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Saturday, September 27, 2014

ISIS, ISIL, DAESH - You say Tomayto, I saw tomahto.

Currently, we are at war.

Whether or not the government wants to admit or declare what state we are in, WE ARE AT WAR!

I don't mean to scare anyone but I believe it to be a FACT. People still ask "Oh, we are still involved in Afghanistan? Iraq? I thought we were done?" No, there continue to still be operations over there and people deployed.  I just saw a whole group of my friends at Ft Bragg, NC leave for a 9 month tour

I wanted to deploy so much and be a combat reporter but that never really happened, so I settle for staying back in the states and still do what I want. Now I have seen my fair share of war but on the home front.

One of my patches I will one day hope to use
Lately, watching the coverage of ISIS/ISIL/IS and the behedings of Journalist James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and British Aid Worker David Haines. 

David Haines, James Foley, and Steven Stoloff

It got me thinking about how these things keep happening. Why? What are we doing about it? WHY DO WE KEEP COVERING IT?

We mainly can't stop it or do much as reporters but continue reporting. One thing I did see that caught my eye and we as reporters should change. We shouldn't be calling the Terrorist Group by what they want to be called: ISIS - Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or ISIL -Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.  It's already confusing which one. 

THEY AREN'T A STATE PEOPLE!!

They are terrorist who took over and gave themselves a fancy name. Same as al-Qaeda. France did asked for us to stop the confusion in reporting by calling them DAESH. France Calls ISIS DAESH.  

Now what is DAESH  according to the article and other sources: "Daesh is a loose acronym of the Arabic for “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham). Use of acronyms is rare in the Arabic world, with the notable exception of the Palestinian group Hamas (Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾiSlāmiyya)."

If you haven't opened the article, here is the part you should read:

"Defiance and disrespect
  • It is also considered insulting, and the IS itself doesn’t like the name Daesh one bit.
  • Beyond the acronym, “Daesh” sounds li[k]e the Arabic “Daes”, meaning “one who crushes something underfoot” as well as “Dahes”, which means “one who sows discord”.
  • Dahes is also a reference to the Dahes wal Ghabra period of chaos and warfare between Arab tribes which is famous in the Arab world as one of the precursors of the Muslim age.
  • “Daesh” therefore has considerably negative undertones. There can be little political ambiguity behind the French government’s decision to deploy Daesh as a linguistic weapon."
Outside my journalistic sense of decorum, I like this name a lot. I'm sure you could understand why, but really why? I think it fits them due to the under tones of what it sounds like to them and second they hate it. This is already a war against reporters and people who are only trying to help innocent people. 

Should we call them this instead or what we have already been calling them? I know for the public it may lead to confusion but us as reporters we need to take back the reporting not let terrorist tell us what they want to be called. They shouldn't get to pick, they are doing horrific things, they don't deserve to get recognition for their actions but we give that to them. We continue to sensationalize their actions and they will continue to because we enable it. So we need to change that and start fighting back and maybe calling them DAESH is how we start.


Wednesday, September 24, 2014

PBS Newshour Rapid Response project

The last few weeks have been hectic weeks. Between shooting a National PBS series For Your Home, a Home Improvement show that has been running for about 30 years and I have the honor to be the Director of Photography, to working a Gun Safety story for our Palmetto Scene Show, airing Oct 30th. I have been traveling all over South Carolina non-stop.

But lately, my proudest moment so far has been the PBS Newshour Rapid Response project. It's where PBS goes into high schools and works with future journalist to learn all about the world of journalism.  The PBS stations/affiliates across the nation mentors these students.  I was asked to "mentee."

PBS send topics they need to do stories on and as a class do a Package (see: Journalism Jargon) and if it's good enough, it will make it to the PBS Newshour in late December.  They also get questions or topics they have to turn around within a week called Rapid Response.

Didn't think much about it until I met my two school.  I didn't think I would be so involved but both need a lot of help. From learning the basic P's (Pre-production, Production and Post-Production) to the three pillars of camera photogrpay (ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed). They were eager to learn and I have been dying to teach to anyone who will listen.

Well, their first Rapid response was to ask a questions to this young girl, Malala. If you remember a few years ago she made the news for having being beaten close to death only because she wanted an education.

With a lot of help, the students from York Comprehensive High School made it to the PBS newshour.

Take a look at the video below, especially Emily's questions. 


The Students already had their question to ask Malala, what they didn't have was where to shoot it, how to shoot it and how to send it back to PBS.  That's where I came in to guide them. 


The picture above is how simple lighting help them create this beautiful video to send back.  It took 3 lowel lights, one with a diffuser and another one with a blue gel (left side of the photo).  We used a Canon 7d to shoot the interview too.

Besides the technical stuff, I'm really proud that these students really worked hard to do this by themselves. All I really did was asked questions why would you do this, explain a couple techniques and they went off and did it.  I'm impressed that the future journalist (at least in York Comp) have the drive to go out and do more, learn more and are eager to actually learn.   I run into so many reporters, photographers and so on that do just the minimum.  

