PATCHing Up Some Holes… November 1, 2011

Last week in my Intro to Journalism class, my fellow students and I visited with a panel of local editors from Patch, the fast growing online “hyper-local” news network owned by AOL.

The guest list included Regional Editor Kurt Greenbaum, Lake Saint Louis editor Tamara Duncan, Wentzville editor Maggie Rotermund, St. Peters editor Joe Barker, Ballwin-Ellisville editor Chase Castle, and Ladue-Frontenac editor Jim Baer.

“Get Away From The Doom & Gloom..”

One of the most common themes of the panel discussion was the journalism job market. Obviously, graduating and trying to find a job is basically the scariest thing a college senior can possibly fathom with the way our economy is right now. The media never misses an opportunity to point out the ungodly high unemployment rate and how companies are hiring less college grads every year. That is true to a certain extent, but the Patch editors had some advice.

The number one phrase I remember is “get away from the doom and gloom.” The editors pointed out that if you go into the job search with the mentality that you are never going to find one, it will be a much harder road for you. Kurt Greenbaum pointed out that we only need that ONE job, and once you land that first job, you’re in the business. The editors told us we must be persistent with job searching and be a master of many skills so that we become invaluable. They said it was also important to realize right off the bat that you will never have a 9-5 job working in journalism, so don’t even bother with that in your job search.

“Where Do Stories Come From?”

Aside from landing a job, probably the biggest issue that my fellow students and I were concerned about was how to find good story ideas. I’ve been a reporter for LUTV for 4.5 years now, and I continue to struggle with finding story ideas, so I really found this part of the discussion extremely beneficial.

The editors made it clear that one of the biggest ways they find story ideas is simply listen to what people are talking about. Be involved with your community and be curious enough to ask people questions about important issues. This isn’t a hard thing to do when you work in smaller markets like these Patch editors do, because people in small towns usually aren’t scared to voice their opinions and cares. Journalists just have to be willing to listen!

A Little of This & A Little of That…

There are also some random pieces of advice offered by the panelists that stick out in my mind without really belonging to any one certain category. One of them told us to learn how to deal with criticism, because as a journalist, you will encounter it on a daily basis. I know this is something I need to work on before I graduate in December. Another good piece of advice was to stay involved with the current tools used in the media. Had I not been forced to use Twitter in one of my communications classes, I probably would have stayed far away from it. But now I absolutely love it, and I know that it is increasingly becoming a tool journalists use to stay connected with their audience.

This video provides a good step-by-step of how you can use Twitter to be a good journalist – which I’m sure the Patch editors would agree with!

Some of what the panelists told us was what we hear on a daily basis in the classroom. But it was definitely nice to hear it straight from journalists who are working at a high-up position. Nobody is in a better position to give college students advice, and I really appreciate them coming to speak with us.

“Well, In MY Opinion….” October 27, 2011

I Just Want The Facts!

First, let’s state the obvious. A fact is something that is “verifiable, attributable, and objective.” An opinion is “fleeting, moldable and subjective.”

Generally when people consume news, they want the facts. The “who, what, when, where, why and how.” Unless someone is reading a reporter’s blog or column on the editorial page, he or she probably does not want to hear the reporter’s individual opinion.

“I Truly Believe” That Nobody Cares…

For the sake of not having to repeat myself, again I am not talking about stories you might find on an op-ed page of the newspaper or on an online blog. Those are OBVIOUSLY jam packed with “opinion” and people should know that going into them. What I am talking about are stories you might find on the front page of the newspaper or on the 5pm newscast.

For the most part, people honestly do not want to believe that journalists even have an opinion at all. People want to think that journalists are completely unbiased individuals and are willing and able to cover every angle of an issue to the fairest and fullest extent without any personal feelings attached. Readers, listeners and viewers can detect bias in stories where all they want is the facts. If that happens, they will lose trust in the news source. People just want journalists to give them the facts, and be able to form their OWN opinions based off them, rather than the journalists forcing their opinions onto them.

“It’s Hard, But You Have To Be Fair”…

It’s no secret that it’s a daily struggle for journalists to be completely unbiased and give only the facts with no opinionated influence at all in their stories. But I had the opportunity to see one journalist make this tough decision one day when I was working at Fox4 in Kansas City.

Rather than having me explain to you what the story was, take a look yourself.

Roger Kemp in Battle for Right To Slain Daughter’s Name

I’m not sure if you can tell from the story, but I thought this guy was pretty much a sleazeball. This man has already suffered enough with his daughter being murdered. If he doesn’t want you to trademark her name, even if you think it’s for his benefit, respect his wishes and DON’T DO IT.

Tess completely agreed with me that the store should just drop the trademark application and stop being a bunch of buttheads, for lack of a better word. Tess had also been covering the Ali Kemp story for years and had grown quite close with Roger Kemp. However, it was her duty as a reporter to cover both sides equally. As much as she disagreed with what Natalie M was doing, she still had to point out the fact that they claimed to have spoken with Roger Kemp about the trademark and were doing it completely for his benefit. She did a great job of explaining to me as an intern that regardless of your personal feelings towards one side or another, you have to cover every story as if you are completely unbiased and simply give the facts.

Be Switzerland!

I’m probably not in any position to be giving advice to professional journalists, so I will give some advice to myself. When writing straight news stories, be Switzerland. In other words, be neutral. Cover all sides of the story equally. Be fair and balanced and give the honest facts, even if I disagree with them. Above all else, remember that my individual opinion has no place in a news story, unless the only place it can be found is on the op-ed page.

Objectivity & Fairness: Keep Your Own Opinions Out Of The Story

“Libel” Doesn’t Mean “It Hurt My Feelings!” October 5, 2011

What The Heck Is Libel?!

The definition of libel is the “publication of a false statement that deliberately or carelessly damages someone’s reputation.”

For something to be deemed “libel”, it has to be false and defamatory. It also must actually be published. It needs to have identifiable plantiffs, and it must be the fault of the defendant either through negligence or malice.

If someone is accused of libel, there are three main defenses they can choose from – what they said was true, they had permission to say it, and they had privilege to the information.

These “libel” qualifications may seem pretty black and white, but they are actually pretty far from it.

