Tag: The Miami Hurricane

SPJ Mark of Excellence national win and UWIRE 100 nod

SPJ Announces 2007 Mark of Excellence Award National Winners (announced Monday)

Online News Reporting
• National Winner: Greg Linch & The Miami Hurricane Staff, University of Miami, “The Presidential Forum at UM”

Thanks to everyone who worked on that package, getting everything posted within a few short hours. Congrats!

  • Karyn Meshbane, news editor/liveblogger/videographer
  • Erica Landau, reporter
  • Marissa Gutherz, photo editor
  • Holly Max, photographer
  • Matt Wallach, assistant multimedia editor
  • Nicole Alibayof, videographer
  • Anthony Minverva, videographer

Also this week: UWIRE, a university news service, made public today their list of top 100 student journalists in the country:

UWIRE 100

Newspaper adviser Bob Radziewicz and journalism professor Sam Terilli nominated me for this honor I greatly appreciate their kind words. Also, thanks to journalism professor Chris Delboni and news editor Karyn Meshbane for the recommendations they sent.

See what they wrote here.

Congratulations to the other winners, especially:

And congrats to another UM student who received a nod, Dan Kaslow (UWIRE page).

Also see

UWIRE 100 – Megan Taylor

What’s the best video equipment for a student paper’s first purchase?

(Preface: It’s not about the technology. It’s about the story and how you tell it. Technology is just a tool.)

Kevin Koehler, contributing editor at the Wake Forest Old Gold & Black, asked a question via Twitter Tuesday evening:

kev097 Need to recommend HD camcorder for newspaper today. Probably going with hard drive. Suggestions on models, accessories, research?

Kyle Hansen (TheSpartanDaily.com editor at San Jose State), Kevin and I discussed ideas via Twitter and I volunteered to post the equipment The Miami Hurricane plans to purchase before next fall:

  • Canon HV20 a mini-DV, HD video camera (2) [should we get the HV30 instead?]
  • Canon BP2L14 battery (2)
  • Rode shotgun microphone (2)
  • Sennheiser Evolution G2 EW100 wireless mic combo kit (1) [looks like this this has been discontinued from B&H]

    • Includes EW100 G2 Combo System, EW100 G2 Lavalier System, ENG Handheld Microphone, Storage Case and Cables
  • Hosa MIT-156 XLR to mini connector (1)
  • EH 150 supra-aural closed back stereo headphones (2)
  • Sunpak 7001DX tripod (2)
    • Three-way pan/tilt head with quick release
  • Tiffen 43mm UV filter (2)

This year we have primarily used Flip video cameras after starting off with point-and-shoots (Matt Bunch and I). These have worked OK, but the big problem was audio. The best quality videos came when we checked out equipment from the School of Communication.

And I’ve used my HV20, which I bought during spring break, for the paper. For example, a video of the PD press conference after a student died on campus:


(This is the pretty one the assistant multimedia editor, Matt Wallach, edited. Here is the quick-and-dirty version I posted right after the press conference, sans b-roll. I miked the chief with a lav.)

I love my HV20. It’s not perfect, but it does everything I need.

More about video: Newspaper Video – Yahoo! Groups

Weigh in: What video equipment does your organization use? What do you think about The Hurricane’s planned list?

Editor term comes to an end

It’s over. One year. Fifty issues. Many, many great memories.

Monday’s issue was my last as editor in chief of The Miami Hurricane. We made great strides forward this year in print and online, and I can’t wait until our new Web site debuts in August (yes, I still need to do an update post on this).

I’d like to thank all of this year’s editors for their hard work and wish those who are graduating the best of luck.

