Local conference returns for 23rd annual rendition

ImageOhio University’s chapter of the Radio Television Digital News Association invites you to its 23rd Annual Local Conference on Saturday, March 23, 2013 in Scripps Hall. This year’s conference features eight esteemed guests from the fields of broadcast journalism and digital news. They are:

Jim Otte – Reporter for WHIO (Dayton, OH)

Mary Ellen Hardies – Director of Communications for the Delta Gamma Fraternity

Chip Mahaney – Senior Director, Local Operations for the E.W. Scripps Company

Scott Saxton – News Director for WECT/WSFX (Wilmington, N.C.)

Mikaela Hunt – Anchor and Reporter for WCMH (Columbus, OH)

Sheila Gray – Anchor for WXIX (Cincinnati, OH)

Aaron Ramey – News Director for WBND (South Bend, IN)

Brooks Jarosz – Multimedia Journalist, Anchor and Reporter for WSAZ (Charleston, W.V.)

Join RTDNA for a day of professional development featuring resume and reel critiques, networking, panel discussions, presentations and a healthy bit of food. The conference begins at 9:00 a.m. and goes until 5:00 p.m.

Tickets:

RTDNA Members – $7

Non-members – $10 

Door – $15

RTDNA to host Anchor Workshop

Tonight, Wednesday Oct. 24, join RTDNA on the 2nd floor of Scripps Hall for our Anchor Workshop!  

Interested in anchoring or just want to give it a try? Make sure you come to our meeting tonight and hear from experienced anchors and get a chance to be in front of the camera yourself!  You will learn about on-camera presentation and even get the chance to practice reading stories off the teleprompter. 

The meeting will still be starting at 7 p.m. but will be held in Lasher Learning Center on the 2nd floor of Scripps Hall rather than our usual meeting place (RTV 371).  All are welcome, experienced or not we hope to see you there!

Final Cut Workshop

ImageTonight, Oct. 3, OURTDNA hosts its video editing workshop, preparing students for its package competition coming up in November.

The workshop features instruction from OURTDNA veterans with years of editing experience in Final Cut, Apple’s video editing software used by WOUB.

The editing workshop begins at 7 p.m. in RTV 371.

OURTDNA runs for Big Brothers Big Sisters

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From left: Todd Ward, Bradley Parks and Kaitor Kposowa after the Ping Center Fitness Parents Weekend 5K.

Bright and early on Saturday Sept. 22, three members of OURTDNA took to the Hockhocking-Adena Bikeway for the Ping Center Fitness Parents Weekend 5K.

Todd Ward, Kaitor Kposowa and Bradley Parks took part in the race, which supported the Athens County Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

The race was the first event as part of OURTDNA’s community service initiative, which will offer more events to members later in the academic year.

McCarthy: The best stories are about people

Mike McCarthy joined OURTDNA Wednesday night to speak to members about the art of storytelling and his main point was to focus on the people affected. They are who make good stories great.

“Remember,” said McCarthy, reporter for WSYX 6 in Columbus, “first and foremost, stories are about people.”

The people with whom we speak during reporting can tell a story better than reporters ever could. They are much more relatable to viewers than a reporter.

Take, for example, the story of the park fountain by McCarthy featured on our website. The man on the bench, reading his book is relatable to the audience because perhaps he’s a viewer’s neighbor, friend, uncle or other. Or maybe a viewer thinks like that man. Perhaps they enjoy the fountain too. Maybe they walk by it on the way to work each day. The people are drawn to the person and the surrounding story follows, making it effective.

McCarthy allows the natural elements of stories to tell them for him. Short bursts of interviews and natural sound pops keep the story moving and create great flow.

McCarthy also stressed in our talk the importance of a good standup. A standup serves as a valuable transition between different elements of a story, he says, among other uses.

McCarthy’s quirky standups have gathered attention abroad. At the very least, a creative standup captures the viewer’s attention. However, with his stand ups, it becomes a case of “tell me” versus “show me” for the reader. Many would rather be shown. This allows the reporter to avoid becoming a talking head.

