The Lines of Protection

The State of Play and the Pulitzer Prize.

The State of Play has A list actors playing roles that represent journalists in a time of a top story scandal. A journalist is friends with the person who is a part of a recent death of a lady he had an affair with. The journalist had a choice to protect his friendship and run a story, or help his friend out. This kind of protection is rare in today's society due to newspapers wanting to be the first to publish a story in competition towards other news companies or for money. Exploiting a story on a friend is seen a lot today and the implications for loosing a close friend are not thought about.

A photojournalist was on the scene of a hostage in a small town in Pennsylvania. The scene was dangerous and graphic and he snapped photos, documenting every moment. Well, almost every moment. He put his camera down when a little girl, wounded badly from her father, walked out of the front door. He could not capture a picture of this girl because it was just to horrible. Journalists have the opportunity to capture these moments, but photos are there forever. There is no need for the public eye to see the face of a little girl who was abused. There are some boundaries that a photographer should have. A photographer can take photos that still tell a great story without hurting their audience. Visuals can make a lasting impression on someone, even if they were not there at the time. It is important for a photographer to protect the viewers.

Coding

New York Times

Bin Laden Sons Say U.S. Violated International Law

By Scott Shane

The adult sons of Osama bin Laden have lashed out at President Obama over their father’s death, accusing the United States of violating its basic legal principles by killing an unarmed man, shooting his family members and disposing of his body in the sea.

Thoughts on "All the President's Men"

The Watergate scandal was reenacted in the movie "All the President's Men" and a lot of what happened behind the scenes was told through the story. There are two new reporters in the movie that were put in charge of finding out if the scandal is really true or not and dug through paperwork in secret in order to find any evidence of truth. They were caught when they assumed one of the investigators in the scandal inferred they were right by staying silent. The government  raged about the false information that the Washington Post publicized. These reporters frustrated their bosses, but they stood by their story believing it to be true regardless of what the government said.

In desperation to find facts about this scandal, these two reporters used different ways to get information out of people. Near the end of the movie, after an investigator on the story told one of the reporters that he could not share anything with him, he thought of a different method that would allow him to get the answer he was looking for. He asked him to stay silent if the story was true and since the investigator did not hang up and chose to stay on the line in silence, the reporter ran with that and shared with his boss that a legitimate source stated that the information was in fact true.

These techniques are looked down upon in journalism and reporting. Even though they felt in their hearts that the story was true, the only way to know for sure is to have hard evidence. Sources have to speak clearly and be quoted correctly. When people questioned the story, they went straight to the source where he was able to protect himself and deny that he said anything. The reporters had no proof that their story was right. It is vital to find legitimate facts because the general public wants the truth. They were lucky that the story ended up being right but in the mean time, the public questioned their accuracy.

Reporters need to be careful of how they find their information. If there are no documents to prove a story or a statement that quote someone accurately, then people are going to reject the story and deem it to be false.  This movie displayed how desperate news companies can be to be the first to share a breaking story, but it also shows how necessary it is to give out information that is backed in evidence that can be proven to make the story true.  

Eagle Vision

Eagle Vision is Biola’s on campus news that covers news on and off campus. On Tuesday, April 5, I sat in on their weekly class meeting. It is only a 50-minute meeting every Tuesday, which gives them a short amount of time to plan for the week’s stories and review the previous weeks news. Taelor Smith delegated different stories to each person including news, heath, weather, and different events going on at Biola’s campus. This class is a one-unit practicum that most broadcast emphasis students take, but other emphasis can choose to take as well. The team films on Thursdays and all of the individual stories that were covered have to be turned in by Friday so they can be edited and put together with the other stories. Eagle Vision is launched online on the Eagle Vision website, but is mostly viewed through their Facebook website when they upload it over the weekend. Watching last week’s news coverage allowed me to see what Eagle Vision does and the teacher chimed in sharing what could be improved which helped me understand the process of putting all of the footage together.

Last weeks live footage was filmed outside of the library because the construction prevented them from shooting in their first location. The teacher mentioned that it gave a cool effect and in journalism you “improvise or die.” He told the students to make sure that there is good lighting when filming and when they do voice over, to make sure that the mic. is 6 inches away. He strongly advised the students to not slur and pronounce clearly so that the audience does not tune out, keep your chin parallel to the floor, and have a strong finish. The type of room that the students are supposed to record in is a room that does not have ambient sound but a room that has dead sound. There are a lot of little details that tie all of the filming together and make it more professional and intriguing for the audience.

I learned many technical terms that are used commonly in production. Terms like stand ups, cut away, and sound bites. A stand up is when the spokesperson is explaining the story that is being covered, but what is important about a stand up is to make it interactive, showing something else rather then just talking. For instance, last week they were talking about Japan and Biola’s earthquake preparedness. The reporter went into a room and explained the different supplies that are kept in there if a disaster were to happen. It helps the audience visualize what they are talking about and leave them with a memorable mental picture. “Cut away” is a term used when shooting film style. When there is one camera to shoot an interview, it is hard to capture close shots so after the interview the cameraman takes about 60 minutes of head nods and other expressions to edit into the footage. A sound bite is used to get the audience thinking or relate to what the person is saying. The sound bites that were used in the Eagle Vision’s clips seemed to capture a person representing the general population and saying something of importance. It’s important that every week there is good coverage and content taking your audience to the actual place, making them feel apart of the news. Last week one of the reporters went to the Nascar race showing clips of food, the crowd, and the race allowing the viewers to envision what it is like to be there.

