Gena Asher | Sept. 5, 2011
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| Photo by Gena Asher |
| Jing Yang tries out the headphones while Jason Gabrick readies the videocamera during the graduate student boot camp in August. This semester, they and others are working as reporters in a practicum. |
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Now, they are working as journalists for Indiana Public Media, the news arm of the local PBS and NPR affiliates, in addition to attending classes.
The four new students in the School of Journalism graduate digital journalism sequence arrived on campus in August to start their one year master’s degree work. Joined by two returning graduate students, they jumped into a 16-day “boot camp” to quickly learn new skills, and took a three-credit course, J510 Media and Society, to understand news foundations and principles.
“The digital news sequence is designed to give students professional experience in the sheltered environment of graduate school,” said Shannon Martin, associate dean for research and graduate studies. “The two summer session courses are a steep ramp, but when they have completed the three-week intense preparation, we are confident they can contribute to good journalism both locally and nationally.”
The students are contributing right now, serving as radio reporters for WFIU and TV reporters for WTIU, in their fall class, J516 Digital Journalism Practicum. In a partnership between the School of Journalism and IU Radio-TV Services, this means they are working for WFIU/WTIU news bureau chief Sara Wittmeyer, who was instrumental in helping them prepared during the boot camp.
“We produce seven radio newscasts and two TV newscasts each day, and we are a converged newsroom with news on the Web, so we don’t have a lot of time for training,” she said. “This summer experience was designed to get the students up to speed, to have them ready to hit the ground running.”
During the intensive session, Wittmeyer, journalism lecturer Bonnie Layton and Wes Akers, a documentary producer from Northern Kentucky University who was working on campus this summer, taught students how to operate the tools of the trade – cameras and audio gear – as well as how to interview people, brainstorm and pitch stories, and edit their material.
The team started each work session with planning meetings, then brief training on equipment. They either went out into the field on newsgathering missions or worked on editing. Along the way, they learned the language of broadcast news (“VO” for voice over, “nat” or natural sound, for example) and the intricacies of setting up a tripod for the high-tech video cameras.
Students also received backpacks with equipment to enable them to report from the field. Not every story will require on-the-spot reporting, but this is part of essential training for today’s digital journalist, Wittmeyer said.
“We are a converged newsroom and we have a Web-first mentality,” she explained. “Everything they do will go online first, ideally before they get back to newsroom, so equipment is important.”
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| Photo by Gena Asher |
| Jason Gabrick said he plans to use his skills as a public affairs officer in the military. During boot camp, he tested the videocamera as the group prepared to shoot an assignment. |
The boot camp students said they were attracted to this one year sequence as a way to round out their skills.
For example, Dalton Main has worked as a reporter for Louisville Public Media, three radio stations serving different audiences.
“I didn’t have experience with the cameras, though, so the one year plan helps me focus on improving my technical abilities,” he said. He said he hopes to be a producer.
Jason Gabrick said he plans to use his new skills as a military public affairs officer, a career for which he already has trained. But the IU master’s degree will give him a leg up as he continues his Air Force career, he said.
For now, though, the students are focusing on experience. In spring, they’ll continue with class work as well as the practicum at Indiana Public Media’s news department.
“We hope they’ll be ready to do advanced reporting, and some already are thinking big, such as kicking around ideas for documentaries,” Wittmeyer said. “We do know we’ll be working on more feature stories and in-depth packages. For now, though, we’re continuing to build on basics.”
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