Oklahoman interns NewsOK.com Blogging Community

The last days are upon us. Seems like it all just started and now everything is about to come to a screeching halt.

I can say that I’ve definitely enjoyed my time here. Heck, I enjoyed it so much I’m going to apply again for next year’s internship and try to come back and do it all over again (but that’s only if they didn’t get tired of seeing my face and I didn’t screw up too bad in this years internship!).

Whether I come back or not, I definitely learned a lot. Found out I’m a solid writer, but not nearly as good as I thought I was before I came here.

The experience of it all was great though. Covering events I’ve never covered before. Learning about sports that I’ve never even followed before and hardly know anything about. I also met so many new people and was able to go to so many different places I’ve never been before.  The most important thing is I know I became a better writer through all my experiences.

So now you’ve heard about me. What about you?

1.) How did you feel about the internship overall? Would you like to work for The Oklahoman in the future?

2.) What will be your lasting impressions of Oklahoma? What did you like and dislike about it? Did it match the stereotype you had in your mind before you came?

Thanks so much everyone! Good luck in your future journalism endeavors! Who knows, maybe one of us is the next Tim Russert or Barbara Walters or Stuart Scott or Keith Olbermann or …….??????????

- Dontay Allen, Sports

I watched FOX’s “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?” for the first time yesterday. I’d heard of the show and its following, but I’ve never felt the urge to watch it - except, there wasn’t much on TV last night.

While the show certainly meets the necessary entertainment value for an average game show, with all the humiliation and shame TV can offer — I can’t help but feel utterly disappointed and disgusted that people can get so much glee out of answering basic elementary-level questions. Or, that no one’s beat the show yet!

Perhaps I say this because I’m college-educated and was raised in an environment that valued and encouraged education - but in America, no one has a decent excuse to not receive at least a high school diploma.

America’s grade school system certainly isn’t perfect and needs a huge overhaul to match the rigor and preparedness of international education. But the schools are still there and the resources are still there. If someone wants to learn, they can and will. Only apathy or lack of direction can stop them.

In 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau’s population survey reported that 85 percent of Americans had at least a high school diploma, with the majority of that group going on to pursue higher education. So… why is it such a big deal when middle-aged, educated adults can’t answer fifth grade-level questions??

Something’s wrong here.

Here’s a sampling of the questions asked on last night’s show:

1. 2nd grade math: If you bring 30 cookies to a party and nine kids at the party each eat two cookies, how many cookies are left over?

2. 1st grade spelling: Spell the name of this animal:

3. 1st grade world geography: What continent has the coldest average annual temperature?

4. 3rd grade social studies: “E Pluribus Unum” – the motto on the great seal of the U.S.A. – means: “Live free or die,” “United we stand,” or “Out of many, one.”

5. 4th grade geometry: What is the only geometric shape that has infinite lines of symmetry?

6. 3rd grade U.S. geography: What is the name of the river that forms the border between Mexico and Texas?

7. 3rd grade science: True or False? When a wooden log burns and turns into ash, it undergoes a physical change but not a chemical change. [The contestant needed the fifth grade partner’s help.]

8. 4th grade astronomy: In Fahrenheit, what is the approximate temperature of the sun’s surface: 10,000 degrees, 1 million degrees or 35 million degrees? [The contestant “dropped out.”]

9. 3rd grade social studies: What U.S. president is on the $50 bill? [The contestant had to “peak.”]

10. 1st grade grammar: How many contractions are in the following sentence: “Nathan isn’t dressing as a cowboy for Halloween, but Cody’s brother is.” [The contestant needed the fifth grade partner’s help.]

Your turn: Easy or Challenging??

Try them, then scroll down for the answers. (Don’t cheat! )

~ Kristen M. Daum, City Desk intern at The Oklahoman.

[Answers: 1. 12   2. E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T   3. Antarctica   4. “Out of Many, One”   5. Circle   6. Rio Grande   7. False   8. 10,000 degrees   9. Ulysses S. Grant   10. One: Isn’t]

I love the topic, once again!

Do you approve/disapprove of journalism outsourcing??

On principle, I disapprove of journalism outsourcing. Journalism is a profession completely based on facts and communication between those who make the facts known, those who report it and those responsible for making sure it is in the best, most credible form in the end. When the last component is thousands of miles away, the process becomes more prone to major mistakes and issues with timeliness, as well.

— Are their better ways the news organizations can cut costs without cutting American jobs??

As long as it’s not my job being cut! haha. But seriously, yes. Teach reporters to do more than report, and you will save money on hiring extra people because of lack of photographers, web people, etc. Also, teach reporters to report all kinds of news so that if the paper becomes shorthanded, they can use other departments. (Of course, I know it’s common that other departments are usually loaded down, too.)

