A Visit to Morning TV Land

Rachael Faust, promotion coordinator for KGAN/KFXA speaks to Mount Mercy students April 26.

I unfortunately didn’t take her photograph or write down her name (since I didn’t write down anything), but for me a highlight of a tour of KGAN CBS2/KFXA Fox28 in Cedar Rapids was a chat with a news producer.

She explained that her job is mostly to write—and it  highlighted a message I often tell students. In any media work—journalism, PR, web, etc.—there are always writers.

In TV, there are many people behind the scenes who make the programs happen.

MMU CO 120 class tours TV studio. Can you spot the news anchor?

KGAN/KFXA kindly hosted a tour by my Introduction to Journalism class from Mount Mercy on April 26. Rachael Faust, the stations’ promotion coordinator, was our guide. Along the way, morning anchor Kelly D’Ambrosio and morning reporter Stephanie Johnson also chatted with the class.

News Anchor Kelly D'Ambrosio talks in TV studio.

It was, I hope, an eye opening visit for students. For one thing, even a small market TV station is a pretty substantial operation, and that spells opportunity for the motivated student. For another thing, if they listened as I did, they heard many pieces of advice that echo messages Joe has said before: For instance, learn all the media basic skills you can. Know InDesign, PhotoShop and basic video editing. In any communication career, flexible, basic skills are important. That was one message Rachael spoke about.

It was also interesting to speak to all several people whose days begin at 3:30 a.m. New Anchor Kelly was just back from lunch at 10 a.m. when she spoke with my class.

A TV studio looks a little like your crazy Uncle Ed's attic.

It was an interesting tour, and I’m glad that local media companies are willing to allow my students to poke around a bit.

And in a recycling bin in the news studio, I had to show several students the discarded scrips. They were done in split format, video on the left, audio on the right, what is meant to be spoken in ALL CAPS.

It looked just like the format students are using for their current video stories.

Fun with the green wall--Logan, above, and Connor, below, at TV studio.

Seeing the Gazette Again in its New, Old Home

Zack Kucharski, executive editor of The Gazette, speaks with MMU students Thursday.

He wasn’t unexpected—in fact I invited him—but Donald Trump’s appearance wasn’t entirely welcome.

Each spring, my Introduction to Journalism class from Mount Mercy University visits several sites. Thursday was our annual Gazette visit. I usually bike there, but drove this year due to cool, wet weather. We were hosted by Zack Kucharski, executive editor. In addition, we spoke with from Diana Nollen, arts and entertainment writer, and observed a daily meeting of other editors.

In the past, we’ve toured the building and then sat down with Zack and some members of his staff—but The Gazette recently sold KCRG and moved back into its old building, so there is a bit less to see on a tour. No matter, we saw and heard plenty while staying in one room. Zack gave very informative opening remarks. Then Diana came in and shared some anecdotes from her career.

Zack has been with the paper for 16 years, so has quite a memory, but Diana’s history dates back to the year I graduated from college and got my first full-time job as a sports editor for a daily paper in Missouri—1982.

As always, she had interesting anecdotes to share about singers and other celebrities she has interviewed, and some reporting tips for students, such as go ahead and record interviews, but never depend on a recorder. You always need to take notes.

Zack pointed out that you often need those notes not just for when the sound or recording fails, but also to explain the recording—maybe you’ll capture audio of a source saying “this project here is my most complicated work,” and you need the notes to know what she was pointing to when she said “this.”

From www.newseum.org,
 front page of today's paper.

After an interesting chat, the students were allowed to sit in on the morning editors’ news budget meeting. The lively give-and-take was great for students to observe. Afterwards, one of the editors mentioned that things often change in the news business, and it would be a good idea for students to check the Gazette this morning to see how it had evolved from what was discussed.

As it happened, this was not one of those days when a lot changed after the meeting—yet it was kind of cool over my cereal and banana nut bread breakfast this morning to flip through the paper and think, “I remember when they spoke about this story.”

