Summer Times 2007

BY RACHEL SNODGASS

Country and jazz vs. calculus and journalism. Even though these two instances may seem like they have nothing in common they make up a Summer Journalism Institute speaker Mike Foley’s life.

Foley has over 30 years of journalism experience. Originally from Rockford, Ill., Foley’s first job was working at a sheet-metal factory in his junior and senior years of high school. While in school he was in a band and loved high school math. Once he entered college calculus he soon realized that math was not the career field he wanted to study.

Still in college, Foley was encouraged to enter writing by a professor. When at a cocktail party, Foley was introduced to the editor of the Evening Independent newspaper. After accepting a position as a reporter for the newspaper, Foley’s career started to climb. Foley became a trustee of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Florida, president of Florida Society of Information Foundation of Florida, and was a judge for the Hearst Foundation College Writing Awards along with many other titles. Foley also worked for the St. Petersburg Times.

After entering the marketing field for the Times, Foley decided that he was not really interested in marketing. “I am not that good at it and I don’t like it.” he said.

In August of 2003, Foley started working at the University of Florida. He is a master lecturer and currently teaches two summer classes — reporting and advanced reporting. In the Fall Foley has an average lecture class of 200 students.

“I like teaching,” he said. “I love my job.”

Foley also has a scholarship program called Mike Foley Scholarship. He was married while in college so he said he prefers married students for this program mainly because he knows they do not have a lot of fun or money while in college.

In Foley’s spare time now he is in a jazz band called Mood Swingz. He plays bass guitar alongside his wife, Suzette Jennings, the bands singer. Even though he is in a jazz band, Foley’s favorite genre of music is country. He says he really likes the Dixie Chicks.

He also shared some advice for aspiring journalists.

“There are two types of reporters the ones who have ideas and the ones who get assignments. You want to be the reporter who has ideas. Your editor will love you and you will be doing something you want to do,” he said.

Terry Sollazzo advised numerous budding writers attending the Summer Journalism Institute at the University of Florida to “take the extra steps”. Kerri McLean, an english teacher and journalism advisor at Key West High School, and Terry Sollazzo, the former president of Florida Scholastic Press Association and teacher at Wharton High School in Tampa, teamed up in order to offer much needed advice to the students.

They touched on topics such as how to reprint photos that were not taken by the student, how to sell more ads in order to raise money for one’s highschool paper, and how to become the best editor possible. The two speakers used the tactic of role play to entertain the students, as well as to allow them to visualize the solutions to various problems more easily.

The first topic covered by the two speakers was how to credit photos correctly. Terry told the students to call or email the photographer, instead of just crediting the photo to him or her. Also, the team said that in order to properly credit the photographer, the journalists using the photo must put the words, “reprinted with the permission of”.

The actors of this role play exercise were 17 year olds Adam Brock and Casey Goldstein. These comedy-filled exercises provided scenarios where a person might have to credit a photo taken from a website, and how to do that accurately instead of just naming the website.

“I realized I have a lot to learn, and I benefitted greatly from other students’ advisors. The role play was an overall good experience,” Casey Goldstein said while speaking about participating in the exercises.

Another major issue discussed in this lecture was how to sell more ads in order for the students’ paper to be more profitable. One idea said to help motivate students to sell more ads was to use the “total point system.” In the system, money was worth points, and the more money one raised, the more points one earned, giving them the chance at extra credit. Another idea was the “ad blitz.” The strategy divided the journalists into teams to go out and sell ads. Whatever team sold the most ads receieved not only bragging rights, but possibly a reward like a free lunch.

Sadly, praise was not used in every example. In the last example given, the speakers said that in order to attend FSPA, a certain number of ads must be sold. If someone did not reach that advertisement goal, as simply stated by Terry Sollazzo, “you’re not going”. This threat would be enough to motivate the majority of the journalists in the room.

But what if someone’s paper requires too much editing? The team had advice for that as well.

“If its that lousy, don’t run it,” Kerry McLean stated.

The speakers agreed that if someone’s work needed so much editing that the paper was basically rewritten, then maybe it shouldn’t be printed at all. However, the speakers understood that a high school newspaper was far from perfect. In regards to the less than up to par writer, Terry said to “give them a chance to learn”. The journalist needs time to grow in their writing, and shutting them down every time doesn’t enable them to do that.

