Quote of the Week

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones that you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

This quote really expresses the way I feel about a big event coming up in my life in just one short week. Wow, is this real? I am graduating from the University of Missouri with a double degree in Broadcast Journalism and Sociology in just...one...week. I never thought this day would come. May 15th, 2010 has been sitting on the far away horizon for four years now and after countless adventures made here in Columbia, my time is finally coming to an end. It is easy to be sad and scared about the future. However, my recipe for success when starting a new chapter in my life is optimistic excitement. I realize how lucky I am to look back on my four years at Mizzou and know that I am ready to start a new part of my life as a young, working adult.

My college experience has been unmatchable. I definitely lived life to the fullest these past four years. I have formed a lasting circle of friendships and relationships that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I have gained academic as well as real life experience in a wide variety of subjects. I have traveled and seen countries, places, people and events that I will never forget. I have countless memories of studying, partying, relaxing, running, laughing, crying, thinking, growing, losing, winning and celebrating. But most of all, I have matured into the young woman that I wanted to become. I know my priorities. I appreciate my personal strengths and weaknesses. I love and I am grateful for my family and my friends who surround and support me. I have a passion for service. I will always love learning. I am ready to start a career in the real world and begin a successful journey in communications. And most of all, I will always be a tiger. Thanks Mizzou for giving me everything that a college graduate needs, now its my turn to explore, dream and discover my next adventure. : )

Media Giraffe Project

After finishing my preliminary research on Andrew Breitbart for the media giraffe project, I was ready to contact him for an interview. I first contacted his website through an email form and sent him a facebook message as well since I could not find any phone information. I was very nervous due his busy schedule and journalism celebrity status. However, after patiently waiting a few days I received a phone call from him and we were able to connect for an interview. I caught him at the perfect time the very next day and he spent an hour on the phone with me answering all of my questions. We had a very unique and extremely interesting conversation. I am so excited I was able to learn more about him and his journalism endeavors through this project. He is quite the passionate innovator who is definitely taking the bull by the horns when it comes to opportunities for growth in our world of new media. I am interested to see how his role in our industry grows and develops over the next few years. Breitbart will have a significant impact on the news as we know it and I am confident in his entrepreneurial aspirations in our ever-changing business.

Here is the final draft of my media profile on Andrew Breitbart. Enjoy!

Andrew Breitbart---big thinker, big innovator, multimedia journalist. Born and raised in Los Angeles he attended Brentwood, a university prep school before completing his undergraduate studies at Tulane University. After his formal education in American Studies, he started to realize there was an entire worldview that had been kept from him during his liberal upbringing. His thoughts and ideas after sitting through four years of academia began to deconstruct the way he was raised. He had never been given the option to explore anything but the left side of thinking and being. “There were great writers and countless other people out there who viewed the world how it really was.” Breitbart said. Recognizing that he was a conservative changed his life. “Once the awkward realization occurred it forced me to confront the world in which I lived and it was a media world. I started to realize the obvious political make up of the traditional news media.” Breitbart said. He admired the strides of Rush Limbaugh, for providing a counter narrative to the liberal voice of the news. Providing a counter narrative and a voice to combat the traditional news media is now Breitbart’s mission. The next major movement for the media world that influenced Breitbart’s journalism journey was the Internet. “The Internet provided a tool that allowed anyone to become part of the media. For freedom-lovers like me it was like Mardi Gras, the manifestation of all things good.” Breitbart said. “The Internet has been in essence a way to discover the truth—if you build it they will come—and I have built and granted people left and right the ability to challenge the entrenched powers at the New York Times, the Washington Post, CBS, ABC, CNN.”

Andrew Breitbart started his high-profile journalism career as a conservative commentator for The Washington Times, moved to the editor position for the Drudge Report, bounced over to be primary developer of The Huffington Post, and now has his own site www.breitbart.com. After Breitbart.com, he created and launched four other websites, BIGGOVERNMENT, BIGHOLLYWOOD, BIGJOURNALISM and BREITBARTTV. Each of these sites is a blog and newsgathering powerhouse allowing viewers, newsmakers and people inside or outside of the journalism business to access stories, videos and news feeds and start a conversation. His mission is to provide a site that gets people connected to the news as fast as possible. Breitbart.com emphasizes user access to raw news feeds and original news content generated by writers and reporters all over the world covering a wide variety of issues. “I wanted to create a long term media company and bring in as many newswires as possible. This would also give me name recognition in the news business and then I can provide original reporting and commentary that fills the void mainstream media refuses to cover.” Breitbart said. Breitbart’s websites are flashy, interactive and utilize social media tools to broaden ways of communication between bloggers. Each site uses images, video and links to social media sources like Twitter and Facebook to attract and connect bloggers allowing them to share and comment on current issues. BIGGOVERNMENT focuses on politics. BIGHOLLYWOOD, entertainment news, broke right before the Obama inauguration. “We provided original news stories and coverage of that day that rocked the news world and altered the political landscape.” Breitbart said. BIGJOURNALISM is an interactive blog with a wide variety of topics, ranging from how the news is covered by different entities to analysis of current world issues. BREITBARTTV provides in-depth access to news video. Breitbart.com statistics say the site is currently serving 20 million news pages per month to three million visitors. The bulk of the Breitbart.com audience is the average blogger.

