Jyl Unruh

During the first week of class, after hearing that we'd write blogs for this class, I was excited about the opportunity to post my ranting and raving for all to see. I immediately started thinking up themes and topics for my blog that would rival my favorite vlogger, William Sledd. (I couldn't post my last blog without mentioning him.)

I was a little bummed to discover that my blog would be about the topic related the course and not whatever was on my mind that week. (What a concept.) But, my blogging experience turned out to be a good one.

This picture of my wonderful roomies has nothing to do with my post, but it's my last blog so I can do what I want.
Photo: Ashlen Angelo

While I was directed in what I could talk about, I enjoyed the opportunity to write again. As much as I enjoy editing and as good of a fit it is for me, I miss writing. I forgot that I missed writing until my mom reminded me of this. I sent her an e-mail after Googling her name and discovering a main character in the book "Like Always" shares her name. I dreamt up all the possibilities of why an author would use her name. Her explanation: I've gone mad and I haven't written as much lately and needed an outlet for my creative energy. Luckily for my mom's own sanity I've had this blog keeping me from sending her too many imaginative stories.

My experience blogging has come in handy. My mom teaches computer classes at a senior citizen center and knowing that I blog, she asked me for advice about the medium because some of her participants were interested in blogging. On a side note: (Which, I'm allowed because it's my last blog) I love how accepting of and excited about all this new technology my mom's 70-year-old students are. It's encouraging to see them willing to adapt. For example, my grandma is in my mom's class and e-mails me. She used to send me letters, and she still does, but she also e-mails me on a more frequent basis.

Anyway, back to the point. This blog has also been useful in keeping in touch with my family. This weekend, my uncle who lives in the Little Rock, Ark., area informed me that after Googling my name, he came across this blog and reads it occasionally. (Hi, Leonard!)

While I have had difficulty coming up with an opinion on some of the issues and enough to say about some others, blogging routinely has been an enjoyable experience. I probably won't be creating my own account on blogger.com after this semester, as I wouldn't make the time to blog without the responsibility of a grade linked to a post, but this has been a good experience. I'll miss you, my blog readers (aka Uncle Rick, Uncle Leonard and Mom).

This shift was really slow for the first two and a half hours. Nothing was ready to post. The previous two day's newscasts needed posted to YouTube, so I spent a whopping 20 minutes doing that. I then spent some time helping a 415er come up with a story idea. At this point, I knew what the stories were going to be about, so I looked up some information on the topics online and found Web sites I could link to. In short, the shift was pretty uneventful.

Convergence, convergence, convergence. This concept has been drilled into my head throughout my entire J-school experience. Consequently, I see converging the University's news sources as the best way to improve tv.ku.edu.

I've briefly mentioned incorporating Kansan.com with tv.ku.edu in a past post, but it's important enough to deserve its own post. Having two news-oriented Web sites in one journalism school seems silly. Merging the two into one site would be the best use of the school's resources.

Kansan.com and tv.ku.edu are a match made in Heaven.
Illustration: Jyl Unruh

The gross repetition of work between the two media outlets became apparent to me a month ago during my web producer shift. A 415er was discussing story ideas and most, if not all, of them came from The University Daily Kansan. This got me wondering: Why not have Kansan and KUJH reporters work together? As Sam noted on his blog, finding a story idea is the hardest part of the story-writing process. TV and newspaper reporters working together would allow reporters to brainstorm on story ideas, making the process easier. Also, fewer ideas would need to be formulated because we'd only need enough content for one Web site.

Converging won't only be easier for reporters, but also better for readers. All stories would have video written elements, similar to what tv.ku.edu is doing now. The big difference would be the reporter who gathered the facts and talked to sources would be responsible for the written story. Often when repurposing scripts, I resort to the Internet to fill in a lot of holes in the story. Posting Kansan style stories will prevent this and ensure primary sources.

With two reporters working on every story, the video and written elements could focus on the same topic but have slightly different angles. Having the exact same information in both elements, as we currently do, discourages readers from looking at both stories.

We could also get The Kansan photographers involved. While the video would be the dominant visual at the top of the story, numerous photos could be dispersed throughout the package. Web producers could get involved through creating web extras such as infographics, graphs or slideshows.

Through converging with The Kansan, we'll optimize journalism students' educations and making them more marketable. At the same time, we'll provide KU students, Douglas county citizens and virtually the entire world via the Internet with better news content.

