I watched a story on the O'Reilly Report about how the show "Family Guy" attacked Fox News. O'Reilly stated that the higher ratings that Fox News get attacked from "left wing frustration boiling over." I thought it was incredibly unprofessional to say on air, especially for someone who claims to be a moderate, that a comedic show making fun of Fox News is because of left wing frustration. He even went far enough to call Seth MacFarlane a left wing zealot. Everyone knows that Bill O'Reilly is a conservative, but I don't think that kind of bias should be allowed on air for a station trying to come across as moderate.
I had my first reporter shift last Thursday and did a story on how a bill was passed by the state house of representatives that would ban illegal immigrants from going to public universities and colleges in Missouri. It was incredibly hard trying to find people to talk to, politicians are the worst people to interview. I literally got two phone calls today from politicians returning my calls from Thursday afternoon. They think the world revolves around their schedule. Anyway I finally got Mary Still to give me a few minutes of her time, of coarse she was 45 minutes late to the interview and when she finally got there she avoided my questions and gave me the same prepared quote 5 times. It was all I had and I was forced to use it for both my package and my VO/SOT. I tried to talk to local universities, but they either stated that they were too busy or they never returned my calls. My shots ended up being all wall paper shots of the Mizzou campus and the capital due to my lack of contacts. I had no human spin on the story and am now disgusted by any idea of me doing another political story. Mike Brannen, the producer, tried to give me a 30 second graphics story, but I told him that I had enough information for a short package, I stated my reasons for thinking this and he eventually gave in. I thought that I wrote the story pretty well and ended up writing and editing the story in under two hours. I was incredibly frustrated for most of the day from the lack of help by politicians, but I feel that I did a good job on a story that was hard to manage. Randy told me that it was the best story idea that he had heard all day, but it was just too difficult to pull of with a lack of help from the politicians and the local colleges. Next time I think i'll pitch more reporter friendly story ideas...
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
4/20/09
I watched an interview on CNN.com of the second mate on the ship that was attacked by Somali pirates. The interview was conducted in a very unprofessional manner by allowing the crew member to hold his kids in front of the camera. One of the kids was right next to the wireless mic and was making annoying baby noises throughout the beginning of the interview. It was very distracting and I had to watch the beginning three times to actually understand the questions and the answers. They eventually moved the kids, but having them in the interview was pointless in the first place. The questions asked were good and the crew member gave good answers. It was a decent interview, but they also had the wife of the crew member on and didn't ask her any question, so it became irrelevant. I disagree on the method of having family members on camera unless they are going to be asked a question, but I suppose he may have agreed to the interview only if his family were allowed on T.V. with him.
On to more important things, I had my second VO patrol last Wednesday. On the shift I went to a meeting of a democratic party known as OFA, Organizing For America. The meeting was called a "listening tour" and the goal was to see what democrats and other local political activists thought needed to be changed. The meeting started at 7 p.m. and lasted until 9, the leader of the listening tour told me that he couldn't interview me until the end, so I shot some of the meeting then went outside with one of the organizers and asked her a few questions about OFA and the listening tour. I returned all too late, at around 8:30 and finished writing my script by 9. I had to wait until 9:30 to get it script approved, because everyone was too busy. I hurried to get the editing done as fast as possible and finished at 9:50, I ended up doing a VO/SOTVO. It aired with no problems and Jim didn't correct vary much of my script. I'm still not entered into inews, because Stacey hasn't been there. My biggest complaint so far at KOMU is I'm bleeding money through gas, but thats my fault for not signing up for the KOMU cruiser yet...I should probably get that done...also I have no idea on anything regarding makeup and probably need to inquire into that.
