Stephen Peteritas

Brad and I have been through journalism and life together. Hell, I even took a semester off and he took a summer class just so we could be on the same class schedule from 301 on, so it's only right that we write this post together.

College: We never used to get why they called it higher education. Of course we learned how to frame an interview and what a cut away is but like all lessons the most important are learned outside the classroom.

We just never thought that the lesson that was the defining experience of our college careers would happen in a Jimmy John’s waiting for a sober ride home from the sandwich delivery guy: sitting with heads in hands trying to comprehend the ridiculousness of the original KUJH-TV night out we heard what is and probably continue to be the greatest speech of our lives from the infamous Samuel C Knowlton.

“Once during my journeys I came across a Buddhist monk from Tibet. He granted me that I could ask him one question. I asked the question that anyone would ask: what is the most important thing in life? The monk nodded his head and took a few seconds before he responded. He calmly cleared his throat and answered the people you meet in life. To this point in my life I have found that this advice is the most truthful statement I have ever heard.”

Like we’ve always said about just any assignment in journalism if Knowlton says or does it, it’s probably right. Honestly though, the people we’ve met along the way have made the difference in our college careers.

What would a day in the newsroom be without Wiebs having to walk down to the editing bays a million times to help us with Final Cut? How would we ever pass the time in class if Knowlton didn’t randomly break into monologues and ridiculously complicated questions? These are all questions we don’t know the answer to and are glad we never had to ponder.

We know there isn’t a way to thank all of you but you made our time in the newsroom unforgettable. We both wanted to do something special to show our appreciation but in true Brad and Stephen fashion we waited until last minute and ended up half-assing it. Here’s a short slide show instead.

There are a million ways to drive hits to a website. Sadly most of them are of the cheap and dirty classification and trick the viewer into coming to the site. We could tag Tuesday's newscast as "Two sexy studs read the news" when we post it to YouTube but a large percentage of viewers would be greatly disappointed when they saw Sam and I.

We could post an abundance of bloopers that happen in the newsroom. It's no secret that we screw up but at the same time letting the world know by posting bloopers could ruin creditability.

I would describe myself as a person who will try to get away with whatever I can. I used to grab, elbow, pull in basketball, whatever I could do to win I would. Maybe I've changed but I would rather put a news worthy product out that I could show a perspective employer instead of a cheap trick to get viewers.

Out of all the projects I've done in journalism the one that I'm most proud of and had the most fun doing was the in-depth. I know news works on a tight schedule and in-depths aren't the most efficient way to run the station but I think that in-depths can drive traffic.

A KUJH-TV reality show would get several hits but I don't think Brad would want the world to know about his sexual escapades.

It is a huge stretch but a class that just did in-depths would be perfect and I'd sign up in an instant. KUJH could do a monthly or weekly even that just featured pieces with substance. This would be a huge gamble but it allows us two opportunities. One: We can really show people what we can do as far as getting good news and reporting it well and putting together a product that is very well done. Two: It allows us to do feature pieces and touch on topics that might not be traditional news, bringing in specific audiences.

Like I said it is rolling the dice but that's an option we have as a educational outlet. There are sure fire ways to drive hits but KUJH-TV the reality show isn't something I'll be signing up for anytime soon.

Call me John Kerry because I’m about to flip-flop. First blog of my young blogging career I ripped YouTube for it’s citizen journalism and user generated content and now I’m pondering how our website can use that same content. I would issue a public apology but only a handful of people actually read this so we’ll move on to what’s important: getting user content.

Step one: cut a hole in a box… wait sorry wrong process. Step one is actually getting users. I don’t know the exact number of viewers the station and website have but as the song in KUJH TV the musical goes “our tens of viewers will be pissed”. There is no way to sugar coat it: WE NEED MORE USERS!

By default if you have enough users then you will get user feedback and content, as long as outlets are available for content and feedback.

I never thought I’d say this but I agree with Krista we need to make users aware that we are looking for them to take an active role. I don’t know the best way to do this but saying something in the newscast and a pop-up on the website would be a start.

