Year: 2021

Today consisted of two things: Our studio day and interviews.

The studio day was fun. At first, recording the piece was a little stressful, especially because my group was the first to go. I don’t think my delivery of the script was the best, but I think if I had taken more time to prepare it would’ve been much better. It was nice to have a little break as well after we were done recording (especially since it rained during the break, and I love the rain).

Later in the day my group interviewed Steve Chassman from the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (LICADD). This might have been my favorite interview that I’ve done yet. It was really eye-opening. He mentioned that a big problem with the response to the opioid crisis is that people are viewing it as a moral issue rather than the public heath issue that it is. I also thought it was really interesting to hear that he had prior experience from the AIDS crisis and he mentioned a lot of similarities that he’s noticed between the AIDS and opioid crisis. I thought that it was a really intriguing way to talk about it, I had never thought about it in that way but now I know that the social and governmental response to both crises have a lot more similarities than I realized.

That was pretty much it for today, I’m both stressed and looking forward to tomorrow. I know I have a bit of work ahead of me but I like the feeling of accomplishment I get after completing something I’ve been working hard on.

I think I wrote a lot for yesterday’s blog so I’ll keep this short and to the point. Oh man, today was great! Long Island Herald Editor Kate Nalepinski’s pep talk this morning was such a great way to kick off the day. She has such an inviting presence and incredibly genuine when she spoke about her experiences as a journalist, especially during COVID. I am so grateful that I have yet another resource to reach out to as I pursue my career in journalism.

Another part of today that I would like to highlight was Newsday photographer John Williams’ segment on photojournalism. My eyes were glued to the screen. His pictures captured every moment beautifully! His proper use of the different techniques that he discussed today made all his photos come to life. I will definitely be implementing these techniques whenever I take pictures.

Finally, my group and I are making great progress with setting up interviews and establishing roles for our story. Although there were many great moments today that I could discuss, I think I’ll stop there. I am so excited for all that the rest of this week has in store for me, but that was day two, whoop-de-do!

Once again, I have still managed to be deathly tired. Luckily, we were learning about how to properly shoot, which kept me up because I have no idea how to take pictures.

I mean, I can’t even take mirror selfies that I like! I learned a lot, and I can’t wait to actually shoot stuff using all the tips (the Google Doc with my notes from today is almost three pages). I also managed to memorize the mantra. Basically the types of shots (wide, medium, tight, extra tight, action, and reaction) 😎. Yep, I’m basically a natural.

Our first speaker today made me really think about what I want my niche to be, I really like politics but I’ve somehow realized that I have a love of feature writing! Who knows, maybe I will combine those to make a perfect niche. Anyways, my group is literally so amazing and sweet. Shoutout to my team coordinator, Ms. Cathrine Duffy! She really made me feel less nervous about sending an email to get an interview. As you can see, I suck at being formal🧍🏿.

OK, I’m going to go because I have to be up before 9 and, honestly, I’m definitely going to need some caffeine tomorrow!

Today was my favorite part of Greene Week by far! We got to participate in a virtual broadcast through Skype. At first I was nervous that I would mess up reading the script. However, once Mr. Phil Altiere counted me down, I felt like a natural. I was able to seamlessly read and it felt like I was actually on the news. This experience made me realize that broadcast journalism may be the career for me!

Today I learned how to begin writing a news article. That begins with setting up interviews: how to request one and respond to an acceptance email.

Next I learned about the formatting and developed my understanding of grammar.

Then we moved on to discussing various photography and video recording techniques. It sounded a little complicated, but I got it once the day ended. So, overall, today was hard in terms of attempting to stay focused during the long talks and OK because I was able to learn a lot about writing a story and how to gather the material to create that story.

The heat of Greene certainly amped up today, but my team is doing great! We finalized our plan of who is doing what for our articles/video. I’ve been working on my article about the Congressional primary between Suffolk County legislators Bridget Fleming and Kara Hahn and will be working on it through the night.

