Lindsey Theis- Speaker recap

Lindsey Theis, a reporter and anchor at Omaha News station, KMTV, spoke to our class last Monday and had some interesting insights on how to excel in the field of reporting and journalism. Growing up in Texas, right outside of Dallas, she recalled always being a lover of theatre. Rodger and Hammerstein musicals were always amongst her favorite, which caught my attention because I grew up listening to the same musicals, which helped foster my love for theatre and music as well.

After moving from Texas, Theis went to college in Naperville, IL (right outside of Chicago), receiving a BA in Broadcast Communication and minoring in Journalism. At the time when she first began her experience in the field, she noted that Twitter wasn’t around yet and the online aspect of reporting and media storytelling wasn’t nearly as huge of a concept or big part of what the job entails like it is now in 2017.

When asked if she had any advice for students preparing for a career in journalism or broadcasting, Theis couldn’t stress enough how important it is to apply for internships. While she was an intern, many of her experiences were unpaid internships, but the experience she gained and the insights built from being able to see how everything operates from the inside of news and radio stations were priceless experiences that she feels all students who seek a career in the field need to look in to in order to get their feet wet and see if its something they truly love to do.

Five years ago, Theis moved to Omaha, NE. “I now consider it my second home,” she stated.

The biggest thing I took away from Theis’s speech was her interest and comments on improvisational theatre and how that helped her become more comfortable in the field of broadcasting and being on camera.

“You can’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself. You want to mess up on the smaller stations and get it out of the way so you can shake it off easier once you get to the bigger stations. News bloopers happen and it’s not the end of the world,” Theis explained.

 Theis gives back to the community by teaching improv classes because she feels as though it is an important stress reliever for many people from many walks of life- whether they are interested in a career in journalism or not. The importance of letting go and not being afraid to act the fool is an important exercise for anyone and I thought it was really cool that she spends her time outside of her regular work schedule to dedicate time to improv and loosening people up.

Fairy Tales and First Fridays: A Benson mother’s Ode to Art

Benson artist and mother, Julie Hautzinger, recently had her artwork showcased at the Benson Theatre.

“There’s so many places for any artist to display their work,” Hautzinger states.

For the past seven years, Benson also holds Benson’s First Fridays, displaying artwork from Benson citizens in order to foster a sense of art appreciation and show the hidden talents of the people who make up the Benson community. Hautzinger feels proud to be able to participate in these First Friday events, either as an artist or a curious observer.

“I participated in First Fridays a couple of times, the last time has been a few years ago. Kids change everything,” Hautzinger laughs. “But it’s something I will always enjoy.”

Hautzinger pulls much of her inspiration for her art from a particular subject matter.

“I really enjoyed fairytales growing up, so I find inspiration in that,” she says. “I did a series of silhouettes as fairytale characters, but put it in real-life situations.” 

From UNO’S School of Communication, I’m Jesi Baltezor.

Benson art murals gives community member a reason to stay

Video Story 1- Benson art murals

Upon moving to the Benson community three years ago, Ryan Gvamme recalls being instantly drawn to the area for its obvious appreciation for art and culture. While acclimating to his new surroundings, it didn’t take long to notice the multitude of colorful murals adorning the alleyways and walls of Benson businesses.

 “It seems like there’s a couple different styles at play,” says Gvamme.

“Like you can tell the stuff like Beercade and some of the other things by the artist- it’s obvious it’s been spray-painted on there; it’s kind of got that urban culture sort of feel or whatever have you. But then you look at some of the others over there – you can tell it was a person who sat there with a brush”

When asked what painting on the Maple street business district first caught Gvamme’s eye, it took no time at all for him to make up his mind.

“The one’s that probably stick out to me the most- I would say for sure- Beercade. I grew up a gamer and all that, so I walk by and see all these characters and I know instantly what they are. So, I would say that’s probably my favorite one,” Gvamme states.

Amongst many others living in the Benson community, Gvamme feels gratitude knowing that the place he now calls home is one where hard work, talent, and self-expression can be seen on a daily basis.

From UNO’s School of Communication, I’m Jesi Baltezor.

Live-Tweet Recap

The Live-Tweet Twitter assignment was an interesting experience, mainly because it showed how tricky it can be to keep up with what’s being said in a press conference, who is saying what, and then furthering the conversation about what is being said by conducting a response in timely and appropriate manner. I found myself wanting to tweet about many things that were being said while I was commenting on the things that were just said, so being a fast typist was crucial in order to give Twitter feed that is relevant and in-time with what is happening.

As far as the press conference went and the issues discussed, I felt that Kevin Hasset and Huckabee-Sanders deflected many questions and no real answers were given. Considering that I follow many of my classmates from my lab and different labs on twitter and have followed them prior to this class, it was interesting to see what they were posting. I found that many of us were thinking the same thing when it came to what was being said about the new tax bill proposed as well as the way Hasset was responding to (aka not fully responding to) the questions posed.  The press conference covered many topics such as Trump’s new policy on ivory imports/hunting big game to sexual assault allegations to the tax plan that no one seemed to still get a clear answer about, leaving us more apt to worry about what it really all entails. It reminded me that people (the public) need to seek out information for themselves beyond watching a press conference, do their own research, and be responsible in educating themselves about the things covered in a press conference. If you rely on getting the whole story this way- you will undoubtedly be missing some significant info if the said press conference is being conducted like the one we covered for this assignment. The whole thing kind of just seemed like a “razzle dazzle” dance (Chicago musical reference for any of my theatre/musical nerd out there); their way of talking seemed informed and dignified, but the actual content of what they were saying seemed to just be repeating the question, choosing other reporters to select to ask their question before the previous question was ever fully addressed, and distracting from the actual issues that everyone was there to gain more insight about.

I also thought it was interesting to see how many of my classmates were retweeting/liking my tweets, which I wasn’t expecting since we were all focused on tweeting on our own. However, given that many of us were on the same mental page about how the press conference was going, it was refreshing and reassuring to know that I was not the only person thinking these things as I was tweeting them.

Although I had a Twitter before this class, I used it very rarely. I typically use Facebook a lot more often, but I still try to keep out of all of the political talk on there because lately it just seems to cause people arguing more and I don’t want to play in to that. However, this Twitter assignment and Twitter’s new change to allow more than 140 characters in a tweet made it easier to form a full thought and I had fun with it. It was interesting to see my classmate’s comments and made me feel like a reporter might feel when they have to rush to get things posted for a story.

Storyboarding Assignment: Mike Riley

Medium Shots:

Medium shot 1

Medium shot 2

 

Interview Shots:

Interview Shot 1

Interview shot 2

 

Wide Angle Shots:

Wide Angle 1

Wide Angle 2

 

Close-Up Shots

Close-up shot 1

Close-up shot 2