I'm a little afraid of writing this next post, mostly because of an argument I had with my partner on the soundslides project two weeks ago.
On a Thursday, my soundslides partner wanted me to meet at a child care center to help her interview a single mother for our project at 9:30 a.m. That night, I asked her whether to go to the Crossroads child care center across the street from El Camino. At the time she said yes.
On Friday, I arrived on campus and I was about to head to the Crossroads center. Then my partner started to send me text messages telling me to hurry up. At about 9:30 a.m., she sends me text messages telling me that I'm an f---ing idiot for missing her interview. I was furious, because the Crossroads center door was locked and she was getting angry at me for something I couldn't control.
It turns out that she wanted me to head to the child care center on the El Camino campus. I kept trying to call her, but she never picked up her cell phone, probably because she was fed up with me. Then she sends me a text messages which said, "Thanks for nothing." I was furious. I had no idea what I did wrong, but she was blaming the entire project on me.
On top of this, she kept blaming me for not showing up to her interview. I would have liked to get in contact with her, but she was terribly rude to me. I admit that I was cursing like a sailor, but really, she was getting upset at me for almost no reason at all.
As a result, I was scolded by the professor for cursing in the newsroom, among other things. For some reason, I ended up in some stupid mess that wasn't even under my control. I finished the project by myself, but I still feel like I was unfairly criticized for a whole slew of problems that were blamed on me.
To make matters worse, my iVideo partner informed me that I had to check out a video camera for his story. Unfortunately, he reminded me on Friday afternoon. The only time I could check it out was on Friday morning. And I couldn't check out the video camera on Monday, because my psychiatrist appointment was at the same time at 10:30 a.m.
It turns out that this was the last available time that the film department was using the camera equipment. I was frustrated with how everything turned out in the last two weeks. I haven't been able to concentrate. I'm afraid that my teacher's going to flunk me for my "bad" behavior and my scheduling issues with my iVideo partner.
Sometimes I feel like my life is a big train wreck. I've known a few girls I liked, who all blamed all their problems on me. I can't go very far into detail about all my personal problems, but I often end up as the victim of their strangely sinister entanglements.
Of course, my relationships don't get in the way of my work anymore. However, I still don't understand why these certain girls ended up bullying me around. I don't even know why this always has to happen because of a girl, either. I mean, am I doing something wrong to end up with all this bad luck with girls?
Whatever the case, I can't stop all my projects now. I have to overcome these strange events of happenstance. Maybe I'll end up with better luck this week.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
The dark side of journalism
There's good journalism. There's bad journalism. And then there's the gritty, cold-blooded journalism that you never want to get involved with.
After some e-mails with my professor, I learned that the mother I interviewed is a victim of domestic abuse. So if I published the soundslide, the mother's husband might hunt down her and her children.
This project reached a grim twist that even I didn't want to get into. It's like the frightening mystery movies my mom always watches, where the murderer is hell-bent on revenge at all costs.
I'm going to cut out all the photos and interviews of her from my soundslide. I'm glad I found out what was troubling that mother. However, maybe it was something that I really shouldn't have asked about.
Yet, it's all so real and shocking that I can't get the whole predicament out of my head. I don't want to believe that this really happens to people, but it does. Although I'm erasing the mother's interview from my public records, my last conversation with her will always grip my heart like a vice. It's a thrilling story, but it's also one that sends horrific, blood-curdling shock waves through my spine.
After some e-mails with my professor, I learned that the mother I interviewed is a victim of domestic abuse. So if I published the soundslide, the mother's husband might hunt down her and her children.
This project reached a grim twist that even I didn't want to get into. It's like the frightening mystery movies my mom always watches, where the murderer is hell-bent on revenge at all costs.
I'm going to cut out all the photos and interviews of her from my soundslide. I'm glad I found out what was troubling that mother. However, maybe it was something that I really shouldn't have asked about.
Yet, it's all so real and shocking that I can't get the whole predicament out of my head. I don't want to believe that this really happens to people, but it does. Although I'm erasing the mother's interview from my public records, my last conversation with her will always grip my heart like a vice. It's a thrilling story, but it's also one that sends horrific, blood-curdling shock waves through my spine.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Problems with an Angry Single Mother
Sometimes journalists deal with some of the most difficult interview subjects known to man. In this case, my partner and I had to deal with an angry single mother who didn't want us to publish any footage of her.
The first parts of our interview were just innocent questions about her thoughts on the CARE program. My partner and I were just asking about her great experience with the CARE program. She kept saying that it helped her with a crisis.
Since this description was really vague, I couldn't help but pry into her personal experience. I asked her what kind of crisis she went through. She answered that the CARE program gave her medical aid for the cancer she had. It also helped her get through her divorce.
To tell the truth, her comments made her experience much more realistic. I honestly didn't think that I asked anything that was especially threatening. I didn't even ask her to describe the experience in further detail.
One week later, the mother called the El Camino College Union office. She asked us to remove all our pictures and recordings of her from our story. I was pretty shocked, because many of our pictures of the office featured her at the front desk of the CARE center.
I called the mother immediately and asked her why she wanted to take our photos out. She didn't elaborate on anything, but she kept insisting that we couldn't publish photos of her.
I e-mailed my professor, Lori Medigovich, to let her know what the angry mother was telling us. Medigovich said that since the mother agreed for us to interview her, we couldn't remove our photos and recordings. I reluctantly called the mother to let her know what my professor said, but she kept insisting that we couldn't publish our photos and recordings of her. She even insisted that she would sic her legal team to sue us.