Breitbart’s next online endeavors include launching four more sites, BIGPEACE, BIGEDUCATION, BIGENVIRONMENT AND BIGTOLERANCE. BIGEDUCATION will focus on academia, specifically kindergarten through 12^th grade and the institutions that affect the education of our nation’s children. BIGPEACE tackles national security from the pentagon and from the front lines. Breitbart is working with The Hoover Institution, the Center for Security Policy and the military blogger group, the Black Five, to generate content. BIGENVIRONMENT seeks to debunk the false narratives about our environment and BIGTOLERANCE strives to battle the multicultural liberal ideology. “When someone from a minority, whether that be blacks, Latinos, gays, bisexuals, Muslims, Jews, is told they need to be democratic…how dare you tell people that they have to stay on their own political plantation.” Breitbart said. He hopes to have these sites up and running by the election in 2012.

When asked about his role in participatory democracy, Breitbart responded with “I am a pied piper, Paul Revere in this movement. I am basically saying come on in, the water’s warm and I think that when you look at my history, I mean it. I believe that in America the best ideas will win, the best people will prosper.” His mission is to allow the people to see the ideas of the left and the ideas of the right, so they can decide for themselves. “This is the people versus the gatekeepers,” Breitbart said. “And I am the people person-the revolution has begun and there are millions like me who won’t shut up.” Breitbart says he bases 95% of his success on in his common sense and sense of humor, not his academic upbringing. His dynamic personality makes him a loud, successful figure in the growing media community of today.

Quote of the Week

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you are the lion or the gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

I stumbled upon this week's quote on a local Columbia fitness website. I really liked the vivid inspirational picture it paints for runners. It also has quite the verbal encouragement to wake up with an adventurous attitude to start a strong solid day. As many of my family and friends know, I am a morning person. I wake up pleasant, energetic and ready to start my day. Life is too short to grumble as the sun rises. Grabbing coffee and a little breakfast as I head off to a new day, puts me in a great mood. As a journalist, many mornings begin much earlier than the average morning. That early morning is usually preceded by an extremely late night. Being on a full-time journalist and student schedule has taught me how to manage my time and my sleep to stay healthy and strong even when sleep is not a priority.

This quote also sparked my interest because I am an avid runner. Exercising is my me-time. This hour everyday is when I get to clear my head and do something that is completely my choice and my enjoyment. Especially since spring is finally here, I have been running outside on the trails near campus on a daily basis. The trees and flowers are breathtaking. Everything is super green, smells fresh and looks bright. Cardinals birds fly in and out of the branches and squirrels scurry along the side of the path playfully dodging bikers and runners like me. I love getting my exercise on sunny, quiet path. It is a great time to think and clear my head as I soon embark on a new chapter in my life. I am not sure if I am the lion or the gazelle, but when I wake up every morning-I'm ready to run.

Quote of the Week

"In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right."-Ellen Goodman

This week during my capstone class, we started an ethical discussion about the growing world of social media. The ability to get or post information with the click of a mouse or the push of a button on a mobile device has changed the communication pace of the world today. Newsmakers/sharers need to be on their toes, constantly fact-checking and verifying updates that come from blogs or twitter accounts. Posting something found from an online source onto a news site or onto one's own personal RSS feed, can become extremely detrimental if the decision was made too quickly without investigation.

I believe one must have an established verification process and ethical code firmly established before jumping head first into personal or news-based social media communication. News outlets need to make sure all of their staff and contributors are on the same page when it comes to the particular outlet's philosophy on what is newsworthy and what is not. Journalists entering their own free-lance adventures or those entering a new job need a personal ethical code that can be referenced as they grow in their career. Social media, chats, updates, blogs, tweets, mobile messaging, online posts and web content encompass and engulf the media world today. Don't get lost. Don't get tricked. Don't get trampled. Don't lose sight of basic human dignity and respect for the audiences that we serve as multimedia journalists. Everyone is seeing, listening, reading and commenting-are you ready and rooted in your beliefs?

Media Giraffe Project

As part of my Internet applications capstone, I am part of the Media Giraffe Project (MGP). This project is a four year grant-funded effort at the University of Massachusetts to find and spotlight people who are making innovative, potentially sustainable use of media to foster participatory democracy and community. It is my job as a journalist to add to the database of giraffe prospect profiles. A "media giraffe" is a standout performer, person or institution who sticks his or her neck out in journalism or media, visible above others in service to ideals of participatory democracy. They "graze" all over the globe looking for ways to improve, innovate and stand-out in multimedia journalism.

The media giraffe that I have researched is Andrew Breitbart, conservative commentator, founder and creator of Breitbart.com.

Here is my first giraffe profile for Breitbart and once this is approved by the project coordinator, I hope to get a personal interview with Breitbart over the next few weeks.

