Wow, almost October. Where does the time go? Well I will tell you where my time has gone, school. I go to the Nova Scotia Community College in Dartmouth, the Waterfront campus. I am taking the Radio and Television arts program. I’ll fill you in on what the programs all about.
RTA, as we call it is a two year program. To get into it, I applied after my application was reviewed I was asked to come in for an interview. I applied for the program with no experience so I was very excited when I got to the second step. For the interview part, I got all dressed up and nervously went down to the brand new school. I went into a small room with one other girl and got hammered with questions from 2 out of 3 professors. I left that shaking in my shoes, only to find out I had to sit in front of a camera and read a news cast. Well at this point I’m scared out of my wits, but I got it done and actually felt pretty good about it. So now the waiting game, and finally I get a letter saying I was accepted!
I look back now on my whole journey all through school and I can’t believe I am where I am. All through my childhood I wanted to be a marine biologist, and in my last year of high school I changed my mind. I really had to sit and think about what I wanted to do with my life. Now that I am in RTA, I couldn’t see it any other way. I’m so thankful that the professors in the program saw something in me that I don’t even think I knew I had.
So first year, I had so much fun. The program is made up of three different parts, television production, radio (on air and production) and broadcast journalism. In TV we did interviews on camera and helped out with the second year’s news program. In radio we did 1 hour radio shows every day. The shows didn’t make it to air on the campus’ online station but we got to listen to each others. We also produced commercials and promos for all our shows. First year was a rollercoaster, ups and downs and all arounds. In a class that started with 32 we ended the year with 24. We lost a few on the way but we who got through, were all very close. I met some people in this course who I will be friends with my whole life.
So now, three weeks into second year, I am already running around with my head cut off. But in a good way. After a boring summer I am finally back to what I love to do. I feel that this year will be a real challenge for me, and I am really looking forward to it. In second year we choose our specialization, I chose broadcast journalism. I’m nervous because I’m doing all these new things but I know once we get into it more it’ll become easier. Our weekly news program airs on the local cable channel and I can’t wait to show my friends and family what I love to do.
Well now that you’re all filled in on what I do at school you can understand who I am a little more!
Until next time,
- kp
Monday, September 28, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Keeping it Diverse
Hello All! This week’s blog is all about diversity in the media. Yay! I know what you’re thinking, lame. But actually it is a very interested topic, and a topic we as viewers AND journalists should pay attention to. The world is made up so many different races, ethnic groups, age groups and much more. We should be representing them in our news. But the sad truth is, here in Halifax we are not. Our assignment was to watch a 1 hour news program and count how many minorities or diverse people were in the program.
I watched the Nova Scotia CBC news cast from 5:30 – 6:30. CBC is Canada’s own station, funded by tax dollars. I figured that this would be the newscast to include diversity. Boy, was I wrong. In the 1 hour of the program, CBC showed 2 people who were minorities. One of the two was a reporter for CBC, Darrell Kite. The second of the two was a black man, who was an employee of Nova Scotia Power. He was shown in a group shot, in the background. I forgot to mention the shot of a group of small children who were playing at a play ground, I guess they may be considered minorities.
Does anyone else feel that this is unacceptable? We as a nation are known as one of the most diverse countries in the world. We pride ourselves on being diverse, and yet we can’t represent that in our news programs? Is this because our news reporters are lazy, and can’t take a little extra time to find someone who isn’t middle aged and white? I don’t know about them, but I walk down any street in Halifax or Dartmouth and see a whole bunch of people who are of a minority.
So I feel like I should be ending this post with a solution, or on a positive note. But let’s face it, there really is not quick fix, and we can’t control what reporters do. But what we as viewers can do, is write in to your local station, express your concern. Complain people! Tell them that it isn’t a proper representation of our nation. Also, us up and coming journalists can change the way reports look. We can take the little bit of extra time and effort to represent all the different people that live around us.