If our website was a fun as making a volcano then people might take more interest.

Making a more interactive website that allows users a hands on experience is the best way to drive user content. Remember how you hated science when you were a kid, until you did some experiment your teacher ripped off of Bill Nye. All the sudden science became fun because you were performing it instead of learning it.

This is what we have to do with the website. People are becoming less interested in traditional news because they don’t have any part in it. If the website can be place where users can experiment with news, upload video, comment, make story ideas; then they might become more interested in news itself.

Is going on to Youtube a good call? Well it was Knowlton’s idea so of course it is. Getting a free opportunity for more exposure is a news stations dream. After a week of being on Youtube we have more than 300 hits on all our respective stories, but after seeing the subject matter of the stories receiving over 50 percent hits I had a revelation: I am an extremely valuable commodity of KUJH-TV.

It’s not because of my amazing anchoring abilities or my vast technological online knowledge. It’s my second job: pharmacy technician. My whole life I have been around the medical industry, with a mom in pharmacy and a father working for the drug companies, I know way too much about what people don’t know anything about.

On Youtube the two stories with the most hits are both medical health stories. Rick even said himself that the most hits we get on ehub are stories about adderall or other prescription drug stories.

I had it in the back of my mind that when I graduated I could combine my history degree with my journalism degree into a dream job of interviewing for the history channel. It never occurred to me that using my medical knowledge with my journalism expertise could make KUJH the new AARP.

In all seriousness people don’t know what they should about their medications and insurances.

Together journalism and medical knowledge could actually bring a real viewership to KUJH TV

While sitting around musing about my awesomeness I had another revelation: Youtube is already doing its job.

I never would have realized without Youtube that something I know a lot about and can get good sources and interviews for is what our viewers want. The next step is adaptation, we need to take the information that our viewers are giving and use it to make a newscast that they want to see.

There are a million and a half reasons why I don't like Second Life or any video game for that matter. They contribute to inactivity. They waste people's time. I could go on and on but the main reason is it just plain creeps me out.

It's not the random people who come up behind you and grope your avatar. It's not the half human half animal characters. But it is the fact that they could kill me.

When I told a friend about our assignment to experiment with Second Life he sent me a link that really got me thinking. A recent New York Times article addresses the possibility that our lives could be a simulation or virtual reality like Second Life and that these programs could become self aware. Basically your life could be someone else's Second Life.

I might have just brushed this article off but within in one hour of creating a character in Second Life his own appearance changed without me prompting it.

You have inevitably seen a movie that deals with this genre "science fiction". But according to some computer experts a computer capable of "creating virtual worlds inhabited by virtual people with fully developed virtual nervous systems" will be available in the next 100 years. Looking at technological advances in the last ten years makes me think that estimate might not be too far off.

There's a 20 percent chance the picture on the right is actually the real you

It's unsettling to think that nothing is real and that I have no control over my own life.
Nick Bostrum, a professor at Oxford University says that there's at least a 20 percent chance that our world is not real but rather that we are virtual puppets.

It gets worse too. What happens when a "character" becomes aware that it is a simulation? According to Bostrum's logic the simulated world would seize to exist. Why? Bostrum follows the chain of thought that if our world is simulated and we continue to make other simulated worlds such as Second Life eventually there would be a lack of processing power to fuel our virtual reality.

It may be a wacky theory but I'd rather not test it. This is why I'll never turn on Second Life again.

Oh beautiful for spacious skies... we have all heard the song about the landscape of our home land. But I wonder what would a song about the American people be made up of. If it was up to the rest of the world it wouldn't be very flattering.

The world hates you. It may be hard to swallow but there is arguably no bigger truth in today's world. You are American and hence the world's blood boils a fiery hateful red for you.

You are probably saying no not me I'm a good person but it doesn't matter what you think it still remains: the world hates you.