This guy looks like he could be yelling at a reporter for "libeling" him.

The Hardest Part To Prove….

Suing someone for libel is not a hard thing to do – however, actually winning is very difficult. If a reporter writes something unfavorable about someone, especially a person of high public standing, that person is likely to come out and accuse the reporter of libeling him or her. But if what the reporter said can be proved to be the truth, he or she is already off the hook. Say a reporter uncovers dirt on a candidate running for mayor of a city, and the information is published when it is found to be true. No matter how hard it is to face, the truth is the truth and the reporter cannot be sued for libel simply because the candidate didn’t want everyone to know the truth.

Ex-Mayor’s Libel Suit Is Dismissed

Proving whether or not something that’s published is true or false is usually a lot easier than proving it is or isn’t defamatory. This is where winning a libel case really gets tricky.

Can’t Just Hurt Your Feelings…

Defamation is the “false of unjustified injury of the good reputation of another as by slander or libel.” In other words, something that is published can only been deemed libelous if it actually brings a negative impact and harm to the subject’s life. A great example of this is celebrities who try to sue tabloids for libel.

Britney Spears Loses Libel Suit

In 2006, Britney Spears unsuccessfully tried to sue US Magazine for libel when they ran a story about Spears and her new hubby, Kevin Federline, being scared of a sex tape between the two of them leaking. Spears said this article severely damaged her reputation. Nice try, Brit. A Los Angeles judge ruled in favor of US Magazine, stating that Spears had already displayed her sexuality in numerous ways to the public eye, and her reputation in that regard wasn’t a good one. The story didn’t have a negative impact on her life, so it was not libel.

Katie Holmes Settles Libel Suit On Drugs Claim

Celebrities are occasionally able to prove that libel was committed and did indeed bring damages to their life. Earlier this year, Star Magazine came out with an issue with Katie Holmes and the words “Drug Shocker!” on the cover. The article about Holmes inside the magazine actually did not accuse her of being addicted to drugs, but instead referred to Scientology treatments she was getting. However, most people who would see this magazine in a supermarket would never actually read the article, and would assume from that text that Katie Holmes was suffering from a drug addiction problem. The courts agreed that Star Magazine was guilty of tainting her reputation, and she was supposedly awarded up to$50 million.

Not As Hard To Prove…

Obviously, the easiest part of a libel case to prove or disprove is if the information was actually published. A reporter cannot be sued for libel if he or she just says something in passing about someone, even if it is actually false and defamatory. It has to be documented in order to constitute as libel.

It’s also not very hard to identify who the plantiffs and defendants are. X says Y about Z. That’s usually how it goes. In this case, its a reporter that says something (usually negative) about the subject in a published work, and that subject sues the reporter for libel. However, in order for the plantiff to be successful, he or she must prove that the defendant committed the so-called libelous act through negligence or malice.

That last part is a little harder to prove. A reporter could just easily say that he or she didn’t mean to get the facts wrong and it was an honest mistake, and its hard to find evidence that this wasn’t the case. It also has to be proved that the false statements were made with bad intentions in mind, meaning the reporter actually was attempting to destroy the subject’s reputation. That’s also very hard to prove, because it’s not like a reporter is going to just admit that.

 

 

Bahaha. That video is hilarious – but it does further explain what I said.

Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds You… October 2, 2011

Photo via Google Images

We learned in Journalism class that advertising has a huge impact on the news industry. It is the primary source of funding for news outlets like newspapers, radio and television. It has become especially important for online news outlets. Without the money gained from running advertisements, the various news outlets would still be working their employees just as hard but would have a very hard time generating any revenue. That would present numerous problems, such as pay cuts and decrease in production.

We Have To Feature Them In The Story…

Project Elder Cool Underway in Kansas City

While I was working at Fox4 News in Kansas City over the summer, there was an enormous heat wave that rolled through the Midwest. Stories about  heat related deaths and air conditioning costs were all over the local news channels. I remember sitting in on a meeting one morning while stories were being assigned and the heat topic came up, and the news director said “Well we can always do an Elder Cool story.”

Elder Cool is a program run by the Bishop Sullivan Center in Kansas City that installs free air conditioners for elderly people around the city. Fox4 must have mentioned that program in at least four stories while I was there for 8 weeks. I found out eventually that it was because the Bishop Sullivan Center paid the station to run stories about them and their cause. The Fox4 homepage online also had advertisements featured that displayed a message encouraging people to volunteer to help install the air conditioners. It’s a great program, and I definitely didn’t have a problem with Fox running several stories about it over the summer. But it’s just a great example of how advertisers can sometimes dictate what stories are covered at a news outlet and how many times.

Video of Jon Stewart Poking Fun At The Power of Advertising

You Can’t Run That Story…

Advertisers can also backhandedly determine what stories a news outlet CAN’T run. Like I said before, the main source of revenue for newspapers, radio and television stations is advertising. That definitely discourages these outlets to run stories that shed a negative light on any of their advertisers, even if it’s probably a story the public has a right to know about.

For example, say a local television station earns a great deal of money by running commercials about a local Italian restaurant and by featuring coupons for the restaurant on its online homepage. Say the owner of that restaurant was found guilty of driving while intoxicated after he drove his car the wrong way on the highway in the middle of the night. Sure it’s a good story and would probably make for good television with some good video and interviews. But, does it really affect the public? No. And for that reason, the given local news station would probably not cover the story due to the risk of losing those advertising dollars if they do. Even in these kind of situations where advertisers have done something bad, news outlets are not very likely to cover stories about their advertisers unless it presents them in a positive light.

In 2006, the Mormon church made a publicity push to give its reputation a much-needed facelift by sending the commercial below out to various news markets. Obviously, they paid big bucks for this. If a local news station were to run this ad, and then do a story on the next news segment about the Mormon church being a stomping ground for polygamists, that wouldn’t make much sense and would probably cost them money.

Can You Handle That Fundamental Truth?

