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New Media Journalism Final Project

The New Media Journalism Final Project course was a combination of my final Capstone and my final thesis paper. This course challenged me in every way possible, and was the culmination of the past year working towards’ my Master’s degree. I felt stressed out all month due to the fact that we have RIMPAC going on for my job as a naval photojournalist, so I was incredibly busy on all fronts, but I managed to get everything turned in on time.

I didn’t’ expect the acknowledgement portion of the thesis to be so hard. As soon as I started to think about it, there were so many people who have helped me through the last year and I didn’t want to exclude everyone. My instructors were such a monumental help in making me a better journalist and all of my friends were understanding and supportive of my endeavors. I ended up keeping the thank you’s to a broad minimum because of the requirements on number of characters, but I could have written a lot more. 

Each week we wrote a portion of our final thesis, this allowed us to really concentrate on that section. I think that this was very valuable in allowing us the time to reflect on our submissions. By incorporating them as discussion posts, we were able to receive the input of our peers as well, giving us the opportunity to also learn from their input and craft our thesis to a polished final product. 

This last final week was the most challenging for me because of work obligations and the stress of putting together all of the edits to my thesis based on feedback. I feel relieved and excited as I move forward in my career as a new media journalist. I think that the instruction and the hands-on training I’ve received has set me up for success as I move forward using the training through this program.

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New Media Publishing and Distribution

I expected this to be the hardest month yet, with our project being due and the stress and excitement of getting everything together and sent in. I hoped to learn the entire release process, from finding interested publications to promoting on social media networks and through email. This course expected me to explore the concepts of interactive publishing and management. I learned how to evaluate the production process through audience demands and business opportunities through our readings this month and I also learned about the web as the primary platform of a news source. This course expected me to be able to use marketing techniques and strategies in order to reach a targeted audience as defined by my beat and my article. Finally, the course helped me learn the methods of making money from my site and also as a freelance writer. I found the actual research and distribution of the article release to be the most helpful in preparing me for a job as a journalist.  In the real world, I’m going to need to know how to find my audience on the websites they frequent and also pitch to publications as a freelancer. I think that through the whole process, I learned how to conduct extensive research on a particular subject, the methods one can use to learn as much as possible about their topic and the importance of interviews to enhance a story. I especially think that learning how to craft a good interview was imperative to the success of a news story. I also found the topic of making money from my site especially helpful. I think that journalism can be a hard field to break into and gaining traction can be slow so having that supplemental income and learning how to leverage your site’s assets is important.

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Public Relations and Reputation Management

Of the classes I have had thus far in my New Media Journalism journey, I feel that Public Relations and Reputation Management has been the most dynamic and engaging. I would definitely say that this was due to the assignments, which required us to use our training we’ve learned throughout the New Media Journalism course to come up with different products for criteria that we haven’t had to work with before. An example of this is creating a public service announcement and meeting the special requirements to make it worthwhile. I think that through this unique process, you realize that the information and the message becomes the core of your story. As a journalist, you find that the main thing that readers want to learn from reading your traditional news story can also be what public relations professionals want to educate the public about. An alignment of goals makes working with a public relations specialist more appealing as a writer. I found my favorite assignment to be the unique uses of an everyday product. I think that this helps any writer look at something from a different standpoint and can provide them with a creative edge over their counterparts who are writing about the same product. I also found the outreach project to be helpful as a new media journalist. By reaching out to a professional in the field, I gained a new mentor and a relationship that will help my journey towards working in the health and wellness journalism field. I also gleamed some ideas on how to build connections and a base of following. One of the best public relations familiarity assignments we did was an open letter to a public relations specialist on a hypothetical scenario on how to interact with me if you want me to publish your story. I think that this framing helped the class observe how the two professionals can work together and what public relation specialists can do for your story and what you can do for their brand. I enjoyed the class and look forward to using these tactics in my future outreach and public engagement endeavors. 

