JFresh Essay!

Allison O'Brien

               JFreshman Newsroom Applicaton  

           

If I were to produce a newscast for my friends and I, it would include current events happening in the world, events and stories relating to Ohio University and Athens, sports, weather, and entertainment/pop culture. The choices for the stories would be influenced by what viewers want to hear about.  We would have viewers email, Facebook, and tweet at us to let us know what stories they want to hear. If we report on what the viewers specifically want to see, we will have a better chance of people watching and enjoying the newscast.  To make the newscast different than current and traditional newscasts, it could be presented in front of a live audience. The newscast could be interactive with the audience by conducting live polls and giving the audience a chance to communicate any specific questions they want addressed directly to the reporters. There would be a panel of reporters to talk about basic current events and news, specific people to report on the different segments, and a meteorologist to report the weather.  Rather than have live reporters at the scene of an event that may have occurred hours before, someone that was actually involved in the event can be the one to tell the story first hand and give information on what really happened with videos to back up the stories.  For example, if there were a story about a significant football game, there would be a player or coach to tell what happened.  Also if there is a report on a comedy group coming to campus, someone in the comedy group could talk about their show or event.  Since 44% of Americans own a smart phone or tablet, we would create an app where viewers can watch the live newscast or just watch the individual stories they are interested in. Each segment of the newscast would have a specific start and end time so that viewers can watch the segments they are interested in.  In addition to normal current events, news stories, etc., there would be a section about the “News That Didn’t Make The News”, including strange and random stories that will catch the audience’s attention.  To make the newscast itself more entertaining, we could have trivia games and contests for viewers as well as the live audience to have a chance to win gift cards or products donated by local stores, restaurants, and vendors.  Also, during controversial issues the reporters would include an even number of people on both sides of the issue so to avoid extreme bias.  We would have a camera crew to film the live newscast as well as a crew who travels to film out of studio reports.  We would also have a light and sound team to add effective lighting and sound effects throughout the newscast.   Our newscast would appeal to all audiences and would target the news and stories that viewers want to hear about. It would be interactive and would have first hand accounts on some stories and events.

The experience I have with Journalism includes writing for a middle school newspaper, directing my own play and assistant directing a play. From these things, I gained experience in writing and management as well as being in charge of technical aspects such as lighting and sound. It was a great experience, and unfortunately, my high school didn’t offer any newspapers or student led newscasts. I am eager and willing to learn any new technical skills and techniques to assist me in my studies and future career.