The fact that advertisers have an impact on what stories are covered is probably one of the hardest facts for a journalist to face when he or she first begins a career in the field. If someone goes into journalism, one of the reasons is likely to be that he or she is a person that cares about his or her community and wants to have an impact. The fact that a journalist most likely not be able to cover a story about an advertiser if it brings any negative feelings from the audience at all towards them could be very bothersome, but it is a fact that needs to be accepted. Even if a news director agrees that a story about a local advertiser would be of interest to the viewers, in the end it all comes down to that bottom line. If a station is going to lose money over running a story, the story will not usually run. If a story is covered that advertisers don’t agree with, it is very likely that the outlet will lose that revenue. It’s definitely a “don’t bite the hands that feed you” kind of thing.

WGME Loses Ads Over Plan To Air Anti-Kerry Film

LU Football vs. South Dakota – Live Blog October 1, 2011

PREGAME NOTES

 Lindenwood will have to bounce back in a big way this afternoon after its disappointing 19-13 to Missouri S&T last weekend. The Lions will  face the University of South Dakota Coyotes, the program’s second NCAA Division I opponent of the 2011 season. L-U defeated its first  Division I opponent in school history earlier this year in Northern Colorado, but this will be a much tougher opponent as USD is  nationally ranked and has already defeated the defending FCS champions this year.

I think probably the key matchup in this football game will be the Coyote run offense vs the Lion run defense. L-U has only allowed an  average of 68 rushing yards per contest this year, but USD is averaging about 200 yards per game on the ground. The L-U run offense has  struggled as of late, and star running back Denodus O’Bryant is out today with a nagging ankle injury. That will be another battle the Lions  need to win.

L-U also needs to improve its turnover margin this week. Turnovers proved very costly last week for Lindenwood, and the Lions have  actually lost the turnover battle in three out of the four games they’ve played so far this season. Against a good team like South Dakota,  the Lions can’t afford to make mistakes like that.

The Lions are the obvious underdogs in this game, but sometimes the team plays its best with that chip on its shoulder. We shall soon find out – kickoff is at 4pm.

FIRST QUARTER   

Lions return opening kick to the 42 yard line.

Uribe completes pass to Terance Jackson for the first down but a 5 yard penalty brings the Lions back to the line of scrimmage.

3rd down – Uribe passes to Mike Bunton for 4 yards, now 4th down. Lions call a time out with 4 and 7.

Moris Keselhoff punts and Coyotes will take the ball at the 10 yard line.

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South Dakota loses a yard on their first run attempt of the ball game.

Second run attempt gets them 8 yards.

Kellen Dreyer makes a big tackle on 3rd and 2 and there is no gain on the play.

South Dakota punts to Mike Bunton and he runs it back to the 39 yard line.

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Uribe hands off to McGowan and he picks up 5 yards.

McGowan runs the ball on 2nd down and picks up the first down, ball is spotted at the 48 yard line.

Uribe throws it out to Mike Bunton and he is tackled for a loss of 3 on the play. 2nd and 13.

Uribe passes to Alex Robinson over the middle for a pick up of 4 yards. Brings up 3rd down.

Uribe is sacked on 3rd down for a loss of 4 yards. Punt unit comes out and Keselhoff kicks it out of bounds at the 32 yard line.

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South Dakota opens up this series with a HUGE 37 yard pass for a first down at the 31 yard line.

A USD run right through the middle of the Lions defense gets them down to the 14 yard line.

South Dakota passes on 1st down for 7 yards, now 2nd and 3 from the 12 yard line.

Donald Collier trips USD up at the 5 yard line, now 3rd and 1.

Brock Reed makes a big tackle for Lindenwood and USD faces a 4th and inches situation.

Coyotes elect to go for it. Quarterback sneak gives them the 1st down.

Christian Golder makes huge play in the endzone and knocks the ball away from the USD intended reciever. 2nd and goal from the 3 yard line.

USD scores its first touchdown of the afternoon with a 3 yard run. 5:14 left in the 1st quarter.

Kick is good. 7-0 USD over Lindenwood.

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Mike Bunton receives the USD kickoff and runs it out to the 20 yard line.

Uribe hands it off to McGowan – picks up BIG yardage and the ball is now spotted at the 36 yard line. 4:52 left in 1st quarter.

McGowan picks up another first down with a 14 yard rush. 1st down Lions.

Uribe hands off to McGowan again but USD sniffs it out this time and there is no gain on the play.

Uribe throws it out to Helmick on2nd down but he is tackled after a 1 yard pickup. 3rd and 9 for the Lions.

Uribe feels massive pressure from USD defense and throws it away on 3rd down. Lindenwood is called for a holding penalty. 2:43 left in 1st.

Punting unit comes out and the USD offense will take the ball at the 20 yard line after a touchback.

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USD starts this series off also with another huge 50 yard pass for a Coyotes first down.  Ball spotted at the 30.

Cody Fogle makes a big tackle and USD only makes a short 2 yard rushing gain.

Coyotes run the ball again and gain 4 yards on the play. Ball at the 24 with exactly a minute left to play in the 1st.

Cody Reider misses a sack but forces USD to throw away the ball. 4th and 4.

South Dakota converts a 43 yard field goal. Score is now 10 to 0 in favor of South Dakota. 34 seconds left in 1st quarter.

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Mike Bunton receives the USD kickoff in the endzone. The Lions will start this series from the 20 yard line.

Uribe passes to Mike Bunton for a 4 yard reception. 2nd and 6.

End of the 1st quarter. Score is 10-0 in favor of South Dakota over Lindenwood.

There’s me blogging while Charlie Meyer and Michael Young call the game for LUTV and 89.1 The Wood.

Pretty exciting atmosphere here at the DakotaDome. We have a birds eye view of the entire stadium. The Coyote  student section is sitting across from us, and the USD fans are sitting below us. Not too many Lindenwood fans here,  but hopefully they are following my blog and listening to our broadcasts!

SECOND QUARTER   

Uribe hands it off to McGowan for a 3 yard gain. 3rd and 3 from the 27.

Uribe attempts a pass to Andrew Helmick but it is deflected. Brings up 4th down.

Morris Keselhoff comes out to punt. A booming kick pins the Coyotes back to the 34 yard line.

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USD throws incomplete pass. 2nd and 10.

A big hole in the middle of the LU defense leads to a gain of 11 yards and a Coyotes first down. 13:37 left in 2nd quarter.

