Notes from the 11th Class

• Review from last week:
• Most important about broadcast lead
• present tense verbs
• present tense verbs stress the immediacy of the news
• Remember to provide the "when" of the story
• When did the story happen?  In broadcast, this is usually 'today' or 'tonight'
• ALWAYS include the information that is the most important/newsworthy in your lead, and make sure this it is clear

• Guest Speaker: Angie Goff 
• Began college as business major, but changed to communications 
•  5 different internships, including
• radio
• broadcast TV
• print journalism
• Internships led to first job at Entertainment Tonight
• First broadcast job in Iowa
• Professor Piacente then stressed the difference between hard work, and working smart
• Acquired job in DC as a traffic reporter
• At this job, she began to take her opinions online
• She began her blog
• Her blog gained popularity, and was picked up by marketing and promotions, and they gave her a commercial
• Through her job as a traffic reporter, she was given a three-minute segment, where she covered:
• news generated by social media
• hyper local news
• entertainment
• Her tips for success in broadcast
• Be able to bring your personality into the mix
• she did this with ad libs on air
• Find the urgency in the story you are reporting, and communicate that to your audience
• This is important because you are competing with social media, which is extremely quick/instant
• People that are watching television are constantly searching for a reason to change the channel --> grab their attention!
• Essentially, you are telling your audience, "This is what you need to know RIGHT NOW."
• She then discussed how to find a balance between work and home/family life
• Broadcast journalists move from city to city often times
• Always have a supportive network of family/friends, and be willing to ask for help when you need it
• It is a stressful lifestyle
• She then said, "If you love what you do, it'll be worth the sacrifice."
• She then discussed the importance of using technology tools strategically
• It's important to be internet savvy
• Make sure you know the language of the technology or social media you are using
• She encourages learning some coding
• Social skills and being able to engage with other people put you a step ahead of the game
• Be able to share content effectively to your audience
• Remember that there are different methods for different mediums
• Get a step ahead, and don't wait to use a social media platform until it becomes "cool"
• Build your own brand
• A quote that has stuck with her: "You have to be the CEO of your own career."

HW FOR NEXT WEEK (11/15/12)

Study the Smithsonian’s social media policy and do a one-page analysis of why it’s either effective or not effective, in your opinion.  

Look for things like how the content is presented, whether posts generate comments, and number of visits. Consider whether the language is clean and simple, or full of jargon.  

The starting link: http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/  

Bring hard copy to class.