New York City Day 6: Growing

I was the first person to arrive at TheGrio yesterday, that was pretty cool. Lauren Fluker was actually interning for the day which was pretty cool, all the guy's really liked her, lol! We wrote a number of stories that day and it was madness! It was a lot of pressure on me because I was writing one of the big stories for the day. One of the stories I was working on was about Adidas releasing a shoe design that resembled slave shackles.

It didn't take me hours, but it took me a minute to get the story right. Adam, head Editor of TheGrio kept having me revise it because I kept editorializing it. I understood what he was trying to say, it was almost scary because at some point I felt like he was getting frustrated at some point. Eventually he was cool...thank God!

It was a lot of pressure to get that story done because it was a big story for them that day. I actually wrote two stories that were both published. It feels pretty amazing I must admit. I was happy/nervous that they chose me to handle the story. I could kind of hear the nervousness in some peoples voice when they realized I was the one covering it. I didn't get mad or offended because I felt the same! Lol at the end of the day, I was able to deliver and that's what it's all about.

Ms. Reid came and  spoke with us today one on one and as a group over pizza. It was all fine and gravy until we all gathered in the back room. She addressed some issues, I'm assuming she noticed, within the group. I was kind of disappointed because I was hoping we wouldn't have to have this conversation at all, CERTAINLY not 1 week INTO the internship! I only hoped that we all really took in what she said because at the end of the day, this group isn't about any 1 person, it's about the representation of our mentor, institution, family race, and then us...as a WHOLE. Period.

New York City Day 5: Continuing to learn about me

Powerhouse? What do you think? All us Reid Group Interns sat around a table for lunch and came to the conclusion that our experience in New York should’ve been a reality show. I mean it writes itself! Afterwards, we decided to give each other nicknames for whatever reason, lol, I mean, nobody, besides the characters on Jersey Shore, has nicknames for their reality show! Whatevs, I’ll take it! 

            Today was pretty interesting, I had my orientation for NBCUniversal and honestly, it felt like somebody punched me in my back and I lost my breath for a minute. Maybe it’s a delayed reaction to realizing that I attend an HBCU or the fact that I’ve been bubbled around black people for the past couple of day’s, but when I got to that room, all I could see were white faces.

            In a room of over 200 interns, only 8 of them were black and 3 of them worked for thegrio.com. It was terrible on one end, but it was good on another, or at least, that’s how I chose to look at it. I was also pleased to see that one of us worked for the Oxygen network. Long story short, while it made me feel a little uneasy, I felt pretty honored at the same time.

On another note, I met some cool people today as usual, but one of the highlights for me was the fact that I met some amazing entertainment journalist! You know entertainment’s my thing, so to see Lola Ogunnaike and Alicia Quarles. I’ve definitely seen Alicia a number of times on E! News and I’ve seen Lola a number of times as well.

I asked away and got my answers. It was cool. We also met BeBe Winans. I really wanted him to sing me a song, but I knew he was a little occupied! Lol   

My 4th day in New York

Hmm, where do I start with this blog today?  Well, I started my internship at thegrio.com today. I was initially nervous about little things, but at the end of the day, it was pretty cool.

I met an intern named Jonathan and Marquise and a couple of other one’s. They were sooooo sweet and sooooo helpful and I thoroughly enjoyed the staffers as well. I love how there isn’t a hierarchy. Everyone sat in the same area and I’ve never seen that before. It makes for some good bonding though I’m sure!

Another cool thing that happened was that I wrote my first story for thegrio.com and it was published! Here’s the link: http://thegrio.com/2012/06/13/nene-leakes-to-launch-affordable-clothing-line/

I was so excited! Everyone was just so cool, I can’t get over it. After thegrio.com, we went to an event at Tracy Reese’s store for Black Girls Rock. It was pretty cool. Saw a lot of familiar faces there so that was pretty awesome.

Ms. Bonds is such a sweetheart; I just want to say that. You come across very few people like her in this world and I tell you, I’ve only been around her for two day’s and she is timeless.

Of course I couldn’t end the blog without mentioning that we got lost again today, lol, smh. I will never understand. It got to a point where I don’t even get mad anymore because we’re able to see some sights, not only that, but we’re all held accountable for all of us getting lost! There isn’t just one person reading a GPS, we all are! Which makes it worse because it means that none of us read it right! Lol, you have to learn to sweat the small stuff man.

Third Day in New York

Sooooo, today is my 3^rd day in New York (smiling from ear to ear)! Today was…eventful! I find it quite interesting that we’ve been traveling to the same two locations in two day’s and we still get lost, lol! It is soooo hilarious to me because we think we know about New York after only being here for all but 3 day’s and we keep testing out new routes! Sigh, on a good note, in the midst of us getting lost, we tripped into Times Square! I assumed Times Square was a way’s away from NBC (Oh yeah, did I mention that my internship is at NBC Studios with thegrio.com)!