On to more important things, I had my second VO patrol last Wednesday. On the shift I went to a meeting of a democratic party known as OFA, Organizing For America. The meeting was called a "listening tour" and the goal was to see what democrats and other local political activists thought needed to be changed. The meeting started at 7 p.m. and lasted until 9, the leader of the listening tour told me that he couldn't interview me until the end, so I shot some of the meeting then went outside with one of the organizers and asked her a few questions about OFA and the listening tour. I returned all too late, at around 8:30 and finished writing my script by 9. I had to wait until 9:30 to get it script approved, because everyone was too busy. I hurried to get the editing done as fast as possible and finished at 9:50, I ended up doing a VO/SOTVO. It aired with no problems and Jim didn't correct vary much of my script. I'm still not entered into inews, because Stacey hasn't been there. My biggest complaint so far at KOMU is I'm bleeding money through gas, but thats my fault for not signing up for the KOMU cruiser yet...I should probably get that done...also I have no idea on anything regarding makeup and probably need to inquire into that.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
2009 NFL Mock Draft
I tried to predict these picks, without bias, on what I believe each team will do. Of course no draft goes without trades occurring, but they are harder to predict than the date of the apocalypse, so give me a break as far as trades are concerned. Here it goes to having a higher percentage of picks right than Mel Kiper!!!
* = underclassman
1. Lions: QB Matt Stafford* (Georgia) The Lions need just about everything with the exception of a #1 WR. After seeing the success that rookies Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco are having, the Lions can’t afford to screw this up.
2. Rams: LB Aaron Curry (Wake Forest) Before the combine, this pick was
reserved for Andre Smith; but he committed seppuku on his stock and the Rams have hired Steve Spagnuolo the former Defensive Coordinator for the Giants, he will go with defense.
3. Chiefs: OT Jason Smith (Baylor) With the surprise move of the Rams drafting Curry instead of Jason Smith, the Chiefs decide to build a wall for new franchise centerpiece Matt Cassel. Personally I go with Orakpo here, since they only had 9 sacks all of last season, but this pick will solidify the line and put the KC offense one step closer to becoming a powerhouse.
4. Seahawks: OT Eugene Monroe (Virginia) It’s too early for a running back in this draft. The signing of TJ “Who’s your momma” allows the Seahawks to beef up their O line and get the future replacement of Walter Jones.
5. Browns: DE Brian Orakpo (Texas) With Curry gone, the Browns have to choose between the best player (Crabtree), and their two neediest positions DE and RB. I believe the Browns know the RBs in this draft aren’t top 10 picks. If the Browns trade Edwards this pick will be Crabtree.
6. Bengals: OT Andre Smith* (Alabma) The Bengals need just about everything, and the best thing to do in the NFL is start up front. The Bengals will take a chance on Smith and it will probably turn out well, I don’t think that skipping out on the combine means he is the next Pacman Jones. Though the Benglas do not need even more off the field problems.
7. Raiders: WR Jeremy Maclin* (Missouri) A few months ago Al Davis would have gone into cardiac arrest at the excitement of seeing Crabtree on the board still, but now it’s expected for him to drop to this spot, but the Raiders always draft for speed and will take the electrifying Maclin to help in the downfield passing game and on special teams. The Raiders should have a sick offense next year if they actually USE McFadden.
8. Jaguars: WR Michael Crabtree* (Texas Tech) Jags fans go crazy that Crabtree is still available and solidify a horrible WR corps, especially after the release of Matt “crack head” Jones.
9. Packers: DE/OLB Aaron Maybin* (Penn St.) The Packers need offensive line help and they need a pass rushing LB for their new 3-4 scheme, so they take the best player available of the two positions.
10. 49ers: DE/OLB Everette Brown* (Florida St.). The niners wish Andre Smith were still available and believe that they have enough competition at the QB position to add a pass rushing LB that will get to opposing QBs, like former niner Julian Peterson.
11. Bills: DE Robert Ayers (Tennessee) The Bills could go a lot of ways here, but they will draft the best player on the board and give them the pass rush that their defense is looking for.
12. Broncos: DT B.J. Raji (Boston College) The Broncos had a horrid pass defense last season and need a Running Back more than Mark Mangino needs a diet. But, they can’t believe that Raji is still available and get the biggest steal of the draft.
