Lara Wilinsky

It was a lovely newshift today.  Courtney had created a great web extra for the winterize story so that always puts me in a good mood.  I had a little glitch with Final Cut when I was capturing the live show.  It usually isn't a problem and the controlroom will play it back for me to re-capture but tonight they were not able to.  Paige volunteered to voice over the story and I exported that to put on the web.  Problem solved.  I added a pull quote to Abby Leo's story to make it look a little better.  All and all, a very nice newshift. 

See you in class tomorrow!

Hi!

I think mine and Courtney's stories from today look fabulous.  I love Courtney's graphic she made for the political mask story.  Earlier today Brian showed me how to add pull quotes to the stories and I think it adds a happy, pretty touch to each story.  I'm going to do it all the time now..hope that's ok.

Today's shift took me the whole time (which is what we were going for I guess) but I still felt like I did not have enough time to do everything that I want to do.  I have some ideas that I am going to bring up in class about how I think 692/4 needs to be restructured.  Basically, I spend all of my time re-writing and researching more information for stories that other people have written leaving me no time for components.  Maybe that means I need to work faster, I know. 

Anyway, the shift went well and I'm proud of the work that I did.  See you tomorrow!

Homecoming weekend is rapidly approaching and my graduated friends are all on their way to back to Kansas for a reunion weekend.  I should be so excited but all I hear is that cash register sound.  Ka-ching, ka-ching.   I am broke and it ain't no joke. As a matter of fact, I can no longer afford the expensive relationship I've formed with Weststar so heat will be a scarcity in my apartment this winter.  My roommate and I are actually thinking about sleeping in the same bed to generate some warmth.  Just kidding.  Kinda.

I guess I can get some small amount of solace from the fact that all of my friends are broke right along with me.  College students are definitely feeling the effects of the struggling economy.  For most of my friends and I, there are three contributing factors to our financial woes.

1. Our parents have been forced to cut back their spending habits therefore any money we receive from them has been scaled back as well.
2. The price of everything has gone up (monthly bills, groceries, gas) therefore throwing off our semi-consistent budgets that we had grown accustomed to.
3. In an indescribable way our parent's attitudes have gradually changed.  They are more moody, especially at the end of each month.  Dads have been laid off, tons of money has been lost in the stock market, while the credit card debt mounts and mounts. 

As students we feel it. We feel the pressures our families are under.  We feel the pressures our country is under, and lucky for the hundreds of thousands of us Millennials, we get to enter into the work force right now too!

We are the entitled generation, the get-whatever-we-want generation.  But maybe this mess of a recession we are going through (because yes it is a recession) will teach us to save a little better and appreciate things a little more.  I'm not saying that we are going to become Depression-era kids or anything but boy did they learn how to stretch a dollar huh? In the meantime I'm gong to cross my fingers for a job with benefits, put socks on my cold feet and hope that this is all over really soon.  

I remember watching the Palin/Couric interview clip for the first time.  Surprisingly posted onto the main page of an entertainment gossip site, the clip had me at hello. Time after time I re-played Katie Couric trying to hold back a smirk while Palin dug herself deeper into a hole.  I just couldn't get enough.  Apparently nobody else could either.  It seemed like every Web site I searched that day had the Palin/Couric interview posted.  From reputable news organizations  to Internet newspapers  to gossip sites , the clip was everywhere. Viral video in all its glory.

The Couric/Palin interview clip phenomenon was not an isolated incident, viral video has become one of the most significant components to the 2008 presidential campaign.  To say that viral videos are important is somewhat of an understatement. For both politicians and journalists alike, the videos completely change the game. 

Since the advent of YouTube in 2005 , the ability to share videos through emails, social networking sites and on blogs has increased.  Most times it is as simple as clicking a button or copying a link. A Globe and Mail.com article explains it the political viral video explosion, "Borins observes that YouTube tends to be used in three ways when it comes to politics: as an outlet for campaign ads, as a forum for user-created tributes, and as a place where gaffes can be replayed endlessly"

There are two kinds of viral video, the produced video (The Will.i.Am Yes We Can music video, a soldier speaking to camera promoting John McCain ) and the accidental video (The Couric/Palin interview, John McCain on Letterman or Obama speaking at a rally) both affecting the political parties equally.
 
Since his speech at the DNC in 2004, Obama's speeches have been making the viral circuits getting more run time than the Obama campaign  could have ever hoped for.   Celebrity endorsed Obama videos have been extremely popular.  Videos have also circulated portraying Obama as a Muslim and a terrorist.
 
In addition to the viral video sideshow that was Palin's interviews with Charles Gibson and Katie Couric, many other speeches of both Palin and McCain were widely circulated.  A well-known viral video of Palin circulated after a protester interrupted her speech and she responded, "My son is fighting for your freedom to protest right now." However less than two weeks later she was slammed by viral videos  of her confusing cheers with protesting.  Both sides of the political spectrum see the positives and negatives of this new viral phenomenon.

I believe that the impact of these videos is astronomical.  The Will.i.Am music video and the American soldier's "Dear Mr. Obama" speech racked up a staggering 10 million views on YouTube each.  10 million views?  If each one of those viewers voted that would determine the election.  Viral videos have the power to make or break a candidate.  Remember Howard Dean and the "Dean Scream?"  That was even before YouTube and it definitely destroyed his campaign.
 
