Day 5

Today was a great last day.

I went to the morning meeting, said my goodbyes to the editing team, and then spent the majority of my day there tying up the loose ends on my story of a story project and beginning my final presentation.

I spend the end of my day talking to Dawn, the editor of the music and movies section. After a long conversation about our favorite bands, music venues, and movies I knew that this was my favorite part of the newspaper thus far.

My week was a great experience. I feel that I took the most that I could out of the experience and became a better journalist and person as a whole. I realized the responsibilities required in the working world and the dedication necessary to succeed.

I am thankful for all of the mentors this week who were willing to take time out of their schedules to talk to me for just a few minutes, it helped me a lot and I had a great time!

Day 4

I started off my day like normal in the morning meeting and then working for a little bit on my story of a story project. Then Chuck told me that one of the photographers was going to come get me so I could follow him to the golf course where Tony Romo was trying to qualify for the US Open.

The photo editors sent out Gerry McCarthy to follow Romo around the 18 holes and get both video and still images that they could use in the daily newspaper and put onto the website.

When we got to the golf course it was raining and so we waited in the clubhouse, gear in tow, waiting for the to call everyone's tee times back on. While we waited, some of the golfers, including Tony Romo, were warming up at the putting green and the tee box. I followed Gerry as he took a bunch of "B roll" images both still and video and then take some shots of Romo warming up. It was cool when Gerry uploaded a few of his photos and sent them back to the office right from the clubhouse to put online, instant access!

Then it was time for Romo to tee off. Along with about 5 other reporters/photographers, we walked the course with Romo, his caddy, the golfer along with him, and a few dedicated fans (who I got to watch be interviewed up close). It was pretty hot outside and the backpack I was carrying with some of Gerry's gear and the huge lens that he asked me to carry got pretty heavy so I went back and got us the golf cart that the club had offered earlier. I carted around a bunch of gear and a few people here and there all while snapping a few photos myself.

I learned a lot today about the dedication it takes for a photojournalist, that no matter what the conditions you have to be ready to do your job. Gerry was very helpful and made sure to explain what type of shots he was taking, how to use specific lens', why he was doing something a certain way, and more. It was a great day! I had fun learning about another part of the journalism industry and watching Romo do a great job on the course. Sad tomorrow's the last day!

http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/hp/index.html?nvid=414211

Day 3

Today I once again started my day off with the morning meeting to see what was in the works for tomorrow’s newspaper. According to some of the editors there would be some breaking news developing all day and that everyone should pay attention to what’s going on so that they didn’t miss anything. They also discussed the possible page one stories and what the internet would feature that day. (If you go to dallasmorningnews.com, you can answer a survey asking “how do you feel about thunderstorms?” which everyone in the meeting thought was quite funny and rather random)

I then continued my work on my Story of a Story project (about the complexity of one story and the process of getting it published). I talked to one of the photographers on the field about her helicopter ride to capture some of the photos, talked to the assigning editor about his position at the newspaper and what his opinion and role in the poker house story was, and talked to another photo editor about what the difference between a nighttime and daytime editor was.

I talked to Chuck a little bit about some of the graphics he was choosing for a new article and he decided to send a request to the illustrator because there were no images that suited the article in the stock photos so I am excited to see what he is able to produce in just a short time for Chuck.

Then it was time for lunch with Chuck and his lunch buddy Heather, we went to Pei Wei.. yum!

After lunch, I worked a some more on the story of a story presentation with some feedback from Chuck, and was directed to the people I should talk to next.

To finish my day I attended the 3:00 meeting, where everyone shared what they had been working on, any new story developments, and then voted on the possible front page stories and center spreads. Later tonight the nighttime shift editors will make the final decision but I was able to watch them get one step closer.

I am VERY excited for my day tomorrow, I have a lot ahead of me. I will attend the morning meeting at 10:00 and then will be picked up by the video team to go watch Tony Romo try out for the US Open. Hopefully I will get some hands on experience with the camera equipment or just a good setting to observe, either way I am excited to be in close to the Dallas Cowboys quarterback :)! The picture below will be what I get to see in person tomorrow!!!