There are many ways to make the audience feel like they are there. Using graphics and showing film footage of the event being talked about help the story move along. Each week they include a “package” which includes stand up reporting, interviews, and B-roll, which is shots with voice over. Having a wide variety of news coverage is also important so that it pertains to a large audience and informs the viewer on all types of different news. I thought it was interesting how much of a variety they had to keep the viewer tuned in and it made the show run smoothly. Eagle Vision has a lot of work to produce every week including coming up with the stories, writing them, filming them, and then getting it in on time for editing. Although they have a hard time making the deadline, Eagle Vision still keeps their viewers watching by making their final product worth watching. 

Some History Will Never Be Forgotten

On September 11, 2001, tragedy swept over America. The World Trade Centers were struck by highjacked airplanes killing thousands of people. The ash from the buildings covered the city miles away from the Trade Centers. Hearts ached from family members as they watched the breaking news in their homes because of their loved ones in New York. The country was in shock and frantic to insure safety to those in New York and other potential terrorist attacks. After that day, America would never be the same.

As I sat in class watching a video of still image shots, video, and powerful music, goosebumps filled my whole body. The thought that people were in those buildings, terrified, crying horrifically, in pain from the heat, and considering jumping to escape the terrible situation, makes me view the buildings collapsing differently.

Since this horrific event happened when I was about 8 years old, last year I decided to go on YouTube and watch videos that were shot from that day. My eyes starred at the screen and I kept clicking video after video. Some of the videos I watched that day still haunt me to this day, but I think that it was important for me to not water down what took place and understand what really happened. Videos were taken from bystanders and people in the building. One of the videos I watched was taken from the first floor of one of the Trade Centers and I watched the firefighters cringe when they heard a loud thud. That thud was a person taking their own life to get away from the death they faced up near the top of the building. Fear was a dominant emotion that day. I cannot even fathom being in one of the Trade Centers, facing death.

The whole country was effected by September 11. Emotions were stirred wondering how this could happen and who would do such a thing. It is a day that will be remembered for the rest of history.

Create a Dream

Dream Big. This is something that I have heard since I was little and I always set goals that do not seem practical to most people, but I think the impossible is always possible. There are many moments in the day that I stop to think about who I am, who I want to be, and what I want to do with the gifts and passions I was given. My mind is constantly trying to piece together the things that I love to do and be creative of how I can use the things I most enjoy in life to benefit and impact others. My bucket list goes on and on, but I also do not see why these dreams that I have will not come true.

Fashion. There are so many directions someone could take with that industry. Maybe you like to design clothes, make them, sell them, or dress people that do not have a sense of fashion. Then there is behind the scenes with marketing and managing a label. These are all departments of fashion, but I do not think any of these apply to me. When people come to me for fashion advice, it makes me jump up and I get excited to collaborate with the person finding out how to cater to their needed advice. It brings me joy when my closet is shared and going into stores, finding sales and vintage clothing, and working with what I have to be creative with my wardrobe creating my own unique style.

Photography. This is my main passion that I continue to pursue and want to center all of my passions around. There is no limit or set goal that I have with photography. Some day I want to be on the sidelines of green turf with my large lens and hearing the scream of thousands of college students cheering on their school's football team. I can see myself shooting on the side lines of a run way for high fashion and adding those pictures to my photo blog. I want to travel and go to countries where people have never had their photo taken and maybe help those who lost loved ones and use their photographs to search for them. But, out of all these goals, there is one thing that I want to do with photography, the only thing I truly care about, is bringing people joy with the pictures I take.

These are just some of my visions and goals for my life, but I believe that everyone should be thinking about their dreams for their life. There is so many opportunities that we have and we should be finding out our passions and when a door opens, take a leap of faith and walk through it. Being creative with your dreams and setting new goals is so important. When one door closes, a window is opened, so take risks and see where life takes you.

A Christian Writer

The question is whether or not it is okay to not implement God in a Christian's writing. A Christian has the chance to bring up God and have their article centered around their beliefs, maybe even quoting the Bible to state Biblical truths. Writing in a way that only relates to Christians can deter non-Christian readers away from the article.

It is beneficial for the writer to write in an indirect way towards about their beliefs because they can reach a larger audience. Most people that are non-Christians will immediately move on from an article if it is based around faith and one religions beliefs. In order to have lots of readers be open to reading the author's work, writing in a way that doesn't disregard the Christian faith and still is honoring to God, will allow more readers to read work that still speaks a lot of truth.

Not all Christian writers have to write in a secular way. There are many cases that writing should mention God and use the Bible to state what God really thinks about a worldly issue. Relevant Magazine brings up God in most of their articles and encourages Christians to focus on what God thinks about technology, entertainment, and culture. This is a magazine that focuses on reaching a Christian audience and is does not hold back from stating their faith.

Writing can pertain to specific audiences, but having writing applicable to a broader audience, can help build the reader up with Biblical truths, even if they do not realize it. Where ever a Christian decides to work, it should be their mission field and they can use their work to bring glory to God. God's truths should be on the tip of the tongue for those who believe, but it is not necessary to be so direct in one's writing.