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Social Media and Online Community Engagement

I had expected to learn how to use social media as a tool to release articles. I learned that social media can be good for getting your articles out there, but it can also be used for much more, such as a source for information and possible leads, as described in one of our lectures, social media and its use as a journalistic tool. The courses that I have taken towards my New Media Journalism Master’s Degree have all had underlying social media aspects and throughout this month I’ve learned that social media can have a huge impact on how you market yourself and your stories. I think that people gravitate towards your online presence and gauge your influence in order to determine the worth of your words. I like that most of the videos we have watched were available on YouTube to watch at our leisure, having the free time to go to class when I can this month was incredibly helpful because we had just gotten back from deployment. I think that learning about how to use LinkedIn and the importance of social-based platforms will be hugely instrumental in finding sources and leads for upcoming assignments. I also think that the recap videos on promoting yourself, conducting research and using media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for journalism were helpful. I feel that the most helpful assignment I did this week was the third week publication where we had to look for hashtags and trending topics on our assignment. I think that visually seeing the impact and observing the discussions and then finally contributing to the conversation made me see how important it is to get your voice heard and I could get immediate feedback and have that interaction to gauge my story and how it is received. I will use the skills learned in this class to further promote myself and also to research my topics and have conversations with my readers and potential interviewees.

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Multimedia Reporting

Multimedia Reporting gave me a chance to incorporate many of the lessons I’ve learned thus far in New Media Journalism. Each week we were given an assignment to complete utilizing at least three multimedia elements.

Originally, I expected this class to delve more into the different aspects of what multimedia products are, but instead I feel this was more of a hands-on application of how multimedia assignments relate to each other and the end result as a more thorough and intriguing story. 

I learned about poor interviewing techniques and the bad results that come from it. I learned the importance of not holding onto bias when you interview someone and to listen to your interviewee. Because this course required a higher level of journalistic ability, it tested my skills and made me search for material to meet he guidelines. It helped me learn to approach someone and set up an interview and how to interview to create a good product.

Personally, I feel I became more confident and I also think I was faster at knowing what to put together and how they would all fit together. I felt more competent in my skills overall and this helped me react to each assignment with more determination and I noticed my subjects reacted better as a result, they were more laid back and treated me like a professional.

Professionally, I can absolutely use any of the products I made this month to showcase my abilities and will consider using them in a portfolio. I also think that the last assignment helped me professionally by learning how to job search and how to outreach to your future potential employers and also how to conduct research on publications that match your beat well and how to analyze your work to fit into their needs.  

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Digital News Production

I expected Digital News Production to prepare me for the online news environment by teaching me the theories, techniques, and skills used in online news-rooms and for news-related website. I was hoping to learn interview techniques, how to properly use my video camera to record proper video and how to distribute my content across the most helpful platforms available.

According to our syllabus from day one, as students we were expected to develop story ideas geared toward visual storytelling. This involved gathering natural sound and how this plays an integral role in video. We were also expected to develop narrated story productions, learn how to shoot news footage, analyze and critique elements of effective videography, and integrate narration and interviews to tell compelling visual stories. We were also asked to create graphics and computer animation to supplement our journalism stories. We learned how to use still frames to create location-based information into video content and informative graphics for effective story-telling. Finally, we learned the best channels and platforms for distributing digital journalistic content.

I definitely feel that the narrative stories were more helpful to me as a journalist then the natural sound or pure interviewing stories because I don’t’ know a lot about narration and to create a good project was a challenge for me. Because it was challenging, I learned the most form it as one of my mistakes that I would try not to make in the future.

I feel that with today’s hyperactive video community, people expect their news to get there right away and in an engaging, interesting way. Video has the power to captivate viewers and show them so much more than what the printed word can. I see the future of news online as video and multimedia related content delivery and now that I’ve learned how to create video and use graphics, I stand a better chance at being set apart from my competitors who are only utilizing one source.

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Multimedia Development and Editing

My expectations of the course was that I would learn more about the multimedia landscape and how to report in a more creative and innovative way. I expected that I would be learning proper file management and also how different resources contribute to supplementing a story. The course’s expectations of me were included in our syllabus.

According to the syllabus overview, our objectives for this class were to utilize photography, photo management, video production, audio production, web skills, and advanced postproduction techniques in order to tell a story. We learned how to upload this content to our website and learned about a variety of other platforms, such as vimeo and youtube, to utilize in order to tell a story.

