For our video post, I examined the Indianapolis Star.  Overall, I was very impressed with the Star’s use of video during their new stories.  I would estimate approximately 30% of their stories included video coverage.

Below I will explain how the Star uses video and discuss the effectiveness of their video usage in five scenarios from the past few days.

Unsurprisingly, the Star used video for interviews. Although I thought this was good and interesting, I thought the videos that were exclusively interviews could have been edited a little shorter.

• Example: http://www.indystar.com/article/20130402/NEWS02/304020025/Couple-awakes-intruders-suffers-injuries-confrontation

The Star did a great job of using video to capture the heart of a story.  In the example below, the Star used video to capture the details of an Eagle Scout project.  The Eagle Scout, who has spina bifida, is building wagons for Riley Children’s hospital with his troop.  The story is powerful in print.  But when you hear the Eagle Scout talk about his time at Riley, and see the troop building the wagons, the story comes alive.  There were great shots throughout the video of up close views of the wagon construction, and mid-shots seeing the Eagle Scout maneuver his wheelchair through the work area.  Also, the video was a perfect length at just under 3 minutes for both the interview and the footage.

• Example: http://www.indystar.com/article/20130402/LIFE02/304010088/Scout-helps-other-Riley-kids-keep-rolling

Additionally, the Star did a good job of filming stories that are difficult to picture.  There video below (on a little girl who wrestles) helped me visualize the story.  When I heard about a little girl who was wrestling, I was a little appalled.  However, the video gave me a peak into the story and helped me understand it.

• Example: http://www.indystar.com/article/20130401/LIFE/303270058/No-stopping-her-Girl-5-makes-mark-wrestling

The Star also did a WONDERFUL job a capturing the weird on camera.  Sometimes in the news, there are stories that are just plain odd and the reader simply wants to feed their curiosity.  In the story below, we see a perfect example of using video to capture the weird stories that surface in the news.

• Example: http://www.indystar.com/article/20130401/NEWS19/304010069/Erika-D-Smith-No-joke-Indy-has-bar-hopping-Easter-bunny

Finally, I thought it was interesting that the Star used video exclusively for an interview.  In this interview with reporter and op-ed writer Matthew Tully, the Star used the video for editorial purposes in addition to news.  I liked this and thought it was an interesting blend of news and broadcasting.

• Example: http://www.indystar.com/article/20130402/news08/304020040/tully-readers-concerned-about-influence-statehouse

I looked at the Pinterest boards for Eat Local Grown.  Eat Local Grown is an organization that promotes a holistic lifestyle and local farming and agriculture.  On Pinterest, they are self-described as Yelp! for local food.  

Overall, I was impressed by the variety and sheer number of boards Eat Local Grown maintained.  Their 36 boards (965 pins) have garnered 8,054 followers.  It should be noted that over half their boards are shared boards maintained in conjunction with other pinners.

Their boards ranged in topic from recipes for specific vegetables (like broccoli) to pins about farmers’ markets around the country.  They also had specific boards devoted to leaders in local food (like Joel Salatin) and articles on local food.  There were a few boards they had that I thought were unsuitable (like pregnancy and fertility).  Additionally, some of their boards were redundant.  They had two boards titled “Natural Remedies.”

The primary audience for the Eat Local Food is locavores searching for information about the various aspects of eating locally.  As noted above, their boards covered numerous topics and would suit the needs of any one searching for news/info pertaining to local food.  Additionally, I think Eat Local Food is meant to be public relations for the the local food movement.  As a secondary function, the Pinterest boards seek to inform various publics and build support for the local food movement.

Some of the boards were particularly useful in getting out information.  For example, I appreciated the boards on kale and broccoli.  These are local foods available in cold weather months, but I often do not know how to prepare those vegetables.  Eat Local Grown facilitates the eating of local foods by offering their followers ways of enjoying those foods.  However, other boards were ineffective and/or prone to propaganda.  For example, their board on food critic Micahel Pollan was mostly filled with photos of Pollan instead of information.  Their board on Monsanto and GMOs highlighted the downside of Pinterest.  It was filled with images that were not explained fully.  If people didn’t click on the images to read about the images, they would be receiving incomplete information.

I do not plan on regularly checking Eat Local Grown.  Although they have numerous Pinterest boards, the boards do not offer substantial enough information to garner my reading.

U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance is an organization of ranchers and farmers from the United States (shocking, I know) who are trying to collectively come together in the defense of  agriculture.  It is a popular organization among young farmers and has received a lot of praise from the modern ag industry.  Because they are seeking to be relevant to younger farmers, they invest a lot in social media and are seeking to wield the tool effectively.  Their Facebook page can be found here.