Advisors look for many things in an editor in chief. The two speakers said that editor in chiefs must be passionate, display writing skills, be a role model, and have an eye for news. Perhaps the most important attribute, however, would be the “with-it-ness factor” Kerri said. This means that the editor needs to see what needs to be done, and can’t cause problems within the journalism class.

Jessica Stalone spoke about her opinion on the two speakers’ lecture.

“I feel that it was a valuable experience to hear from other advisors because they understand high school journalism, and I can bring their wisdom to my school in order to better our newspaper,” she said.

The last topic, and perhaps one of the most controversial issues today, was where to draw the line in plagiarism. A question came up asking if it was plagiarism to write something that another person said if the journalist agreed with him or her and had a smilar idea. The answer was given almost instantaneously: “YES”.

Terry Sollazzo gave closing words of wisdom. “Let it inspire you, but don’t steal it”.

By: Ashley Hemmy

Mike Foley is good at what he does. So good that he earned Teacher of the Year at the University of Florida this year. So good that he used to serve as the executive editor of the St. Petersburg Times.

For the past three days, the SJI students have heard many good things about Foley. Therefore, all 85 students sat in the auditorium expecting that this speaker would be one of the most entertaining. And indeed he was.

The topic of the speech was “Do Good Stuff; Don’t Do Bad Stuff: Journalism Ethics.” Foley gave solid advice on what made good journalism. He started with funny jokes: A picture of him drinking, and him talking about not being a high school journalist because they are nerdy. He showed a high school picture of himself, claiming that he was cool. The thick glasses and goofy smile said otherwise, making the students laugh.

“I like the fact that even though ethics isn’t the most interesting topic, Foley managed to make it really fun through his personality and jokes on the PowerPoint,” said 17-year-old SJI student Kim Meyer.

What makes good journalism? Foley’s list of characteristics that make good journalism include fairness, accuracy, interest, and profitability.

Another topic Foley covered was the ethics that challenged journalists every day. There were two types on his list. Some antiethical behavior was understandably wrong, such as plagiarism and paying sources to get an interesting story. The morals of others were more questionable, such as posing for stories and using anonymous sources. Both the students and the staff debated over the latter.

Despite the seriousness of the topic, Foley entertained the students by jumping around and dancing while they asked questions.

Seventeen-year-old SJI student Kylie McGivern said, “I enjoyed the energy and liveliness that Mike Foley put into his presentation.”

The lesson Foley was teaching was learned. Reputation is crucial to every newspaper. If journalists make unethical decisions, then the public will refuse to read and believe what newspapers say.

BY KSENIYA BELIK

Accuracy, Accuracy, Accuracy, Accuracy, Accuracy. Speaking to SJI students on June 26, this is the issue that Rick Christie said is most important in journalism. Rick Christie has an endless list of experiences as a journalist, but he said that “none of it means anything without accuracy and fairness.” Too many people get entangled in words and forget accuracy. Fairness is also equally crucial in the form of being fair to the people, the subject, and the issue.Currently the Assistant Managing Editor for Business at the Palm Beach Post, Rick Christie has had a hand-full of diverse jobs. Speaking of diversity, this is a subject Christie strongly emphasized to SJI students.

“Have diverse interests. Try to understand all types of different subjects and things.” Christie said. Christie suggests that the more diverse your interests, the more colorful your writing will be. Diversity is essential for connecting with various types of readers.

As a journalist, Rick Christie has worked at publications such as The Washington Post, the Miami Herald, and The Wall Street Journal. Even though Christie admits he may not be an outstanding writer, he proposes that avid reporting will make up for that.

“Great reporting equals great writing.” Christie said. “Asking the hard questions, even the awkward questions, pays off and elevates everything.”

Right now the young, emerging journalists – SJI students and high school newspaper writers – must ask themselves the most important question in journalism: Am I writing stories people want to read?

“Ask yourself that question, but be prepared to hear an answer you won’t like, and it can be tough.” Christie said. Tough and all, answering this question is the decisive key to producing polished articles and gaining sufficed readers.

By Alexandra Ghaly

Doctoral student David Stanton at the University of Florida in Gainesville says not only is journalism itself changing, but the ways of viewing journalism are drastically evolving.

On June 25, Stanton spoke to a group of 85 high school students participating in the UF Summer Journalism Institute (SJI). This five day camp exposes students to the basics of journalism through a series of lectures, classes and workshops.