Media Giraffe Profile-Andrew Breitbart

Andrew Breitbart---big thinker, big innovator, multimedia journalist. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Andrew Breitbart started his high-profile as a conservative commentator for The Washington Times, moved to the editor position for the Drudge Report, bounced over to be primary developer of The Huffington Post, and now has his own site www.breitbart.com. After Breitbart.com, he created and launched four other websites, BIGGOVERNMENT, BIGHOLLYWOOD, BIGJOURNALISM and BREITBARTTV. Each of these sites is a blog and newsgathering powerhouse allowing viewers, newsmakers and people inside or outside of the journalism business to access stories, videos and news feeds and start a conversation. His mission is to provide a site that gets people “connected to the news as fast as possible.” Breitbart.com emphasizes “user access to raw news feeds—kind of an organized grocery store of news.” Breitbart’s websites are flashy, interactive and utilize social media tools to broaden ways of communication between bloggers. Each site uses images, video and links to social media sources like Twitter and Facebook to attract and connect bloggers allowing them to share and comment on current issues. BIGGOVERNMENT focuses on politics. BIGHOLLYWOOD follows celebrity news and gossip. BIGJOURNALISM is an interactive blog with a wide variety of topics, ranging from how the news is covered by different entities to analysis of current world issues. BREITBARTTV provides in-depth access to news video. Breitbart.com statistics say the site is currently serving 20 million news pages per month to three million visitors. The bulk of the Breitbart.com audience is the average blogger. Breitbart currently contributes to each of his websites and continues to write articles for The Washington Times. He has a dynamic personality that makes him a loud figure in the growing media community of today.

Quote of the Week

"A picture is worth one thousand words."

My Spring Break Adventures--For a relaxing tropical treat, 13 of my friends and I went on a Carnival Cruise to Key West and the Bahamas. Complete with two relaxing days on the ship as well as two days of traveling on Duvall Street in Key West and hitting the slides and the beach at the Atlantis in the Bahamas, the trip was a blast. We soaked up the sun, swam in the ocean, ate great food, saw crazy cruise variety shows, raced down slides and lazy rivers, shopped, danced and laughed. Overall, we had a wonderful last girls trip before we all go our separate ways upon graduation. Cheers to fun in the sun with the best friends I could ever hope for!

Quote of the Week

"There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew."-Marshall McLuhan

This week my mind is on the environment and how important it is that we each do our part to help sustain our beautiful planet. Luckily, awareness of the environment has increased tremendously over the past few years and the going green movement is at operating at full speed in a positive direction.

My thoughts about the fascinating world around us and the plants and animals we share it with, started on Sunday night when I sat down to watch Discovery Channel's new series, Life. Similar to Discovery Channel's other series, Planet Earth, this new show focuses more on the animals in each environment and how they thrive and cooperate to sustain life. The first episode entitled "Challenges of Life" focused on the unique strategies certain animals and plants have adopted and acquired to survive the challenges presented in their environments. The second episode highlighted two interesting groups of animals, reptiles and amphibians, from all different habitats including deserts, ponds, swamps and even the rainforest. Due to my broadcast background, I was in awe with the videography and editing the show uses to showcase these animals in their natural surroundings. The equipment, time and labor put into these episodes was astounding--talk about dedication! The music was well-chosen and the pacing of the story keeps the viewer wanting more.

Good news is...there are a lot more episodes to come! After the first two aired last Sunday, two more episodes will be shown every Sunday night until April 18th. This coming Sunday's episodes are mammals and fish. Also if you missed the first two episodes, want to see behind the scenes footage, photos or learn more about the making of Life, click here. Can't wait to watch more of these adventures through our world this Sunday!

Quote of the Week

"If you're lucky enough to be Irish, then you're lucky enough."-an old Irish saying

And this week I feel very lucky! This past weekend, I took my travels to Chicago to celebrate my birthday in the Windy City. Little did I know, that the entire city would be celebrating as well, but not my birthday...St . Patrick's Day! Chicago holds a huge all-day festival including a parade and dying the river bright green. The celebration was surely a sight to see and it made me very excited for the upcoming festivities on the actual holiday this Wednesday. Even though most people wear green, drink green beverages, eat corned beef and cabbage and celebrate with family and friends, regardless of their heritage, St. Patrick's Day has a special place in my heart because I do have a large amount of Irish family history. Both sets of parents have Irish lineage and my red hair does not hide those Celtic family roots.

So as part of my observance and celebration of this fine holiday, I decided to take this week to educate myself and you, the avid blog reader, about this festive day of green shamrocks and drinking.

St. Patrick, whose feast day is March 17th, is the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17th 461 and to this day, it has been a celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland. The largest celebration of this holiday takes place in Dublin, with a four-day festival from March 15th to March 19th. Some of the events include a parade, family carnivals, a treasure hunt, traditional Celtic dance and music performances and a theatre festival. One million people are expected to participate in the Dublin festivities this year. The grand parade on the 17th will include 3000 street performers and an expected 650,000 spectators. Traditional dress in Ireland on St. Patrick's day consists of green ribbons in the womens' hair, high-crowned green leprechaun hats and shamrock pins. The saying "the wearing of the green" refers to wearing a shamrock on one's clothing. And the party continues even in the United States. Boston, MA has hosted a St. Patrick's Day parade since 1737.

Fun Fact: Over 34 million Americans have Irish ancestry. So whether you are one of them like me, or you just want a reason to celebrate-wear your green proud and celebrate the Irish on this lucky day!

Working the Web

This week my web adventures included making a web extra for the top story of all the nightly newscasts, President Obama's visit to St. Charles to rally support for his health care plan. Our lead videographer/photographer accompanied one of the student reporters to cover the story for our evening newscasts. Once they returned to the station, they showed us all of their video and photos from the day. Since they had so many photos, the other dot com person and I decided to pick the best ones and put them on the web to enhance the visuals of the story.

We edited the 7 best photos in photoshop, sized them correctly and saved them to the KOMU account on Flickr as a slideshow. Once it was ready on the online account, we copied the html code into our web content management system to embed the slideshow into the correct web story. Here is the link to the slideshow and the story!