After the meeting, students had an additional chance to ask questions. I posted one to Zack abut Donald Trump—partly, I think, the fact that his campaign manager was charged with assaulting a reporter put the man on my mind, but mostly it’s because Trump supporters seem so deeply distrustful of all the news media.

Zack agreed that the Trump phenomenon represents a challenge to journalists—and a sign that building and keeping trust with the audience is a growing issue. He seemed a bit surprised and taken aback by the whole Trump thing, but I kind of share that same reaction.

Someone shot this man in Reno, just to
watch me cry. commons.wikimedia.org, image of
Trump from Reno, 20156, posted by
Darron Birgenheier on flickr.

Sadly, I neither recorded nor took notes on his thoughtful response, which I should have because it would make this blog post a bit more meaningful.

Anyway, it was, as always, an entertaining visit. I’ve spoken with several students from the class after the fact, and they all seemed to enjoy the visit, too. One of the better writers from the class was just in my office, and, like, me, she really enjoyed sitting in on the meeting, even if she didn’t imagine an action movie. As a class, we’ll debrief at out next session.

So, thanks, once again, Gazette and Zack and Diana. It was fun!

Struggling to Name That Series

Images on this post from National Park Service.

At Mount Mercy University, we’re getting a minor lesson in the importance of names. In an earlier post, I wrote of my disdain for the president of Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland—and recently, a fellow faculty member at my university posted a link to a news story reporting that the embattled president of Mount St. Mary’s has been drowned and shot with a Glock. Or something like that.

Right away, one of his Facebook friends posted: “Oh No! I had no idea this was going on at your university.” (That’s a paraphrase, by the way, despite the punctuation for effect.)

Well, it was neither my friend’s university nor mine. Although both the Maryland university where the controversy rages and the Iowa university where I teach are Catholic and use the word “Mount” in their name, they are totally different schools—different places, different cultures, different presidents and differing in attitude, apparently, about the appropriateness of drowning or shooting freshman bunnies.

It was ironic to me that, when looking up news stories about the Maryland University while I was working on the earlier post, the ads that Google placed on my page were for Mount Mercy University, my school. Maybe name confusion isn’t that surprising.

Anyway, the school that I do teach at, MMU, has an annual Fall Faculty Series that I volunteered to coordinate. This is our third series: The first in 2014 was about the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I; the second in 2015 was about the 50th and 40th anniversaries of the first big U.S. troop surge in Vietnam, and the end of that war.

You can partly thank Donald Trump, or Drumpf as I prefer to think of him (thank you, John Oliver): In this current election year, immigration is a hot topic. We are planning a series of panels and presentations on the cultural meaning of immigration—how people of the U.S. have responded to the reality that most of us are descendants of immigrations, and yet as a culture we often don’t welcome new outsiders.

“Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses … as long as they aren’t Muslim and we know exactly what’s going on,” or something like that.

Anyway, the Sisters of Mercy, who founded MMU and have nothing to do with that other Mount on the East Coast, identify “immigration” as one of their critical social concerns.

Although I’m sure our series will reference the current heated political debate, that’s not really the point. We want to think a bit more about what immigration has meant and does mean in American culture.

And to do that, we need to name this thing.

At the first planning meeting, those who attended wanted to talk first about the vision of the series, which is, I think, a good discussion to have.

Here is my stab at a vision statement for the series: “The United States has always been a land that drew people from many cultures and countries. During waves of immigration in the 19th Century the idea of America as the ‘melting pot’ formed, but this metaphor implies giving up a cultural heritage for a new identity. For some groups and people, it’s not that easy to assimilate, and some suggest a mosaic or a salad—many distinct parts making a whole—as more inclusive symbols of the U.S.A. And there are those who lived here before the settlers, pioneers and slaves flooded onto these shores—Native Americans didn’t have to go anywhere for an immigrant nation to overtake their lands. What does immigration mean? What is the journey narrative of the peoples of the U.S.A., and how do we respond to and understand immigration? The 2016 Mount Mercy University Fall Faculty Series will examine these questions about the American experience.”

There is nothing official about that vision statement—it’s just my current thinking, my personal draft. I post it here mostly so you, dear blog reader, can understand when I ask you to “name that series” just what the series is.