USD picks up a 3rd yard run on 1st down. Now 2nd and 7 at the 40.

Coyotes pass picks up a 1st down. Big tackle at the sideline by Brock Reed prevents the 1st down. Now 3rd and 1.

USD picks up short 1st down with a 4 yard carry. Ball spotted at the 50.

South Dakota runs it up the middle again, tripped up at the 39 yard line. 11:45 left in the 2nd quarter.

Coyotes run the ball and gain 3 on the play. 2nd and 7.

Another USD rush leads to a 2 yard pick up, 3rd and 5 now.

Coyotes complete an 8 yard pass and its now 1st and 10 at the 26 yard line.

USD quarterback keeps the ball but loses a yard. 9:06 left in first half.

South Dakota hand off leads to a 4 yard rush. Ball spotted at the 23.

USD picks up 4 rushing yards Kellen Dreyer makes another big tackle and prevents the first.

Coyotes attempt 35 yard field goal and its good. 13 to 0 in favor of South Dakota.

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USD kickoff goes into the endzone and Lions will take the ball at the 20 yard line.

Uribe attemps to hand the ball off but the play is slow to develop and there is a loss of 3 yards.

Uribe throws ball to his left side to Helmick, pick up of 8 yards. Now 3 and 5 from the 25 yard line with 6:59 left in 1st half.

A golden opprotunity missed for the Lions – Uribe just overthrows Andrew Helmick. Would have been down to about the 40. 4th down sends out punt unit.

Keselhoff punt pins the Coyotes at the 42 yard line.

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USD throws incomplete pass. 2nd and 10 for the Coyotes.

Lions defense comes alive and sacks the USD quarterback! A host of Lions helped on that one. Loss of 7 on the play.  3 and 17 for the Coyotes.

Christian Golder sacks the quarterback again! 4th and 28 for the Coyotes. Punt unit comes out.

Mike Bunton takes the punt and is tackled immediately at the 31 yard line.

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Uribe throws to Mike Bunton for a 4 yard pick up,. 2nd and 6 with 4:50 left in the half.

McGowan gets the handoff and gains 2 yards to the 35 yard line. 3rd and 5 for the Lions.

Uribe throws right over the middle to Mike Bunton for a first down on a 6 yard pick up.

Terance Jackson receives Uribe pass at the 45 yard line. 4 yard pick up. 2nd and 6 for the Lions.

Uribe attemps a big pass to a streaking Alex Robinson but it falls incomplete. 3rd and 6 at the 45.

Lindenwood calls its 2nd charged time out of the half with 3:15 remaining until half time.

Uribe is sacked in the backfield for a loss of 11 yards. Morris Keselhoff punts ball at the 34 yard line.

Ball takes a Lions bounce and rolls out of bounds at the 20 yard line.

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USD ball carrier is tripped up by Kellen Dreyer in the backfield, loss of 2 on the play.

Quarterback keep gets the Coyotes across the 30 yard line on an 11 yard gain. 1:44 left to play in the half.

Hole up the middle leads to a South Dakota pick up of 12 yards for a Coyotes first down. Ball at the 43.

USD pass completion of 10 yards for a first down.

Malach Radigan comes up with a BIG tackle in the backfield, loss of 3 yards for USD. Brings up 2nd down and 13 with :55 left in the half.

USD throws incomplete pass for no gain on the play. 3rd and 13.

Officials call a false start penalty on South Dakota. Make that their first penalty of the game. Ball spotted at the 45 yard line with :24 left to go.

On 3rd and 18 – USD pass falls incomplete with great coverage on the play by Justin Broome! USD punt team comes out on the field.

Ball takes a South Dakota bounce and it will be spotted at the 4 yard line for Lindenwood. :09 left in the half.

Uribe takes a knee and Lindenwood heads into the locker room trailing the USD Coyotes 13-0.

HALFTIME NOTES  

Ok, so the Lions were shut out in the first half. Let’s just get that fact out of the way. But honestly, I do not think 13-0 is that bad. South Dakote has only reached the promised land one time – the other two scores were LONG field goals that could have easily been out of the uprights. The Lions definitely left one touchdown out on the field. The John Uribe pass to Andrew Helmick that was just out of the reach of his fingertips would have placed Helmick at the USD 40 yard line. He only had one man to beat, and Andrew Helmick is one of the fastest, if not THE fastest, Lions on the football field. In my opinion, that would have been 6 points had that been a complete pass.

The Lindenwood defense gave up 200 yards in the first half, which is something Defensive Coordinator Deion Melvin won’t be happy about. However, it doesn’t matter if a team complies 3,000 yards of offense in a half – as long as they don’t come up with touchdowns out of it, that’s all that really counts in the end. That being said, the defense has got to stop giving up so many yards on the ground. Rush defense is their strength, and the Coyotes have been able to rush for 82 yards. Make better tackles and close up those gaps and we’ll be a lot better.

As far as the Lindenwood offense goes, not too much went right in the first half. The Lions were only able to compile 60 yards of offense. 25 on the ground, 35 through the air. My biggest advice to the LU offense (as if they are asking me) is to improve blocking on the offensive line. Uribe has had to scramble many times to get his passes off in time and has also been sacked twice. At the same time, McGowan has rushed for 48 yards but it would have been a lot more if he had more holes and more field to work with. The blocking absolutely has to get better or else Lindenwood will not reach the endzone this afternoon. Harsh, but true. Second half is up next.

Just hard at work blogging for your reading pleasures!

THIRD QUARTER  

After a block in the back penalty on the kickoff, USD will take the ball at their own 35 yard line.

USD rush leads to a 2nd and 8.

Another South Dakota run brings up a 3rd and 4.

Quarterback keep picks up the first down and ball will be spotted at the 48 yard line.

Gain of 3 moves the ball across midfield, 2nd and 7 for the Coyotes.

A USD penalty moves the ball back to the 36 yard line, 2nd and 22.

USD throws a screen pass up the middle but Brock Reed makes a big tackle and allows only a 2 yard pick up. 4th and 17 for the Coyotes.

Punt team comes out. Mike Bunton receives and brings ball up to the 19 yard line.

