The Journey of a Feature Reporter...

It's almost time to wrap up my capstone class by presenting my senior project to my professors, family and friends. I've finally got it squared away! So here's the details...everyone is invited!

What: Nicky Piszczor’s Senior Capstone Presentation:
“Reliving History through Feature Storytelling”
Date: Monday, November 17, 2008
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Witherspoon Maple Room
McKelvey Campus Center
Westminster College
New Wilmington, PA

In the broadcasting world, good feature storytelling captures the human interest. Sometimes television reporters are so busy trying to get the “hard news,” that they miss out on the opportunities for captivating stories that are right in front of them everyday.

I will attempt to break this routine by taking on the role of a one-man-band feature videographer and reporter to learn more about the interesting historical stories of Lawrence County. I will explore the art of feature storytelling and create/produce three to four television feature stories, which will air on the County Line every other week. I plan to make this a special story segment on the County Line!

At the end of my project, I combine my stories to create a short film, entitled “Lawrence County: A Community Rooted in History.” This film will encompass the major historical time periods in Lawrence County: from when the Native Americans roamed the land, to the official founding of Lawrence County, to the Civil War period, to the industrial world and beyond. This area has interesting facts, just waiting to be uncovered; it's my job to bring them to the surface!

The short film will take a glimpse at Lawrence County’s deep historical roots throughout the years. Many different Native American tribes roamed the lands and lived along the waterways thousands of years ago. Then, European settlers moved west across Pennsylvania and decided Lawrence County was a great place to call home.

These settlers were strong in their dedication to this country; residents fought to protect their freedom. Lawrence County also was deeply involved in the abolitionist movement as a major stop along the Underground Railroad.

The mid to late 1900s shows a modern day community dependent upon industry and agriculture. Today, Lawrence County continues to thrive with its beautiful Amish countryside, McConnell's Mills State Park, Cascade Park and various other attractions and events; plus, Lawrence County is home to the Fireworks Capital of America.

Throughout my project, I will seek advice from my contacts at Newschannel 5, the Lawrence County Historical Society and other local historians in the county. In addition, I will expand my work to cover the web and the radio, by developing stories for both. Plus, I'll post my TV stories on this blog! Come see how a feature videographer and reporter redefines the art of storytelling!

Here's my first story on the Native Americans!



Is This What I Want To Do When I Grow Up?

With only one and a half semesters to go here at Westminster College, I've started thinking more about what exactly I would like to do when I graduate. My generic answer used to be, "I want to work in TV, probably producing or reporting. Or maybe radio, I like that, too." But now it's time to get serious. I mean it's hard to know where the road will take me or how many times I'll change my mind, but I think for right now, I've finally found something I would love to do for a living, a career that would make me want to get up every morning with a happy outlook on life.

Basically, what I want to do is what Rick Sebak does. He's a film director and producer, based out of Pittsburgh, Pa., that makes unusual, but interesting documentaries, stories, and films for local public TV stations, especially PBS affiliates such as WQED. According to imdb.com, Sebak is the "inventor of the public television nostalgia documentary." He calls his cultural stories, "scrapbook documentaries."

At the beginning of his career, Sebak worked at the South Carolina Educational Television Network. While he was working there, he created the award-winning documentary, "Shag," about the official state dance of South Carolina. Later, Sebak went on to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Soon after, he moved to Pittsburgh, where he's made more than 30 documentaries and short films, including "The Mon, The Al, & The O," "Pittsburgh A to Z," "An Ice Cream Show," and "A Cemetery Special."

Sebak shows his audience a "scoop of life" in each of his stories, through colorful sounds, images, and narration. He takes the feature storytelling route, just like I'm trying to do with my senior capstone project. I want to show my audience what it was like to live in all different time periods in Lawrence County. Plus, I would love to do some traveling for my job; plus I would meet unique and interesting people every day. It sounds like an exciting lifestyle and career, and I've always loved PBS programming.

So, maybe this is what I want to do when I grow up?

Tribute...

I'm reflecting a lot this semester for capstone, looking back at who has shaped and influenced my life and my career goals. Many of those people during my time at college have included my professors. This week I'll take a turn back to the beginning of my college journey to someone who has helped me a lot along the way and given me numerous opportunities to expand my knowledge of the broadcasting business.

My first broadcast professor was Dr. David Barner, known to the broadcast crowd and on the air as the one and only, Dr. B. The very first broadcast class I needed to take was Audio Production, that's Dr. B's "thing." He loves radio; it's his passion. And, his teaching style definitely showed it. I remember one of the first days of class, he handed out, "Dr. B's Tips for Success in Broadcasting." Ever since then, I've tried to keep his advice in mind, and throughout my experience

here at Westminster and during my internships and part-time jobs, this information has proven true.