Anyway, faculty, students and staff at the first meeting did have some ideas for names. What do you think? What should we call this series? Some of our initial ideas:

• “Who are the Americans? The U.S. Immigration Experience.”
• “Immigration America: Shunning or Embracing the Huddled Masses.”
• “I am America: U.S. Immigration Experience.”
• “U.S.A.: Immigrant Melting Pot or Mosaic?”
• “Strangers to our Shores: The U.S. Immigration Story.”
• “Building Walls And Building Bridges: The U.S. Immigration Experience.”

I’m not sure that’s an all-inclusive list, and at this point I welcome new ideas. But, I would like to get a name for this series soon.

Please chime in, as long as your ideas have neither bunnies nor Glocks in them.

Saying Goodbye to Scout

From New York Times, publisher's image of covers of Harper Lee's two novels.

If Truman Capote was the model for Dill, that would make Harper Lee Jean Louise Finch.

Well, goodbye, Scout. You lived life on your own terms. In an era of self-aggrandizing celebrity, it’s nice to recall a successful writer who preferred a more graceful, private life. From the obituaries I’ve read, you were not Boo Radley—you were never holed up, away from the world, you were not a recluse—but you preferred not to deal endlessly with reporters.

From New York Times:
Donald Uhbrock/The LIFE Images Collection,
via Getty Images, Lee and her dad, 1961.

I was a reporter, once, and I’m glad I was never assigned to do a story about you. But then again, you did media interviews in the wake of publishing “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and some time in the 1960s decided it was enough.

As a journalist, I almost feel guilty saying it. But, good for you.

Your second book did not touch me as your first one did. And I know some school kids forced to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” in class don’t enjoy it much. But for me, it was one of the defining books of my childhood.

It was a book I read that I did not have to read. And as a boy, I was quickly smitten by Scout.

There is something about a strong, fearless, honest female voice.

Last night, not knowing that sad news would come today from Alabama, I watched “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” for the first time—not the movie, but the first few episodes of the late 1990s TV show.

Man, it’s odd to look back at 1996. The “net” was something cool and new that a computer hacker used, but not a librarian. Factually, I think that’s false—I was using the net in a university library in 1989—but it’s still an interesting cultural artifact of its time.

Most of all, I was surprised at how much I liked Buffy. There’s a wry sense of humor there, a cute snide commentary on what life in a high school or a California town is “like” even if no town is actually a Hell Mouth.

While Buffy isn’t exactly Scout, and the librarian isn’t exactly Atticus Finch, I do see some parallels.

Most of all, tough girls rule.

We’ll miss you, Harper Lee, even if we’ll also always have you. Maybe only one of your books will be of enduring fame, but then again, what a book. Life was slower then. Yet, when we want to, we can always get back to Maycomb.

The View from This Mount

Have you been following the case of The Mountain Echo? The student newspaper at Mount St. Mary’s University reported that President Simon Newman initiated a plan for the Maryland Catholic college to boost its ratings in some college rankings by getting rid of some academically challenged freshmen early in the fall. Read all about it in The Washington Post and NewYork Times.

If the bunny can't jump, shoot it.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
by David Sedlecký.

The paper reported that Newman said this when faculty, and the university provost, objected to his plans: “This is hard for you because you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can’t. You just have to drown the bunnies…put a Glock to their heads.”

As Patricia McGuire wrote in The Chronicle of Higher Education, that’s neither an attitude nor action once expects at a Catholic college that has any understanding of its mission.

The storm of controversy is just now rising. The Washington Post reports that it has confirmed the quote reported by The Echo. In the meantime, the provost at Mount St. Mary’s and two professors, including the paper’s advisor, have been sacked.

I’m a professor, and college newspaper advisor, at a Catholic University. I’m proud to say that I can’t imagine a president at Mount Mercy University calling upon us to drown any freshmen—symbolically or not—and that the culture at MMU is supportive of a vibrant student press.