Well folks, that’s my rant for the week,
Untill next week - KP
I watched the Nova Scotia CBC news cast from 5:30 – 6:30. CBC is Canada’s own station, funded by tax dollars. I figured that this would be the newscast to include diversity. Boy, was I wrong. In the 1 hour of the program, CBC showed 2 people who were minorities. One of the two was a reporter for CBC, Darrell Kite. The second of the two was a black man, who was an employee of Nova Scotia Power. He was shown in a group shot, in the background. I forgot to mention the shot of a group of small children who were playing at a play ground, I guess they may be considered minorities.
Does anyone else feel that this is unacceptable? We as a nation are known as one of the most diverse countries in the world. We pride ourselves on being diverse, and yet we can’t represent that in our news programs? Is this because our news reporters are lazy, and can’t take a little extra time to find someone who isn’t middle aged and white? I don’t know about them, but I walk down any street in Halifax or Dartmouth and see a whole bunch of people who are of a minority.
So I feel like I should be ending this post with a solution, or on a positive note. But let’s face it, there really is not quick fix, and we can’t control what reporters do. But what we as viewers can do, is write in to your local station, express your concern. Complain people! Tell them that it isn’t a proper representation of our nation. Also, us up and coming journalists can change the way reports look. We can take the little bit of extra time and effort to represent all the different people that live around us.
Well folks, that’s my rant for the week,
Untill next week - KP
Friday, September 11, 2009
Keeping an open mind!
Well there is a first time for everything I guess. This is a new world to me, I've never blogged before nor have I been very interested in reading blogs, but I'm going to give it a go!The world has become a digital place. The internet is booming and everyone wants a part of it. Blogging has become huge, anyone from your next door neighbour to your favourite celebrity has a blog. So today I am checking out some different blogs, just to get familiar and enjoy what people around the world have to say!
The first blog I checked out was on a website “hockeybuzz.com” where any and all hockey fans can blog about the NHL or just hockey in general. I clicked on a blog from a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, his name is Mike Augello. His blog for today was about two scouts who died in the tragic 9/11 disaster. Two LA Kings scouts were on United 175 which crashed into the north tower. His blog had an excerpt from a book describing an NHL coach’s memory of the tragic day. I very much enjoyed this blog, the writer was respectful and very informative. I learned from his post and it was relevant to the date.
I decided to really review and learn from blogs I should check out some different kinds. The next blog I decided to review is a very famous blogger, Perez Hilton. Perez is known for his blogging and has thousands of hits on his blog daily. I think we all secretly have checked out this blog once or twice. His blog is all about celebrity gossip, and it’s not always nice. I think one of the things that make Perez original is that he doesn’t always hide his distaste for some celebrities. Not all of his posts are mean, he does have some nice and uplifting stories, but people don’t really go on his site to hear happy news, they want gossip. My over all opinion of this blog was it is very entertaining, but most of the time inappropriate and not really credible.
Taylor Swift, who can say anything mean about her? She is cute, and sweet and an amazing musician. Her blog is on MySpace. Her latest post was from July (she must be busy!) and it’s thanking her fans for voting for her in the CMT awards. It’s just a personal blog which lets her fans know what she’s up to. Unlike the last two blogs I checked out, this is just a straight forward personal blog about her life, or just like an online diary! It wasn’t the most interesting blog to read, but it wasn’t horrible either. I think the kinds of blogs I enjoy most are ones about things in interested in, and not about a celebrities life.
So I’m starting to get used to this “blog” thing. This is my first time writing one, and to be honest I never really read blogs before. So next I stumbled upon (I seem to just type something into Google and find a blog that catches my eye) a blog titled “Stooped Figure at the Center of Afghan Storm” This was a very interesting blog. It’s about a British reporter who was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The blog isn’t by the man, whose name is Stephen Farrell but another journalist who met the man. Ferrell was captured with another colleague who was Afghani. When Ferrell was rescued, his colleague was already is dead, and the rescue group left his body behind. This enraged the afghans, they feel this shows there is better treatment toward western journalists then middle eastern. What an interesting blog! I enjoyed reading this blog, I hadn’t heard this story before and it is an amazing and tragic story of survival and death. I strongly encourage you to check out the story, http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/10/2062461.aspx Also at this site, it has other great blogs about world events.