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Uribe is sacked in the backfield for a loss of 12 on the play.

Helmick gets the pass on 2nd down and brings it up 13 yards. 3rd and 9 from the 20 with 9:45 remaining in 3rd quarter.

Uribe is nearly sacked again on 3rd down but throws ball away. Brings up 4th and 9. Punt team comes out for Lindenwood.

Cody Reider saves a punt return with a big tackle on the sideline. The Coyotes will take the ball at the 35 yard line.

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USD gets a 4 yard run, 2nd and 6.

South Dakota utilizes the tight end position and picks up 11 yards. Ball is spotted at the 19 yard line with 8:22 left in 3rd.

Another USD carry moves the ball to the 12 yard line with a gain of 7. 2nd and 3.

USD throws a pass to the endzone but it falls incomplete. Donald Collier of LU is called for pass interference, ball moves up to the 2 yard line. 1st and goal for the Coyotes.

South Dakota gets its 2nd touchdown of the afternoon with a 2 yard run. Extra point is good and Lions trail 20-0.

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Mike Bunton takes the kickoff and gets it up to the 18 yard line.

Uribe pass to Mike Bunton picks up 12 yards. 1st down with 7:02 remaining in 3rd.

Quarterback keep for LU leads to no gain on the play. 2nd and 10.

Uribe pass to McGowan incomplete, 3rd and 10.

Uribe is sacked and fumbles the football, USD recovers. Unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Lindenwood, so USD will take the football at the 11 yard line.

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Christian Golder makes another big tackle on the USD ball carrier. 3 yard pick up, 2nd and 7 at the 8 yard line.

USD passes to the tight end slot and gains a yard. 3rd and 6.

USD pass is caught but it is just out of bounds at the endzone, 4th down and 7.

Field goal unit comes out for South Dakota to attempt a 25-yarder. It’s good and the Coyotes lead 23-0.

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USD kickoffs goes into the endzone. LU will take the ball at the 20 yard line. 4:43 left in the 3rd quarter.

Uribe hands off to McGowan for a 3 yard gain.

McGowan gets hand off again on 2nd down and picks up 2 yards. 3rd and 5.

McGowan picks up the first down on a 5 yard carry. Ball spotted at the 30.

Uribe pass to Andrew Helmick complete, 2nd and 4 with 2:45 left in the 3rd.

Uribe pass to Ty Munnerlyn gains 11 yards, another 1st down for LU.

Uribe pass over the middle to Ty Munnerlyn falls incomplete. Ball at the 47.

Alex Robinson catches a Uribe pass to cross midfield. 3rd down and 2.

Another first down for LU after Uribe completes pass to Robinson, pick up of 6 yards. Ball at 39.

McGowan on the ball carry, pick up of 2 yards. 2nd and 8 with :52 left in 3rd.

Another first down for LU after Alex Robinson catches another pass from Uribe. Ball at 29 yard line.

Uribe throws incomplete pass with no LU receivers open, 2 and 10 for LU with :06 left in 3rd.

Andrew Helmick picks up 8 yards, 3rd and 2. End of 3rd quarter with LU trailing 23-0. Ball at 21 yard line.

FOURTH QUARTER  

Uribe pass to Mike Bunton picks up 3 yards, 1st down LU at the 18.

Uribe pass to Alex Robinson moves the ball up to the 10 yard line. 2nd down and 2.

Uribe overthrows Helmick while he is standing in the endzone. 3rd and 2.

Uribe throws to Mike Bunton in the endzone but he is out of bounds. Holding call on Lindenwood, so it will bring up a 3rd and 12.

McGowan gets the hand off picks up 5 yards. Lions will go for it on 4th and 7.

Uribe pass to Andrew Helmick complete. It is JUST short of the first down, so the ball is handed over to the Coyotes. 13 minutes left in game.

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USD pass falls incomplete. 2nd and 10 from the 10 yard line.

Coyotes run the ball for 2 yards, 3rd and 8 situation now.

Another USD rush moves the ball to the 23 yard line for a first down.

USD pass falls incomplete, 2nd and 10 with 11:17 on the clock.

USD rushes for 3 yards, brings up a 3rd and 7 from the 26.

Brock Reed comes up with a HUGE quarterback sack and moves the ball back to the 19. Punt unit comes out.

Mike Bunton takes the ball to the 38 yard line.

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Uribe throws it out to Andrew Helmick for a few yards gain, but there is a illegal block in the back called on Lindenwood. 1st and 20.

Uribe is sacked AGAIN for a loss of 9 yards. 2nd and 29 situation for LU.

Alex Robinson receives pass and brings up a 3rd and 16.

Uribe is sacked AGAIN with absolutely zero blocking around him. 4th and 26 for Lindenwood. Punt team comes out and Keselhoff sends ball to the 30 yard line.

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USD rushes to the sideline and Lindenwood is called for a late hit penalty. Ball is now moved all the way up to the LU 49 yard line.

Another USD rush picks up one yard. 2nd and 9 for the Coyotes.

USD has a majorly overthrown passes by about 30 yards. 3rd and 9.

Quarterback keep leads to a 4th and 5 situation. Coyotes will go for it.

South Dakota completes a 7 yard pass for the first down. 5:24 left in the game.

USD completes a WIDE OPEN pass and the ball is now spotted at the 15 yard line. 22 yards on the pass.

Offsetting personal fouls after some pushing and shoving. Time out is called with 4:38 remaining in the game.

USD scores another touchdown with a 15 yard pass. Extra point is good, 30-0 in favor of South Dakota.

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Mike Bunton hands the kickoff to Tim Celestine. He’s tripped up at the 31 yard line where LU will take the ball.

Tim Celestine is tackled for a 2 yard loss after a handoff from Uribe. 2nd and 12.

Uribe throws it out to Ty Munnerlyn for a gain for 8, brings up 3rd and 4.

Uribe pass is nearly intercepted, intended for Alex Robinson. 4th and 4 for Lindenwood. Punt team comes out and Keselhoff will kick.

Fair catch for USD near the 25 yard line with 3 minutes left to go in the game.

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USD picks up a 5 yard run on 1st down.

Another USD rush picks up one yard, brings up a 3rd and 4 situation.