            When we tripped onto Times Square, the New York that I always see from my television and computer screen finally came to life! I definitely want to walk down there during the night just to see all the lights and action! Anyhoozers, we met some pretty amazing guests tonight. Kimberly Allers (former essence editor, blogger and author) was teaching us about research amongst many things and it made me hopeful that I will be able to diversify my writing now. Bryan Monroe (you should google him) also spoke…one word…PHENOMENAL.

The fact that he was so calm and personable really made him stand out to me because this man has done sooooo much! He and President Obama are practically best bud’s you ask me! He showed us soooo many pics of them together! What was really touching to me was when he shared his audio with us of the interview he did with Michael Jackson (It was the last interview Jackson did). Amazing!

The night ended with a couple of us meeting some pretty cool guy’s at out dorm. They are from New York and are HILARIOUS!

First experience in New York

Hmmm, let’s see. Before making myself well aware of the safety book on the plane and eying all of the exits, I began to set my mind on the fact that I am going to be in New York City sooner than expected! So we landed and had car service to our dorms (which made me feel so official!). We all sat in silence as we were soaking up the fact that our lives were about to change in ways that we can’t even imagine! 

            After we got our room’s situated, we were greeted to New York with an AAAAAAAMAZING Pot Luck! We were then given some guidelines about safety. When I tell you I got a little scared, I tell you no lie. It was almost to the point where I wanted to say, “Um, I’m just gonna, head on back to Chicago real quick, look’s like you guy’s are good here,” LOL! Yes, I was a little nervous after the safety speech, but at the same time, I’m from Chicago and if there’s one thing I learned there, it’s to always stare fear right in the eye and keep it moving! So the first day went fairly well.

            Today was a big eye opener! I think ONE OF the best pieces of advice I heard today was to act as if you’re going to work and not an internship. So, I really tried to own my surroundings. I also realized that there are so many prominent companies under NBC and I don’t know why I didn’t realize that one of my favorite show’s in the whole wide world, SNL, was shot here in New York! I mean, I knew it was shot here, but not in the same building where I’d be interning! It is my personal mission to meet the awesome Lorne Michaels and Jimmy Fallon. Day 1 of finding these two, starts…now!

Panel Three Print

Chivone Smith

PANEL THREE

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By Chivone Smith

“Every time you do a story, think about the one outfit in the closet that you want everybody to remember. When you put on that outfit, you want people to be talking about it…” 11 Alive news anchor DeMarco Morgan said.

Producer at WSB-TV Marcus Foster and 11 Alive news anchor DeMarco Morgan spoke to students enrolled in the new Jacque Reid Media Arts Studies course. The students were offered tips on how to pitch story ideas, how to report on a story and how to conduct successful interviews.

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The students were asked to pitch a few story ideas to Reid and after reviewing them, Reid decided that they needed assistance on knowing how to pitch a story idea in the right format.

“When you’re pitching a story, have a pre-interview already done,” Foster said.

Morgan suggested a more in-depth approach in pitching story ideas. He said, “The first thing you do, you want to make sure that it’s doable. The second thing is, how can I tell this story differently and how can I make people care about it?” He added that it is important to identify the who, what, when, where and why before pitching a story idea.

During the speech, students began to pitch story ideas on the spot and didn’t seem to have a focus on what their plans were on tackling their stories. Foster explained to the students that it is important to get the main point across and not mix the message with too many ideas at once because that will confuse your viewers and you will loose them.

According to Morgan, “You got to make it sexy. Find a character, focus on your story and find the one strong point that you want to tell. The

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point of focusing a story is so people can walk away and remember it.”

Some of the students also mentioned that they have a hard time conducting good interviews. One student mentioned how she sometimes forgets the next question she wanted to ask when she’s conducting an interview and Morgan told her that it is because she is not listening.

“If you get nothing else out of this whole workshop today, the best thing that you can do as a journalist…is listen, listen, listen,” Morgan said. He said the hardest lesson he had to learn, as a journalist, was to listen. He said, “I was anchoring for eight years before I realized I wasn’t listening. The difference is, now that I listen, the tone is different. Everything doesn’t sound the same.”

Foster suggested to the students that they will learn much more from an interview if they should focus more on having conversations with people they’re interviewing rather than interviewing them.

Students were also encouraged to be completely unbiased when pitching a story as well as reporting one. Morgan stressed to the students that it is important to be fair in reporting, gathering facts and asking questions. He also reminded them to, “Focus, focus, focus. One outfit, one character.”

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DeMarco Morgan of 11 Alive and Marcus Foster of WSB-TV tells students enrolled in the new Media Arts Studies class to research their topics before pitching story ideas.

Students are giving the panel story ideas on the spot and they are all over the place. Morgan tells the students to focus on one character and to make it sexy in order to keep the audiences’ attention.  

     Students are also admitting that they’ve had a hard time conducting structured interviews in the past and Morgan is telling them that if they receive nothing else from this workshop, the best thing that they can do as journalist is to listen.

     Foster is suggesting a lighter approach by telling students that they will learn more from a person by having a conversation with them rather than a standard interview.