Professional interests: Web video and writing; newsroom culture

Undergraduate degree: Magazine journalism & English -Syracuse Univeresity 

Masters: New Media journalism -Northwestern University

 

I wound up in Knoxville on a whim.

As I was finishing my graduate program in "new media" at Northwestern University, I cast a wide net and applied to any newspaper or television Web job I could find. My only requirements were "news" and "online." Geography didn't matter.

A few phone interviews and trips around the country later, I found myself accepting an online producer job at the Knoxville News Sentinel over Christmas vacation. Being a Jersey girl and longtime Northerner, I'd never lived in the South or been to Knoxville. I also never expected to last three years in my current job, either.

When I began in February 2005, reporters weren't shooting breaking news videos and we'd be lucky to have one breaking news story to post a day, as opposed to nearly 20. The idea of shooting and editing 3-5 videos a week was a foreign concept. And I certainly wasn't expecting to be training reporters on using video and audio equipment! That was the online producer's exclusive job.

But times changed fast for me and it's been rewarding. My team won a Digital Edge Award in 2006 for RandomThis, a weekly video blog. And we've been nominated for three more in 2008. I also feel I have more "street cred" in the newsroom because I'm one of five people who is usually sought out for technical advice/help. After all, when everyone was hating the Web, we were the ones shovelling the content to it.

I don't think I'd call what I'm doing "new media" anymore. It's here and everyone's doing it. If you dream of a job as a print reporter, you'd better be able to shoot video to go with your story. If you long to be a broadcast anchor, know how to translate your video story into a well-written online story. I don't think you can survive in this field otherwise. And I'm hoping this class gives you a taste of what you need to survive in this rapidly-changing field.

For more about my background and education, check out my resume.