The term ugly American has become common speak. Other nationalities have derogatory words to describe them; rude French and drunk Irish; but none like ugly.

Ugly isn't something you fix, if you're rude you can become polite if you are drunk you can sober up.

I have traveled all over the world and I see it. I remember hanging my head in shame on the Pairs metro in 2006 when I lived there. My American roommates would constantly draw looks and stares for their loud unruly behavior. I just wanted to stand up and say "je suis désolé de mes amis" (I am sorry about my friends).

Even I was the typical ugly American at the 2006 Olympics. It's things like this though that make Americans easy to hate.

Americans get pissed when the guy at McDonald's can't speak English, but we do the same thing when we are abroad. My dad has managed a plant in France for 2 years and I have always told him that speaking a few phrases in the native language would make things smoother. It took him two years to ask me how to say something in French but once he did he got a better response from his employees.

There is a lack of respect. I don't know where and when it came about but there is no denying it's there. It can be seen all they way from the top to the bottom. American foreign policy and cultural imperialism mirror the actions of the average American tourist.

I love being American but it keeps getting harder to look in the mirror. Every successful relationship is based on mutual respect. America isn't giving any respect and isn't receiving any as well.

Sadly I have no hope for the situation. America is ugly and it's going to take one hell of a face lift to fix it.

Tuesday September 25, 2007: Question! Today Rick asked me what it takes to be an A-list blogger? Obviously he hasn't read my blog. Who wouldn't love it. It's edgy, funny, in your face and plus I have picked the coolest template ehub has to offer.

Saturday, September 29, 2007: Reality check! After scanning the top 100 blogs on Techorati I am not on it. I sulk in a glass of wine and visit my blog every two minutes, a half hearted attempt to get more hits and rise up the blogging world charts.

Sunday, September 30, 2007: Back to square one! What makes an A-list blog? After getting over myself I went back to work on finding the answer.

A simple run through of the top 20 blogs eliminated several things that I thought would be a necessities for a top blog.

-These people aren't celebrities at least not in the traditional sense.

-The blogs designs aren't anything fancy and in some cases they're are down right terrible. You have to click through more than three pages in some cases to read the whole entry.

-They aren't funny. I'm not the biggest academic so maybe some jokes are flying over my head but I didn't laugh once.

Monday, October 1, 2007: Epiphany! My blog isn't on the top 100 because I'm not doing it for an audience but rather myself. I was reminded of one of my favorite lyrics of all time "City talk, Nelly listens. Nelly talk, City listens". While in ebonics, the lyrics are pure genius; the quickest way to get someone to listen to you is to listen to them.

Post epiphany I started noticing that the top blogs consistanly focus on things that a large group of people care about. Is it any coincidence that four out of the top ten blogs focus on the technology that most of us have to use to get through our normal day? I don't think so.

You make look stupid but keeping an ear to whats on peoples' minds will help your blog.

These top blogs are also incrediblty interactive. The 2007 winner of blog of the year, PostSecret is completely based off user generated content. People e-mail their art to the site to get it posted and commented on. There is also a "Digg it" function on all these blogs and there are consistant numbers of people commenting on posts and "digging the posts".

I might not have laughed but I did learn when I read the top blogs. On the number one blog Engadget I found three new gadgets I want for Christmas.

I don't want bloggers to sell their soul just for a large audience but it might be a good idea to listen to users so that they'll listen to you.

I don't vote. I'll let you gasp and then I'll say it again. I don't vote. This might make some people hot in their seat but I'll even go as far as to say the words American and Democracy can't fit together today with out cheapening the words true meanings.

I might be sounding like a non-patriot, however I will go fight for my country, pay my taxes and say I'm damn proud to be an American. So why don't I vote? Because the value of my vote has dropped with political media inflation.

Politics isn't what it used to be. Candidates are using online forums, vlogs, blogs and a barrage of media coverage to try and reach voters yet U.S voter turnout is still down.