Stanton says a “second wave of convergence” began in 2005, stressing a high-quality, high-technology approach to this blending of different types of communication, such as video, photography, audio, and print. Unlike the first wave, this wave continues to thrive due to widespread broadband and the widely available “cheap and easy” technology.

But as journalism moves away from once-a-day, one-time publications into the relative eternity of the web, so do journalistic methods and mindsets. Many newspapers now place their primary emphasis on online journalism as opposed to print, and over the past seven to eight years the number of people obtaining their news from an online source has begun to overtake those who read printed press.

However, this does not mean that the desire for eye candy is replacing the value of information. Stanton says “content is still king,” and encourages budding journalists to “not think of themselves as a print journalist or a writer, but an information gatherer.”

Futhermore, throughout his speech Stanton referenced the journalistic craft as “storytelling,” elucidating the convergence which enhances and allows for the diversification of storytelling. He encouraged students to be open to all communication methods, such as a writer learning how to operate a simple point-and-shoot camera one weekend.

This new brand of “electronic storytelling,” as Stanton dubbed it, is resulting in a dichotomous field. For example, info-graphics are a combination of programming, graphics and information. While specialists are required to design these web applications, these specialists must now approach journalism in a team-based manner. Yet if one person excels in one area and is decent in others, he will provide a more valuable resource to a news company with budget issues.

Stanton has been attending UF since 1998. He spent two years in mechanical engineering before switching to journalism for his bachelor’s degree. He discovered online journalism when pursuing his master’s degree, and is now writing his dissertation for his doctorate.

Currently an instructor at UF, Stanton would like to pursue research on both printed and online reading behavior, in which a subject’s eye movement is monitored to determine what types of graphics, text, formatting, and so forth attract the most attention. The idea is to enable companies to optimize the pieces read and the photographs viewed.

When asked by an SJI student if he thought the idea was “creepy, in a big brother way,” Stanton replied it wasn’t because he wants to market the news. “I’m not trying to sell toothpaste.”

BY LEAH ARNOLD

GAINESVILLE, FL – On Wednesday, Kristen Harmel addressed students at the UF Summer Journalism Institute (SJI) in what has been dubbed “the best lecture of the entire week.”

Kristen Harmel has a job that thousands of girls dream about. She’s interviewed stars like Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, and Katie Holmes. She writes for People magazine covering events such as the Super Bowl and the MTV Movie Awards. She’s also written three popular novels, worked on the “Daily Buzz” TV show, and lived everywhere from Paris to New York.

She graduated summa cum laude from UF in 2001, with a major in journalism and a minor in Spanish, which she claims is “very helpful and useful if you want to work in Florida.”

“Oohs” and “aahs” echoed from the audience as Harmel began her speech: “I just arrived from London, where I was sent to interview the Harry Potter movie actors. Daniel Radcliffe is a sweet, funny guy…”

Buckets of personality bubbled from her tiny five-foot frame as she spoke to the students. A former UF journalism alum herself, she seemed comfortable addressing the next generation of Florida writers. Her speech was entitled “Beyond the Red Carpet: Entertainment Journalism,” and she spoke about her personal experiences breaking into the industry.

“I love being a journalist because it gives you insight into human nature and allows you to ask tough questions,” Harmel explained.

She credits UF’s journalism school with helping her arrive where she is today.

“I would not have accomplished anything I’ve done in my life if I hadn’t come to UF. Honestly it was the best decision I ever made. UF played a huge part in what I’m doing now. They helped me get the internships that got me a foot in the door.”

Harmel began by explaining her high school writing experience. At age 16, she sent query letters to a small magazine and became a published writer, going on to work for the St. Petersburg Times while in high school.

“Start small. Any writing experience will help down the line. Try to write for local publications, and tell them you’re eager to learn and willing to work hard,” she urged.

She also stressed the importance of internships. An internship with People magazine between her junior and senior years of college lead to her full-time job as a reporter.

Harmel told of her favorite story assignment. She recounted the story of a Holocaust survivor who started out working in a hotel kitchen, and eventually moved up to hotel management. He is now a millionaire who started an organization to help children.

“You get to meet famous people and celebrities, but you also get to meet good people who’ve done good things,” she explained.

When asked if she gets intimidated before celebrity interviews, she admitted that she’s “been nervous before, especially when interviewing cute boys.”

She then gave some interview advice: “Completely over-prepare. I always have a list of questions to refer to. Also, take a recorder and hand-written notes. My recorder broke during an interview once, and I had not taken any notes.”