Looking back on this entire experience, this entire squabble all started with a seemingly innocent question that I asked. I don't think it hurts to at least inquire about the experiences these mothers go through. I mean, the public doesn't always hear about these first-hand narratives from struggling single mothers.
Maybe I could have prevented this entire mess. Maybe I could have kept my mouth shut. However, I just can't help but peek into people's business. After all, people wouldn't understand these people if they only spoke vaguely about their problems and difficulties.
So I don't regret asking her the question. To tell the truth, these interview subjects shouldn't even agree to talk about these touchy parts of their lives. If they don't want to talk about their problems, then they shouldn't even speak at all. Nothing will hurt them if they just refuse to speak about these things.
However, if I'd known that she would raise a fit over what we were working on, I probably wouldn't have asked the question. Journalists experience enough stress while they're working on their stories. And personally, I would appreciate my job a lot more if I wasn't treated like evil paparazzi. I didn't come into this field to purposefully ruin anyone's life.
Yet, as long as the tabloids are pissing off celebrities with exploitative stories, journalists will always go under fire. No matter what I do, somebody will always hate me.
Such is the life of a journalist. Sigh...
The first parts of our interview were just innocent questions about her thoughts on the CARE program. My partner and I were just asking about her great experience with the CARE program. She kept saying that it helped her with a crisis.
Since this description was really vague, I couldn't help but pry into her personal experience. I asked her what kind of crisis she went through. She answered that the CARE program gave her medical aid for the cancer she had. It also helped her get through her divorce.
To tell the truth, her comments made her experience much more realistic. I honestly didn't think that I asked anything that was especially threatening. I didn't even ask her to describe the experience in further detail.
One week later, the mother called the El Camino College Union office. She asked us to remove all our pictures and recordings of her from our story. I was pretty shocked, because many of our pictures of the office featured her at the front desk of the CARE center.
I called the mother immediately and asked her why she wanted to take our photos out. She didn't elaborate on anything, but she kept insisting that we couldn't publish photos of her.
I e-mailed my professor, Lori Medigovich, to let her know what the angry mother was telling us. Medigovich said that since the mother agreed for us to interview her, we couldn't remove our photos and recordings. I reluctantly called the mother to let her know what my professor said, but she kept insisting that we couldn't publish our photos and recordings of her. She even insisted that she would sic her legal team to sue us.
Looking back on this entire experience, this entire squabble all started with a seemingly innocent question that I asked. I don't think it hurts to at least inquire about the experiences these mothers go through. I mean, the public doesn't always hear about these first-hand narratives from struggling single mothers.
Maybe I could have prevented this entire mess. Maybe I could have kept my mouth shut. However, I just can't help but peek into people's business. After all, people wouldn't understand these people if they only spoke vaguely about their problems and difficulties.
So I don't regret asking her the question. To tell the truth, these interview subjects shouldn't even agree to talk about these touchy parts of their lives. If they don't want to talk about their problems, then they shouldn't even speak at all. Nothing will hurt them if they just refuse to speak about these things.
However, if I'd known that she would raise a fit over what we were working on, I probably wouldn't have asked the question. Journalists experience enough stress while they're working on their stories. And personally, I would appreciate my job a lot more if I wasn't treated like evil paparazzi. I didn't come into this field to purposefully ruin anyone's life.
Yet, as long as the tabloids are pissing off celebrities with exploitative stories, journalists will always go under fire. No matter what I do, somebody will always hate me.
Such is the life of a journalist. Sigh...
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Hardcore work
I noticed that I haven't wrote any posts last week, so I'll let you know what happened.
My soundslides story on the CARE program is due in a week. The CARE program is a special aid organization which helps single parents on welfare.
I had a tough time scheduling all my interviews with my partner. On Sept. 27, Lucy Guanuna was too busy. She didn't call me until an hour before our interview. She didn't tell me where we were scheduled to meet for the interview.
After a few phone calls, we somehow managed to schedule an interview at the CARE program on Thursday. The interviews went surprisingly well, even though the recorder kept catching all the noise from my fiddling around.
Since I'm pretty inexperienced at broadcast journalism editing, I spent nearly four hours editing the interviews we took. After all that time, I realized that there's no way I could use all of this stuff in a two-minute soundslide. It's much easier for me to cut out the parts that are most important.
On Wednesday, I'll head out with Lucy to interview a single parent who often visits the CARE Program Center. I think it's a good idea to interview people who haven't had a big success story, like most of the workers in the CARE Program Center. Besides, this interview might shed some light on the struggles of single parents today.
My soundslides story on the CARE program is due in a week. The CARE program is a special aid organization which helps single parents on welfare.
I had a tough time scheduling all my interviews with my partner. On Sept. 27, Lucy Guanuna was too busy. She didn't call me until an hour before our interview. She didn't tell me where we were scheduled to meet for the interview.
After a few phone calls, we somehow managed to schedule an interview at the CARE program on Thursday. The interviews went surprisingly well, even though the recorder kept catching all the noise from my fiddling around.
Since I'm pretty inexperienced at broadcast journalism editing, I spent nearly four hours editing the interviews we took. After all that time, I realized that there's no way I could use all of this stuff in a two-minute soundslide. It's much easier for me to cut out the parts that are most important.
On Wednesday, I'll head out with Lucy to interview a single parent who often visits the CARE Program Center. I think it's a good idea to interview people who haven't had a big success story, like most of the workers in the CARE Program Center. Besides, this interview might shed some light on the struggles of single parents today.
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