Obama's Visit to St. Charles

First Nation Report

Tonight's First Nation Report included a proposal of new national educational standards and changes to Bank of America's debit card program. Enjoy!

Supreme Court Examines Free Speech

This week the Supreme Court decided to hear a case that could set a new precedent for freedom of speech laws. A professor at MU Law has been keeping close touch with this case. A fellow reporter and I spent the day researching the events that caused the civil lawsuit and how the case has been dealt with in the district courts. Due to its possibility of changing privacy laws in public places, the case is now in the hands of the Supreme Court. We managed to set up an interview with the professor who is an expert on the case to get a first-hand look at why it is so unique and what this professor thinks of the new developments.

Link to my story

Quote of the Week

"We wander for distraction but we travel for fulfillment." -Hilaire Belloc

Traveling is one of my true passions in life. Whether it is an hour away for a weekend to boat, hike and shop or halfway across the world to see castles and eat exotic foods, traveling fulfills my innate zest for adventure and discovery. Recently my travels have taken me just a short plane ride from Missouri, to the Windy City, Chicago. I have been to Chicago once before when I was in my middle school days to see the sights with my family. Highlights of that trip included an architectural boat tour, an authentic dinner in Greek Town, emptying our wallets on Michigan Ave and walking along the Michigan Lake shoreline. I was also a student at Northwestern University for a summer in their journalism program during high school and definitely took advantage of a quick "L" ride into the city to explore. I love the sights and sounds of Chicago. The music, the history, the museums, Miracle Mile, the food and the hustle bustle make it a busy yet friendly city.

Chicago is a great place to go for weekend trip and an easy jaunt for me from school, so my mom and I met there this past September to celebrate her birthday. Her birthday dinner was spent at the restaurant on top of the John Hancock and we wined and dined looking out over the city lights. The Jazz Festival in the Park happened to be that weekend as well so we took one afternoon to walk around and listen to some talented jazz and blues artists of all ages. In the mornings, we would power walk along the the shoreline of Lake Michigan, stop for coffee after our workout and spend the day shopping and sightseeing. Dinner and a taste of Chicago nightlife filled the evenings. My mom and I really enjoy live music so we went to a few different bars, clubs and piano bars playing blues and jazz or contemporary music. Finishing the night with some dancing was always a must. Another highlight of the trip was a fireworks dinner cruise around the Chicago harbor. The view of the skyline with bright fireworks dazzling over the buildings is something I will never forget. I am very lucky to have such a great, close relationship with my mom and that we can share our passion for travel.

This coming weekend I am making another trip to Chicago to celebrate my birthday. The weather may be a little chillier but just a quick change in my packing plans and I will be on my way! I am very excited to spend another weekend discovering new sights and sounds in a city that I love. Get ready Chicago, here comes the birthday girl!

Your View-KOMU 8 presents your view of the news

This week I worked on a segment called Your View at KOMU. It is a short weekly franchise package we do every Friday on the 6 pm newscast. One of the anchors, Sarah Hill, is the face of the story and general assignment reporters take turns each week deciding the idea, gathering the video, the sound and writing the package. A fellow reporter and I did this week's Your View segment on a news coverage decision that KOMU made last Friday.

Last week an incident of racial vandalism occurred outside the Black Culture Center on the MU campus. Cotton balls were thrown across the lawn around 1:30 am Friday Feb. 26th. Administrators at the Black Culture Center found the cotton balls on Friday morning and called police. This incident provided some interesting differences on how local television stations covered that crime. When the story broke on Friday morning, KOMU was the only station to cover the incident on their nightly newscasts without showing video or images of the cotton balls. Since we were the only news outlet to make that choice to withhold visuals, this week's Your View segment explains why our station chose not to show the video.

To show viewers why, I interviewed our news director Stacey Woelfel. His basic answer about our coverage reflected his opinion that by showing the racist display on television, we would only be delivering this message of hate to more people over our airwaves. I also interviewed Professor Charles Davis from the MU Journalism school and he agreed with KOMU's decision not to show visuals. Davis was extremely disappointed with the other news outlets for their actions and believes by focusing on the imagery rather than the impact and investigation of the incident, we are only "spawning more hate." After getting the interviews, my partner and I gathered the coverage that we did run to use as video, along with all of the follow-up coverage from this week about a meeting that was held to address the issue and the arrest of the two students who perpetrated the hate crime. After I was finished writing the script, it was approved and voiced by Sarah Hill and the editing process began. By noon on Friday, the segment was good to go for the 6 pm newscast. Here is the story-enjoy!

First Nation Report

Tonight's First Nation Report included more troubles for Toyota, as well as a possible improvement with airport security hassles. Enjoy!

Quote of the Week

"Eventually everything connects-peoples, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."-Charles Eames

This week my way of connecting to the world around me changed significantly. Due to a funny series of events over the weekend, my "little red flip phone that could" decided it had seen its day and was too tired and worn out to forge on. It was also extremely embarrassed due to the fact that it did still flip to open and close, and had no internet capabilities whatsoever. After a long time of debating, deliberating and saying goodbye to my old precious phone-I knew it was time for only one thing-A BLACKBERRY. Dare I say now that I am in full swing when it comes to being completely connected through my smartphone to the world of internet, updates and fancy applications. As a multimedia journalist, my life just got a little easier and a little more exciting. Getting used to my upgraded phone plan as well as setting up my blackberry with all the necessary bells and whistles will take some time and effort---but it is an awesome new adventure. I have successfully added my email accounts and I am now exploring the different web options on my blackberry browser. Having this capability and this connection is a great step in my journey to a new career outside of Columbia, MO. I needed to make this switch sooner than later and I am so pleased to have this new tool to use as a platform of communication.