At the end of her lecture, students gathered around Harmel to ask questions and take pictures. 16-year-old Jordan Moore described the event as “so inspiring” to her as a future journalist. Emily Nance, age 17, was impressed by how much Harmel had accomplished at such a young age.

“Her life is just such an inspiration and is so parallel to my future hopes as a journalist that I really appreciated her coming to speak to us,” gushed 17-year-old Katie Sullivan.

Shreya Murthy, 16, is an SJI student who has attended two of Harmel’s workshops in previous years.

“You can connect and really relate to her,” she claimed. “She’s really helpful, and out of all the speakers, she had the most practical advice. She told us exactly how she broke into the industry. I want to be her in 10 years!”

She was full of encouragement and advice for those who desired to follow in her footsteps: “Never sell yourself short. Definitely believe you can do it. Everything I’ve done is something you can absolutely do. You just need to have confidence and then go do it. Take the initiative – you have nothing to lose.”

“Get all you can while you’re in college,” John Wright told 87 eager students who were bursting with curiosity about the up’s and down’s, the truths and rumors about applying to college, focusing on the standards and procedures University of Florida uses.

Wright has 21 years of teaching at the University of Florida alone, but has taught at Purdue University as well as the University of Alabama. He is the Interim Dean of the College of Journalism and Communications, as well as a professor in the Department of Telecommunications. Wright is filled to the brim with information on what to do and what not to when you are applying to the school of your choice.

When the question about what looked better to the people in admissions — taking hard classes and getting average grades or taking a regular classes and receiving all A’s — Wright laughed and said, “It’s better to take hard classes and get good grades.”

He did agree that if you receive a C in an Advanced Placement class the people in admissions will take the difficulty of the class into consideration. Wright also made it clear that even if you don’t have as many AP classes, as long as you keep your grades up, you’ll still have a chance of being accepted.

Everyone is always curious about which GPA the college looks at — the weighted GPA or the un-weighted GPA. While everyone hopes that it is the weighted GPA, Wright said that at UF they look at un-weighted GPA.

Wright also explained that your “GPA does not tell you everything.”

Having a variety of extracurricular activities, community service and internships is also very helpful. While answering the questions on your application “try and let the people who are reading them get to know you through the application.”

Wright strongly stressed the importance of the essay. His tip on how to be “edgy” was to write a really good essay that will stand out from the rest and help you be remembered.

When it comes the dreaded standardized tests, the SAT and the ACT, Wright suggested that you take them as many times as you can so you have a chance of bringing your score up.

He also informed many students of the appeals process and explained that if you are denied but are very passionate about the school, formally appeal the decision and ask for reconsideration for admittance.

If your school does have class ranking, Wright agreed that being farther up on that list will help you, but if you aren’t you should have things that “counteract” that, such as the “essay you write and the experiences you have.”

Students often worry about the number of letters of recommendation they should send out, wanting the number to be neither too small nor too big. Wright agreed that three or four is good, but ten is not good.

“Ten could work against you,” he said.

If you are taking your first two years of college at a community college and want to transfer Wright recommended “keeping up your GPA up, be on track with courses you’re supposed to be taking and check with the office of student services.”

Many of the students were wondering how to get into the College of Journalism and Communications — after being accepted to UF of course. His advice was “get into UF, go to the preview, put your name on a list, let’s say ‘journalism telecommunications,’ and you’re in as long as you keep a GPA of 3.0 or better.

Most of the students in the room believe their career will be in journalism of some sort, so when asked what he thought about being a specialized journalist or knowing a broad range of topics, he replied “Learn all you can across as many platforms as you can.”

Some were concerned if the people in admissions were less likely to admit students from out of state or not. Wright clarified that they weren’t less likely to admit out of state students and they wanted students from out state, although out of state tuition is substantially more expensive. The University does not have a matching system, but those who are interested in the College of Journalism and Communications should apply for a scholarship because they are “blessed with lots of scholarships.”

Wright clarified a lot of misconceptions about applying to college, giving the students an inside look at the experience from a professional’s point of view.

BY SARAH BLANC

“Oh God,” said 15 year old Stephanie Uhrig, glancing over the title of the presentation that is about to be delivered to the auditorium of Summer Journalism Institute students. Tips for Being a Rad J-School Student in College, it reads.