The attitude of the administration at any university, public or private, is important in maintaining an authentic campus media voice, and at many colleges student newspapers are shrinking or disappearing.

True, I am not an insider at Mount St. Mary’s, and I’m sure there is more to the story. They don’t ask me who to keep and who to fire there or anywhere, nor do I get to vote on the wisdom of the board at a private university choosing a business person to run the university. (A business leader at a university and badly made remark about guns or shooting—anything like that ever happen in Iowa? Nah ….)

But then again, how much more can there possibly be to the story. “You just have to drown the bunnies?”

Some students, true, will sink rather than swim in any academic environment, and every student has the right to fail. But I can’t imagine working at a college that thinks it’s a good idea to strategically crush a set of student’s dreams in order to improve the college’s ranking in some ratings. Nor would I want to be associated with a place that would fire a student media advisor for allowing students to fulfill their role.

Echo logo, from the paper's web site.

I say, don’t drown the bunnies. Don’t put a glock to anybody’s head. But, in this case, I hope Simon Newman involuntarily says “so long” at Mount St. Mary’s soon.

Not all Catholic colleges are institutionally or culturally like this. I doubt many are. And, I feel a bit sad that the offending institution is both Catholic and has “Mount” in its name.

It seems nothing like the Mount I know and love in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

ICMA report 4: Observations on Students and Media

Panel of student journalists who worked with Iowa Watch on caucus night--from Iowa State University, Buena Vista University and Simpson College. They might be, right to left, Alex, Kiley, Zach, Brittany and Michelle. Or perhaps they are in some other oder.

Well, they are young, most of them. And they use media differently.

For example, there were free piles of “The Des Moines Register” readily available, but I saw few college students walking around with them at the Iowa College Media Association convention, held in conjunction with and hosted by the Iowa Newspaper Association convention.

Cell phone use. Bet my picture is better.

At ICMA/INA sessions, when something cool happened, mostly you saw cell phones taken out to snap photos or video. I saw at least one BVU student with an SLR camera, but it seems like my generation is the one more likely to use a camera. Not that old people don't take images with an iPhone, I just noted what I think was a trend as a lugged around my Nikon.

Several Friday, Feb. 4 sessions at ICMA featured advice for student journalists and/or shop talk from them. And even if it would give an old man some comfort to see these youths actually looking at a newspaper, I can take some solace in the quality of their anecdotes.

They care about journalism and think deeply about it.

A one session, Lyle Muller of Iowa Watch invited a panel of reporters who had covered the Iowa Caucuses to speak. Iowa Watch did a project on the caucuses, and two of my students took part. See their posts here and here.

Ahh! Justice! I think that's the name
of the BVU student with the camera.

Anyway, Michelle Hartmann, who I think was from Simpson College, described what it was like to have the Secret Service move you at a Ben Carson rally. I noted that when the Secret Service moves you, you do move. Muller added that you also don’t move until they do move you. “Your instincts (to get on some stairs for a better photo angle) were right,” Muller told Hartmann.

I hope I have the names right. I know Lyle, so I’m pretty sure about him, but there were five panelists from three colleges, and although I wrote their names down from a “names” slide, they were not sitting in the order they were listed. So Michelle might have been Brittany and Brittany/Michelle might have been from Buena Vista University. At least only one student was from ISU!

Lyle Muller is Iowa Watching you.

To me, the irony of my name confusion is that the session with Muller came right after a session on reporting basics by Brian Steffen, professor at Simpson College, spoke to ICMA about how easy it is to get basic facts confused when you report. As I like to warn my own students—get the information right when it’s in front of you. Don’t assume you can check it later. True, that’s advice that I should have followed.

A photographer who was moved by the Secret Service.

Anyway, back to Muller. Brittany Robb from BVU, or possible Michelle, said that covering the caucus night was a lesson in “being prepared for the last thing you would expect.”

That, I think, sums up a lot of what journalism is. In addition, as Steffen said in the previous session, you must verify information. Again, as Robb or someone else said: “Take anything you hear from a candidate with a large grain of salt.”

As Muller pointed out, that’s because a politician is trying to persuade, to sell an action. They are not trying to win the truth-telling contest.