Quarterback keep picks up the first down with 1:32 remaining in the game.

Ball carrier for South Dakote picks up 6 yards on 2nd down, 3rd and 4 now.

No gain on 3rd down rushing attempt, 4th and 4 now.

USD takes a knee. Final score of the game is 30-0 in favor of South Dakota.

POSTGAME NOTES 

Lindenwood is shut out for the first time this season. I don’t know the exact number, but I bet it has been several seasons even since that has happened. Bottom line, the Lindenwood offense absolutely needs to work on its blocking. Uribe was sacked entirely too many times in this ball game, and many of his passes were incomplete because he had next to no time to throw them. And it was not just the offensive line who had a bad blocking game. The receivers and the running backs also missed several blocks. I see this as a HUGE weakness for Lindenwood and it needs to be addressed immediately.

The defense actually didn’t play too bad, despite what the scoreboard looks like. Not all 30 of those points came from touchdowns – there were a few field goals, as well. And the LU defense made several good tackles and even sacked the USD quarterback a few times. I would say the one area the defense could improve is in its secondary. The Coyotes were able to convert many passes for first downs, and I do have to give credit to the safeties and corners for getting to the ball quickly. They just need to do a better job of reading the plays from the line of scrimmage rather than before its too late.

We have to remember, South Dakota is a Division I opponent and we were not expected to beat them. I know the Lions are probably disappointed because it is never fun to be shut out in a football game. But it is a huge deal for LU to even be playing on this kind of stage, and it will be interesting to see what happens when we are able to start recruiting the kind of players that a Division II opponent can bring in.

The Six News Values September 25, 2011

PROXIMITY

Triple A’s Offers Haven For Heavy Smokers

Photo via St. Charles Patch

This is an article I found on the St. Charles Patch website. It is a review of the hamburgers offered at the Triple A’s Sports Bar in St. Charles. Actually, it’s part of a month-long review Patch is doing on burger quality at various St. Charles restaurants. This article gives a fairly negative review of Triple A’s and then links to its reviews of other burger joints in the city.

I believe this shows the “proximity” news value because this article is clearly aimed at people who live in or at least near St. Charles. For the most part, people living outside of the county are not going to care what the best burger joint in St. Charles is, but it is definitely a good article to read if you are searching for a good burger in the city.

TIMELINESS

Football Helmets Tested For Limiting Concussions

Photo by Mr. Hernonymous via Flickr

This was a story featured on the website of KENS-5 – a local news station out of San Antonio. It talks about studies that are being done right now on ways to make helmets safer and prevent concussions in football players, especially those at the high school level.

I thought this was a good example of the “timeliness” news value. Concussions in football players is always a very serious issue, but it is never really talked about or covered in the news media unless it is during football season. The topic is then pretty much beat like a dead horse. It’s a football story during football season that appeals to those involved with football – that equals timeliness.

IMPACT

This is a story from a local news station out of West Lafayette, Indiana. It focuses on the issue of rising and falling gas prices and the common worry that even if they go way down, Americans are nervous to be too happy about it because they are almost sure to fly back up at a moment’s notice.

This story definitely represents the “impact” news value because prices have become something that impacts every single American in their daily lives. This story also does a good job of presenting reasons WHY the price of oil has started to go down, which I think people really do care about it but don’t bother to ask why and just enjoy it instead.

PROMINENCE

Colin Powell Leadership Book Due Out In 2012

Photo via Google Images

I found this article on the CBS News website, but it was actually written by the Associated Press. It talks about Colin Powell, former Secretary of State and decorated army general, coming out with a book in 2012. It will include what rules he thinks a person should abide by to be a good leader, and it will also hold personal stories from his life.

This article represents the “prominence” news value because even though I don’t pay much attention at all to politics, when someone says the name “Colin Powell,” I can picture exactly who he is in my mind. He is a very recognizable person to most Americans. Not just anyone would be allowed a story on CBS News for their book coming out, but he is newsworthy enough.

CONFLICT

Morgan Freeman vs. Herman Cain

Photo via New York Daily News

This is an article I found on the New York Daily News website about a current disagreement going on between actor Morgan Freeman and presidential hopeful Herman Cain. During an interview with Piers Morgan on Friday, Freeman said that President Obama has become a target for the Tea Party’s racism. Herman Cain fired back while talking with Fox News, claiming that Freeman was being “short-sighted” and had probably never actually been to a Tea Party event.

I think this article is a good example of the “conflict” news value. It obviously shows two parties that are at odds with each other over a specific topic. However, I don’t think this article embellishes in the conflict. It simply states the facts, without exaggerating and relishing in the conflict.

HUMAN INTEREST

Teen Gets Big Homecoming Surprise From Marine Brother

Photo via Google Images

This is a story that Fox4 News in Kansas City did over a local high school girl who made homecoming court. She had previously asked her Marine brother

who is serving in Afghanistan if he could come walk her at the football game, but she didn’t think he would be able to come. That was until he showed up at the game and surprised her.

I think this is a great human interest story. It doesn’t really have an impact on any viewer’s life, but it definitely put a smile on my face. Everyone loves to see a happy story with someone involved with the military, and this was definitely a story about an average person with something unusual occurring in her life.

Press Freedom Around The World September 14, 2011

In Tuesday’s Intro to Journalism class, our wonderful teacher Jill Falk showed us a website that features the Newseum, which is an exhibit in Washington D.C. that is obviously all about news and journalism.

At the Newseum, there is an interesting map that shows every country around the world and whether or not each has freedom, partial freedom or no freedom of speech. The map is updated annually.

Photo via Google Images

Green represents freedom, yellow represents partial freedom and red represents no freedom of speech. The above picture was what the map looked like in 2010.

When I first saw this map, it was extremely shocking to me how much red I saw. I had no idea that this big of the world’s portion does not enjoy freedom of the press like the United States does.

 

Freedom Of The Press Advances & Safeguards Democracy

 

According to this exhibit, 68 of the 193 countries in the world (35%) have freedom of the press. However, only 15% of the world’s people live in these countries. 43% of the world’s population actually lives in the countries who have no freedom of the press.