13. Redskins: OT Michael Oher (Ole Miss) The Redskins need a WR and could draft Harvin, but Moss and Randel El are both 5’10, do they really need another short, downfield receiver? Instead they draft Oher to take pressure off of Campbell and allow him time to go downfield to these receivers.
14. Saints: CB Malcolm Jenkins (Ohio St.) The Saints will draft not only the best defensive player available, but a position of great need for them.
15. Texans: RB Chris “Beanie” Wells* (Ohio St.) Harvin would be a fantastic compliment to Andre Johnson, but in a two running back league, the Texans need someone to split carries with Slaton. The Texans need a safety, but figure they can wait until the second round.
16. Chargers: LB Rey Maualuga (USC) The 2nd worst pass defense in the NFL calls for an upgrade at the safety position, but like the Texans they can wait until the second round. They also need a LB to beef up the middle and give assistance to Merriman in the run game.
17. Jets: WR Hakeem Nicks* (Maryland) The Jets have a solid team, their main weakness is at WR (besides having Brodie Croyle start at QB) and they have a good selection of receivers to choose from. Heyward-Bey is the most athletic of the bunch, but Nicks has proven the most.
18. Broncos (from Bears): DE Tyson Jackson (LSU) With-in an hour the Broncos have managed to give themselves the best young D-line in the league.
19. Buccaneers: QB Mark Sanchez* (USC) The Bucs have been looking for a quarterback for the future for a while and have yet to strike gold. Could Sanchez be the one? I would not be surprised to see the Bucs take Peria Jerry at this spot.
20. Lions (from Cowboys): OT Eben Britton (Arizona) The Lions need all the help they can get on the offensive line and will probably spend their second or one of their third round picks on a guard. With Stafford coming in, they will need to give him all the protection they can.
21. Eagles: RB Knowshon Moreno* (Georgia) The Eagles need someone to come in and assist the aging and injury prone Westbrook.
22. Vikings: WR Percy Harvin* (Florida) The Vikings have been here before, drafting speedster Troy Williamson in 06, but Harvin is the real deal.
23. Patriots: LB Clay Mathews (USC) Mathews will be the second linebacker picked with a Patriots top pick (Jerod Mayo) who will come in the next few years to replace the traded Vrabel and the other aging Patriot LBs. He will contribute immediately and is the kind of linebacker the Patriots like on the outside, big.
24. Falcons: DT Peria Jerry (Ole Miss) The Falcons will fill their most pressing need while also taking the best player available.
25. Dolphins: CB Vontae Davis (Illinois) The Dolphins need to fill a few empty slots in the defensive backfield after losing Goodman and Hill to free agency.
26. Ravens: WR Darrius Heyward-Bey* (Maryland) The Ravens need a WR to help the young Joe Flacco better establish himself as a solid starting NFL QB.
27. Colts: DT Evander “Ziggy” Hood (Missouri) The Colts need an inside compliment to Dwight Freeney to give the pressure up front that their defense needs to succeed and to assist in stopping the run.
28. Bills (from Eagles): TE Brandon Pettigrew (Oklahoma St.) The Bills traded their starting LT for this pick and will use it add the best all around TE in the draft.
29. Giants: WR Kenny Britt* (Rutgers) The Giants have a question mark at WR with Plaxico Burress shooting himself and getting cut. Amani Toomer is getting old, and David Tyree is a one hit wonder so they get the big receiver who will go up for the jump ball.
30. Titans: LB Brian Cushing (USC) The Titans are lacking a group of strong receivers, but do not want to pick any of the available receivers in the 1st round. With Haynesworth gone the Titans need a DT, but with Ziggy gone there are no more first round caliber DTs. So they take Cushing to beef up their linebacker depth.
31. Cardinals: RB LeSean McCoy* (Pittsburgh) Edge is done and Hightower is better suited as a goal line back like Lendale White. The Cardinals will need some defensive help, but will save that for later rounds.