Watch out BlackBerry world, here comes Bonnie!

More Road Connectivity in Columbia Area

Tonight for the 5 and 6 pm shows, a fellow reporter and I tackled some road improvement plans around Columbia. I spoke to MODOT (Missouri Department of Transportation) about one specific project that is underway in the East Columbia area. I went live from the current end of Stadium Boulevard as it intersects HW 63, and the plan is to connect this part of Stadium from HW 63 to I-70. If the plan is approved, it will improve traffic conditions significantly for residents who frequently travel in this area. MODOT recently finished an environmental study of the area and they are looking to do some detailed aerial mapping of the extension site before construction plans are finalized. Overall the project aims to improve infrastructure, add connectivity and help residents travel faster and easier through East Columbia.

Link to my story

Quote of the Week

"In the arena of human life, the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action."-Aristotle

This week for me is one of honor and recognition. After an application and interview process, I was chosen as one of the 39 seniors to represent the University of Missouri in their yearly tradition, the Mizzou 39. The Mizzou Alumni Association and the Alumni Association Student Board honor 39 seniors based on academic achievement, leadership, and service to the Mizzou community. The honorees represent a variety of majors, activities, and organizations across campus. Also, each of us 39 seniors chooses a faculty or staff member as a mentor to honor, for their guidance and support throughout our college career.

The mentor that I chose is Mr. Greeley Kyle. Here's why... As a broadcast student, Broadcast II is the most challenging class that I have experienced at Mizzou. It is in this class where we begin shooting, writing and editing video news packages independently. This class began my adventure working towards being a full-time reporter at KOMU. Greeley is a legend of the journalism world. His bare-knuckles journalism concept is challenging and stressful at times, but he pushes students to succeed and exceed their personal goals. I have never been so captivated in a lecture or so frustrated by a grade that I am immediately motivated to improve. Greeley instilled in me a passion for journalism that I will never lose. He is the person I go to when I need a listener, a comforting word, a laugh, or just someone to vent to in times of frustration. Juggling the student world and the journalism world is not easy, and I need someone like him for advice and constant support. His time spent with me at Mizzou has shaped me into the journalist and young adult that I am today and for that I will be forever thankful.

Mizzou 39 week began last night with a candlelit ceremony at Jesse Hall celebrating and officially recognizing the group of seniors who were chosen. We were praised for our leadership and accomplishments. We also reflected about our time at Mizzou, while thinking about how we will continue our service to the university after graduation. The ceremony ended with singing the Alma Mater and heading to the Heidelberg for a reception. On Wednesday night, we are all attending the MU vs Colorado Basketball game and we will be honored during halftime on the court. The week ends with a formal reception and banquet at the Reynolds Alumni Center. Our mentors and family members will attend this dinner with us as well. I am very excited for the coming events-to cheer on the tigers on Wednesday and get spruced up for a lovely banquet on Friday night. What a great way to meet some new people and share my love of Mizzou with my peers as well as thank our mentors for all they have done for us. Mizzou 39 is truly an honor and experience that I am grateful for and will always remember.

Link to the Mizzou 39 page on MU's website

Working the Web

This week my web adventures included a training in Adobe Illustrator. I met with some other students in one of the labs on Monday night. Similar to photoshop, Illustrator was simple at first but has wide creative potential. Learning the basics was fun and exciting. Now I can confidently use Illustrator to create graphics for reporters who have stories that lead to or need more visuals on the web. During my komu.com shift, I can use Illustrator to boost up the online content of any of the news stories. I learned how to make bar graphs to visualize important data, as well as create maps or other labeled images to further explain important information.

My komu.com shift at the station went pretty smoothly. We were extremely busy because the students who worked before us somehow managed to incorrectly crop all of the images for the web and unfortunately posted them resulting in terrible errors on the website. So my job quickly became clean-up. My co-worker and I had to resize and repost all of the images for the dayside reporters, which was good practice, however we had the nightside reporters to do as well. Luckily due to the Olympics, the newscast was pushed back to 10:30 pm so we had a little more time. I assisted sports in capturing the Mizzou basketball game-we beat TEXAS! YES! I also edited and posted video from the newscast for the reporter's stories. It was a busy night. Next week my goal is to make an Illustrator graphic so stay tuned...

Links to the stories I posted/produced

County Health Assessment

Minimum Wage May Lower

Columbia Photo To Close

First Nation Report

Tonight's First Nation Report at the 5pm show included news from President Obama about the recession with both positive and negative prospects for employment.

Enjoy!

Camera Controversy

A surveillance camera proposal has members of the local American Civil Liberties Union chapter alarmed. The proposal is to allow surveillance cameras on the streets of downtown Columbia. The cameras would be roving, mobile cameras on a trailer. The ACLU believes these cameras are an infringement of a citizen's to be on public downtown property. Current surveillance cameras are operated by private property owners. The proposal to add the new random, roving cameras will be on the City of Columbia April ballot. Here are my live reports from the 5 and 6 pm shows. Enjoy!