Lack of Press Freedom Negatively Impacts Countries…

To me, this is extremely distressing. I think every person in every country has the right to be informed by journalists without government intervention. Every person should also be allowed to become a journalist if they so wish and be able to report what they want and not have to worry about being punished to an extreme degree.

Most of the world’s press freedom comes from North America, Europe and Australia. The least amount of press freedom comes in Asia and Africa. Is it a coincidence that the countries with press freedom tend to have a better quality of life than countries with no press freedom? I think not.

The Fourth Estate…

In America, the media & press acts as sort of a watchdog for the people. The government in the US definitely works to keep the people happy, and I think a big reason for that is because no governmental bodies want bad things written or shown about them, which is technically allowed in our country. This leads to a better quality of life for the people of America because we aren’t quite about what our issues are with where we live, and the issues tend to get resolved because the governmental leaders obviously want to get reelected. That won’t happen if they ignore what the people put out in the press.

On the other hand, countries that are not allowed press freedom are not as nice of places to live in my opinion. In a lot of these countries, people are so afraid to speak out against the government or write anything negative about their leaders because they could actually be prosecuted and sent to prison, or even killed in some cases. This leaves a lot of room for the government to run the country however they want without any input from the citizens. This is especially true in Asia and the Arab world.

Never Take It For Granted…

Sometimes, I think we as Americans forget how privileged we really are to have such strong freedoms, especially when it comes to speech and the press. But realizing how lucky we are as free journalists is simply not enough – we need to utilize our freedom to the fullest extent and keeping acting as a “watchdog” for all citizens in our country.

 

 

I Heard It On Twitter!! September 11, 2011

Photo via Google Images

 

Will Social Media Save The Newspaper Industry?

 

Today is September 11th, and I have been frequently checking Twitter all day for the latest updates.

I follow Fox4 News in Kansas City, and today its account tweeted that the Kansas City airport was being evacuated because a “suspicious device” was found in the Southwest terminal. I immediately told my roommate the news, and the first thing she asked was “where did you hear that?” I responded, “saw it on my Twitter.”

Social Media & News

Lately, I have found this to become a recurring theme in my life. Before social media evolved while I was in high school, any news I would hear about came from television news. I never have and still don’t really get any news from the radio because if anything but music comes on, I just change the station. I still do get a little of my news from TV, but I mostly hear about breaking news and the current events of the day when I log onto Twitter from the “news” sources I follow.

This isn’t as common on Facebook, because most people don’t put serious things on their statuses, most of the time. But there have been some occasions where I learned of celebrity deaths from people putting RIP on their statuses. For example, the first I heard about the deaths of Heath Ledger & Amy Winehouse were on Facebook. It is also common for people to talk about natural disasters on Facebook and Twitter, especially earthquakes.

Photo via Google Images

It Started With The Internet…

The way social media has changed news is remarkable. I think social media started to have an effect on news reporting and gathering when the internet became one of the main tools people use to get news.

This has, for the most part, escaped our older generations. My grandparents probably have no clue what Twitter even is, and they are too terrified to try to use Facebook. Older generations still primarily get their news from TV and radio.

However, the younger generations have shifted towards online news. It’s much more accessible and its whenever YOU want it, not when the TV or radio stations choose to present it to you. This has helped social media have an impact because if someone sees a tweet about the death of someone famous, he or she will immediately go to a search engine (probably Google) to type in that person’s name and read the numerous news stories that pop up.

Photo via Google Images

Stay Connected!

There are honestly some days where if I did not long onto Twitter or Facebook, I would have no idea what was going on in the outside world. I am just too busy to sit down and watch TV news at the particular time it airs, and I only listen to music in my car. But I log onto my social media accounts at least 10 times a day, and I am bound to see news updates on one of the two.

This is one of my most favorite things about social media. Obviously, it is fun to keep in contact with my friends and family and see what’s happening in their lives. But I enjoy feeling like I am connected to what’s going on in the world around me, and both Twitter and Facebook help me to do that.

Interesting Video of How Bin Laden’s Death Was Revealed On Twitter

Times Have Sure Changed! September 6, 2011

Can any member of Generation Y (or even X) remember a time when social media sites did not exist? I highly doubt it. Can any of us remember a time when television didn’t exist? Definitely not. But there was most certainly a time in this country when the biggest kind of media entertainment and news came in the form of radio broadcasts. Yes, there were televisions in the late 1940s, but many families in America could not afford them. Therefore, children during this time grew up with the radio as their man source of news and entertainment. My Grandma Terri is no exception.

My Grandma a few years ago on Christmas Eve

My grandma was born in 1941, about 10 years before television really took off. But it was well into the Golden Age of Radio. She was raised by her grandparents who were from a much older generation and very conservative. The only kind of media they consumed was the daily newspaper in town, and she was never really interested in that throughout her childhood. She considered herself very lucky that they allowed her to have a radio in her room. She thinks they may have been just so out of the loop that they didn’t know to think there could have been anything wrong with exposure to radio.

My grandma grew up in a very small town where a good portion of the adults in town thought the radio would corrupt young minds. Most of her friends were not allowed to listen to the radio at their own houses, so they would always want to come to my grandma’s house and listen to it with her. She says that every weekend when they were adolescents, she and her friend Barbara Jean would spent the night at her house and listen to KUDL in Kansas City, which was a station that they probably would have gotten in trouble for listening to if her grandparents had a clue what it was about.

My grandma says although she did listen to the news reports some as she got older, she mainly enjoyed listening to the entertainment shows in her early childhood. Some of her favorites were Amos & Andy, Fibber McGee & Molly, and Little Orphan Annie. She also enjoyed listening to the music of Elvis Presley, Jack Benny and Chuck Berry, although it didn’t happen as frequently.

 

When she got older and started listening to news reports on the radio, a few events in American history stick out in her mind. She remembers coming home from school on a daily basis during the 1950′s and hearing the coverage on Joseph McCarthy and his communism hearings. This was obviously an event that was covered on TV, but she did not have a TV in her home and had to follow the story via radio. She also remembers lots of reports on the news in the civil rights movements across the country. The Korean War was obviously involved in radio coverage at the time, but she doesn’t remember that as much as McCarthyism and civil rights. Being that she lived in a primarily white, Republican town in northeastern Kansas, these issues interested her the most because they were so far from what she experienced on a daily basis. She says the first news event she really remembers solely watching on TV was JFK’s speech on civil rights.