32. Steelers: C Alex Mack (California) The insanely talented Steelers draft based on their biggest problem last year, offensive line.
* = underclassman
1. Lions: QB Matt Stafford* (Georgia) The Lions need just about everything with the exception of a #1 WR. After seeing the success that rookies Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco are having, the Lions can’t afford to screw this up.
2. Rams: LB Aaron Curry (Wake Forest) Before the combine, this pick was
reserved for Andre Smith; but he committed seppuku on his stock and the Rams have hired Steve Spagnuolo the former Defensive Coordinator for the Giants, he will go with defense.
3. Chiefs: OT Jason Smith (Baylor) With the surprise move of the Rams drafting Curry instead of Jason Smith, the Chiefs decide to build a wall for new franchise centerpiece Matt Cassel. Personally I go with Orakpo here, since they only had 9 sacks all of last season, but this pick will solidify the line and put the KC offense one step closer to becoming a powerhouse.
4. Seahawks: OT Eugene Monroe (Virginia) It’s too early for a running back in this draft. The signing of TJ “Who’s your momma” allows the Seahawks to beef up their O line and get the future replacement of Walter Jones.
5. Browns: DE Brian Orakpo (Texas) With Curry gone, the Browns have to choose between the best player (Crabtree), and their two neediest positions DE and RB. I believe the Browns know the RBs in this draft aren’t top 10 picks. If the Browns trade Edwards this pick will be Crabtree.
6. Bengals: OT Andre Smith* (Alabma) The Bengals need just about everything, and the best thing to do in the NFL is start up front. The Bengals will take a chance on Smith and it will probably turn out well, I don’t think that skipping out on the combine means he is the next Pacman Jones. Though the Benglas do not need even more off the field problems.
7. Raiders: WR Jeremy Maclin* (Missouri) A few months ago Al Davis would have gone into cardiac arrest at the excitement of seeing Crabtree on the board still, but now it’s expected for him to drop to this spot, but the Raiders always draft for speed and will take the electrifying Maclin to help in the downfield passing game and on special teams. The Raiders should have a sick offense next year if they actually USE McFadden.
8. Jaguars: WR Michael Crabtree* (Texas Tech) Jags fans go crazy that Crabtree is still available and solidify a horrible WR corps, especially after the release of Matt “crack head” Jones.
9. Packers: DE/OLB Aaron Maybin* (Penn St.) The Packers need offensive line help and they need a pass rushing LB for their new 3-4 scheme, so they take the best player available of the two positions.
10. 49ers: DE/OLB Everette Brown* (Florida St.). The niners wish Andre Smith were still available and believe that they have enough competition at the QB position to add a pass rushing LB that will get to opposing QBs, like former niner Julian Peterson.
11. Bills: DE Robert Ayers (Tennessee) The Bills could go a lot of ways here, but they will draft the best player on the board and give them the pass rush that their defense is looking for.
12. Broncos: DT B.J. Raji (Boston College) The Broncos had a horrid pass defense last season and need a Running Back more than Mark Mangino needs a diet. But, they can’t believe that Raji is still available and get the biggest steal of the draft.
13. Redskins: OT Michael Oher (Ole Miss) The Redskins need a WR and could draft Harvin, but Moss and Randel El are both 5’10, do they really need another short, downfield receiver? Instead they draft Oher to take pressure off of Campbell and allow him time to go downfield to these receivers.
14. Saints: CB Malcolm Jenkins (Ohio St.) The Saints will draft not only the best defensive player available, but a position of great need for them.
15. Texans: RB Chris “Beanie” Wells* (Ohio St.) Harvin would be a fantastic compliment to Andre Johnson, but in a two running back league, the Texans need someone to split carries with Slaton. The Texans need a safety, but figure they can wait until the second round.
16. Chargers: LB Rey Maualuga (USC) The 2nd worst pass defense in the NFL calls for an upgrade at the safety position, but like the Texans they can wait until the second round. They also need a LB to beef up the middle and give assistance to Merriman in the run game.
