Amy Parks Blog #3

So far I have not made any progress on my interview paper, I have not even started but I have started it and I plan to do the interview either in person or over the phone depending on the person I chose. I plan to do either a journalism professor at Mizzou or someone else within the j community. Also I think it will help expand my understanding of journalism careers in general because right now I am not entirely sure what I would like to do within journalism so this could help narrow it down for me. I plan to ask them how they got started in their profession, what made them choose to enter the field they are in, and what the benefits and flaws are to the job. Also what they recommend in reference to today and what I can do to be prepared for the job market and what I can do to really stand out. I hope to gain a better understand of the type of individual I need to be in order to be competitive in the job marker and also what benefits such professions could have on the impact of my life. I don’t have any questions about the assignment. 

Final Project - Sophie Newman

I have thought about this project, but I have not come up with a concrete person of who I plan to interview yet, although I have a few ideas.  My mom works in politics and has many colleagues in the public relations field.  I have not yet contacted someone yet, but I hope to do a phone interview with someone working in this field.  I want to ask them what exactly they do, and what type of hours they work.  I am concerned that I could not handle some types of journalism majors because of the fast paced lifestyle.  I also plan to ask them questions regarding how they found their job, and what pathways they took to get there, during college as well as post college.  I believe this will be helpful as I am planning on majoring in Strategic Communications through the Journalism school, and would love to learn more about it.  If this does not work out I plan to contact a professor of Strategic Communications here at Mizzou and set up an interview.  I am fascinated by this public relations and advertising sequence, although I am not exactly sure what type of career it could result in.  I think this project will be especially useful in helping me to see what type of profession I could possibly end up in. 

Sophie Newman 

Final Project Blog - Sarah Walsh

I’m going to be very honest here and say that I haven’t thought about this paper since the last FIG class. With Thanksgiving and classes, it flew straight out of my head. I think I can probably get one of my editors at the Maneater to sit down and chat with me, since many of them work or intern at for-real publications during the summertime. Ideally I’ll interview Kari Paul, my Arts & Entertainment editor, who worked at Ms. Magazine last summer. I’ll probably do so within the next week, since after this Sunday my life will be all finals, all the time.

I hope that interviewing Kari will give me a better idea of what it’s like to be an actual professional in the field of journalism, not just a student who writes a story or two every other week. I feel like there’s a huge disconnect between student journalism and professional journalism, mostly because of time issues – between homework and classes, writing for the Maneater is actually quite low on my list of Things I Actually, Legitimately Need To Do. I’m interested to learn what it’s like to have it at the top.

As for questions:

1. 1)   Can you tell me a little about the work environment at a professional news publication? How is it different from the environment here at The Maneater?
2. 2)   What kind of work can someone just entering the field expect to do at first?
3. 3)   What do you like most about your job? Dislike?
4. 4)   What is the most strange or interesting experience you’ve ever had in journalism?

Overall, I think this interview will help me develop a clearer and more realistic picture of what real-world journalism is like, and hopefully be a good indicator of whether or not it’s right for me.

Interview Paper- Andi Kaufman

The Interview Paper that was assigned to our FIG class has brought about much curiosity in regard to  what a person who is actually working as a Broadcast Journalist experiences on a day to day basis.  So far, I have not completed the interview, as am I still pondering who I will choose to question.  I know there are plenty of sources available to me on campus, as well as there are several people from my home town whom I know I could receive information from.  As of right now, however, I am trying to decide who will give me the most information in regards to all of my questions.  I plan to first and foremost ask what a typical life in the day of a Broadcast Journalist is.  If this is going to be something I will be doing for the rest of my life, I think I should become familiar with the routine.  I also want to ask about their journey to journalism.  Right now, I have faced several bumps, becoming unsure of my every move and motive.  When talking with an actual Broadcast Journalist, I plan to ask if this was the case for them too, and if journalism was something they had always dreamt of doing.  Finally, I hope to talk to them about their greatest struggle so far in the field of journalism.  Understanding that the field is extremely competitive, I know that this question could give great insight in the challenges a journalist faces. 

