Headlines and cutlines

Obama campaign trails to Pennsylvania

Sen. Barack Obama, (D-Ill.) pauses as he speaks at a town hall meeting in Reading, Pa. Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) have both been campaigning in Pennsylvania in hopes to win the presidential primary Tuesday, April 22. (Reuters photo by Bradley Bower / April 20, 2008)

Former Ravens coach: chicken or pig?

A bacon and egg breakfast might not mean much to some, but for those who heard Brian Billick speak Thursday, April 10, know it has a lot to do with drive and commitment.

The former Ravens coach said that pigs are committed to the breakfast; chickens are just involved. Billick explained to about 100 Towson University students spread around Smith lecture hall that pigs are patriots and chickens are mercenaries.

Billick stated that people deal with chicken all of their lives. “But if you want to be a pig you must exhibit passion and conviction for what you’re doing,” he said. Billick went on to explain that he would rather people be wrong with certainty and enthusiasm than be “right” and have no conviction or passion.

Billick, who has an undergraduate degree in communications from Brigham Young University, explained to the mass communications and communications studies majors that he is now at a similar crossroads as them.

He is unsure if he wants to go back into coaching or find something else he can have passion for and excel in as he did for leading the Baltimore Ravens.

Billick is a 54-year-old former NFL head coach. He said that he does not want to “fall into a rut of doing something simply because I can’t think of anything else to do.” He wants to give himself the opportunity to find passion for something else.

Billick knew his communications skills would serve him well, but he did not think he would use his degree. It ended up giving him his “big break.”

Lacking a background in business, Billick decided to go on an interview for a business anyway. He was a dedicated student and athlete. When he learned he had gotten the job, he couldn’t help but wonder why.

Billick’s athletic, “never say die attitude” and his broad-based communications background all tied together, helping to give him his “big break” in the business world.

Billick described communications as a “very exciting field; one that cuts across many boundaries.” With both his wisdom and insight, he encouraged many people that day, to a dynamic and broad field.

Billick is very experienced in communications, business and leadership. He warned the young undergraduates that, “people may mistake your passion for ego, your conviction for arrogance,” but he prides himself in being experienced and old enough to know the difference. “When you talk about arrogance and ego, you're really talking about a very selfish perspective and you're making that passion and conviction about you,” he added.

The speech inspired confused mass communications student Charlotte Jarrett who has changed her major three times. “After listening to Brian Billick talk about how communications has helped him in the business aspect of his career, I was convinced that I have finally made the right decision,” said Jarrett. “I am a mass communications major ready for the business world!”

Billick said that the “key to success, if your that pig, is to figure out how you’re going to get the most out of the chicken.”

Partner Picture!

Journalistic Principles

According to the text book, All in the News, objectivity requires that journalists stick to observable facts and avoid injecting their opinions into news reports. Being objective is all about facts and not about opinions. You should be neutral when reporting the news.

Thoroughness requires time to track down and talk with the best sources, find the best documentary evidence, and so on. The goal is go give the audience as much information as possible so they can understand what is happening and make informed decisions based on that information. Being thorough in journalism is very important. Not only are you allowing yourself to understand the story more but your giving the audience more information to based their opinions on.

Accuracy is vital in journalism. If something is not accurate, it has absolutely no value. People turn to the news for a major source of news information. If something is not accurate then people have a tendency not to trust that particular news source. People remember the bad things more than the good.

Fairness means an attempt to make sure all the bases are covered. According to columnist Nat Hentoff, “Fairness means you get the facts, all of them if you can, especially when they surprise you into re-evaluating what you thought the story was going to be about when you began.” A journalist has to be fair.

Transparency is the idea that to gain and maintain public trust, journalists must be as open as possible about what biases they bring to the job, how they get their information and how they make decisions on choosing and reporting stories. Steven A. Smith, editor of The Spokesman-Review said that transparency is about being open about mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes but learning from those mistakes is what sets people apart. You have to be open and let others know you too are human.

I think the most important journalistic principle is accuracy. If you are not accurate then you cannot be trusted especially in reporting the news. You need to be a good investigator not just a good journalist. Do your homework, be thorough, triple check the facts. Don’t get caught taking a shortcut that can be costly. You don’t want to look like a liar even if it was an honestly mistake. If it was a mistake, fess up! Explain how it happened to gain the publics trust back.

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Interview progess (if that's what you want to call it)

I have been in constant contact with Liz Urbanski the past couple of weeks. She has been extremely helpful with the background information I need for my story. She has yet to give me any names of people that have benefited from the program.

I don’t know what to do at this point. Start entirely over, pick a new program, try to contact the media rep then finally try to contact people that have been through the program? Sounds like a lot in two days (especially between full school days and other class assignments). Help!

Here is an extremely rough draft of a potential feature lede:

College students are thinking about their future more in terms of money instead of happiness.

More students are graduating with a fancy degree and debt. In order to pay for the expenses of life-after-college and debt, students are looking for high paying jobs and not jobs they truly want.

The Janet L. Hoffman Loan Assistance Repayment Program’s (LARP)priorities are recent graduates in lower paying job fields. They provide a larger incentive for individuals to work in critical shortages in the public and non-profit sectors. According to LARP's 2007 annual report, in 2006 alone, 569 eligible applicants received awards for a total dollar amount of 2,464,975.

Field Trip with a "nerd from Kansas"

I was ready. I had my new “business casual” outfit, comfortable shoes, my reporter’s notebook and an open mind. I was ready for the field trip to The Washington Post and the Washingtonpost.com.

I was a little apprehensive as the Towson shuttle bus pulled away from the familiar campus. I felt like a young, inexperienced mass communication student compared to the graduating, knowledgeable journalists.

I did not know what to expect as we started to pile in front of The Washington Post building. I looked up in awe. About 20 Towson students and faculty made our way to a conference room where we were all relieved to see food! As we became lost in our lunch, we were introduced to our host, Rob Curley.

All I can say is wow. Rob is a charismatic, innovative thinker who has done just about everything.

He gave a three-hour presentation that was simply amazing. He showed us and explained all the various aspects of journalism, emphasizing multimedia.

One of the most interesting things I was exposed to during this trip was, OnBeing. Words cannot describe this form of journalism. Please click on the link and explore on your own. It is not just the interviewing that makes the story, it is the editing and other parts of video that make it what it is.

Rob Curley jumps into all aspects of his job. No assignment is too small or unimportant. He truly makes you want to make every little, minuscule thing lavish and extravagant. This is something he demonstrated to us when he worked at various small-town papers. He is the hyper-local guru. A “nerd from Kansas,” as he introduces himself.

This field trip opened my eyes to all aspects of journalism. Curley explained to us that journalist cannot be just incredible writers. They need to be more. They need to stand out, outside of writing such as blogging, podcasts, video editing, digital publishing, and other outside interests. It made me think a lot about what else I am interested in and what else I can do to stand out.

This field trip was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I am so happy I was able to experience. Thank you to Rob Curley, Professor Spaulding and Professor Lieb.