These are just a small few of the things McCarthy discussed with the folks of OURTDNA Wednesday night. He provided valuable advice to members in preparation for the OURTDNA Package Shootout competition coming up in just a few short weeks.

Next week, OURTDNA will host its camera workshop, showing students how to physically operate a news camera and also how to set up shots to make video as visually appealing as possible. This workshop is a valuable tool for anyone involved in video production, whether it be as a new skill or just a refresher. Next week’s meeting will be on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 7 P.M.

Mike McCarthy to speak with OURTDNA

Join RTDNA this Wednesday, September 19, in RTV 371 at 7:00 PM. This week, we will be hosting a storytelling workshop that will feature a Skype session with Mike McCarthy.

From his WSYX station bio: McCarthy is an award-winning reporter for WSYX ABC 6 in Columbus.  In 2007, he graduated from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, where he was named Outstanding Graduating Senior in Broadcast News.  McCarthy spent three years working as reporter for WVLT Volunteer TV in Knoxville, TN.  His work has earned three Regional Emmy Award nominations, as well as multiple honors from the Tennessee Associated Press, including a nomination as Best TV Reporter.  Previously, McCarthy has worked as an anchor, reporter, and producer for WOUB in Athens, Ohio.

Here’s a quick look at what McCarthy’s been working on as of late:

 

For those of you looking to learn more about what it really takes to find a story and put it together, this is the perfect opportunity!  You will learn from his experiences and have the chance to ask him questions. We’ll also see a bit more of his work and discuss the different elements of the stories. What works? What doesn’t? What would work? You decide!

See you all Wednesday night!!

Election Results are in!

We are proud to announce Ohio University’s Radio Television Digital News Association’s 2012-2013 Executive board! Please help me in congratulating the following:

President: Sara Nealeigh (@saranealeigh)
Vice President: Caitlin Turner (@Cati_E_Turner)
Secretary: Regina Donizetti (@ReginaDonizetti)
Treasuer: Joe Jackson (@joejackson75)
Publicity Chair: Bradley Parks (@Bradley_W_Parks)
Social Chair: Sandhya Kambhampati (@sandhya_k)
Webmaster: Alex Felser (@afelser)

Crisis Reporting with Micah Albert

Micah Albert, photojournalist for the Pulitzer Center, joins OURTDNA and OUSPJ Tuesday, May 8.

Journalists represent the public. It is the journalist’s job to disseminate information to the people. Reporting becomes difficult, however, when attempting to expand coverage to new areas.

Pulitzer Center photojournalist Micah Albert makes it a mission to cover relatively unknown issues in extremely undercovered regions. Albert’s clients include the New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine and National Geographic Traveler among many others.

Albert extended the media’s reach into the food crisis in Yemen, Dinka cattle camps in Sudan and gender-based violence in the rebel-controlled Democratic Republic of the Congo along with many others as well.

Albert will be joining OURTDNA and OUSPJ in a special joint meeting Tuesday, May 8 at 5:00 P.M. in Scripps 114. Please, take advantage of this incredible opportunity and join us for a Skype discussion with the storied photojournalist.

@OURTDNA

Welcome Back!

Hope you all had a great spring break and are getting excited for a great quarter with OU RTNDA! We’re starting off this quarter with a meeting on Good TV Storytelling on April 4.

Our RTDNA advisor and professor, Mary Rogus, will be teaching us how to craft a good TV story.  Rogus spent 20 years working in local television news and has won several awards including the AP Best Newscast and Best News Operation Awards. She has worked as a producer, reporter and executive producer.  At our meeting this week she will be explaining how you can make your story stand out from others and what the most important parts to a news story are.

We will also be announcing a new contest that we will be having this Spring Quarter! You’ll be able to use all the skills that you’ve been learning all quarter, so get excited!

Our meeting is at 7 pm on Wednesday April 4  in RTV 371. Hope to see you there!