17. Jets: WR Hakeem Nicks* (Maryland) The Jets have a solid team, their main weakness is at WR (besides having Brodie Croyle start at QB) and they have a good selection of receivers to choose from. Heyward-Bey is the most athletic of the bunch, but Nicks has proven the most.
18. Broncos (from Bears): DE Tyson Jackson (LSU) With-in an hour the Broncos have managed to give themselves the best young D-line in the league.
19. Buccaneers: QB Mark Sanchez* (USC) The Bucs have been looking for a quarterback for the future for a while and have yet to strike gold. Could Sanchez be the one? I would not be surprised to see the Bucs take Peria Jerry at this spot.
20. Lions (from Cowboys): OT Eben Britton (Arizona) The Lions need all the help they can get on the offensive line and will probably spend their second or one of their third round picks on a guard. With Stafford coming in, they will need to give him all the protection they can.
21. Eagles: RB Knowshon Moreno* (Georgia) The Eagles need someone to come in and assist the aging and injury prone Westbrook.
22. Vikings: WR Percy Harvin* (Florida) The Vikings have been here before, drafting speedster Troy Williamson in 06, but Harvin is the real deal.
23. Patriots: LB Clay Mathews (USC) Mathews will be the second linebacker picked with a Patriots top pick (Jerod Mayo) who will come in the next few years to replace the traded Vrabel and the other aging Patriot LBs. He will contribute immediately and is the kind of linebacker the Patriots like on the outside, big.
24. Falcons: DT Peria Jerry (Ole Miss) The Falcons will fill their most pressing need while also taking the best player available.
25. Dolphins: CB Vontae Davis (Illinois) The Dolphins need to fill a few empty slots in the defensive backfield after losing Goodman and Hill to free agency.
26. Ravens: WR Darrius Heyward-Bey* (Maryland) The Ravens need a WR to help the young Joe Flacco better establish himself as a solid starting NFL QB.
27. Colts: DT Evander “Ziggy” Hood (Missouri) The Colts need an inside compliment to Dwight Freeney to give the pressure up front that their defense needs to succeed and to assist in stopping the run.
28. Bills (from Eagles): TE Brandon Pettigrew (Oklahoma St.) The Bills traded their starting LT for this pick and will use it add the best all around TE in the draft.
29. Giants: WR Kenny Britt* (Rutgers) The Giants have a question mark at WR with Plaxico Burress shooting himself and getting cut. Amani Toomer is getting old, and David Tyree is a one hit wonder so they get the big receiver who will go up for the jump ball.
30. Titans: LB Brian Cushing (USC) The Titans are lacking a group of strong receivers, but do not want to pick any of the available receivers in the 1st round. With Haynesworth gone the Titans need a DT, but with Ziggy gone there are no more first round caliber DTs. So they take Cushing to beef up their linebacker depth.
31. Cardinals: RB LeSean McCoy* (Pittsburgh) Edge is done and Hightower is better suited as a goal line back like Lendale White. The Cardinals will need some defensive help, but will save that for later rounds.
32. Steelers: C Alex Mack (California) The insanely talented Steelers draft based on their biggest problem last year, offensive line.
Monday, April 13, 2009
4/13/09
It was a given that I would evaluate a story by ESPN on the death of Phillies commentator Harry Kalas today. The story was by Jayson Stark and had very good opening nat sound and some sad piano music to go along with the package. The package is full of very good nat pops of the greatest calls of Kalas' career. The package lacks sound bites from his friends and families. The story is touching overall and is very well done by being a short representation of Harry Kalas and his great career. The worst part may have been the audio, it sounded like Jayson Stark was reading the package from a script through a telephone, which he may very well have done. I tried to watch other stories on Kalas to compare the package too, but their wasn't really anything more than a couple quick sentences on how great he was except for the live interview that Sports Center did with Mike Schmidt. In the interview all Schmidt did was give his personal experiences with Kalas.