Obviously, they are currently in the "honeymoon stage" of the journalism world but I think it's refreshing to see them starting now, like when I started working at 15 y/o doing voice overs for Telemundo, and be excited about a possible future in journalism, film, television, graphic design and so on. These kids both in York and Greenville, SC have so much potential, I may switch careers and teach instead of continue reporting. 

Friday, September 19, 2014

Journalism Jargon


-->We journalist have our own language sometimes, so a quick lesson on our jargon might help in the future for those who aren't journalist when we are posting.  This will have words from the world of newspaper to the world of television broadcast and I will make sure to mention which one falls into which.  

Sometimes these things are common knowledge and some aren't so common. 

Not everything will be here, so if you have your own to add, post a comment below.


Advertorial: looks like an article/feature/show segment but it's a paid advertisement. 
Affiliate: A local station that subscribes to the services and programs of a network. Ex. ABC, NBC, CBS. 
Anchors: newscasters who host news broadcasts. 
Angle/Slant: particular emphasis of a media presentation, sometimes called a slant 
AP Wire: Associated Press news service that supplies international, national and regional information and stories. These are almost always rewritten before airing.
Articles: stories written about news topics that are considered notable by the editors of a publication. 
Attribution: credit given to who said what or the source of facts 


Back timing: A convenient way of counting down the length of a newscast. This tells you when each story must run in order for your newscast to end on time.
Beats: specific public institutions or areas of concern for which specific reporters in a
newsroom are responsible watching. (e.g.: county reporter, health reporter, education reporter, courts reporter)
Beat Checks: Using a telephone to search for and tape news stories from a list of agencies.  A good beat check would be comprised of the sheriff's offices, fire department, local police, state highway patrol, DNR, local hospitals, and other government agencies that routinely handle breaking stories.           
Break: place designated within broadcast programming during which commercials run. Bumpers: small teases that come at the end of one newscast segment often previewing what is coming up in the rest of the newscast.
B-roll: video images shot specifically to be used over a reporter's words to illustrate the news event or story, to cover up audio edits.
Broadcast feature: Broadcast news story that gives reporters 5-25 minutes to develop a deeper look at a news event, trend, or individual. 
By-line: the name of the reporter, usually in newspapers/magazine article. Also for websites. 

C
Call Letters: A station's legal ID (for example, WBIZ-EAU CLAIRE) is a legal ID.
Citizen journalist: the rapid rise of Internet technology, in particular blogging, tweeting and social networking, have empowered persons without professional training to function sometimes as journalists feeding information to mass media. These practitioners now are known as a distinct category -- citizen journalists.
Cold Copy: Rip-n-Read - A script not seen by an announcer until the moment s/he reads it.
Column: an article in which a writer or columnist gives an opinion on a topic
Consultants: firms, groups, individuals hired by broadcast organizations to give advice on presentation, content, trends, viewer habits and preferences
Control Room: Where the technical equipment for putting a newscast on the air is kept and operated.
Copy: any written material intended for publication, including advertising
Copyreader: the person who "proofreads" copy as it comes in.
Cue: usually a physical signal indicting anchor/reporter to perform a task (start reading, wrap up, go to break).
Cue Up - Putting a video/sound material back to its beginning.

D

Deck: a smaller headline, which comes between the headline and the story.
Dub: to make a recording of a recording.
Editor: the person who "edits" a story by revising and polishing; the person whose job is to approve copy when it comes in and to make decisions about what is published in a newspaper or magazine. Also editor is the person that puts together the reporters package to go on air for broadcast. See Package.

E

Editorial: an article expressing a newspaper or magazine owner's or editor's position on an issue.

F

Feature articles: longer forms of news writing; topics covered in depth; sometimes the main article on the front page of a newspaper, or the cover story in a magazine.
Feed: A live or recorded report, or a set of recorded reports sent to a station/newsroom via satellite, phone, or other device for inclusion in a news program.

G

Gatekeepers: people who determine what will be printed, broadcast, produced, or consumed in the mass media.
Gutter: narrow margin of white space in the center area in a magazine, newspaper, or book, where two pages meet.

H

Happy Talk”: the casual banter that goes on between news anchors and other “on-air” people.
Hard news: immediate factual accounts of important events.
Headline: the "title" of a newspaper or magazine story.
Human interest story: a story that focuses on the human side of news and often appeals to the readers' emotion.

I

Inverted pyramid: the structure of a news story which places the important facts at the beginning and less important facts and details at the end.

J

Jump line: line of type at the bottom of a column which directs the reader to somewhere else in the paper where the story is completed, allowing more space for stories to begin on the front page

K

Kicker: (Newspaper) an ending that finishes a story with a climax, surprise, or punch line. (Television) An offbeat or humorous story that typically is used to mark the end of the news segment and the beginning of the sports/weather segment.  The kicker can also be used to end a newscast.