— What does this mean for news content and the importance of readers??

Nothing good. But on that note, it is emphasis of the importance that you are you’re best copy editor for the story you write. Plus, you never hear someone say “There’s an error in the story, the copy editor lied!” It’s all you:)

When you call a customer service line for an airline or credit card company, you would expect your call to be forwarded to some international office in India or southeast Asia — Outsourcing has become practically universal for that.

But not in journalism, right????
… Sadly, wrong.

All too often now, media organizations announce that they’re outsourcing jobs as a way to cut costs - while they simultaneously battle with the shift from print newspapers to online multimedia.

Copy-editing and page design (for now) are the most common newsroom departments being outsourced. That means stories are edited, headlines are written, and pages are layed-out by people thousands of miles removed from a newspaper’s readership.

The Orange County Register has had a history of some outsourced copy-editing, but just a few weeks ago, the Register officially signed an agreement with an India-based media firm to handle a share of its copy-editing and page-designing needs. While editors at the Register contend that no jobs are in jeopardy because of the deal, the newspaper already had a round of voluntary buy-outs in 2006 and 90 staffers lost their jobs in April because of dwindling circulation numbers.

But the Register wasn’t the first. McClatchy Company media goliath started outsourcing jobs in late 2007 at some of its larger papers, such as the Sacramento Bee and the Miami Herald by January 2008. Meanwhile, these newspapers are still cutting U.S. jobs to save money.

 If you think outsourcing journalism jobs is just a fluke of the times, don’t hold your breath. The Newspaper Association of America named as the No. 2 industry trend to watch in 2008 - as more and more news organizations try to cut costs and stay afloat.

Poynter Fellow Butch Ward, at least, offers some words of hope about this depressing pattern, but this no doubt remains troublesome to all of us entering the journalism industry.

Some questions for you to ponder:

— Do you approve/disapprove of journalism outsourcing??

— Are their better ways the news organizations can cut costs without cutting American jobs??

 — What does this mean for news content and the importance of readers??

C’mon, let’s start some chatter…

~ Kristen M. Daum, City Desk intern at The Oklahoman.

This post is in reply to Jason’s timely entry about reflecting on America this Fourth of July.

I’ll be the first to admit: I love what America symbolizes and the greatness this country could be — but I do not love what this country is now and where we’re headed.

I’ve felt this way for a couple years now, but what really soldified this mentality was when I spent four months in Italy last fall: This allowed me to see America from the outside in, much like how the rest of the world would see us.

And you know what?? While we may consider ourselves the greatest nation on Earth (and for some reasons, rightly so), if you’ve traveled to other countries, you’d see - the world doesn’t revolve around America.

I felt sad and ashamed when I saw American tourists and sometimes even my fellow classmates making utter fools of themselves because they acted overseas without any regard for the local culture and no desire to step outside their shells to see what the rest of the world is like.

What bothers me most is that many of the issues America faces - from poverty to the environment, other countries are facing as well and, most of the time, on amplified levels. Call me idealistic, but just maybe if the world’s countries worked together - we could actually make progress.

America, as one of the world’s leaders, has the greatest opportunity to pave the way in cooperative action with other countries. But we squander that opportunity by issuing ultimatums and child-like agreements: “I’ll do it, if you do.”It saddens greatly me to see America waste its chances again and again and again to truly become the great nation we want it to be.

Power and selfishness have gotten the world nowhere fast - but if we finally work together as a global community, rather than as distincly separate countries: We might actually make a difference.

So this Fourth of July, I ask you not only to remember those who’ve died to bring America the freedoms it has today, but remember why they fought and what they dreamed of - that America could become a truly great nation.

Part of that dream means holding our elected officials accountable, for good or bad - even if it’s not the easy thing to do. And it means working as one nation to participate in one global community.

 ~ Kristen M. Daum, City Desk intern at The Oklahoman.

Since it’s official now that OKC will have its own team and will change the name from the Sonics, what kind of names do you guys like? And  how well do you think the franchise will do here?

As far as names, me personally, I like the Oklahoma City Titans and the Oklahoma City Storm. Or maybe the Oklahoma City Twisters. I know some of these names are taken by other teams in different leagues (Tennessee Titans, and an Oklahoma based USBL team is named the Storm), but I still like the ring to them.

 I also think the franchise will be successful here over the long haul.

Let me know what you all think! It will be interesting to hear perspectives and opinions from people who haven’t lived in Oklahoma their entire lives (like me!) 

- Dontay Allen, Sports

Earlier today, five people died and 710 protestors were detained in Mongolia after the national government released results from fraudlent elections.

This unrest comes just days after Robert Mugabe’s fraudlent, intimidation-laden presidential runoff in Zimbabwe dominated headlines.

