5/10/23
While today felt like it was an actual school day and that I am not on vacation, I truly enjoyed myself, and it was one of my favorite days so far. As a journalism major and senior, these professional lectures and visits were very interesting and beneficial to me.
First, we began today with a guest lecture with author, journalist and professor Benjamin Cunningham. Originally from Michigan, Cunningham has worked as an international journalist for over 20 years, being stationed in places like Prague, Serbia and Amsterdam, which is where he obtained a Master’s Degree in international relations. His most recent project has been working on his dissertation in communications, being a journalism professor and working on a new book. His first book, which came out last summer, details the journey of a double agent and his wife during the cold war, which started out as an article. All of these professional avenues are things I want to do as well. I dream of working internationally, producing longer form pieces and then turning around and teaching the next generation of journalists. This lecture reminded me that my goals are not impossible.
Visiting MediaPro was also an amazing professional opportunity and great to see different advancements in audiovisual technology. I loved the hologram of sports players at the stadium being interviewed by people in the studio. Here in the States, split screen is the standard, so the visit generated a lot of new ideas. I also loved seeing the greenscreen programmed features. It was amazing how the company built the sets and can layer different images on top. The visit made me realize how much more interested I am in broadcast production than I originally thought. In fact, this whole trip has made me think a little more about my future career trajectory, maybe going more of a multimedia route versus strictly print journalism.
Reporters without borders,
Erin 🙂