Friday was a slow news day. First I posted the previous day's stories to YouTube, which I like doing because it gives me something to do. When I was done with this, one story was ready for me to repurpose. Nothing else was ready until around 3 p.m. When this happens, I usually try to create a web extra or two for the story that is finished. Unfortunately, this story didn't easily lend itself to visuals. The story was about a graduate student who earned an aeronautic award. There was some jargon in the story, so I tried to come up with a glossary for a break box. All the sources I could find explaining the word used even more jargon to do so, making my efforts pointless. At this point, the only other story that we would post was still being written. I used the press release to write an introduction and conclusion and told Stephen to add quotes and any new information the reporter found when she was finished.

When I was in fifth grade, I desperately wanted a Giga Pet. Looking back, I have no idea why a egg-shaped heap of plastic that required me to constantly pay attention to the animal on the screen through feeding, playing or giving attention to it caught my fancy. My mom thought ensuring a digitized dog's happiness meter didn't decline was a ridiculous use of time, so I never owned one.

Tv.ku.edu's visitors are Giga Readers until we involve them.

Photo Illustration: Jyl Unruh

When are news consumers going to stop complaining about the decline of their happiness meters and start doing something? When journalists give them the opportunity.

In order to engage tv.ku.edu visitors, we need to enlist them to be part of the story-creating process. We could have a question and answer forum in which students can ask questions about what is going on around campus and town. Other students and tv.ku.edu staff could answer the questions. Reporters could even post questions relating to their stories to find what angle they need to take to meet the readers' interests. This forum could easily become a fruitful source of story ideas. A link to the story could be a reply to the original question in the forum to show viewers that their ideas are being put to use.

College students are all over the picture-taking scene. All the photo albums on Facebook validate this idea. A section where we post students' pictures would engage our readers using a mean they are interested in. Pictures of fans rooting for the Hawks at Memorial Stadium, fall colors on campus or friends enjoying a concert downtown would encourage students to visit tv.ku.edu to see if anyone they know is featured. While readers may come to the Web site see what student pictures are posted, they likely will stay and check out other content.

Tv.ku.edu's readers aren't helpless digitized dogs. We should give them the means to help themselves to the news.

Want to watch a German polar bear play? It's on YouTube. Want to see people sing about milk and cereal? It's on YouTube. Missed last night's KUJH-TV broadcast? Now, it's on YouTube. Apparently, everything is on YouTube; we might as well add KUJH to the repertoire.

YouTube is an easy way for us to get the word out about KUJH-TV.
Screen grab: YouTube

Honestly, the might-as-well mentality is appropriate. We have nothing to lose by posting the broadcasts on YouTube. Acquiring an account is free. Posting is simple and requires little time, which afternoon producers have extra of. Posting to YouTube isn't going to tarnish our reputation. We're a college news station; we're expected to be innovative. We should reach our viewers where they are. And college students are on YouTube. I haven't had access to the stats, but I'm willing to bet that very few people access the videos on our Web site. Consequently, we desperately need to bring attention to the online versions of our broadcasts. Even if few people access KUJH on YouTube, that's exposure to a few people we wouldn't get otherwise.

We don't have anything to lose, but do we have anything to gain by posting to YouTube? When I log onto YouTube, I want to be entertained. I'm not going to watch a serious news program amidst my quest for laughs. Similarly, when I want the latest on campus and Lawrence news, I don't think about going to YouTube. By posting on YouTube, we prove that we're up-to-date with the latest journalistic trends, but who are we proving this to if no one is watching KUJH on YouTube?

Maybe we are reaching people; I was surprised to see our most viewed video on YouTube has 72 views. It's nothing compared to the 3,167,160 views my favorite vlogger got on his most viewed post, but i72 views in three days is not too shabby. How many of these views came from the newsroom?

YouTube may not be the best way of reaching students. Converging with other campus media may be more effective. I'm biased, but The University Daily Kansan is the first medium that comes to mind. I haven't checked the stats on kansan.com traffic, but I'm also willing to bet it doesn't get much traffic either. Pairing up the two mediums on one Web site would allow print and broadcast reporters to collaborate on stories. Reporters from both mediums could share story ideas and create stories with different angles and package them together on one Web site. Web producers could create web extras, such as slideshows, graphs and illustrations to post with the multimedia packages.