Link to my story

Quote of the Week

"There's No Place Like Home"....or There's No Place Like Home Away From Home

This week my thoughts begin with a tale of two cities, Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ and St. Louis, MO. Being in St. Louis for the spectacle that is Mardi Gras this past weekend, sparked my mind into a dilemma that is coming quickly, where to move, live and start a career after school. Even though the nature of my business can send me anywhere across the nation, I wanted to take some time to appreciate the cities that I call home.

I was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ. I went to school in Scottsdale and enjoyed 18 years of sunshine and bliss. I lived in a beautiful safe suburban neighborhood, went to great schools and enjoyed every aspect of my Scottsdale community. I am constantly appreciative of my supportive parents who provided me with a loving, adventurous childhood. Even though I adored AZ, I always believed college meant going away. Arizona State University was a safety option but for me, I wanted and yearned for a new horizon. This is what brought me to Missouri. Columbia has been my wonderful college home for the past four years, however St. Louis is the city that has captured my heart.

My first taste came from my peers at school. Mizzou is filled with in-state students who hail from St. Louis or Kansas City. I happened to form close relationships with a lot of people from St. Louis, and ended up living and working there for a summer at Fox 2 News with a broadcast internship. I had one of the best summers of my life. I lived with a family who was looking for a renter and despite a bit of a messy house and a precarious waterbed, my time in St. Louis exceeded my expectations ten fold. I grew and excelled at my internship, gaining great experience inside and outside of the newsroom with talented reporters, producers and communications coordinators. I traveled all around the city gaining insight into the vast variety of culture and spirit found in St. Louis. Since that summer I have made frequent weekend visits to St. Louis to enjoy the usual attractions like the arch and the zoo, along with sunny days at local wineries, brewery tours, concerts and an occasional game at baseball heaven. St. Louis has become a home away from home and a great little escape when I need a hiatus from crazy college Columbia.

Even with this great city just two hours away from my cozy apartment in Columbia, being here in Missouri many miles away from AZ, has only made my love for home stronger. Going back into the constant sunshine, visiting family and friends and feeling like an AZ native again is something I long for when breaks from school roll around. Simple things like my local Scottsdale grocery store, knowing where to go to get the best pizza in town, laughing with my high school buddies or enjoying hikes and holidays with my family are so important to me. Having my heart in two places is a challenge when deciding where I want to be upon graduation. Choosing family or friends, home away from home (St. Louis) or back home in Phoenix is tough. However I do realize how lucky I am to be young and ready for a new journey. Landing in an unknown place or landing in one of my homes after my time here at Mizzou would be a blessing. I am excited for what is to come! Good news is, St. Louis or Phoenix may be my new home or just a plane flight away.

First Nation Report

This evening's First Nation Report including the snow monster that is sweeping through the east coast as well as new information about Former Governor Blagojevich.

Enjoy!

Hearts For Haiti

Columbia continues to extend help for Haiti. Four local middle school students are running a Valentine's Day fundraiser to help earthquake victims. The valentines are part of the program Hearts for Haiti. Each valentine costs one dollar and all of the money goes to Mercy Corps and the Crudem Foundation for Haiti relief. Each card includes a picture and a saying about Valentine's Day and giving to Haiti. Card sales have been successful so far across Missouri. For the rest of the week continuing through Valentine's Day, the cards will be sold at a variety of local businesses and are also available to order online.

Due to the inclement weather of ice and snow, the live truck was having audio problems so I was not live for the 5 pm show. However I raced back to the studio and made it for an in-studio hit at the 6 pm show. Enjoy!

Link to my story

Quote of the Week

"To Look Forward and Not Back, To Look Out and Not In, and To Lend a Helping Hand"-Edward Everett Hale

Community service along with a passion for philanthropy have always been a big part of my life. Starting young in middle school and high school with service clubs, volunteering outside of school with my church and my community theatre, then continuing on my path of service in college. The non-profit that my service focus has stayed with through my years at Mizzou is the Make-A-Wish Foundation. As a Chi Omega, this is our national philanthropy and each year my chapter raises over $15,000 through a series of events on and off campus. These events include a ice cream social at Cold Stone Creamery, a volleyball tournament, a trivia night, and generous donations from family and peers. Money that we raise goes to local Make-A-Wish chapters to grant the wishes of children in and around the Columbia area. Over the years we have sent two children to Disneyworld, thrown a few birthday bashes and even turned one little girl into Hannah Montana for a day. This work with children has been extremely fulfilling and heartwarming. The Make-A-Wish Foundation, their message and their actions have left quite an amazing impression on me and I will continue to serve with them when I graduate. Serving kids is something that has always been close to my heart and I look forward to continuing my work in the wish-granting process with this organization.