I’m pretty happy with how it’s shaping up so far, but I’m very interested in getting feedback during the editing process. I was also able to schedule a phone interview with Bridget Fleming for tomorrow! I’m super excited to interview her. A work-packed day for sure!

Today was my favorite day of Greene week so far. We started by heading to a virtual Skype studio to do a newscast. I had the role of reporting the weather which gave me a good opportunity to practice speaking on a broadcast. The students who had the roles of the anchors were awesome, and I was really happy to work with them.

I feel like I need to just relax in front of the camera and be my natural self. Some other students in this program were really fun to watch in their newscasts. They were so natural and enthusiastic. If they had actually been on TV, I would have watched. This is a skill I’m definitely going to need to work on since I really want to go into broadcast media, particularly for sports.

After the recording and watching our broadcast, we were able to break into our teams and discuss where we’re at with our stories. My team was in a pretty bad spot this morning, as none of the five emails we sent yesterday had been answered. But this afternoon, we got a lot of responses, more sources, and several interviews were scheduled.

We’re really excited about our story, though we know we’re going to have to pivot with our topic slightly. Our story is probably going to wind up being more about the effect COVID had on the medical industry and community. My team was extremely busy today, sending out additional emails, making phone calls, and sending direct messages. I think I personally received about 20 emails today.

My team held an additional Zoom call to discuss where we’re at for tomorrow and Friday. We have a lot of work ahead of us for the next couple of days, but we are all driven and excited to tackle it. My four teammates and I have a really great attitude towards journalism and our project. They are all incredible people that I’m so glad I’ve been able to meet. There’s no one I’d rather work on this project with. I’m ready for the grind that is the end of this week.

Today started earlier and from the very beginning felt packed with action. We joined our first Zoom to hear broadcast experts Connie Conway and Marcy McGinnis run us through the filming process, as well as verify that our backdrops, lighting, and clothing were all as aesthetically pleasing and as consistent as possible. Then, in groups of three, we were called onto Skype to record our appearances on the Stony Brook News Broadcast! In the time between shooting we were encouraged to write our questions, I used my time to take notes for my team’s story.

Right after I finished filming my segment, with thunder roaring ominously outside, I frantically got ready to bring my Padcaster to the local animal shelter in order to shoot an interview and get some B-Roll. The B-Roll went well, but I ran into problem after problem whilst trying to conduct my interview, and eventually had to return home in the pouring rain, huddling my mic near me and getting totally drenched.

Luckily, I had a backup lined up and was still able to shoot a great and hugely informational interview. I’m a bit nervous about putting all of our footage and ideas together in the next couple days, but I can’t wait to see how it all turns out!

What a weird way to go about my third day at Greene. For one, I had a really strange experience while using Skype for the first time. Throughout our lesson, my Internet kept fading out and it caused some coordination issues when trying to learn how to be an anchor.

Those coordination issues ranged from me having to try to use the Padcaster tripod to put my web camera on to having to do a rerun of it. However, towards the end of the day things got better. I learned how to take it upon myself to secure a role and learned how to conduct an interview that looked to have been not what you have had expected it to be.

During the second half of the day, I learned from my group that we didn’t assign roles to the annual Greene week project. Knowing that, I wanted to take initiative while trying to improve article writing. I announced that I would be writing the project’s print section. I was lucky enough to keep the position after we went into breakout rooms where the other members said that they were okay with me taking the post.

What really enlightened this strange day was that I was able to interview a Greene alum for the project. This also helped the others move forward in the project once we all got on board since I missed our first meeting and I wasn’t as present during the second one. It really got better when I interviewed that Greene alum and improved my skills by jumping in less, letting that Greene alum get what she needed to say out and using this interview to believe in myself.

I also learned that I need to take charge with less advisement from a higher-up. My day certainly improved as I gained interviewing experience and learned the importance of coordination.