“Rad?” Uhrig asks rhetorically. “That’s like an acronym or something, right?” Wrong. That’s Meredith Cochie, Assistant Director of SJI, employing a word that would be otherwise uncool to use in her presentation on life as a journalism student.

“I’m trying to get everybody to work rad into a sentence today, too,” Cochie announces to lighten up the room. The gesture was hardly necessary, as the students were already bracing for Cochie’s amusing antics.

As a little girl, Cochie would disassemble her Vogue Magazines simply for the fulfillment of putting them back together again as if she were the editor. Fortunately for her precious Vogue publications, Cochie landed a real job in the world of journalism by 14.

“Nothing is too small to start,” Cochie said. “If any of you want to work at Vogue, just know that at first, you will be in a back room fact-checking barrette names. But you know what? That’s great!”

Cochie relayed an abundance of advice to the aspiring journalists- some things that are relieving, others that are terrifying, but all drawn from invaluable experience. She stressed the need to take ownership in an environment where everyone is a big fish.

“It’s like medical school, just without the knives,” Cochie said, and the other counselors heartily agreed. They also contributed to the presentation and relayed their experience within and beyond the department.

Currently, Cochie is a graduate student of the University of Florida College of Journalism, and is very involved in her major. She was the president of the Journalism and Communications Ambassadors, an organization that connects journalism students and faculty at UF. Upon graduating, Cochie received the Dean’s Cup for Service Award and the Society of Professional Journalism Award. Her experience with SJI and journalism in general allowed her to fit right in among the various other speakers that Cochie also looks up to.

“So rad isn’t so bad,” Uhrig says jokingly after the seminar. “I’m glad that I have someone around to answer my questions and relay their experiences.”

BY ZAKRY SOMMISE

Jet, stakeouts, and ducks, are all the tools John Freeman used to snag the attention of the ever drifting Summer Journalism Institute class. Freeman, who has worked at over six newspapers in his journalistic career, has even photographed Jimi Hendrix. He also has a Master of Arts in Communications at Wichita State University, Kan., 1987, Bachelor of Journalism at the University of Missouri at Columbia, 1975 and has been an associate professor at theUniversity of Florida. He was the first of five guest speakers at Summer Journalism Institute of 2007, and though it was a rocky start because students were exhausted from the first night at Beaty Towers, there was a solid finish. In the beginning Freeman talked about the many different kinds of things he did as a college photojournalist. The students general seemed interested, but this did not last for long. A thick air of fatigue set in the room, and it was almost as if Freeman himself was fighting through the exhaustion of the students to keep their attention.

“Every group has its varying interests,” and “Everything has its highs and lowers,” Freeman said about the opening to his presentation. Though everyone answered all his questions, Freeman’s attempt at some dry humor about his style back in the 70’s but did not quite rock the house. A few laughs here and there but tiny groups of whispering students started springing up. Indeed, there was a distance hung between the students and Freeman. Yet he continued teaching what he had come to teach. Determined and unwavering Freeman pressed on.

One word was all it took to for Freeman to start out with a clear slate. While talking about Al Diaz the winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography who shot photo’s of Elián Gonzalez, a Cuban refugee being taken away from his family by the FBI, he mentioned Diaz was making 400 dollars a day. Instantly the mood changed the entire class was listening as if to find the secret of making that kind of money. Finding out saying that Diaz had been just a freelance photographer who had worked his way up from the bottom, to now working for the Associated Press, seemed like a compelling story to all.

Keeping the attention of the student, John then whipped out the pictures of him flying in a fighter jet on an assignment for The Wichita Eagle. All of a sudden the students were listening, pens and pads out and ready, waiting for the next juicy detail. While explaining enterprise to the SJI students, Freeman displayed a momma duck and her babies walking on a side walk, who soon after crossed the street, where citizens of
Wichita help them cross. This of course made all the girls go “aww” at the ducks and interest rose even more. Still going threw his collection of photo’s Freeman explained that his department had won some awards over the years and to help with the effect Freeman used Queen’s “We are the champions” as background music. Some sang, some hummed, some whistled, and in agreement the song was a hit.

By the end Freeman had completed a full 180 degree turn, from slowly losing his audience to having them eating out of the palm of his hand. “It made me want to go into photojournalism, like I had wanted to do it before but that made up my mind,” said Adam Brock about his feelings on John presentation.

All information was taken for the following:

www.pulitzer.org

www.jou.ufl.edu/people/faculty/jfreeman/freeman.htm