The content presented on the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance page was consistently authentic and real new on modern ag issues.  The Facebook was not a PR puppet for the USFRA.  Instead it was used to generate content among the readers of the page.  The content was diverse and interesting.  The page highlighted ag news events, farming in the mass media, and encouraged their readers to stop by their booth at a trade show.  I’ll discuss this more in the intended audience section of my analysis, but I was a bit confused by the writing style of the content of the USFRA Facebook page.  Although the content seemed to be primarily posted for those in the ag industry, the posts were written for someone who doesn’t know much about agriculture.

As mentioned above, I was slightly confused by how the posts were written.  The USFRA is an organization comprised of farmers and ranchers to serve farmers and ranchers.  With that vision in mind, it is assumed that the information posted would be solely for the purpose of helping farmers and ranchers defend their livelihoods.  However, the posts’ content and writing style appear that the organization is trying to prove something to those skeptical of or apathetic to modern agriculture.  For example, see the post below.

This is helpful information for farmers to know.  But, I would guess from the post that the USFRA is trying to inform others about this information too.  In other words, they have more target audiences than U.S. farmers and ranchers.  However, they don’t post content that serves other target audiences (i.e., those against CAFOs).  The USFRA would do well to acknowledge all of their other audiences and post accordingly.

On Facebook, the USFRA received a great deal of feedback and comments from readers.  Responses to their posts elicited comments of affirmation, disagreement, questioning, and further exploration of the various topics.  In the posts I examined, the USFRA didn’t respond to readers’ comments.  Instead, they left them unanswered or let other readers answer them.  

As a communicator and ag enthusiast, I would frequently check the page for information about big news in the ag industry.  They did an excellent job of consistently updating their page and getting news out.  The page definitely favors the pro-ag view of various issues, so I would need to balance my examination of ag issues with other sources.  However, the USFRA does an excellent job of regularly updating their Facebook page with interesting information.

As I watched the video of the Exponent reporter and the Purdue police officer, I cringed at the reporter’s interaction with the officer.  The reporter was not respecting the rights of the injured party nor the work of the paramedics on the scene.  Instead, he caused a raucous about a story that didn’t deserve the attention he gave it.  Although he had the right to keep the video camera on, he failed to use good judgment as a reporter and recognize that it was a matter that didn’t warrant arguing over.  If the police officer had asked him to stop filming at the polling site, the reporter should have exercised his first amendment right.

I found the Exponent’s coverage of the newspaper fairly unbiased.  In the articles Zoe Hayes wrote about the incident, she quotes the reporter often but doesn’t have quotes from the officer.  However, the paper published several good letters to the editor that supported the officer.

I also read “an too many cooks…”  As an aspiring writer who is trying to get into the industry through blogging, I was deeply bothered by the editor’s conduct and impressed by the writer’s poise in the situation.  Because something is on the internet, a writer does not have the freedom to use the majority of that work without asking the author.  If I read an article in a magazine, I would no copy the whole article and place it in another magazine.  The same rules apply to the internet.  I think it’s a good thing that this incident caused the magazine to collapse.  A publication of that sort shouldn’t be in print.

I followed Michele Payn-Knoper (@mpaynknoper) on Twitter. Ms. Payn-Knoper is a professional agricultural communicator who covers food and agricultural issues.  She also runs a business to help connect farmers with consumers through social media, and serves as a spokeswoman for agriculture. 

Because Ms. Payn-Knoper’s business is connected with social media, her Twitter account is inherently professional.  It is where farmers go to learn about social media and her business.

Are you a #farmer trying to figure out social media? I made an #ag & SM page just for you. ow.ly/gwQOC

February 3, 2013

Many of her tweets also combined her personal and professional life.

Late breakfast of omelette for protein powered training workshop. Thankful for the people who made the eggs, spinach, tomatoes & ham happen.

February 6, 2013

Using Mashable’s “4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business” I’ll outline how Ms. Payn-Knoper utilized Twitter to promote her business and connect with other people in the industry. 

From “Trying to Sell” to “Making Connections.”  After the “God Made a Farmer” Super Bowl commercial was shown on television, Ms. Payn-Knoper used the opportunity to build connections with others.  She wasn’t trying to sell modern agriculture.  Instead, she was interested in having discussions with others about what agriculture looks like in our world, and hearing others impressions about agriculture. 

From “Large Campaigns” to “Small Acts.”  Ms. Payn-Knoper used Twitter to help others in her field.  When she Tweeted about the relationship between farming and social media, the Virginia Dept. of Ag replied to her Tweet and asked her for help.  She responded to their questions on Twitter, then offered to reply by email to any other questions they had. 

