I’m Connor, a videographer at The Beacon! Currently, a few of us are in New York for the College Media Association’s annual NYC conference. The conference gives us a chance to learn more about different aspects of journalism from a range of different backgrounds, including authors of books, reporters, photojournalists, and other student journalists.
While I attended a few different presentations yesterday, the one that stood out the most to me was one given by members of the Michigan State University student paper The State News. For the past two years, The State News has been covering the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case. Being an MSU osteopathic doctor, The State News is perhaps the closest media organization to the case, and it was really interesting hearing how the students handled covering a case that turned into national news.
The reporters talked about how they were able to report ‘fresh’ stories, even with national media outlets such as CNN covering the same exact case. They noted how they were able to put an MSU-specific view onto the story as well as recognizing the importance of the local sources they had spent a large amount of time cultivating, which gave them an advantage over national outlets.
The panel also talked about the importance of seeing reporters as humans and fellow people with emotions rather than just stone-faced fact givers. The Larry Nassar case is obviously incredibly sickening, and hearing the stories of the survivors could really affect somebody. The reporters would forget to eat, skip classes, and lose sleep as they constantly worked on stories about the case, and constantly reporting on the vile things that happened took a toll on them. One even noted how she would be receiving therapy to help her cope with what she spent so much time listening to.
Aside from the conference, New York City is really cool! This is my first time here, and seeing everything from TV/movies in person is insane. The biggest shock for me was walking around and just happening on Rockefeller Plaza. If you love SNL, Jimmy Fallon, 30 Rock, etc., it’s a must-see. Also, standing directly under One World Trade Center is insane. It’s the tallest building in the U.S.A., and looking up from its base creates an indescribable feeling. Something is always happening in NYC. There’s a ton of places to eat and so many sites to see. There is always something to do, which is a huge change coming from Portland.
See ya!
-Connor Lorber
[…] helped me learn the importance of being extroverted, even when being behind a camera,” Connor Lorber, a junior at University of Portland (Nancy Copic, adviser), said. “It’s easy to get just […]