer than their typical five months, but the bowl games typically make it worthwhile. And that held true this season – except for the big one.

In her review of the championship game, Engel opens with subtle criticism of the BCS ranking methodology, and then proceeds to discuss the strong game play of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron.

In her sixth paragraph, she writes this:

“(McCarron) went all Tim Tebow on this championship game. He did what nobody expected and few thought him capable of, and was the key element in yet another Crimson Tide national championship.”

I found the reference odd. First of all, in what way was McCarron performing like Tim Tebow? Was it based on the fact that he had a good game, shutting out the undefeated Tigers to win Alabama yet another BCS championship? Other quarterbacks have performed successfully with greater, equal, or lesser skill. Why him?
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by: Andrew Seaman

As any good journalist would, I turn to Google when I need a quick answer. So it’s no surprise that I asked the search engine the most controversial question in the history of journalism: Should I go to J-School?

From my experience, most young journalists ask a professor, editor or friend about getting a journalism master’s degree.

I asked everyone if they thought I should go to J-School — teachers, friends, editors and even the weird guy at the bus stop. Some told me yes. Some told me no. Others told me to wait.

Google left me even more confused. Some posts were very encouraging about a student’s prospects after graduate school, and others said to run as far away from J-School as possible.

Ultimately, I realized the decision was mine and mine alone. No two people have the same experience in graduate school, and I decided the only way to make the decision was to have a conversation with myself.
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Well folks, centuries of journalism has taken us to 2012, and according to the Mayans, we’ve got about 11 months left. You would think given the long existence of our profession, we’d get everything right by this point. We aren’t close. So, we could throw in the towel for the last year, crawl into a bottle, and let the AP do everything for us. But, I don’t like hangovers, I always have to rewrite what the AP says anyway for TV, and being at my first job, I can only afford one towel.

Since no one likes a smelly journalist, here are some things we can work on together to make our field shine like Mayan gold for at least a few months.

Allow stories the length it deserves

TV people, I’m looking at you. An unfortunate consequence of packing in as many stories as possible in a newscast is words and sentences get trimmed. Key contextual facts get left out. SPJ Generation J blogger Jacqueline Ingles mentioned this in her last post, and talked about the importance of telling the whole story.

Journalists and consultants like to claim the nation’s attention span is getting shorter. It’s not shorter, there are just more distractions, Our reports are just not interesting enough to keep people around. Let’s provide the whole story and make it meaningful.
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A week ago I was given the privilege to cover my first concert featuring one of my absolute favorite So Cal bands. Not only was I excited about the assignment, but also a ball full of nerves. Sure, being a California native living steps away from the glitz and glamour of the entertainment world; this would be a piece of cake right? Well I soon found out, its much more than just a few pictures and a few

paragraphs about the band.

Like many journalists seeking a career in entertainment journalism, you really don’t know what you are getting yourself into when it comes to covering concerts. This is why I wanted to provide you all some tips and a few tricks I help when covering your first big show.

Do Your Research! That’s right, the first mistake you can do is show up to the venue and have no idea what songs are being played in the set, let alone what bands are playing. Sure, you are there primarily to cover the headliners, but give some tender love to the little guys! Hey you never know, you might be the first to stumble upon the next big thing. Also, listen to the music and identify what style (pop, rock, alternative, etc.) and their major influences. If you are confirmed an interview, read up on past interviews with the band to aid you on developing new questions. Trust me, these musicians have been asked about their influences many times, asking something new would make your article stand out.
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As I watched NBC’s TODAY Show this morning on the elliptical (while switching between channel 2 and 7 as well) I realized that broadcast journalism still relies heavily on hidden camera investigations.

And then I thought, is that right?

In a world where we, the “trained professionals,” are fighting to distinguish ourselves from the bloggers, do we have any right to go about using hidden cameras, concealed recording devices and other “007-like” techniques?

I don’t think we do, and I’m going to tell you why (and please, feel free to disagree in the comments, I love a good discussion).

Everyone is capable of performing a hidden camera investigation these days. For all you know, you could be photographed at any moment. Cell phones and other handheld devices have made it incredibly easy to point, shoot and record any and all interactions with others. And there’s nothing to stop these “photographers” from posting to their various social networks. What does that mean for journalists? We’re supposed to be different. We’re supposed to take photos as a means of recording historical (or soon-to-be) events. We’re not supposed to do it for the thrill; we’re supposed to have an ethical judgment that helps us know when to shoot and when to stop.
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