For the continuing and new editors, keep on rockin’ the news — you guys are going to do great things. Here’s the new staff list:

Editor in Chief
Matthew Bunch (moving up from sports editor and blogmaster)

Visuals Editor
Shayna Blumenthal

News Editor
Chelsea Kate Isaacs (promoted from assistant news)

Assistant News Editors
Erika Capek (promoted from staff news writer)
Edward Fishman (promoted from contributing news writer)

Opinion Editor
Joshua Newman (new)

EDGE Editor
Dan Buyanovsky (continuing in position)

Sports Editor
Pravin Patel (promoted from assistant sports editor)

Assistant Sports Editor
Christina Di Nicola (promoted from senior sports writer)

Photography Editor
Chelsea Matiash (promoted from assistant photo editor)

Assistant Photo Editor
Steve Root (promoted from staff photographer)

Webmaster
Brian Schlansky (continuing)

Multimedia Editor
Ryan Ondriezek (continuing)

Assistant Multimedia Editor
TBD

Copy Desk Chief
Nate Harris (promoted from copy editor)

I’m still undecided on what my role with the paper will be next year, but I plan to do something with online and multimedia. For one, Brian Schlansky and I will be working on the new site during the summer and beyond.

Now, back to working on a final project and (trying) to study for my two finals.

CommTogether right now, over…journalism

I’m a student in the School of Communication at the University of Miami, but you would think that the various journalism programs (print, broadcast and visual) speak different languages sometimes from the lack of collaboration that is present.

Yes, there have been several notable successes — and I’ve been lucky to be in three classes this year that focus on convergence (In-depth reporting for convergent media, online journalism and interactive storytelling) — but the level of cooperation is still not where it should be.

I kept all this is mind while devising a new final project for my CNJ 442 online journalism class, after the first plan regarding the new TheMiamiHurricane.com didn’t work out a planned.

The result is a social networking site the class is developing using Ning:

CommTogether

The general idea came to me one night as I was chatting online with Hurricane Visuals Editor Will Wooten (check out his recent site redesign). Regarding the group name, which I love, credit goes to Kiersten Schmidt.

Here are details from the CNJ 442 proposal that I drafted and the class helped refine:

Goals

  • Bring together in one forum the three journalism programs at the University of Miami School of Communication: print, broadcast and visual
  • Recruit students, faculty, staff, alumni and prospective students
  • Begin a conversation about the future of school’s journalism programs
  • Conceptualize collaborative projects for classes, students, media outlets, etc.
  • Take ideas and turn them into reality

Elements

  • Profile pages: students, faculty, administrators
  • Groups: programs, classes, projects, media
  • Feeds: blogs, news, etc.
  • Photos and videos
  • Blogs: internal
  • Comments

Action plan

  • Discuss and decide on name for group (complete)
  • Create network (complete)
  • Create profile pages (complete)
  • Create groups within network: programs, classes, media, organizations, etc.
  • Invite/recruit students, professors, administrators, staff, alumni and prospective students (in progress)
  • Table in the SoC courtyard
  • Solicit ideas from everyone regarding the future of curriculum, organizations
  • Conceptualize possible collaboration projects, way to converge
  • Maintain the discussion
  • Continue to recruit new group members

UPDATE: I forgot one very important reason for this site:

Students should have a voice in the development of curriculum.

Weigh in: Any suggestions/ideas for this site?

College Content Management social network

Last Saturday night I created a social networking site using Ning called College Content Management.
I’ve seen the power of Wired Journalists and NextNewsroom during the past few months and those served as my inspiration.
The idea floated around my head for a few weeks, but it was not realized until after I talked with Megan Taylor, online managing editor at The Alligator and Kevin Koehler, contributing editor (basically the online editor) at the Old Gold & Black at the NextNewsroom conference last week.
We talked extensively about each of our content management systems:
It became clear to me that there’s a desire among Web editors to share ideas, and gripe about their CMSes and, the day before I flew back home, the group was born.
The slogan: Because we all have to deal with a CMS.
The description: Do you have a Web site for your student media organization? “Yes.” Mine does too. We should work together.
So, come one, come all student journalists, editors, advisers and anyone else who uses or manages a university/college news site.
And be sure to spread the word. I plan to start searching the Web for online editors’ e-mail addresses to invite them, but any help would be much appreciated.