Besides my work with Make-A-Wish, over the past month my own focus along with a majority of the community across our nation has focused on help for Haiti. After the devastation of the earthquake just weeks ago, the Columbia community as well as communities across the United States have come together to raise money for Haiti relief. The response has been overwhelming. The Columbia community alone has already raised over $32,000 for the American Red Cross alone, along with many other local organizations that have sent money, supplies, doctors and aid. Two of my good friends planned and organized a benefit concert called Hear For Haiti. One the of local music venues downtown donated the space for free as well as many different restaurants and other businesses have donated raffle prizes and free food for the event. The support is overwhelming. Just by going door to door asking for help for Haiti, not one business turned us down. A local t-shirt company also agreed to make and sell shirts promoting the event, donating all t-shirt sales to the Hear for Haiti fund. I have been part of the communications team, spreading the word about the t-shirts and the concert to make sure we have a huge crowd for the big event. Tickets are $10 and all of the money from these as well as the money from raffle tickets and t-shirt sales will be donated to Haiti relief. I have helped with getting the message out on KOMU. We have done a live interview with one of my friends who started the concert idea as well as mentioned the concert during our coverage of other Haiti fundraisers. It is so fulfilling to see how my friends and I can start such a huge project in only a few weeks with so much community support. Tickets are selling out fast and with all of the publicity and donations, the concert is sure to be a success. Help for Haiti has really put many people's lives into perspective and has allowed definitely allowed me to step back and appreciate how privileged and fortunate I am. To see every person that I know so willing to help and support the cause is very exciting and I am proud to be part of such a giving community here in Columbia. Through my stories at KOMU to raise awareness of how the community is helping, along with my own contributions to the relief effort, Haiti has really connected the world on a new level of service and I hope this passion for helping others remains.

Working the Web

This past Wednesday started yet another one of my adventures as a web editor at the station. At first the only tasks I could successfully complete were cotweeting reporters and hounding them about writing their web stories before they race out the door. These were the only tasks because only one computer was working behind the desk and the paid desk person needed to use it for updates, etc. As a web editor for my capstone class along with my partner Eliza, we both use the extra computer which was trampled by a terrible virus early in the day. I had my own computer so I made sure to keep the website (komu.com) refreshed so I could look over and edit the existing content from the day.

As always the tech dudes at the station rescued our sad, sick computer and by about 8:30 pm we were back working in full force. I began to capture, photoshop and create reporter images from their video cards to the ACM. Some of the images uploaded at the previous shift were not properly sized for the web so I had to redo those before posting them on the correct story. I made some new images, cotweeted reporters, direct messaged a few viewers who had questions and also added categories and web extras to a few stories. I am becoming way more comfortable and quicker at my web editor tasks. I am excited to begin making interactive graphics once I am more comfortable with flash and illustrator.

Links to stories I posted/produced

100 Years of History

School Budget Cuts

Hybrid Tomatoes

First Nation Report

Here is my First Nation Report from the 5 pm show this evening.

Not the most upbeat of stories, but very important news...

Creole Cuisine For Haiti Relief

On Tuesday for the 5 and 6 pm shows, I did my live report at the Community United Methodist Church. Partnered with Sterling Food Service Management of Columbia and the American Red Cross, traditional creole cuisine and Caribbean music made the church cafeteria quite a busy place. The dinner was held as a fundraiser for the International Response Relief Fund for Haiti. All dinner ticket sales went directly to the Red Cross. The Mid-Missouri Chapter of the American Red Cross has raised $32,000 since the earthquake just three weeks ago.

The food looked great and the musicians were very talented. The dinner was packed with people and quite a monetary success for a good cause. The church will be hosting benefit dinners once a month from now on as long as Haiti needs help.

Here are my live reports from inside the cafeteria as the dinner proceeds behind me.

Link to my story

Quote of the Week

"Use your talent (everybody has one) in anyway you can. Don't keep it for yourself like a miser-spend it like a millionaire! " ~Lucy MacDonald

This week I am going to delve into my past. Before I jumped head first into the world of journalism, I had and always will have a huge passion for musical theatre and performing arts. In high school I was involved with a local community theatre Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre. I started singing and dancing at the ripe young age of three. I continued my musical performing and developed my talent as I grew up. Freshman year in high school, I finally mustered up the courage to try-out for a local community theatre. I was given a part in the musical Peter Pan and this began my exciting adventure ultimately doing about 15 shows during my four years of high school. I discovered my talents and shared them with my family, my friends and the community. The adrenaline, excitement and passion of performing was such a positive part of my life. I learned how to work hard during practice and ultimately take my work to the stage. Sharing my talents and being taught by others with a vast array of talents, was an experience that I take with me on a daily basis. I learned how to be confident in front of a crowd. I learned how to solve problems quickly and think on my feet. I learned how to be mature during a disappointment and rightfully humble when I succeed. I worked with adults and children of all ages expanding my ability to interact with the awareness and respect of cross-generational differences.

These new talents as well as the ones I used while performing in a show, have become helpful tools during my adventures in journalism. Even though I am no longer regularly performing in musical theatre, it has made me a more confident, enthusiastic journalist. The skills that I acquired on and off stage during my performing days give me the ability to engage with my audience while I am on air, or to be confident in the field during interviews or phone calls. The poise and enthusiasm that theatre has taught me directly translates into the talents that I need and use in communication today. I am thankful for my past experiences and I will remember the quote's challenge to continue to share my talents on a daily basis. By sharing mine, I can also discover others and grow in journalism just as I grew in the theatre world.

Once I do settle into a city in the near future with a job and a new life, one of my goals is to reunite with singing, acting and dancing and feel the bright lights of the stage again. Sharing joy with an audience through performance is something that I miss and will always remember as I interact with others in the professional world.

Working the Web

Last night was my second week delving into the web world of komu.com. When I arrived the other web editors and I first discussed what had been completed on the afternoon shift and what still needed to be done after the 6 pm newscast concluded. Cotweet was up and running so it was our job to quote the reporters who had been updating their twitter feeds from the field, so their facts and updates show up directly on the KOMU twitter page. After the 6 pm newscast was over, I made sure we had images and web extras from each reporter and that their web story was at least started or preferably completed.