One of the most important tips was "don't wait to get involved." And so, I didn't. The first semester, I was trying out the remote crew and a couple DJ shifts on Titan Radio in the evening. The following semester, I challenged myself by working on radio news and improving my radio personality, so that I sounded more conversational. Listening to Dr. B especially helped me in that area. Then, during my second year, I jumped right into TV stuff, too. I went out with Aidan Mewha, a previous producer and reporter for our TV college show, The County Line. She showed me how to film and how to put together a package. After that, I was on a roll, trying out new angles for different TV stories. Plus, my roommate Kristin and I started producing and DJing the Covenant Christian radio show on Sunday nights. Which brings me to another one of Dr. B's tips: "the best way to learn is to just do it yourself."

Now that doesn't mean you have to do EVERYTHING yourself; you need to learn to work well with other colleagues, but what I basically mean is that you don't know what any thing is like until you actually experience it for yourself. So, the following year, I took the next step, thanks to Dr. B's recommendation. Toward the end of Broadcast Journalism, which focused on radio news, I applied for a part-time position at WKST, an AM news talk station in New Castle. Dr. B knew the program director, so he passed along my name to him. All I had to do was send Ken Hlebovy at WKST a resume sample. Ken was impressed; so after a short interview, I got the job. My hard work had paid off, but I never would have known about the position at all, if it wasn't for Dr. B.

During my last year at college, Dr. B continues to give me many opportunities to learn and to grow. He asked me to serve as the News Director for Titan Radio this year and to return as the Director for Coach's Corner, a half-hour sports interview show. This short blog is just a small way to say thanks!

LIVE at Noon!

I think it's true that you don't really experience the career world until you're part of it. That's the way I felt, after my internship this past summer with Newschannel 5. No matter how much practice I received at school, producing, reporting, directing, and anchoring, I wasn't able to get the full effect and feel the pressure of a newsroom and the always pending deadline!

Everyone I met at Newschannel 5 was very helpful and understanding; however, I definitely learned the most from the Noon News Producer, with whom I worked with every morning, for a good chunk of the day...if not the whole day. Ellen McGregor has been producing live shows for many years, and her experience showed in the quality of the shows she produced.

I respect people who take pride in the work they do, instead of just doing it because it's their job. Ellen made sure the show was set as best she could (although you couldn't always get everything done ahead of time, because of breaking news!); she tailored to every last detail. Ellen was precise and to the point in her writing, but considered her local audience.

Not only was Ellen great at what she did, she gave me plenty of opportunities to explore this avenue, myself. Within the first couple weeks, I was writing scripts that the anchors would read: interview segments, VOs, VO/SOTs, anchor intros to packages, and much more. Also, she made sure I got to go out with a couple different reporters (sometimes there wasn't really room for me in the vehicle, but she worked it out!) And before long, she even had me producing a majority of the show one day: picking the stories, finding the video, picking the soundbites, etc. And I sat in master control, playing the role of producer one day, too. Ellen made me realize that I could do producing for a career, if I really wanted to, and that's worth more than I can express.

Granted, I still don't know how she does it every day, day after day...but it's thrilling, exciting, and ultimately fun! I love producing and reporting, and Ellen definitely helped me develop a sense of confidence in the newsroom.

It's All About Good Storytelling...

A number of classes have benefited me on my career path and with my senior project during my time here at Westminster College. In fact, I find it hard to choose just one broadcasting class that I would reference as the “best.” However, that’s not what I’m choosing to blog about, and here are my reasons why…

I love storytelling and, consequently, writing. Every since I was young, all I wanted to be when I “grew up” was a writer. As soon as I started to read books, I began writing my own stories. And although I never finished them, I knew what I loved to do. So when I came to college, I started to wonder, what will I do with my life? I didn’t really see myself making it as a “professional author,” at least not right away, so I turned to broadcasting as a way to apply my love for writing into a practical field.

Class after class, I still wondered, did I make the right decision? I liked broadcasting, and I seemed to have a knack for it, but I still felt like I wasn’t following my “life-long goal.” Now, granted plans change, but I still wanted to do something with writing.

During the fall semester of my junior year, I had to take a cluster class. This involves two classes from different disciplines that focus on the same subject area. The one I took studied translation, and the class that I would like to talk about that influenced me was the English side of it, called “Translating America.” Dr. Swerdlow, an accomplished writer and poet, was the professor for the class.

Throughout the course, we studied all kinds of poetry and discussed social issues/questions about life in America. We also reflected on a variety of questions about these subjects during the term and kept journals to explain our thoughts and answers. The class encouraged me to think openly and freely about the world and the people of America.

Although, this wasn’t a broadcasting class, I still think it helped me tremendously with my career goals and my senior project. This class reminded me that good broadcasters still need to write well, and although poets write in a different style, there’s still room to be creative and inventive with your writing, delivery, expression, and use of sound throughout a story. Just like any poet, a broadcaster must be in tune with the world, attending to its every detail, so as to report what they see, what they hear, to report reality, so that everyone can feel like they were there in that moment. In addition, I will complete a handful of feature stories about the history of Lawrence County for my senior project, which gives me the opportunity to be a little more creative with my writing. I just need to open my mind.

In my opinion, broadcasting is all about good storytelling…