Anyway, I have no way to fact-checking this. It’s just my personal impression, which makes it more blogging than journalism. I sensed enthusiasm at ICMA for basic shoe leather reporting. And I think the students who joined the Iowa Watch effort really gained from that experience, and not just the ones who spoke at ICMA.

As I noted earlier, two of my students wrote caucus accounts for Iowa Watch. Later, versions of their stories will appear in the MMU Times. While it’s great to write for the Times—MMU students, any of you who want to be in a communication-related field should do that—I’m sure the thrill of seeing your mug on the Iowa Watch site is a bit more of a rush then when it appears in the Times.

And it does give me pleasure to work with bright young people (and some not so young) who still seek that rush.

Brian Steffen at the earlier session. The pride of Simpson College.

ICMA report 3: Tears in the morning

Chris Norton delivers Iowa Newspaper Association Kickoff Address (ironic name) Feb. 5 in Des Moines, I was there for the Iowa College Media Association meeting.

At the advisor’s lunch meeting, one of the DMACC people commented: “I didn’t expect to be crying by 9:30 a.m.”

For me, that wasn’t completely true. I didn’t really tear up until about 9:50.

Chris Norton gave a powerful morning speech as the first session of the Iowa News Paper Association/Iowa College Media Association Friday events Feb. 5 in Des Moines. He spoke about his experiences losing sensation and mobility below his neck during a 2010 Luther College football game.

Norton, a freshman, sprinted across the field to tackle an opponent on a kickoff return. He says he dove a fraction of a second too early. The opponent’s knee met his head. And, as Norton describes it, it was like a switch was thrown: nothing below the neck—no sensations at all.

He kept telling the trainers he would be up in a minute. In fact, it took months of effort before he could get into a wheelchair.

Norton is better, now, but not fully recovered. He uses a wheelchair to get around, although he can take steps with assistance. He uses his arms and hands to move his wheelchair.

When did I tear up? It was near the end. Norton spoke about many of the ordeals that he went through, but also the good things that happened to him since the injury He managed to walk to receive his Luther College diploma in 2015. He has written a book with his father and has established a foundation that has raised close to $500,000 to aid people with disabilities. He met, and proposed to, his fiancé.

“If I could go back and change that play, I wouldn’t,” he said. Cue waterworks.

Chris Norton

Along his journey, Norton described two contrasting doctors. When he was feeling very down early in his long hospital stay, a woman named Dr. Georgia knelt down by his bed to get to his level and said : “Look me in the eyes.”

Norton says he wasn’t sure what was coming. “I’m from Wyoming, and people from Wyoming don’t lie,” Dr. Georgia told him, staring him in the face. “You will beat this.”

“It was just what I needed to hear,” Norton said. He urged us to be the “Dr. Georgia” for others in our lives, to encourage when we can—and avoid being the other doctor he called “Dr. Phantom.”

One day, lying in his hospital bed, Norton felt an “exposed” chill in his left big toe. He was very excited and reported the sensation to his doctor, who acted pretty unimpressed, and explained that people with spinal cord injuries often have phantom sensations, and that sensation was what Norton was feeling.

The explanation devastated Norton. However, weeks later, Norton was able to prove Dr. Phantom wrong. Over time, the sensation in his toe increased, and he was finally able to wiggle it. His father didn’t know the toe news, but had developed the habit of giving Norton’s feet “pep talks.”

That Thanksgiving Day, Norton asked his dad to give his left foot a pep talk. “Sure,” his dad said, and leaned over. A few seconds into the talk, Norton wiggled his toe at his dad.

Talk about shock and awe.

Norton, with his dad,
chats with INA attendees after his speech.

Anyway, after hearing Norton, my pile of J-term grading that’s overdue, the many preps and quizzes to write for next week—they don’t seem so onerous or burdensome. Each day is a gift, each challenge a chance to find my better self.

Now I’m writing like a motivation speaker. It’s not what I am—but given the choice, I would sure rather be Dr. Georgia than Dr. Phantom.