UF CMIR: Teaching the next generation of journalists

As a TV3 reporter for WUFT News, I have the opportunity to work as a on-deadline, multimedia journalist (also known as a "one-man-band") on a weekly basis. Here's a story I did recently on the 90-year-old, Glenn Springs pool.





I've always wanted to be a journalist, so when it came to picking out a college, you can bet that the schools that would prepare me for my future career were the ONLY ones I was looking at. In the end, coming to the University of Florida to study and prep for journalism in the 'real world" is easily one of the best decisions of my life.



Part of this is due to the Center for Media Innovation + Research or CMIR. It includes an active  newsroom (or the "News Laboratory" as they call it), which provides students with real world experience. There are few other journalism schools in the country that can say their students are graduating with years of working experience already under their belts. I'm confident that these experiences will help get me my first job when I graduate in a year.



If you've followed my blog then you've probably seen my work. It's honestly a product of lots of hard work and being a student of the UF CMIR. This is just one more reason that it's great to be a gator!



Check it out!

The Tipping Point: A Review

This had to be one of the most unexpectedly interesting books I’ve ever read. The Tipping Point really sums up why some things “catch on” and other things don’t. But it isn’t just based on the author’s, Malcolm Gladwell opinion; there are actual (and factual) case studies to back up the theories that are presented in this book. I have to say that the most interesting and relatable part of the “Tipping Point” theory would have to be the “three rules of epidemics.” I usually associate an epidemic with a widespread disease, and while these theories can (and are) used to describe the spread of such things, it can also be used the describe the spread of things considered “popular” to mainstream society. The “three rules of epidemics” are broken up into the “law of the few,” “the stickiness factor,” and “the power of context.”

The First rule, “The Law of the Few,” essentially these are a few, key people whose interconnected work is crucial to determining the “tipping point” of an epidemic.

Connectors are people who happen to know EVERYONE. Everybody has that friend, family member, or person in his or her life that somehow seems to know everybody or can be linked to anyone through some connection. It’s kinda like Six degrees of Kevin Bacon with these people. Think about how you even got on Facebook, who was your first friend (hint: it probably wasn’t Tom). Chances are you were probably connected via someone who seemed to have a zillion friends in common with you (and then some), if not, then maybe you are the connector in your group of friends.

Mavens are people who want to “save you the trouble.” You’ve probably met someone in a store (whether they worked there or not) who provided you with extremely in-depth information when you were stuck trying to make a purchasing decision. Another example that’s been more prevalent during the social media age, are YouTube tutorials/product reviews. Ever heard of YouTube guru, Michelle Phan? Well she’s recently risen to stardom just for providing people with helpful makeup tutorials and product reviews.

Salesmen are people who do just that, sell. I’m sure you’ve met a person trying to sell you something that you just couldn’t say no to. Maybe it was the cute persistence of the little girl scouts outside of your neighborhood supermarket. Or it could have been someone with the charismatic persuasiveness of sales greats like Mark Kay Ash or Zig Ziglar.

The Second rule, “The stickiness factor,” is how well a unique factor of the trend will “stick” in everyone’s minds.  I’d have to say “selfies” are a unique social trend that has caught on and is here to stay. I mean just ten years ago, did anyone really take selfies…like on purpose? I mean now everyone’s doing it, President Obama, ridiculous amounts of celebrities, and even fighter pilots! Heck, you can now even personalize your Gmail inbox with a selfie!

Finally, the third rule is the “power of context.” It essentially, says that if the social environmental/historical moment in which the trend is introduced isn’t right then it probably won’t go over its “tipping point.” Frankly, I don’t if selfies would have caught on during WWII or the Civil Rights Movement.  It seems that it wouldn’t have been the right time (and we of course didn’t have the right technology then either).

I will wrap this review up by saying again this book was surprisingly engaging and interesting. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the world, society and trends a little bit better.

Well that’s all, you can go now, but first…let’s see Colin Powell’s 60-year old selfie. ***Cues up “Selfie” song***