The last blog I checked out was posted by the maker of “Shark Water” an award winning documentary about the defining of sharks around the world. The number of sharks in the world has dropped about 90% in 30 years. The blog is asking the public to help bring the movie to China, which is the largest consumer of shark fins. The Chinese have a popular dish, shark fin soup which actually translated in Chinese is “fish wing soup” Bringing awareness about the issue to China is huge! I fully support this movie, and fully support bringing it to China! Sharks are beautiful, magnificent creatures that many ecosystems depend on. What a great blog, knowing it was posted by the man who is traveling the world trying to save these creatures is an exciting thought! Check this out!! http://www.abandonfear.com/index.php/2009/04/18/bring-sharkwater-to-china/ Support it!!
Well reviewing these 5 blogs has helped me see what they are all about, and helped me see how popular blogs really are. You can find them anywhere about almost anything! Look forward to reading more, and writing my own! Until next time,KP
The first blog I checked out was on a website “hockeybuzz.com” where any and all hockey fans can blog about the NHL or just hockey in general. I clicked on a blog from a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, his name is Mike Augello. His blog for today was about two scouts who died in the tragic 9/11 disaster. Two LA Kings scouts were on United 175 which crashed into the north tower. His blog had an excerpt from a book describing an NHL coach’s memory of the tragic day. I very much enjoyed this blog, the writer was respectful and very informative. I learned from his post and it was relevant to the date.
I decided to really review and learn from blogs I should check out some different kinds. The next blog I decided to review is a very famous blogger, Perez Hilton. Perez is known for his blogging and has thousands of hits on his blog daily. I think we all secretly have checked out this blog once or twice. His blog is all about celebrity gossip, and it’s not always nice. I think one of the things that make Perez original is that he doesn’t always hide his distaste for some celebrities. Not all of his posts are mean, he does have some nice and uplifting stories, but people don’t really go on his site to hear happy news, they want gossip. My over all opinion of this blog was it is very entertaining, but most of the time inappropriate and not really credible.
Taylor Swift, who can say anything mean about her? She is cute, and sweet and an amazing musician. Her blog is on MySpace. Her latest post was from July (she must be busy!) and it’s thanking her fans for voting for her in the CMT awards. It’s just a personal blog which lets her fans know what she’s up to. Unlike the last two blogs I checked out, this is just a straight forward personal blog about her life, or just like an online diary! It wasn’t the most interesting blog to read, but it wasn’t horrible either. I think the kinds of blogs I enjoy most are ones about things in interested in, and not about a celebrities life.
So I’m starting to get used to this “blog” thing. This is my first time writing one, and to be honest I never really read blogs before. So next I stumbled upon (I seem to just type something into Google and find a blog that catches my eye) a blog titled “Stooped Figure at the Center of Afghan Storm” This was a very interesting blog. It’s about a British reporter who was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The blog isn’t by the man, whose name is Stephen Farrell but another journalist who met the man. Ferrell was captured with another colleague who was Afghani. When Ferrell was rescued, his colleague was already is dead, and the rescue group left his body behind. This enraged the afghans, they feel this shows there is better treatment toward western journalists then middle eastern. What an interesting blog! I enjoyed reading this blog, I hadn’t heard this story before and it is an amazing and tragic story of survival and death. I strongly encourage you to check out the story, http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/10/2062461.aspx Also at this site, it has other great blogs about world events.
The last blog I checked out was posted by the maker of “Shark Water” an award winning documentary about the defining of sharks around the world. The number of sharks in the world has dropped about 90% in 30 years. The blog is asking the public to help bring the movie to China, which is the largest consumer of shark fins. The Chinese have a popular dish, shark fin soup which actually translated in Chinese is “fish wing soup” Bringing awareness about the issue to China is huge! I fully support this movie, and fully support bringing it to China! Sharks are beautiful, magnificent creatures that many ecosystems depend on. What a great blog, knowing it was posted by the man who is traveling the world trying to save these creatures is an exciting thought! Check this out!! http://www.abandonfear.com/index.php/2009/04/18/bring-sharkwater-to-china/ Support it!!
Well reviewing these 5 blogs has helped me see what they are all about, and helped me see how popular blogs really are. You can find them anywhere about almost anything! Look forward to reading more, and writing my own! Until next time,KP
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