The next big thing on the agenda was preparing for President Obama's State of the Union address. One of our political beat reporters was running a live blog from home for komu.com about the speech. We made sure a web story was made and put at the top of the ranking list so it would be available along with the live blog, as the first story on the website. Avid was set to record and capture and after a 69 minute speech, it was complete so we could put it on the web. One of the challenges about the speech for our software was its longevity so it look a lot more space and time than our normal stories to upload. However after some patient waiting, we were still able to capture the 10 pm show and make sure the video from those stories was posted on the web as well.

My main job was to make sure all of the stories from the 5, 6, and 10 pm shows had images. The process of getting images from reporters takes many steps but goes quickly after a few tries. Most of the images from the dayside reporters were done, but some were not as clear or exciting as I wanted so I pulled some of the memory cards from the cameras used by these reporters and captured new images. The process begins with inserting the memory card of video and capturing a still image from that video. Then I save and open it in photoshop, crop it to the correct resolution for the website and save it again. After opening the web story in our content management system, we create an asset for the image by adding a title, captions and keywords to make it more searchable on the website. Once the cropped image is attached to the asset it is placed with the story and approved. Once approved and saved, the story is ranked and appears on the front page of our website with the images. I completed images for the 5, 6 and 10 pm shows and also made sure the 10 pm reporters had written their web stories and provided us with web extras.

As I said it is a long but pretty simple process and I am becoming more confident with the programs and software every shift! Soon I will begin to learn flash, flickr, Adobe Illustrator and other ways to spice up the stories with slideshows and interactive graphics. I cant wait!

Thanks for tuning in!

Links to stories I posted/produced

Suicide Prevention

Toyota Recall

Free and reduced lunch program in elementary schools

First Nation Report

Here is my first nation report from tonight's 5 pm newscast-enjoy!

MU System Email Follow-up

Today, I was in studio for a follow-up report about my story last week. After an email sent to MU system employees on Martin Luther King Day, some worried about possible pay and benefit cuts. The survey will ask employees to rank which benefits are most valuable to them. However, after a meeting with the University of Missouri-Rolla faculty senate, the VP of Human Resources confirmed that there will not be an increase in retirement contributions. Even though retirement funds took a loss last summer, recovery now reassures employees that at least retirement benefits will not change. The benefits survey is not yet available.

Here is my in-studio report at the top of the show and the wrap-up at the end of the show.

Link to my story

Introducing...

This final semester of college is an exciting yet challenging time. With new classes, learning all there is to know about the web, becoming well-connected and part of the social media world, as well as continuing my job as a reporter and anchor, it is always good to take time to stop and reflect on what is important to me and what makes me happy.

My four years at Mizzou have definitely taught me many things, among them one of the most important is to cherish the presence and support of family and friends. Being all the way from Arizona made my time at home precious these four years, and going back home to Phoenix is something I am definitely considering upon graduation. With the friendships and lasting memories I have formed here at school, Mizzou has definitely become my home away from home.

As a way for you to learn more about me, my thoughts, my hobbies and what has shaped me into the woman I am today, I would like to officially bring "Quote of the Week" to my blog.

This will give me a chance to share some of my favorite quotes, stories and thoughts as I continue to share my journalism and web experience.

Enjoy and as always...brighten up with Bonnie!

This first quote that you can see in the graphic at the top, "Dare to Dream, Dare to Fly, Dare to be the Ever Chosen One to Touch the Sky," is a good way for me to start off the semester. My adventures these next few months will have a huge impact on the start of my career and adult life. I am delving into a new realm of the journalism and communications world with my web journey. I will be learning new programs, multimedia systems, and innovative ways to stay connected with my peers, my community. I will also be focusing on my job search. With that comes new responsibility, a new place and the opportunity for new relationships and networks to blossom. Soaring through these next few months with a positive outlook of what is ahead will be the best way to navigate through these new adventures.

Becoming a Web Editor

Last Wednesday, my new dot com shift at KOMU began. This was the first time I was able to sit down at the news desk and have the responsibility of making sure the web site was updated, stories were posted, pictures and video were clear, cotweet was quoting our reporters from the field...and the list of duties goes on. Overwhelming at first, as the hours ticked by I started to become more familiar with our Content Management System (CMS), Avid Active Content Manager or ACM. This is the system KOMU uses to post everything that is found on our website www.komu.com.

I was able to learn how to create stories for the reporters to write their copy in as well as edit their story video and move it from avid to ACM after it airing on the 10 pm show. We use clip browser and then photoshop to capture still images and size them correctly for the website. I created a story, posted the images and video, added keywords to make it searchable, and ranked the story so it showed up correctly on the website all in my first shift! This was a very exciting accomplishment.

Even though being a web editor is new territory for me, since I am accustomed to being on the reporting or anchoring side of the news room, so far I am really enjoying the new web world of the news. Not only will I become proficient with the software and ways to spruce up content and visuals on the website this semester, I will also have a high focus of becoming extremely involved in the social media world. Communication, news and the world of web changes on a daily basis. My goal this semester is to ride with that change and learn as much as I can so I am confident and ready for what is ahead in career.

Link to the story I posted/produced for the web