I feel that our final multimedia product, where we matched audio to photos for a moving photostory, was the most helpful in creating a news story with visual elements. I think that if I were to do this again, I would definitely use video and audio with pictures in order to showcase more sides of the story and engage the audience with more sensory aspects.

I feel that this course was the most hands-on example of what to expect as a journalist. I read a great article this week on how new media journalism is shaping the landscape of traditional news. It basically outlines how the internet has changed the game for how people consume news and how they expect news to be delivered. There is now an ‘entertainment value’ that people look for, and that value is what we have learned in this course. I think that by adding multimedia elements, you engage your reader and help tell the story better. You are still telling the story factually and using the right style guide, but you are telling it in a different, more relatable way.

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Research and Investigation Skills Development Review

Research and Investigation Skills Development has been a month of learning real-world journalism. One of my Defense Information School (http://www.dinfos.dma.mil/Home.aspx) instructors, Don White, once said, “It’s the interview that makes the story. No matter what you write, the person who you interview is the one who solidifies it all.”

I feel that this course provided many of the interviewing basics and especially the importance of being transparent with your sources and the information you provide. At the end of the day, what matters is your reputation as a journalist. In order to uphold your reputation, you have to remember the repercussions of misleading readers and that includes interviewing the right people as well as making sure their information is clear and accurate.

I think that our third week assignment was the most helpful, contacting subject matter experts and asking for an interview. I feel this is important because that is essentially something we will have to do when working for a publication after graduation. Furthermore, when we are working for a publication, we will have to be proactive and take the initiative to choose who we want to interview, then contact our interviewee and finally, follow through with the interview.

I felt that the discussion portion of the class was also especially helpful, as we had to provide hyperlinks to our fellow peer’s initial posts and that required more participation. I also enjoyed sharing what resources I had found that could be of use to the beat of my website. One other thing that I found helpful was turning in three additional story ideas when we handed in our final paper for submission. By sparking the idea of having next steps and additional stories, we had to think like a journalist by always looking for the next story or idea and expanding our creativity. In the little time I’ve spent in the journalism world, the news is 24/7 and you have to stay continuously engaged with your audience and have a steady delivery of information and output. The fast pace of this class and the extensive work helped to channel that drive and provide a  glimpse of what we might expect from outside assignments.

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Legal Aspects of Media Review

My favorite assignment in the course this month was the keynote presentation of the defamatory cases. I think that learning how to create a video presentation can be beneficial down the road and I also gained very valuable insight on my own writing and the importance of using factual information and credible sources.

I think that all of the assignments will help me navigate the legal aspects of media and writing, although a common theme was that words are powerful. What you write is a representation of yourself. You have to guard your reputation as a credible and factual writer by reporting truthfully and with consideration for your audience and for telling the truth and using supplementary additions, such as photos and video, with care because of copyright infringement.

Learning how to search for cases that address any potential concerns I may have about what I’m involved with in the communications industry will help me down the road. If I am ever in a situation where I may be concerned, such as writing an advertisement that holds false or misleading information, I found policies and laws that I can provide to my employer to defend my decision. I also learned valuable information about how to apply for copyright information if I ever feel the need to protect my work. One last important exercise was learning how to obtain information under the Freedom of Information Act. If I may need to acquire more sources or material, I have this option.

I felt that the course was slightly intimidating at first because of the amount of work that was required, but by pushing myself I learned how to read the cases and find what I needed to complete the assignments. I had hoped to learn how to find backing if I ever found myself in a legal bind and I am pleased that this course taught me where to look and how to find it. Overall, very satisfied with Legal Aspects of Media.

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In writing for interactive media, I expected to learn about how to engage with audiences, tell compelling stories and get comfortable with writing in the journalistic style (AP style guide) of writing. I wasn’t disappointed, there were assignments at the end of each week that required careful planning and compelling writing. This got me in the habit of writing on my website at least one a week and learning the process for continuity. I learned that audiences prefer to go to a blog or website if it has been updated and kept current.

Through the course I also learned the importance of deadlines and effective efficient writing and interviews. For one of our assignments, we had to cover an event. My event was on a Saturday so I ended up doing most of my writing on Sunday and still managed to get everything turned in on time and accordingly, complete with photo story. I think that this was a great taste of working in a time constraint and I was proud of how I performed.

