Media Ambitions

So I am in this Cluster Course that I am really enjoying. I personally like it because it combines my major and minor ( Broadcasting Major with a Marketing Minor). Plus, it is two very interesting classes. The Cluster consists of a Communications Law class and a Communications Ethics course. Now, you make stop and think how can those be so interesting? Well, from a broadcasting perspective it's hard to write or talk on air when there are so many boundaries that you have to be careful not cross. Granted, the media is all about pushing the limits, but when you have all kinda of information at your finger tips how are going to decide what is relavant to the audience and what is too much. You have to understand the law and ethics of communications to provide the best stories to the audience. For example, Heath Ledger's death blew up the radio waves and made the T.V.s Blaze. Everyone wants the big story and to be the one with the "story first" ... I am all for that, but make sure that the information you are putting out is correct without assumptions. I am a big advocate of not jumping to conclusions. Not to say that they were but if they were they presented it like it. There weere so many stories and i know that is the way it is for most celebrity deaths but still there still needs to be some class to the media. Am I wrong? For the most part I think the media does a decent job of keeping the information correct but in the case of Heath Ledger i think that everyone just jumped to conclusions. Was it suicide or just an accidental overdose... so many questions and not enough real answers. In the end it just confuses people. In my mind, the job of the media is to give correct, real, and entertaining information. Journalists dothis pretty well... sometimes thye just get ahwad of themselves I guess. I would like to think of myself as an ethical journalist. I would like to think also, that i don't give people information unless it is the truth. With the classes i am taking it is making me so much more aware of what the audience has to go through. When they hear all the jumble of information and its hard to decide what truth and what are lies or assumptions. Until college I had always just gone through the motions when it came to what the media had to say. I took the informationa and never questioned, but never actually took too much too heart either. Now with more awareness i feel like i am a better at broadcasting and much better at being an audience.

Everyday is a new Adventure

OK my first post illustrates the what happens when you ask questions. You see i was on Choir tour with the Concert Choir from Westminster College (obviously) and we had some free time in Memphis, TN. Well, a bunch of us were walking down Beale street towards late int he afternoon and this homeless man walks up to a us and asks if he can show my friend Chris a magic trick. Well we stopped and watched and let him show us. As I was watching this trick I was also looking around and checking out the atmosphere of Beale street and I found a camera man filming this interaction of the man and the magic trick. He was standing in front of a van marked FOX 31 NEWS. This sparked my interest further and I decided to investigate. After the man had got done showing us his trick he asked for money. We all didn't have cash on us so politely said sorry. Surprisingly, the man was kind about it and just said he hoped we had a good evening. As my friends walked away I walked toward the man with the camera who had since finished filming and turned to the van. I walked up to and inquired about the filming and explained my curiosity because i am a Broadcast major. He told me him and the reporter were doing a story on panhandlers and so he was getting clips. As it turns out, the reporter came over and i did Introductions and ended up interviewing my friends and the rest of us got on camera for cut away shots and such. I thought it was so interesting to watch them do their job. The reporter and I talked for a few minutes and she told me about her internship and how it was the best thing she ever did because it made her realized what she liked to do and what she didn't. Since I am Junior and haven't had an internship I was super excited to hear about her experience. We finished our conversation and I finished my time on Beale street thinking about how exciting it will be to have an internship and learn what i really want to do after college. And don't you know later on that night they played the story! So funny how life brings just what you need to know when you know it.