L

Layout editor: (newspaper) the person who begins the layout plan, considering things like placement and amount of space allotted to news and advertising copy, graphics, photos, and symbols
Lead: first line/paragraph of body of story that summarizes/indicates most important information.
Lead-in: broadcast term for beginning part of story news anchor reads introducing the story and/or person-reporting story.
Lead story (aka Lead): first story in a newscast or segment (in broadcasting) or a story that is above the fold in print-this considered the most important news story of the day.

M

Masthead: information about a newspaper or magazine on its editorial page; sometimes the banner at the top of the front page which identifies the newspaper and the date of publication
Morgue: newsroom library

N

Nameplate: The title of a newspaper, newsletter or magazine on the front page or cover in the periodical's logotype style, often including the publication date and place of publication.
Natural Sound aka Nat Sound, Nat S-O-T, or Ambient Sound: Background voices, music, machinery, waterfalls, and other environmental sounds that are recorded on-scene and used to create a sound bed for a recorded or live report.  Primarily used for setting a mood or providing atmosphere for a report.
Nielsen: service primarily used in determining television ratings.

L

Live shot/Live Report: A TV news story during which a news anchor or reporter is live at a remote location. Within this report can be included a SOT, VO/SOT or PKG.

O

Outcue: usually the last thing a reporter says in either a live or recorded news story (i.e. PKG) indicating the piece is ending. (Example: “FOR UPDATE NEWS, I’M BILL SMITH.”)
Outro: usually the “Goodbye” or end segment of a newscast often during which news/wx/sports anchors engage in “happy talk.”

P

Package (PKG): a completed television news story on tape, which is edited before a news show goes on air and contains reporter's stand-ups, narration over images, and an out-cue for the anchor to start speaking at the end of the tape. Usually about 90 seconds.
Pronouncer: Phonetic spelling of a difficult word or name (i.e. Greg Louganis = Greg loo-GAY-nuss).
P-S-A - aka Public Service Announcement - An advertisement for a not- for-profit organization.

R

Ratings: measuring units used to tell broadcasters how many households and/or viewers have their stations/programs on at a particular time.
Reader: A story read by anchor without any audio/video.
Reporters: the people who gather facts for the stories they are assigned to write
Rundown -aka; Lineup: A chronological outline or order of stories or segments to be used in a newscast.  This is the producer's blueprint for the newscast.
Running Time: Refers either to the estimated time or the actual time of a newscast. 

S

Soft news: journalistic news stories that are interesting, but of less immediacy than hard news.
Sound bite (SOT): the videotaped quote in television news
Source: a person who talks to a reporter on the record, for attribution in a news story
Spin: hidden slant of a press source, which usually casts the client in a positive light
Stand-up: a reporter's appearance in a TV news story; usually a head and shoulders shot which features the reporter talking into a microphone at the scene of the news event, often used as a transition, or at the beginning or ending
Story Tag: Closing to a story package, live shot, or on-set piece usually read by the story report but can also be read by an anchor.           
Super/Chyron: a video effect that allows the television station to print and superimpose the name of a news source over his or her image when the source is shown talking in a news story

V

Voiceover (VO): A TV news story during which a news anchor or reporter reads a script live as video is played.  

W

Wire services: news gathering and delivery services that provide news from around the world to publications that subscribe for a fee. Best known are the Associated Press, Reuters, United Press International, Agence France-Presse and Canadian Press. Wire services are co-operatives that share news stories among members.

You can find all these terms down here as well. There are more that I just didn't add to this blog. 

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Welcome to MediaMosis

Welcome to MediaMosis where all sort of media; from technology, to current events to even the behind the scenes of the world of television, news and entertainment, get a few extra seconds of "On Air" time.

MediaMosis is the really a play on words. Media and Osmosis. There's a blend of how you can get your information out there. We have Television, Internet, Radio and so on. From news websites to entertainment blogs.  Here we will find the best places to get that information and share with each other and just talk.

Media and how it's merging has made it hard to find out what's really great out there, hopefully here we can all share information that is accurate and helpful. The main focus here is to get all you "old" journalist and "new" journalist out there talking to each other about what should really be the focus. We are blending old and new styles of journalism to create hopefully something new that will benefit the community and further our journalistic skills along.

We are stuck in a world of old journalism and it's time to get ahead and change with the times and work together.

One-Woman Band "Mighty 8th Air Museum"
Field Producing live show for WSAV in Savannah, GA


My name is Yolie Ortiz (sounds exactly like Jolie).  My background? Well, I'm Broadcast Journalist in the broad sense of what broadcast now really means. Really I'm a "one-woman-bander."  What they now call a Mulit-Media Journalist.  I do everything from producing, editing, photography, writing and so on.

I've worked in Massachusetts, Georgia, and South Carolina. Who know where else I will end up but I can say that I love my job and I'm passionate about journalism, which ever form you prefer.
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Based on a work at http://mediamosis.blogspot.com/.