Now I’m not one to give rah-rah speeches, and I’m not a patriotically blind enough to tell you America is the best country in the world. It’s one of the best. But with the Fourth of July approaching, I do think it’s a time to reflect both on how good America is, and how good we can make it, if we decided as citizens to devote ourselves to bettering the nation and world we live in.

Henry Ford once wrote, “What’s right about America is that alhtough we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity — intellect and resources — to do something about them.”

America does have an undeniable mess of problems: we consume too much, we care too little about the environment and other cultures, we have too many gun deaths, we have no standing in the international community, we have a sinking economy, we’re embrioled in a war that has no end in sight, etc., etc., etc.

Even our cartoons recognize many of these problems (see WALL-E, for further details).

But as Mr. Ford highlighted, we have the capacity to fix these problems, as well the ability to improve upon our strengths. Unlike in Zimbabwe and Mongolia, we live in a country where we can vote for leaders who believe in an energy overhaul to decrease our dependence on foreign oil. We live in our country where we can vote for leaders who care about the environment and the international community. We live in a country with top-of-the-line universities where we can learn as much as we want, and which can endow us with the tools to achieve as much greatness as we want.

But what is greatness? When Fourth of July roles around, and you’re thinking about foot-long hot dogs and the usual fluff politicians will spew on our nation’s birthday, ask yourself, “What can I do to improve this place I live?” That’s greatness. America was founded on the ideals that the religiously persecuted, the vulnerable, the homeless, the hopeless, the downtrodden could all live here and be useful members of a collective society. Let’s return to those ideals.

Yes, we can celebrate America’s independence from Great Britain, but what can we do to make Mongolians and Zimbabweans as free as us? And what can we do to free us from those aforementioned problems that loom over us like black clouds? Those are questions I will  — and should — think about as an American on Fourth of July. Only then will I be acting upon the principles this country was founded upon on July 4, 1776.

Jason Singer, Sports/Metro Intern

— How do you feel about the constant news of job-cuts, lay-offs and buy-outs in newsrooms across the country?? Does this deter you from entering the journalism field upon graduation, or re-inspire you to rise above it??

Well, I’m not happy about it! haha. It doesn’t deter me, mainly because I’m willing (and thankfully, interested) to learn about various forms of getting the news out. Multimedia affords great opportunities, and if I have to be a writer/photographer/videographer, etc. to get my news heard, then that is what I’ll do! Plus, it’s fun to play with!

— How do you think these business issues are and will affect the content of newspapers?? Can they maintain the same quality of news-gathering and reporting with less staff??

Cutting staff is never good, especially when it’s experienced people who have been there a long time and know their stuff. The key will be hiring journalists who are smart, talented, and willing to do more duties for probably the same pay. Journalists will take photos, photographers will write, and cafeteria ladies might be mowing the lawn. Okay, maybe not, but you get it.

— How do you think news organizations can move past these tough times??

Convince more people to advertise online, and teach journalists how to be involved in a multi-media journalism world! Oh, and maybe invest in oil companies.

Monica Albert, Metro Desk intern

I don’t know if anyone else saw this but it appears the AP is taking a stand on blogs copying content. The company is (kinda) making the case that copying and pasting text does not push readers to the sites that actually pay AP to use thier content.

It made me think, remember when you could get free music anywhere you wanted to online without real repercussion? Then suddenly out of the blue record companies began suing random 14 year-old honor students in order to scare us all. We grumbled for a couple of months and then basically fell in line to get iTunes accounts and now the vast majority of listeners purchase music legally online or buy CDs. If you’re broke like me you still listen to that nifty radio thing in your car instead.

The point of this mini tirade is a news organization needs to test this model and the only way it will work is if a giant organization like McClatchy or dare I say it…the AP gives it a try.

p.s. did you know AP can sue you for using thier logo? (my weak reasoning behind not including a photo)

-Sarah D. -Features

The catastrophic flooding in Iowa and other parts of the Midwest has sparked some striking journalism from local media outlets.

The Poynter Institute highlights photo and video packages produced by The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette and The Des Moines Register, which I encourage you to check out.

Readers and Fellow Interns – I pose these questions to you to spark some discussion and sharing of ideas:

— How do you think these multimedia packages better tell the story of these communities’ disasters - as opposed to just a story with a photo??

— Is there any photo, video, story, etc. that strikes you as “crossing the line” from quality journalism to sensationalism/taking advantage of another’s pain??

— With Oklahoma’s extensive experience with tornado damage in rural communities, what can we learn from this coverage to improve our own local analysis?? Is there anything we could do better, should be doing, or should learn to avoid??

C’mon, let’s start some chatter…

~ Kristen M. Daum, City Desk intern at The Oklahoman.