I had my first VO patrol Thursday night. When I arrived the producer gave me a flyer with Dr. Angela Davis on the front. She is a public speaker for gender and racial rights and was to speak at Jesse Hall. I arrived ten minutes before the event was about to start. When I arrived I talked to the MU PR person, she said that I could come in and shoot the speech, but I couldn't interview Dr. Davis. I decided that I would interview someone when leaving and find out how important they thought it was that Dr. Davis was in Columbia. I set up my camera and found out that I had taken a broken tripod. I get angry and myself and tried to adjust to the best of my abilities by holding the camera on the tripod myself. Right before the start of the speech the PR person found me and told me that I couldn't shoot any material from the speech. I asked why and she told me that she had just found out it was a breach of contract with Dr. Davis and that nobody could "film" anything from her event. I called the producer and he confirmed this, so he told me to wait in my car for him to call me with a new story. At 7:30 the producer called me and told me to get wallpaper of dairy products in the HyVee on West Broadway and not to show any prices, I asked him what the story was and he told me he would explain it when I got back. I hurried to the HyVee, ran in and got 8 shots of dairy products, then drove as fast as I could back to KOMU making it back by 8:10. When I arrived the producer gave me a 3 paragraph story from stltoday.com on how dairy farmers will be given extra tax credit. I searched for other stories regarding this issue and could find nothing except for the bill itself. I didn't have much to work with, but I had the script and video approved before 9. Hopefully my VO patrol on Wednesday will be a little more organized.
I had my first VO patrol Thursday night. When I arrived the producer gave me a flyer with Dr. Angela Davis on the front. She is a public speaker for gender and racial rights and was to speak at Jesse Hall. I arrived ten minutes before the event was about to start. When I arrived I talked to the MU PR person, she said that I could come in and shoot the speech, but I couldn't interview Dr. Davis. I decided that I would interview someone when leaving and find out how important they thought it was that Dr. Davis was in Columbia. I set up my camera and found out that I had taken a broken tripod. I get angry and myself and tried to adjust to the best of my abilities by holding the camera on the tripod myself. Right before the start of the speech the PR person found me and told me that I couldn't shoot any material from the speech. I asked why and she told me that she had just found out it was a breach of contract with Dr. Davis and that nobody could "film" anything from her event. I called the producer and he confirmed this, so he told me to wait in my car for him to call me with a new story. At 7:30 the producer called me and told me to get wallpaper of dairy products in the HyVee on West Broadway and not to show any prices, I asked him what the story was and he told me he would explain it when I got back. I hurried to the HyVee, ran in and got 8 shots of dairy products, then drove as fast as I could back to KOMU making it back by 8:10. When I arrived the producer gave me a 3 paragraph story from stltoday.com on how dairy farmers will be given extra tax credit. I searched for other stories regarding this issue and could find nothing except for the bill itself. I didn't have much to work with, but I had the script and video approved before 9. Hopefully my VO patrol on Wednesday will be a little more organized.
Monday, April 6, 2009
4/6/09
I was planning on spending the night moping around after my beloved Cardinals brought their bullpen woes from 2008 into the season opener of 2009, but then I remembered I had a blog due for class tomorrow. I decided to check out KOMU.com to see what happened in the news today/yesterday. I watched the Sarah's story on the Spirit Rider Program. I didn't really like the introduction, I wasn't really sure what the program had to do with James Bond, or why it would be "covert." The nat sound was very good and matched well with the music, but it just didn't make too much sense to me. The framing on Sue Crane was a too close at one point and I didn't like how she used the same play-on-words about being in the horses shoes two times in a row. The story idea was pretty decent, but I just thought it was confusing and too showy to play all the James Bond music and to use all of the corny references, instead of being just about the news. I would have definitely made this story differently by keeping it simple and getting the point of the story across clearly. I know this is a feature story and is supposed to be different, but the James Bond thing just didn't tie in well with a horse farm.
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