From “Controlling Our Image” to “Being Ourselves.”  Ms. Payn-Knoper primarily used her Twitter for purposes relating to promoting agriculture, and encouraging farmers to do the same.  However, Twitter is tool she effectively wields to make her a person and not just a business.  Last week, she apparently traveled to a conference.  I enjoyed reading her funny observations about airports and travel.

From “Hard to Reach” to “Available Everywhere.”  Twitter is a great tool because it allows you to simply connect with people in brief interactions.  Ms. Payn-Knoper did a great job of this.  She connected with people on a personal basis.  Additionally, she updated regularly, but not so much that I was overwhelmed by the volume of her Tweets. 

Ms. Payn-Knoper consistently offered interesting tweets and made excellent use of the various tools on twitter such as hashtags.  She tweeted on a variety of topics ranging from pink Carhartts to Anderson Cooper’s interview with someone from the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Association.  As a burgeoning AgComm professional, I benefitted from Ms. Payn-Knoper on variety of levels.  Notably, shed did a great job of networking with others on Twitter and keeping her Twitter personal and professional.  Additionally, I would be interested in emulating Ms. Payn-Knoper in my professional life and becoming familiar with how she operates was insightful. 

For the live tweeting assignment, I covered a debate between a naturalist and Christian who answered the question if faith in God is foolish. 

The debate was a difficult event to cover because the interesting aspects of the event involved quotes from the Dr. Craig and Dr. Rosenberg.  I struggled with tweeting quotes from them that capture the essence of the complex issues they were discussing.  Additionally, it was difficult to keep the tweets interesting, and not sound redundant.  Along those same lines, I had a tough time tweeting while listening to what was being discussed.

Also, I was tweeting from my cell phone which proved another challenge.  My phone is not conducive for quick typing and I inadvertently made several errors.

I believe a debate is better suited to a newspaper story.  On Monday, I read the Exponent’s coverage of the event and I thought it was more effective in describing the event and what happened throughout the evening.

newsweek:

You never know when that dumb thing you just did might land you on the evening news. 

[via]

newsweek:

Nothing gives us The Panic like looking at Twitter pictures of empty banana shelves. Now in the live blog.

[Twitter photos by @MacDonald508, @chrisbarrineau, & @TwoToTheFifth]

I analyzed “The Salt,” NPR’s food blog.  Over the past week, they have blogged almost 20 times.  The Salt is a great example of how a media outlet can leverage blogging for their organization.  To explain how NPR does this effectively, I’ll go through the first six bullet points from Professor Natt’s notes, “Blog Uses for Mass Media.” 

1. Post items that don’t fit in regular newspaper. “Cover what you do best and link to the rest.  NPR did a great job with this in their story on the role the haggis Robert Burns’ birthday celebrations.  Throughout the article, NPR repeatedly linked to other news organizations and websites to explain important elements of the sausage and why it plays in role in the event commemorating the Scottish poet.
2. Post items you don’t have room for in regular newspaper.  The NPR highlighted a story on realism in modern food art, and similarities the art shares with classic artists like Vermeer and Rembrandt.  This story is not particularly newsworthy, but it is fun and an enjoyable read for those interested in food and art.
3. Post item before a newspaper comes out or even incremental updates. While “The Salt” didn’t release any breaking news on their blog last week, they did demonstrate how a blog can be used to gain attention for a topic that might become a big story in the future.  NPR wrote a piece on how farming may switch from a family vocation, to a true business.  Time will tell if this happens, and what the implications will be for society.  However, NPR did a great job of getting in front of the story.
4. Become more transparent. Use the blogs to reach readers, let them know how things work, why decisions were made. They offer a level of immediacy and personal contact that print columns do not. On a news story about a food-borne illness outbreak connected with a Lebanese dish sold at a restaurant, NPR thoroughly reported the story and explained that the dish is served with raw beef.  Following the story’s release, the comments section became lively as people why they eat raw meat, others mocked the choice, and a Lebanese woman defended the practice of her culture.
5. Informality. “Respondents talked of finding their “voice,” being more informal and “creative”.”  NPR published the transcript of a reporter and his friends trying a Reuben eggroll for Sandwich Monday.
6. Offering their thoughts/opinions.  I loved this post on the history of Coke’s advertisements.  The writer does a great job of taking a news item (Coke’s new anti-obesity ad), bringing humor and insight into the issue, and placing herself in the story.  She also does a great job of linking to other important websites as mentioned in point 1.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading “The Salt.”  The posts were informative, personal, and interesting.  I definitely enjoy receiving the news this way, and am looking forward to making “The Salt” a part of my reading routine.

In addition to the links and info below, I am a part of a Facebook page that has a lot of information re: interesting info about the event.  The hashtag that will be used for the event is: #GODdebate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lane_Craig

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Rosenberg
http://www.symposiachristi.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SymposiaChristi?fref=ts