Day 2

Today I started my day with sports columnist Kevin Sherrington. Kevin gave me great advice on what it takes to become a sports writer, as well as told me several stories about some of the great experiences he has had over the years. We were able to discuss some of the recent events that have happened in sports, and how to make each of them into a story that all readers will be able to enjoy.

Next, following Kevin's advice, I went onto Dallas Morning News.com and read some of the articles that recently had been posted in all sections including sports.

Since I spent some time exploring the website, I decided to ask the internet managing editor a few questions about the how the internet news site was run and what was different about it from the paper. She taught me a lot and was another great lesson!

I then took some time to watch my mentor Chuck design a few pages. He is very good at what he does and I was very impressed. I gave him some of my opinions about the layout while trying to scribble as many notes as I could to make sure I remembered some of the key words and things that he did.

Next, I had two interviews with people that are involved in my story of a story project. I talked to Rudy Bush, the Dallas City Council cluster writer about his role in the poker house story and he gave me some advice about political journalism. I then talked to the daytime photo editor, who shared with me information about taking the photos, choosing the photos, and what rules and guidelines to remember.

I closed my day with beginning to work on my story of a story article- I will try to integrate the writing skills that I've picked up as well as include some graphics and layout that Chuck has taught me.

I'm excited for another day tomorrow and for all that I'll learn!

Day 1

On my first day during my senior project at the Dallas Morning News I:

- Attended the first meeting of the day which included the editors for each section and some staff writers speculating which stories would be best for the front page and what was in the works for the next day's paper/internet site.
- I took at tour around the Dallas Morning News office and met many people - writers, editors, designers, film staff, interns, and more. Each piece of advice I received was very helpful because it was an insight into each job.
- I started to work on my Story of a Story project - I wrote the questions I needed to ask each person involved in the story, and began my interviews.
- I observed my mentor, Chuck, work design for the economy section. Chuck spent time choosing graphics from the Dallas Morning News library of photos and iStockPhoto and placed them in the text. I was very impressed to see how quickly his page was done and looked great!
- Mr. Jennings came today to observe my first day and see what all I would be doing, it was good to see a familiar face after meeting so many new people this morning!
- My first interview was with the Public Safety/Dallas Police Cluster reporter Tanya Eiserer.
- At 3:00 I attended another meeting, this time there were more editors and section writers there and we discussed the progress that each story had made. This time, they came closer to choosing the page one story, as well as stories for each other section.
- When I left, more people began to arrive for what is called the night shift- the writers would begin to finalize some of their stories, the editors would begin to review the stories, photographers would submit their photos, and the design team would begin to set up the next day's paper.

Overall, I learned a lot about what a typical office day for a newspaper would look like. With many people on the field, the offices are never full, but the people working on the logistics are hard at work all day to produce the paper that many read daily.

I am excited for day 2, which also looks very busy. I have many more interviews for my story of a story project, a meeting with sports writer Kevin Sherrington, more meetings to attend, and a lesson about music/movie critiques. I am very excited to continue learning more each day!

What is My Senior Project?

For my Senior Project, I will be spending one week at the Dallas Morning News. My mentor's name is Chuck Stewart, a page layout and design editor. I will observe his work, as well as meet many other reporters who share the same interests that I do such as music, movies, sports, design layout, photography, film/editing, etc. and learn about their jobs to see if I'd be interested in pursuing journalism as a career. I hope to improve my writing style and get a firm grasp on what it would take to work in journalism.

I also have been assigned a project called story of a story overa recent article about a South Dallas "poker house". The article is very complex and requires me to interview several reporters, editors, and photographers to understand what goes into just one front page story. I will make a presentation that includes the time line of the story, the process of creating the story, and the opinions of each reporter that played a role in producing the article. This will be part of my final presentation.