2015 COMM420 Bloggie Awards

During our final class of COMM420 (the reason behind the creation of this blog), Elmer passed out – well, threw – Snickers as he “presented” us with awards for our blogs!

The “Bloggie Awards,” as Elmer called them, go to:

Most Personal: Rob Burau – The Road to the Syracuse Nationals

Best Potential Niche: Jessica Colon – Here Fishy Fishy

Most Humorous: Sarah Fuller – The Conquest of Life

Most Truly Journalistic/Best Content: Meghan Guattery – People of the Press

Should Have Been Partners(1/2): Becca Hale – Healthy is a Lifestyle Choice

Most Original: Jared Hill – Foster as Films

Should Have Been Partners (2/2): Carly Knaszak – Armageddon Warriors

Most Delicious: Minju Kim – Easy Kooking Korean

Best Use Of Video/Most Views: Jess LaBella– JayNerf

Frantic Final Push: Val Musson – The Fredonia Voice

Most Thought Provoking: Veronica Penoyer – What If…

Most True To Its Original Intent/Best Content: Amanda Reimondo – A Bookworms Guide to Movies

Most Deceivingly Family-Oriented/Most Views Without An Established Audience: Lindsay Tomaka – Tuesdays with Mai Tai

Best Team Blog: Claire Woodcock – Indie Nuts

https://vimeo.com/127486241

Thanks for the memories, COMM420! Best of luck to the graduating seniors, and I’ll see the rest of you in the Fall!

Third Stop: The Onion

While I mentioned this already in a previous reblog of Sarah’s post, the final media outlet of our trip was The Onion.

After we took a minute to get ourselves together – we were all a little jumpy from just the thought of being there – we were given a tour of the office where we saw desk after desk covered in papers and Four Loko cans. The entire office was covered in onions: from onion coffee mugs to fake plastic onion flowers.

Next we got to sit down with Mr. Seena Vali, Sports Editor of The Onion, and Mr. Ben Berkley, The Onion’s Managing Editor (I’m coming for your job Berkley).

Sarah did a pretty good recap of our chat with the editors already, so I’m just going to direct you to her site for that.

To top it all off, we got the best picture of the trip –

Hero 4th grader saves his buddy from a crippling death by chicken nugget

I am sharing this with you all for two reasons:
1. That is an incredible headline.
2. Sometimes we find inspiration in the strangest places.

I think I’ll go take a CPR class now.

Second Stop: WBEZ

After a sprint though the rain – which quickly turned into me calling two cabs over for the nine of us – the journos made it to Chicago’s historic Navy Pier.

According to the Navy Pier’s website, the pier originally “opened as a shipping and recreational facility in 1916. Located on Lake Michigan, it has served many purposes throughout its rich history and currently encompasses more than fifty acres of parks, gardens, shops, restaurants, family attractions and exhibition facilities and is the top leisure destination in the Midwest, drawing nearly nine million visitors annually.”

Near the end of the pier – which sticks over 3,000 feet out above the water – we found ourselves at WBEZ NPR Chicago.

Here we had the opportunity to tour the recording studios and sit down with two of their staff members to talk a bit about the radio business.

(Side note: If I were smart – or just a tad less awestruck by the entire city – I might have thought to record these interviews so I would have a little more to share…)

But I got to touch an Emmy! So, that’s cool…

31 Fascinating Answers To Questions About Life, Happiness, Fear And More From The Vanity Fair Proust Questionnaire

My often narrow mindset, paired with my perfectionistic “just so” attitude, has always made me see the world around me as either this or that.

I am learning that the world is not just black and white.

One thing I’ve learned since beginning my journey as a journalist is that sometimes you have to look at things from multiple perspectives.

If you give the questions you face a second thought before acting upon your gut instinct, sometimes you can find there is a better (or even just another) answer.

Behind the Scenes of The Leader

A new issue of The Leader hits the stands every Wednesday.

For our readers, all it takes is a trip to the Williams Center, University Commons or one of the academic halls to get their weekly dose of news.

But, as future Managing Editor, lately I’ve been a part of the all-day layout process that consumes the Monday’s of our current Editor in Chief, Managing Editor and Layout Editor every week.

Our final issue of the year was distributed across campus today. To commemorate the occasion and give the outside world a look into the work and time that goes into making the paper, I made a short video of our layout night on Monday.

Best of luck to the seniors of The Leader: 

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“First and 1/2” Stop: The Rocks of Tribune Tower

After our meeting at the Chicago Tribune, our group was headed to the WBEZ studios.

On our way we began to notice some strange rocks pressed into the side of the Tribune Tower. We walked past quite a few before we actually stopped to read the etchings next to each stone.

“Wait… Are they really from all of these places!?”

After conducting some further research, I discovered that yes, those rocks are indeed from countries and historical places from all over the world!

According to chicagoarchetecture.org, there are 149 stones embedded in the building. These tiny pieces of history made their way to Chicago from places as far away as the pyramids in Egypt and the Great Wall of China, just to name a few.

While running to beat the rain, I was only able to capture three of these beauties.

I feel as if I’m beginning to repeat myself a bit, but you’ll just have to take a trip to Chicago to see them all!

… or, for the sake of saving money, you can check out the complete gallery online.

Every Stressed College Student: Stop and Read This Now

As the perfectionist I am, I like to act like I have it all together.

It’s the last week of classes before “dead week” and finals at Fredonia. I am going to be a senior in college in four months. I will be 21 years old, an adult in all meanings of the word, in 26 days.

I am no where near having it together.

As the semester comes to an end, take a moment to breathe and know that you’re on this planet for a reason. You can and will do this.

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A. A. Milne

First Stop: Chicago Tribune

As my fellow journos and I made our way through the streets of Chicago, we stumbled upon a huge, church-like building.  Let’s not talk about how many of us it took to actually figure out that it was indeed the Chicago Tribune… even though it says “Tribune Tower” above the door.

When we finally figure out we were at the correct building, we had some time to wait before we could be brought up to the newsroom (if you’re not early, you’re late).

The lobby walls were adorned with famous words about the press:

To the press alone, chequered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.

– James Madison

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

– Thomas Jefferson

Once inside, we had the opportunity to attend a “page one” meeting. This is basically where the head honchos of each department come together to discuss what’s hot in their neck of the woods for the day. Most of what goes on in that meeting is pretty top-secret though, so you’ll just have to schedule your own trip to Chicago to find out what really went down behind the closed doors!

Leaving the Tribune Tower, on our way to our second stop of the day, we had the opportunity to see a little world history in the most peculiar place; stuck in a wall!

Check back for my next post to find out what the journos found!

Conquering Life Presents: Seena and Ben from The Onion

Get a taste of what it is like to sit at the same table as the Sports and Managing Editors of The Onion!

Conquering Life

“Chicago’s okay,” said Mr. Seena Vali, Sports Editor of The Onion.

“It’s a city,” offered Mr. Ben Berkley, The Onion’s Managing Editor.

“It’s definitely a city. If you look out there, there are buildings,” said Seena, gesturing to the window in the conference room which overlooks Chicago.

“It’s certainly a city,” said Ben.

Breaking news from The Onion Chicago headquarters: Chicago is, in fact, a city.

I can’t say for sure, but I definitely hope, that talking to editors of big-time publications is the meaning of life. This past Friday, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Seena and Ben with a group from my college, and during that one hour period of time, I had so much wisdom dropped on me.

“And the murder rate has gone up,” added Seena.

“Since we’ve been here?” asked Ben.

“Ya since we came here,” replied Seena.

“Weird coincidence.”

A…

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