I learned some engagement practices, mostly that visuals help immensely with text and that people respond well to video and photo layouts. Through Lynda.com courses I have learned how to tell a story through video and also through photography. I utilized this resource often, using the tutorials to learn about writing for a web audience, about small business practices, and a number of other external video courses that were not recommended by the class but I wanted to pursue on my own.

The course met my expectations, although I expected there to be more interactive aspects of the class, such as creating a broadcast or more assignments directly related to web design, especially considering that most of our platform for delivery will be online and have an audience base that will be looking at our sources online.

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New Media Journalism - Month 1

This month I learned how to utilize social media to publicize and promote myself as a brand and as a freelance photojournalist. This is important in my career goals because in order to source and also connect with my audience, I first need to know how to reach them, what topics they are interested in hearing, and how to fully engage with them. The most challenging part of this course was figuring out a name a promotion for myself. In terms of absolutely narrowing down what I want to brand myself as, I ran into the complication of naming my brand or just using my name. Because there are many Amber Porters out there, I decided to stick to my initial idea fo using my middle name in the mix in order to create a more unique brand name, hoping that it would help me stand out from competitors and help when people google me. I also ran into the issue of deciding what to specialize in. I wanted to initially use something like a travel blog, but that method would mean that I would have trouble finding hard news sources and not writing from opinion. Lynda.com videos and our archived class discussions helped me in my journey, providing a source of expertise and guidance. I really wanted more of a straightforward approach on what I should niche write for, but I learned that this should be an approach I needed to figure out on my own. I think the most helpful aspect of this month was the newsworthy topic because sometimes its hard to distinguish what is newsworthy and what is just interesting. I also found the tutorial on writing even if you have writer’s block a huge help in getting started when I didn’t’ know what to write or how to say it.

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This is a link to my awesome presentation for my academic timeline. Enjoy!

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A few days ago, I e-mailed the following to Mr. Tewfic El-Sawy, the man behind the popular site http://thetravelphotographer.blogspot.com/

____________________________________________________________ 

 Good Evening Mr. El-Sawy,

My name is Amber Porter and I am currently a Photojournalist in the United States Navy. I am a huge admirer of your work. I know you must be a very busy man, but I was wondering if you could share any insight as to what the hardest obstacle you’ve had breaking into the photojournalism industry. My contract expires in March 2018 and I am vey curious to see if I could make it in the civilian sector doing what I do now.

Very Respectfully,

MC3 Amber Porter

https://www.linkedin.com/in/porteramber

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Here is his reply, with some great insight about photography and journalism:

Ms Porter,

Thank you for your email. I'm not really a photojournalist per se, but rather a documentary travel photographer influenced by photojournalism to a degree. i guess the hardest is to penetrate the photojournalism sphere because of competition, industry changes, and inability/unwillingness of  newspapers and magazines to pay reasonable rates for submissions.

the standard advice I give to the younger photographers who ask me the same question is:

a total reliance on being just a photojournalist will be tough, so another in-parallel salary-based occupation is almost mandatory. to photographers who only have photography skills, I suggest wedding photography, baby photography, portraits etc...niches that can provide some inflow of money.

Develop a niche in which you can stand out...that you love. I think that's the principal key to success.

Wide networking (in my view) is a little overrated in the current market conditions...since competition is really cut throat, and few photographers will share leads...but a more narrow network with people you like and trust is great....for leads and support.

Your case is rather different since you are already a pj in the USN. this might give you the opportunity to enter in a freelance situation with the USN and/or some of its branches. you could also specialize in an area that resembles the USN...i just am not familiar with the military and its various ancillary activities to advice intelligently...but i think you understand what i'm trying to lead you to.

all the best to you,

Tewfic

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It helped me immensely and I hope this may be of some value to you as well :)

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Want some cool stuff to read? Check it out here...

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This is my LinkedIn account, feel free to add me!

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My logo! I wanted to combine earthy elements with a camera, what do you think? 

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This is my feedly.com account, I have a lot of priorities on photography and travel. I feel inspired when learning photography tricks to enhance my own photography.