From this interview, I hope to familiarize myself with the life of a Broadcast Journalist.  I want to know about the before, the during, and the after.  Right now I currently find myself in the before phase, so I am eager to hear from someone who has been through all three.  With this project, we are encouraged to reach out to someone whom we would not normally be in contact with, or at least, those are the circumstances I will be facing.  I find this to be great practice for the future, for in the field of journalism, it is nearly an everyday matter to be in contact with people.  As for right now, I am anxious to get insight into what could be my own future.  

Emelia Patterson, Blog Post #4

I'm planning on interviewing Dick Johnson, who is a co-anchor for NBC 5 television news in Chicago. He came to speak to my journalism class at my high school a couple of years ago, and he offered good insight into the hectic but rewarding life of a broadcast journalist. I've contacted him by e-mail and we have yet to schedule our interview. I believe that speaking to him would offer me more information about the area of journalism that I want to possibly enter. I want to ask what the hardest and easiest parts of being a reporter are, and I also want to know, realistically, what the demands for the job are. I also want to ask about salary and if and how reporters can move up the corporate ladder once they start working.
If I'm not able to speak with Mr. Johnson, a family friend of mine, Chris Chulumovich, is involved with public relations for many companies and regularly posts press releases. Strategic communication is another area of journalism that I've become interested in, so I feel as though it'd be worthwhile to talk to him about possible career opportunities in that area of study. Sometimes I feel as though I have a difficult time interviewing successfully, and I believe that getting involved with public relations and advertising could hold some promise for me. I'm going home for the weekend this coming weekend, and I have plans to meet up with Mr. Chulumovich to talk about public relations so that I'm able to understand more of how that business works. I would ask him what the salary is expected to be for a student right out of college, and I would also ask him how he feels about his job, because enjoying your job is a big part of career satisfaction. Again, like with broadcast, I would like to realistically know the demands of the jobs involved with strategic communication. I would ask questions such as :
-Are there strict deadlines?
- Is it a high pressure situation?
-How do you juggle your job with other aspects of your life?
-Do you find your job rewarding?
-What are your least and most favorite parts of your job?
-Do you consider what you do a job or a career?
-Is it difficult to make a name for yourself in this field?

I hope to gain a greater insight into these jobs, and learning more about strategic communication could also further my decision about which sequence I would like to major in.

Emelia Patterson

Final Project Blog- Sara Fox

For my final paper, I am planning to interview one of the professors that specializes in broadcast journalism, because that is the profession that I am most interested in at this point in time. I already have some questions prepared for when I find someone to interview, and hopefully they will be able to see me and answer these questions for me. Because I have not found anyone to interview at the moment, my paper is nowhere near being done, but I have been able to find a focus for when I write my paper, so after I get an interview writing the paper should go a lot faster. Some of the questions I'm thinking of asking is what made them want to study broadcast journalism, did they ever have doubts about their profession, what kind of job opportunities are available for people with this kind of degree, do they enjoy the kind of work they are doing, and what is the greater good that their job does for other people. These are the kinds of questions that I'm working with having them answer and hopefully will allow me to see if this is the kind of path that I want to take with my degree. I hope that I can gain insight to what my life could be like in 4 or 5 years after I have graduated with my degree, and if I like the way the picture that they put in my mind with what can be done with my degree. I also hope they can help me decide the best way to plan out the rest of my college years so that I will be able to get the best experience out of my years and graduate with the degree that will get me to my dream job.

Final Post-Jennifer Heck

            My progress with the final project is not too far. I believe I am going to do an e-mail interview with a nurse in Des Moines, IA. I hope this person will give me insight to the details of her job, so I can decide if a nurse is what I really would like to be. Some of the questions I plan to ask include:

1)      What college did you attend?

2)     What route did you take to become a nurse?

3)     What is your favorite part about your job?

4)     What courses did you struggle with in college?

5)     What is the hardest part of your job?

I hope to gain knowledge on the job skills required to be a nurse. Also, I hope to learn the pros and cons of the job. Interviewing a person in the nursing field will give me an inside look at the job of a nurse, it won’t just give me facts like doing a research paper would. I am learning one’s opinion about the job of a nurse.

Jennifer Heck