 

My grandma says she can absolutely not believe how much media has changed since her younger days. She thinks TV definitely would have had a bigger impact on her life growing up if she were allowed to have one, but she purchased her first TV set when her and my grandpa moved in together in their 20′s. But she even admits she rarely listens to the radio anymore and keeps herself updated on the world through television news. She still lives in the Kansas City area, and she says she mostly watches local news rather than 24-hour news channels.

One part of news media nowadays that she says is completely different from when she was younger is the existence of social media sites. I was trying to explain to her that people often hear news events first before anywhere else through Facebook and Twitter, myself included. She looked at me like I had two heads. That definitely was not an option at any point in her life, and she is sure not going to try to figure it out now.

How Has Social Media Changed News Organizations?

My grandma definitely helped me to see that our way of being entertained by media and getting news is completely different from the relationship she had with media growing up. Social media and television had basically no effect on my grandma’s life, and they are the main sources of news in mine. Times sure have changed!

Week Three Journal January 20, 2011

Week Three was the week of the guest speakers. We heard from Kammie K on Monday, RizzoTees on Tuesday, That One Jim Guy & Dana Wehrli on Thursday. This entire course has educated me so much on personal branding, but it was definitely good to hear from three people who are out of college and are putting this concept to use in the work force.

Kammie K

 Kammie Kobyleski, a former professor at Lindenwood who now works as a personal branding consultant at Arizona State University, spoke to our class via Skype about how branding yourself successfully can really help you land a good job. She mentioned that the level of competition for jobs is higher than it’s ever been, and being able to brand yourself in the mind of whatever company you are trying to get a job with can make them hire you over someone else.

I really liked the Dr. Seuss quote she included in her power point that we viewed. “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you.” I like this quote because if there is one thing in this life that every single person has, it’s who they are and that is something no one else can ever be. You have to embrace who you are, because it’s something unique that you have to offer over any of your competition. Give them a reason to hire YOU.

Something else Kammie said that really stuck with me was the concept of owning your strengths. We have a tendency to focus more on how we can fix our weaknesses, when Kammie says that we should really be concentrating how we can take full advantage of our strengths. It’s also important to have WORDS that can describe your strengths, like “maximizer” and “realist.” Kammie gave some great advice that I will definitely remember!

Really Cool Video From Kammie About Embracing You!

Chris Reimer aka Rizzo Tees

 Chris Reimer came to speak with our class on Tuesday, with a much cleaner shaved look! He currently works for Scorch Agency as well as operates a t-shirt company called RizzoTees. He is considered a “twitter-lebrity” in St. Louis. I am just absolutely amazed with the kind of online personal brand this man has. He has thousands of followers on Twitter and thousands of connections on Linkedin. And he started off as an accountant! But when he wanted to get away from that and start a t-shirt company, he got it off the ground by completely advertising on Twitter!

This really made me stop and think about just how powerful Twitter can be. Before this class, I stayed far away from Twitter because I thought it was pointless. But if a man can completely start a very successful company just from people seeing his tweets, it has to be capable of helping me in my future! Something else he said that really stuck with me was his belief that employers really do look for you online when you apply for a job. He has his entire resume on Linkedin, and that’s the only place he has it. That is very powerful, because it shows just how far technology has come and just how much our appearance online can make or break us. I plan on taking full advantage of these various social network sites in the same way Chris has, and I hope I reach the same level of success as him by doing that.

ThatOneJimGuy

 Jim Courtois, a former LU classmate of mine who is now working as a graphic designer, also came and spoke to our class. One major thing I noticed about his success in creating a personal brand is the fact that even though I know him personally, I still call him “thatonejimguy”. He goes by that name on every single social network he has. Twitter, Flickr, Linkedin, and even YouTube! That is also one of the things that we discussed in class – it’s very important to have the same name all across the board. That way, when people search for you, it is easy for them to access every single one of your outlets. I also thought he made a good point about being consistent if you want to have a successful brand online.

I also thought his story about getting a job through Twitter was very  inspirational!  He explained to us that “The Steinburgular” came and spoke to his class, and he connected with her on Twitter immediately after that. He started speaking with her, completely through Twitter, about things that mattered to her and her company, and he actually got called in for a job offer! If there could only be one thing I took away from all these guest speakers and this class in general, it would be the fact that Twitter has so much more power than I ever imagined.

Nice Tips On How To Land A Job Using Twitter

Dana Wehrli

 Dana Wehrli, the Director of Career Development at Lindenwood, didn’t really talk to us about online branding, but about something equally as important – creating a successful cover lever and resume. I actually have quite a bit of experience with cover letters and resumes. But there are a few things she told our class that I had never heard before and I’m certainly glad that I did!

The number one thing I took away from her speech was the fact that you should not use a boring “OBJECTIVE” spot at the top of your resume. I never really thought about it before, but I guess it’s quite obvious to the company that you are trying to get a job with them. Dana says it is much more valuable to include a bit of a profile, including certain skills and strengths that would be beneficial to the company and ideal for the position at hand. I have never done this before, but I will definitely do it from now on.

Another part of her speech that stuck with me was the whether or not to include job experience. I worked at Joe’s Crab Shack for 3 years in high school and as a lifeguard for 3 years in college, but I never knew if that was good to include in my resume since it doesn’t really have anything to do with broadcast journalism at all. But Dana said that ANY work experience, especially one with some longevity, is good to put on a resume because it shows the employer that you are dedicated and have a good work ethic.

So Long, Personal Branding Class…

This was honestly one of the most beneficial classes I have taken in college. Without this class, I don’t think I ever would have taken advantage of things like Twitter and Linkedin, and that would have been a crying shame! I think I have learned a lot about what a personal brand is, and I will continue to work on it as I keep posting on this blog and updating my other various social networks. It is always a pleasure to have Jill Falk as a professor probably one of my favorite teachers I have ever had in my entire life. This was definitely a very worthwhile experience, and I am going to miss this class very much!