Ivor Tossell worded it best when he said: "The best moments get carved up and fed into the Internet, promulgated through e-mail and aggregator sites (or, as you might better know them, time-wasting sites) that push them as today's must-see moments. It's a fantastic, circus-like spectacle. They string together to form the running narrative of the election, and you can follow the whole thing online."

In a recent article on Philly.com , President of the Web site Media Matters for America, Eric Burns says that "the Internet has leveled the playing field - viral media can have a tremendous impact, not just on political figures, but on the mainstream press as well." Programs like the Daily Show  show no mercy for neither the candidates nor their pundits by airing skillfully edited videos that show every blunder.   The great part about viral videos is the candidates have no control over them.  It is the one part of the campaign that cannot be controlled.  The viral videos simply serve as a watchdog system.

The videos serve as virtual fact checkers, making journalist's jobs a little bit easier.  For candidates every word matters because in the new political world of viral video, the clips of speeches, rallies and interviews will be played again and again. 'Thanks to YouTube  - and blogging and instant fact-checking and viral emails - it is getting harder and harder to get away with repeating brazen lies without paying a price, or to run under-the- radar smear campaigns without being exposed,' wrote Arianna Huffington, the doyen of left-wing bloggers."

Journalists are affected by viral videos in the same way they are affected by citizen journalism. If the content is newsworthy it serves just like any other lead.  If the content is girls jumping on a trampoline, well then it won't affect the news.  Now if the broadcast news goes viral for whatever reason good or bad, that is a potentially huge advertisement for the station.
 
I can still watch the Couric/Palin interview over and over again; I am never worried about dosing through a debate or missing McCain on Letterman.  I know that the clips will be online the next day, like a friend that loves you unconditionally.  Viral video allows us to not miss a beat or a word or a miss-step in this crazy political race and I couldn't be more grateful.  
  

Hi!  I'm sorry I've been neglecting you news shift log.  

At the Democratic National Convention a couple of weeks ago I noticed just how integral   new technology has become in this year's election. At the DNC, delegates and other people in the Invesco Field were encouraged to text message personal comments to the jumbo-tron.  Not only were the text messages harmless entertainment and a way to pass the time, they also provided the Obama campaign with much sought after cell phone information (if they didn't have it already). So while the text messages of support for Senator Obama flashed across the giant screen, the Obama campaign was busy at work saving each phone number into their extensive database.  The age of technology is certainly changing the national democratic process right before our eyes.  CNN Contributor, Leslie Sanchez explains the power of the text message. 

In one of the most radical changes in the American lifestyle, people today don't leave home without checking to make sure they've brought their cell phones. There are more than 200 million cell phone users in the United States, making the potential for mobile phones as a campaign tool enormous and unprecedented.

After some research (aka a quick google search) I found out that the Obama campaign has been text happy long before the DNC.  The vice presidential pick was actually announced via text message to supporters before the news was released to any other outlet.

In both campaigns, new media is changing the old political landscape by leaps and bounds (or should I say by gigs and bites?).  The web has allowed for the everyday citizen to get directly involved in the process. 21-year-old University of Colorado student Adam Brickley is credited with being the first person to suggest Sarah Palin for vice presidential candidate a year ago on a blog for class. 

Brickley is a clear sign that new media is changing the way we view the democratic process. Blogs, podcasts, discussion boards and text messaging keep citizens informed and involved in ways that were never possible before.  The possibilities for the future are endless, but one thing is safe to say:  this election is going to get crazier and I'm so happy that I'll be able to watch every minute of it online. 

Today was my first official producing shift because last Monday was Labor day.  I think I'm really going to enjoy the shifts, I love sitting in the newsroom and contributing to the daily production of the Web site.

In general, I found the shift pretty easy.  I was a little confused on how to link to another Web site but I think I figured it out.  It will definitely take a couple shifts until I don't have to look at my notes anymore.  I look forward to not being so slow at the process. 

See you next Monday!  

Lately the world of media seems like one big juggling act.  While watching the newest episode of Project Runway tonight I couldn't help but feel bombarded with advertisements prompting me to visit the Bravo TV Web site.  On the Web site I found that I was once again bombarded but this time they were telling me to watch Bravo shows.  On both mediums I was urged try out the text message alerts to keep me posted on additional information about my favorite show.  It's enough to make my head spin. 

I looked a little closer and realized that the different mediums completely compliment each other.  The content is tailored for each kind of media.  I watched Project Runway first on TV, and then I went to the web for more in depth information.  On the web they are able to post more content, designer bios, and quizzes.  It is interactive in a way that TV could never be. 

Networks are in a virtual juggling act of their own. Their problem is: they don't know how to maximize profits throughout the different platforms.  How does a network monetize an audience who turns to the Internet or an iPod to watch their favorite TV shows on the go. 

Recently NBC tried to track where the Olympics viewers were turning for information. They found that the Olympics were primarily watched on televisions; 85% of U.S. TV homes were tuned in. And the NBC Web site didn't do so bad either, averaging about 1.5 million viewers a day. 

If the networks continue being able to track the activities of the consumers they will gain exponentially.  Advertisers would know how much money to pay for what time and producers would have a better idea of what content should go where.  For now, I'll probably continue to feel bombarded but at least I have a little understanding of why.