Politicians just don't reach people the way they used to. What happened to the fireside chat or the charismatic speech? I've never seen a State of the Union address and according to Nielsen ratings I'm not anywhere close to being in a catgory by myself. Today's politicians just aren't the media geniuses that their predecessors were, rather they have stooped to the same level of Hollywood media. The only thing is they aren't as good as Hollywood.

Politicians are trying to go Hollywood but as you can tell they aren't a mirror image yet.

President Bush has changed the scope of the world in the last 7 years, for good or bad I'll let you decide but the world has changed. I was in Rome this summer and so was President Bush yet people seemed more preoccupied with the fact that Brad Pitt was there as well. Simply put politicians are B list popstars.

Politics have become a popularity contest and politicians have bought into it big time. I feel like I'm watching a high school student counsel election. Since when did a candidate's "coolness" dictate their ability to run a country. Vlogs like "Obama Girl" seem to be the equivalent of having the cheerleading squad passing out buttons that say vote for ME.

People vote for candidates because of good looks, gender and race. Policy has taken a backseat. Don't vote for Hillary guys you then the White House would have coodies all over it.

If politics and policy aren't riding shotgun why should I feel obligated to even be along for the ride?

My vote has been cheapened by facebook groups, political booty shorts, and vanity that Hollywood can't even compete with. I'll admit it's sad but me, I'd rather care about the A list stars whose stunts are meant to make me care about their next movie not the laws I'm governed by. So when the Govenator can run for the Oval Office maybe then I'll vote.

I'm pretty sure on this news shift I was all alone. No James or Justin. I wasn't freaked though because besides my terrible grammer this whole web thing comes pretty easy to me.

I did my three stories relatively quickly mostly because Jyl is a good partner. I'm still trying to come up with a cool tag team name for us but I keep drawing blanks. Anyways I got in there ate one of Sam's brownies and went right to work.

All I had to do was put in quotes and capture video, so needless to say it was a breeze. I read over Jyl's work but lets be honest I'm not going to find any gammatically errors.

After the past weeks feeling laborsome I was happy to get out of the newsroom early but I still kind of feel slighted because everyone else seems to be having more fun with their shifts than me. I wish that it would have worked out some that I could have worked with someone, because while I get more done alone that place is creepy when no one is there.

I am an average person. I only truly care about like five things, give or take one or two. So if you want me to listen to your editorial about something you care about there are only about, four things you can do:

1.) Be an attractive woman

2.) Connect with me emotionally aka make me cry

3.) Make me laugh

4.) Grab my attention with something visually compelling

What is the best way to accomplish any one of these things? The answer is simple: video. Without video I can't tell if you're an attractive woman or not. This is why in Europe they have strip news. It's not ethical, but it works.

Give me pizza and a beer and I'll watch just about anything.

I can't remember the last news story I read and cried. I can remember the last video I watched and cried. When someone can see something, it creates instant empathy. Video advertising is more expensive because it is more captivating and personal. I'll be watching TV and those adopt a child for 39 cents a day commercials will come on and every time I'll reach for my phone before realizing my frugality. We are talking about news so it's a little different but we are also talking about editorials which are meant for you to sell your opinion.

Grabbing my attention becomes much harder when visual elements are missing. I watched seven video editorials that my teacher sent me. I still don't give a crap about anything that they addressed, but I did watch them. I wouldn't have read anymore than their title in print.

Don't get rid of print, it still serves a valuable purpose. It will help readers get even more information and get deeper into the story or opinion. Just use a little something that most hard news outlets are finally coming around on, according to The State of the News Media: multimedia journalism.

Give me pizza and a beer and I'll still only read ESPN magazine and I won't be happy about it.

How can you do multimedia? Once again, simple answer: online. Online multimedia is where news is going because that's where the masses are already. I'm there. I have my very own blog.

I saw "Spiderman". I watch "Grey's Anatomy". And I read The Da Vinci Code. I am not a trend setter. Like I said I'm average and apathetic. So get me to listen and maybe even care then you'll probably have an audience beyond your wildest dreams.