So, to YouTube or not to YouTube? Might as well YouTube.

October 16

October 26

The good

Second Life is any 12-year-old boy's dream. He can chat with girls without fear of his voice cracking and stay in his chair for hours. Actually, guys of any age would love this world; it's similar to the video games my 24-year-old brother and his friends play.

Second Life isn't such a dream for journalists, but we can find it useful. Reporters can change their avatars' appearances to fit in with the crowd they are interviewing. This may eliminate social barriers that stand between reporters and sources in real life. A person who feels uneasy chatting with a professional in the real world may be more gutsy online.

Even though people from all over the world log on to Second Life, I tend to end up where no one else is.
Screen grab from SecondLife.com

Also, location isn't a restriction on Second Life. Moving half way across this cyber world is as easy as clicking a button, so reporters can go anywhere to find more information for their stories. Similarly, people from all over the world log on, so reporters can have sources with a variety of perspectives, expertise and backgrounds.

The bad

It's easier to lie to reporters' avatars than to their faces. Consequently, journalists may run into phony sources who claim knowledge and identities they don't really have.

A lot of what happens in this cyber world is of little interest to us while we're in the real world. Consequently, no one is going to take time to read about Second Life in the newspaper, so the interviews with people from all over the world do little good. While on Second Life, people may be interested in what's going on around them, but they won't spend a lot of time reading. They didn't log on to participate in solitary behavior; they logged on to interact with other people.

The ugly

While Second Life is cool to play with, I don't see it replacing a press conference any time soon. Holding conferences in virtual life could help spread news faster by allowing reporters in every nook and cranny of the nation to be part of the event without traveling. This would save publications a fortune, but Second Life lacks a sense of professionalism and resembles a video game too closely. While the concept was neat, I was bored with the limited visuals available during the blogHer conference.

I was wasting time on YouTube and stumbled across MelissaJenna. While she is annoying and doesn't meet my qualifications for an A-list blog, she piqued my curiosity. She posed the questions: Should you separate your religious beliefs from your stances on political policies? How does faith affect your voting? MelissaJenna urged viewers to respond, so here I go.

My relationship with Christ is the center of my liffe and is impossible to seperate from my voting decisions.
Photo: Jyl Unruh

Believing in God isn't something I only do Sunday mornings. It's a part of who I am. My faith motivates every move I take and every decision I make. Obviously, political decisions are included in this.

While many people of faith (and 40% of general voters) determine whom to vote for based on candidates' opinions on abortion, I don't. Fighting for or against women's rights to choose isn't the most important part of following Christ. Loving God and loving people are. I vote for candidates who aim to feed the hungry and clothe the naked like Jesus calls us to do in Matthew 25:31-46. Because God established the government, I have a responsibility to follow my country's rules. Consequently, I want to be sure these rules adhere to my personal beliefs, so I need to vote according to my religion.

Don't take my word for it. Proverbs 29:18 (Today's English Version) reminds me of the importance of the relationship of God and the country. "A nation without God's guidance is a nation without order. Happy are those who keep God's law!"

On the other hand, I'm hesitant to vote on laws and policies that I agree with because of my religious philosophies. I know not everyone shares my love for God and I respect their decisions to be atheists, agnostics or believers of other faiths. Consequently, I put myself in their shoes and envision government rules that would restricted me based on other people's beliefs that I don't adhere to, yet am forced to obey by law. After all, pilgrims escaping religious persecution in England established our country.

In short, my faith does affect my vote. I may not vote with the religious right, but I pray before I vote and cast my ballot for the candidate I feel being led towards.

My shift on Oct. 5 ran much smoother than my shift last week. When I arrived at noon, one story was ready to post. Based on past shifts, I knew it would be at least another hour before the next story would be ready for me. I decided to use this time to get some practice creating and posting web extras. I made a bulleted list breakout box and a graph.

Then I captured the 3 O’clock update. I was unable to post it because the anchor was swimming in the ocean. Apparently at the beginning of the update, someone in the control room put up a picture of sharks swimming in the ocean, which was translucent and in front of the anchor.

Another reason this shift went smooth was I didn’t have to spend time coaching 415ers. None of them showed up for their shifts. This is bad for their grades, but good for my productivity.