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| The newsroom hub at USA Today, where editors track breaking news on CNN, MSNBC, Fox and other competitors, make home front updates, and collaborate on other projects. (Photo by Chris Harvey) |
What surprised you about the visit?
Or what did you find most interesting?
Please leave comments below.
16 comments:
I found it interesting that the whole USA Today newspaper was all on one floor; for some reason I thought USA Today was an entire building.
I was really surprised that most of the people we heard from never took journalism courses when they were younger and if they did, they weren't fond of the classes they took.
I thought it was surprising how they had their T.V Studio in the same place as the did the print media. I really liked how they had different sections of the office for different areas. I really liked the sports section of the office.
In terms of the USA Today website, I found it interesting how the layout for their site was very different from sites like The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
USA Today's site is more colorful and friendly than the other newspaper sites.
The most surprising thing to me was the backgrounds of the employees we spoke to during our visit. Also how compact and rather small the office was I expected it to be three times as big. I enjoyed speaking to the people who work there they were really energetic.
I found it interesting how the USA Today journalists wanted to seek our opinions towards their site. From our opinions the journalist learned how they can make their sites more appealing to the public. I learned that it is all about competition in the news world, which is pretty exciting.
I was surprised that there were so many people in charge of releasing news on social media accounts. I knew how important social media was since so many teenagers and adults go to their phones for information. However, after visiting USA Today, I noticed just how large a role social media plays in journalism. News operations have to adjust to their audience members and have people solely in charge of social media so they can focus on making it easier and quicker for people to receive important updates.
I thought the circular desk with the TVs surrounding it was very interesting. I didn't know that big time news companies, like USA Today, refer to their competitors for information. Another surprising part of the tour was learning that the internet and social media are huge ways of getting news out. I also liked hearing from people with experience in the field and how they got to where they are now.
I found it surprising how the layout of the newsroom was. It's very open and very easy to go up to another fellow journalist and ask a question, which I guess was the point. I also was surprised of how more focused news was on social media, video and mobile devices and less it seemed on the print aspect of the paper.
The most interesting thing to me was how every person we talked to had such multi-faceted jobs. Steve Elfers talked about he had to learn photo and video and print and multiple other things all to be successful in his position. It was also interesting how every person we talked to emphatically loved their job.
The most surprising thing to me was the layout of the office. When one imagines a newsroom it looks serious and small, with no one really smiling. In the USA Today offices, it was a much more fun atmosphere than I expected. The walls were bright, and people decorated their offices to the max. In addition, people were talking and laughing with excitement. It felt like a great place to work. It only increased my excitement to be pursuing a journalism career.
The thing i found interesting was that the it was hectic. As seen on movies and other shows in newsrooms there is confusion trying to get news and other things on point. There it is barely any noise and it seems organized. USA today also has a bunch of employees to take different roles which is really cool to give everyone a job.
Everyone we spoke to explained that to succeed in the journalism field today, a person needs knowledge and background in video, photography, writing and social media. I found the all-encompassing nature of current journalism both interesting and eye-opening. Even though it's clear journalists today need to be well-rounded, I find that aspect the most alluring part of journalism, and not at all daunting.
I never really thought about how much went into publications trying to reach out to readers. It's easy to assume that all a news publication would need is writers. However, for a news publication to be successful in today's environment, a publication needs computer programmers, people who can understand statistics to help in advertising, photographers, audio engineers, and social media experts. I started to realize that journalism requires more skills than I would have thought, which was surprising and intriguing. I also found the hectic environment interesting and exciting
I was surprised that a lot of the successful journalists never really planned to become a journalist at first. They studied and tried other occupations, yet ended up finding their true interests in journalism. It makes me wonder what we all will end up having as a job one day.
Just to clarify: When news sites like USA Today watch what the competition is reporting (on the TV screens in the central hub), it's to make sure they aren't missing major news events. USA Today wouldn't quote the Post about breaking news; it would look for wire stories or staff stories to post.
As to other points: We did talk to staffers with wide-ranging backgrounds (including one who was a professional athlete before coming to work as a mobile sports guru at USA Today). I had specifically asked to chat with the mobile and social teams, so that may have produced different outcomes than if we had chatted exclusively with reporters. By my count, four of the six staffers we spoke with had degrees in journalism or communications. The titles and educational backgrounds of those we met included Shannon Green, a senior multimedia producer who earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism at Arizona State University; Desair Brown Shaw, the reader advocacy editor at USA Today who earned her master's degree in multimedia journalism from UMD; Emily Brown, a mobile editor at USA Today, who earned her master's degree in online, newspaper and magazine journalism from Syracuse University; Mike Foss, managing editor of USA Today's "For the Win" blog, who earned a B.A. in communication and journalism from George Mason University; Steve Elfers, managing editor of multimedia at USA Today, who earned a B.A. in biology from George Mason U. (but worked as a photographer on his college paper); and Hemal Jhaveri, senior social media editor for USA Today Sports, who earned a B.A. in English and Media Arts Design from James Madison University, and an M.A. in English with a concentration in cultural studies from George Mason University.
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