Tales of a Student Journalist

A staple of a successful blog is keeping a structure. I’ve written blogs in the past that ultimately failed because I didn’t keep myself to a specific schedule of writing, but I want this blog to succeed (if only so that I have another constant to put on my resume). So today I’m starting a new segment called Mass Comm Tuesday.

Mass communication is my journalism class for this semester, and since its the reason this blog even exists I thought I should give special attention to it. Every Tuesday, while I’m in the writing lab I will write about the agenda for the day and anything else that comes to mind. Fun stuff I know, but I know you’ll enjoy it because your reading which makes you a hopeless mutant like me.

Today we’re posting our E/H/S stories online on the course website, which will take up the majority of the class. As I type my instructor is lecturing on today’s events, which doesn’t at all make me a bad student. My instructor was quite excited that I had my story published and she is a sweet person in general. Gotta cut this short got work to do.

Since I wrote about it all of last week, I might as well link my published article here for you to read. I feel I must preface it with the statement that it is not exactly what I wrote.

In the newspaper industry, editors have final say on the story. No matter how good or amazing your story may be, your editor may have to cut it down for space, content, or just as a personal choice. This takes getting used to for writers just making their start.

I’m relatively used to this aspect of the industry, for this is not my first published article. I started writing for The Alligator early in the semester, and at first I was greatly discouraged by what I thought to be a brilliantly written (haha) article that was chopped off and reworded.

Of course, now I know better. My first article needed work, as do pretty much all of the pieces I write. Lately my pieces have had less editing done to them due to becoming more used to how to write for a newspaper. This story I did expect to have some work done to it because I had written it with MMC in mind instead of The Alligator.

Other than all of that, check it out.

Another week, another story. I finished my E/H/S story early so that it would be published in tomorrow’s Alligator. Publishing our story nets us extra credit and adds to our soon to be growing portfolio. I have a few things to put together still when I turn in my story for class, but that’s all.

I’m pretty proud of how my story turned out, despite its relative short notice. I got to interview interesting people and help promote awareness for a good cause, so it’s a win-win.

On a side note, this is the last post I’m required to write for class. Many of the students in my class will likely delete their blogs after the grade goes in, but I don’t think I’m going to do that.

It’s been almost a year since I last blogged regularly, and it’s high time I started it again. It’s good to have a professional blog in this day and age; employers like it and it makes you better rounded as a writer. So I’m going to keep this blog, at least for now, and try and update you guys on my life as a student journalist.

So keep reader, and I’ll keep writing.

Sometimes when you are in the middle of writing a story you will discover that your missing something. It could be anything: a name, a source, a minor detail that needs clarification, etc., and your story will be in limbo until you find what you’re missing.

It will happen often, and when it does you better have ways to contact your sources on short notice for your information, or else you’re in big trouble. Following up with sources is stressful to me because there is no guarantee that you will be able to get in touch with them, something that bothers me to no end (as I’ve written about previously).

As of this moment I am knee deep in my story and have the need to follow up with my sources, which puts the story on hold until everything comes through. I dislike it but it’s a natural occurrence, and burgeoning reporters like myself need to be forewarned about it.

What I’m trying to say without too much rambling is simple: ALWAYS get contact info. You will thank yourself later.

You can never keep a good journalist down.

Yesterday was a bad day for me. I was dejected, depressed, defeated, and disturbed, and that was just during the day. I also did not sleep last night. At all. I had decided to pull an all-nighter writing a short story for my Beginning Fiction Writing class (I have classes other than MMC?) and had to wake up at 6 a.m. anyway for an exam, so I was not afforded the luxury of sleep.

However it was all worth it, as my fiction story is now finished and I returned from class this morning with a new story prospect. For those of you who are not aware October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and there have been several groups on campus promoting awareness this month.

Today in Turlington Plaza a group called Colleges against Cancer was promoting awareness by giving away cupcakes that were decorated to look like breasts. There was something about this idea that struck a chord with me, but I just can’t put my finger on it. Hmmm.

ANYWAY the students among the group were really good people, and they were eager to talk with me and let me hang out with them taking notes while they took donations and made delicious cupcakes. I wrote down great quotes and had the great opportunity to interview a cancer survivor.

All in all today was awesome. I’ll post a picture or two from today later when I make it home. Remember that even when you have really bad days, there is always a good one coming up.

EDIT: Here are some pictures I took for the story. None of these I think are good publishable photos so that’s why they’re here. Feel special guys.

So I need a new story. There comes a time in every fledgling journalist’s life when he simply can’t follow through on a story due circumstances beyond his control. In this case I cannot speak to my main source.

For the past two days I have been relentless to the point of being unprofessional in trying to speak to the author of the study I was writing about and wrote about on Tuesday. Every number she could be reached at has yielded nothing, so she is either sick, on vacation, or simply dropped off the face of the Earth.

This leaves me in a huge predicament. With my E/H/S story due on Tuesday, other class work to be done, and the general unavailability of most people on weekends, I have little time to find a new story.

So here I am, camping out on campus this Thursday, searching high and low, east to west, in reality and on the web, searching for news. No one said this was going to be easy.

Good evening and salutations all of you wonderful readers out there (if any of you exist). Since you graciously wandered into my brand new blog let me introduce myself. My name is Andrew Mark Felipe Wyzan, or Andrew Felipe Mark Wyzan. The order depends entirely on my mood.

I am a sophomore at the University of Florida (Go gators of course) and am double-majoring in Journalism and Classics. Journalism is my planned career path and the reason this blog now exists.

One of the first courses required for journalism majors at UF is Writing for Mass Communication (MMC2100), and this week’s assignment is to create a blog about our experience writing our E/H/S story, a news story focused on an environmental, health or science subject (how clever of our overlords…I mean instructors).

A quick search of the UF official news cite led me to a story about a study conducted by a UF exercise psychologist that found that exercise can help you improve your body image, regardless of the physical benefits. Health related? Check. Interesting? Check. Let’s get to work.

Throughout the week I will be writing quite frequently, at least once a day, updating on the status of my story. Get excited to read about the glamorous life of a student journalist, full of interviews, photography, and other awesome stuff.