All There Is To Know
It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks interning at The Oklahoman. I’m always asked the same two burning questions by my friends or fellow student journalists: “What do you do at the Oklahoman?” and “How do you like working there?”
I currently work for as the online communities intern in the social media hub on the 9th floor. Online communities pertains to the “know it” topics and their expansive library. If you’re unfamiliar with the “know its,” they pool together information, resources and articles published in The Oklahoma and on NewsOK into an online library.
These topics are developed as a joint multimedia project, using all of the OPUBCO newsgathering sources, from reporters to photographers, videographers, data research personnel and archivists, as well as from wire services, syndicates and other sources.
If you ever wanted to know more about any of the “know it” topics, ranging from addiction to mental health, cultural awareness to finance, recreation to Sam Bradford, there is a “know it” section created for each and every one of them.
But there also are the online communities. Edmond, Midwest City, Norman, Oklahoma City and Yukon serve as the hub of each community, which also includes surrounding towns and areas. Not only are there stories, photos and resource material compiled by Oklahoman and NewsOK staff members, but there are contributions from readers.
If you want to contribute information, praise or promote events in your area, you can do so by adding the following emails to your mailing list.
edmond@newsok.com — mid-del@newsok.com — norman@newsok.com — okc@newsok.com — yukon@newsok.com
Each community’s site has instructions on how to send in material. Just follow the directions.
Every morning, I come in armed with an AP Stylebook, cup of coffee and my own offbeat sense of humor as I sort through reader-submitted releases and news. I copy edit these releases and send them to Communities Editor Don Gammill or on occasion Metro Editor Kimberly Burk for the “News From You” page that runs each Saturday in The Oklahoman.
Occasionally, I will write about one of these topics featured in the “know it” library on our Know It blog and I’ll tweet out Don’s traffic column and “know it” related items on my personal twitter account.
What I love about journalism is investigative reporting, open records, entertainment writing and seeing language put to good use.
That’s “know its,” my internship and me. If you have questions, send me a note.
Have you had a brush with a Thunder Player?
Hey Thunder fans intern Bryce here. The staff at The Oklahoman wants to know if you have interacted with any Thunder players away from the court and have a story to share. Thunder coverage is making its way into all parts of the paper and with your help we can tell personal stories of how Thunder players are involved in OKC and the state of Oklahoma. You can send your stories or photos to myself at barens@opubco.com. Check out http://newsok.com/ for continued Thunder coverage throughout the finals.
Rose and Thorn
When President Obama first took office I remember reading about a tradition he and his family had. They would sit together at the end of each day and select the rose and thorn or high and low of each day. I’m sure plenty of families do this but that was my first time hearing about this practice. Since it’s my last day I’m going to go share the rose and thorn of my internship experience.
Rose: Finally finishing my amusement park story.
I received the assignment my first day here but it took until nearly my last week before I saw it published. It was a new experience to write a story that combined history (and a LOT of it) and personal stories. It took a long time to get it right but once I saw the story, both it’s print and online version (shown below), all the hard work felt worth it.
Screen Shot of Thrills Gone By
To read Thrills gone by – Amusement parks in Oklahoma click here.
Rose (because sometimes they have two buds): Getting to meet all the wonderful people at The Oklahoman & having my first print newsroom experience.
Everyone was so nice and helpful. It was just great to be able to spend my summer with such a well respected company and learn from everyone. (Oh no I’m getting all sentimental.)
Thorn: Getting in the groove of things with one week left.
I did freelance work for a hometown paper and my school paper but I never spent much time in the newsroom. I spent quite a while feeling like a fish out of water and really only began to get in the groove last week. This last thing on my list reminds me of a wonderful 80s movie quote, so I’ll end with that.
Velociraptoring Anyone?
Velociraptoring Example
So everyone has heard of planking and probably to a lesser extent owling. This past weekend as I enjoyed a short vacation with my family, I tried to explain these things to my sister. She didn’t understand the reasoning behind laying face down on the ground with your arms held tightly to your side – in fact neither do I. These odd past times are sweeping twitter feeds and will soon even be featured on pages of The Oklahoman (Krystle Wagner is working on the story as I type). So as my sister and I discussed this cool new trend we decided we’re not going to follow the crowd. Rather, we’re starting our own – Velociraptoring.
‘What is velociraptoring,’ you might ask. Well it is much like owling and planking in which you pose for pictures in a particular and recognizable stance. In this case you hold your middle three fingers in a claw like position and look like you are stalking prey. The last bit is very important because, as the pose’s name suggests, you are trying to resemble a prehistoric carnivorous dinosaur. The rest of the weekend was filled with impromptu velociraptor poses. We even got my parents to join in.
Here are a few reasons why I think it should work. First, who doesn’t love dinosaurs? Second, it doesn’t involve laying on the floor or standing on furniture – so you can remain looking fairly normal and may not draw so many glances of curiosity and disdain.
I am aware that anatomically speaking the three middle fingers pose is incorrect because velociraptor‘s claws more closely resembled the thumb, pointer and middle fingers. So despite that small inaccuracy who’s on board for making velociraptoring the next big thing??? Come on, I know you want to! And if you do… add your pictures to the Facebook fan page. You can find it here.
Music and Work
Here at the OPUBCO offices, you might see people with ear buds hanging from their ears throughout the day. I often turn on some tunes to drown out the office noise and focus on my tasks but, for my first story for Newsok.com, ear buds or any sort of headphones were not necessary. I was able to convert my planned trip to Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival into a travel piece for the Know It section on the Newsok site.
Main Entrance on First Day
This was my first time to attend the Bonnaroo Festival; My first time to report for NewsOk; and my first time to write a first person piece. The festival also helped me find the perfect story to launch my personal blog, Green Life Girl, an Eco concious blog. Most of the interviews I did for my story and blog were done while waiting for the next band to hit the stage. This made the wait time go by much quicker and helped me get to know the group around me.
The days were hot and dusty but the bands were full of energy and excitement. My favorite acts were The Strokes by far but closely followed by Florence and the Machine and Arcade Fire. Other than music there were some really exciting, funny and weird experiences had at the festival. I love being a journalist because it may be the only career in which you can listen to your favorite musicians and say you’re working.
What you can do with Legos
I think almost every little kid has built things with some legos.
I have to admit, after watching this video, I wanted to build something with legos or find a job so I can be called a Lego Master Builder. I’m such a dork, I’m so going to see this lego model of OKC in November. 
Oh, and seven days until Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! Exciting!!
Oklahoma Colleges Freeze Tuition Costs
For the first time in years, regents at OU and OSU have decided to forego raising tuition costs for the next school year.
The decision comes after years of hikes in tuition costs from school year to school year. The trend of raising tuition started when state legislators decided almost 10 years ago to give control over state-funded universities’ tuition prices to regents instead of handling it themselves.
Even though prices for OU and OSU have risen steadily in recent years, both schools pale in comparison to the prices of other schools in the Big XII. Prices at Oklahoma schools don’t compare to the likes of schools like Baylor, Colorado, and Missouri. Even as a Colorado native, I would pay almost the same amount for in-state tuition at CU as I do as an out-of-state student at OSU.
It’s nice to hear the regents are giving out-of-state students a break financially for once. Hopefully, Oklahoma public universities can start a new trend and not raise tuition costs again.
Be sure to check out the link below to newsok.com to see Ed Kelley’s original video.
