Internship Daze

It`s been three weeks and I have learned so much already. Coming out of college you sometimes feel like you already know everything, especially after spending a grueling three years in the course. But that is never the case really. There is always so much you either don`t know or can improve on drastically.

These are the facts that I`ve come to realize while working under the Quinte Broadcasting tag. There are so many day to day activities that I never knew I`d have to do. So many minor details like how much or little you should use in a story, or the longest an audio clip can be in a wrapper. Although every time I do something wrong I feel good about learning the right way to do it. I feel like I`m still gathering so much even though I`m finished school.

On the other side of the tracks all the knowledge I do have has paid off in wealth. I can fully pump out 20-30 stories a week with ease, I can tackle interviews with residents all the way to celebrities without breaking a sweat, and I can fully understand and recognize all the parts of a council meeting without feeling my eyes get heavy. They are really more interesting than most people tend to think!

It`s been an honor and a pleasure to work under some really fine journalists at the station, and I am looking forward to what month two, and my last month of internship brings before I hit the bricks and meet the big bad world.

Reflecting on the Sansom Memorial

The word ‘Legend’ is defined by Websters Dictionary as ‘one popularly regarded as historical’ or ‘a person who inspires’.

While I am not suggesting that Kevin Sansom is considered a legend of his time, he has exhibited the trademarks of someone who is has touched the lives of many and who will live on in our memories; much like a legend.

Covering this event brought up a number of emotions in me as a journalist and a human being. Having been close to Kevin as one of his students and trusting that he would be there to help me when I was stuck, I was shocked as any to find out that he had passed away. Despite my connections to Kevin I decided that the best way to move on from something traumatic is to face it head on. This would allow me to face that which made an impact on me in a strategic and non-biased way. How wrong I was to presume it would be that simple.

During the event I was recording bits and pieces of footage for my television package afterwards. But when I was waiting and not recording, just watching the videos, listening to the memories shared on Facebook and Twitter, I found it difficult to separate my emotions and my professional duties. It was one of the most difficult things to do in my career, covering the death of a friend. But I got through it and I was able to cut a really good television package for it.

Afterwards I caught the arms of a few people who seemed to be quietly reminiscing about the man named Kevin Sansom. Many were too emotional to talk to me, but a few were able to come up with the words to embody the man who would leave an impression on us all. Unfortunately the reality of journalism is you will not use every single piece of material in one story, therefore I’d like to share the words of many that could not be shared through my television story.

Here are the raw footage videos of their interviews.

Reflecting on Halloweens past

I remember when I was a kid, my parents, while very strict, would always let me go out with my friends to Trick or Treat from the time I was about 8 years old onwards.

It seems nowadays times have changed and kids 10 years of age and under are still accompanied by parents. While working on my Halloween safety story, I found that a lot of parents seemed less anxious about the idea of their children being abducted or sexually harassed and more worried about them coming into contact with bullies or peer pressure.

I suppose things have changed a lot, drugs are more widely used by younger and younger generations and bullying has become much more of a serious issue. While speaking with Constable Foeller (pronounced Fuller) I found myself wondering why are parents so afraid of these issues and not really considering the more obvious. Police will be on patrol as well as community volunteers so bullying shouldn’t be a problem. But sexual predators are well prepared and despite protective circumstances still know how to get children into dangerous situations.

I wonder if we rely too much on the authorities to provide us with protection, or the internet to tell us where tagged sexual predators live within our neighborhood. Despite these protective measures there still are very real dangers out there that parents need to be aware of.

I doubt that this Halloween any child will not make it home safely or that any parent will find a razorblade in an apple, but it is always good to be conscious of the dangers because once we start becoming ignorant to these ideas, that is when they become most threatening.

One mother refers to it as McSwarth

Doctor Jordan a mother and alleged professor of developmental psychology recently posted a video of an unconfirmed McDonalds playland area on Youtube. Jordan, at the beginning of the video stated that during a bathroom break, her son requested to use the playland in the McDonalds. Jordan had to accompany her kids because her daughter was underage. What she discovered was much more than the simple dirty floor or tubing. Fecal matter, old and rotting food and swear words and gang signs were amongst some of the things that this mother found while playing with her children.
Disgusted by the state of this playland Jordan allegedly reported the incident to a manager. Upon returning several times she found that nothing was changed. After continually reporting the issue to many different managers Jordan contacted McDonalds main offices and then the health department. She was told by both that McDonalds playlands fall under no such code to be kept clean and orderly.

Jordan than used her own resources to collect and examine the leavings in the tubes and floors. She found numerous amounts of bacteria that can be extremely lethal to children or anyone with a low or compromised immune system. Jordan now hopes to move her cause to the internet, posting the video of her findings as well as showing the playland. Jordan hopes that this will raise awareness of this and other McDonalds playlands and bring resolve to this issue.

Watch the video below.

Tell me what you think? Should all McDonalds have a code of cleanliness when it comes to their playlands or should parents just keep some extra disinfectant on hand? And should the Health Board be involved in matters such as these?

A night to remember, ruined by a little booze and a lot of beaurocracy

I’m sure everyone within the regions of the Quinte area is fully aware now of the story of the 13 students who were turned away at their prom because of alcohol.

But just in case for those who may not be I will quickly reiterate: Students at Quinte Secondary School were turned away the night of their prom because three administrators (one being Lisa Vincent, Principal) believed these students to be intoxicated when they arrived. Now apparently the students were told a week or so before that they were not to be taking buses or limos to the prom, but the parents had spoken to the Vice Principal after having already rented the bus for the evening. These students were given the allowance to take their rented bus to the prom. However upon arriving they were turned away because they were assumed intoxicated by the administration staff.

Now I will comment on this specifically in a moment but first I’d like to look at how the Belleville Intelligencer is handling this story. This media outlet seems to be the primary source of the story. They are taking a very clever approach. As no one seems to be talking about this issue, and with good reason, the Intel has adopted a way of reporting on what others will not say, rather than what information the could glean from what they do say.

For example a reporter from the Intel contacted two board trustee members Mary Hall and Dave Patterson. These trustees are meant to speak on behalf of school board matters, or so it states on their website. Though when asked any questions about this push-button situation these board members are referring all calls to Kerry Donnell, the media relations person from the Hastings Prince Edward Board of Education. Kerry Donnell is basically saying that nothing can be said. So there is a sort of wild goose chase happening here.

What Kerry has said when faced with the information from the Board’s website stating they are in place to answer all questions is that this is meant for parents with concerns. So what the Intel has done, is posted the numbers of both trustees on their article in a manner of helping the parents make their own justice. Very clever. Whether or not the board members will say anything more than they have to the parents is not known.

Personally I believe this entire situation was blown out of proportion and while I don’t feel that any teachers or administrators should lose their jobs, I certainly believe they should be talked to and maybe reassessed about where best they fit into the school.

Moving back to what happened that night. I am aware that these students were made fully aware that this was an ‘Alcohol Free’ night. Now to me that means do not bring alcohol and no alcohol will be sold. That does not come out as ‘you are not allowed to drink in the privacy of your own home and then attend this prom.’ Certainly if someone arrived who appeared to be overly intoxicated, that would cause trouble and they should be turned away.

My other thought, and this was brought up in the Intel as well, is that, none of these administrators are actually trained in how to target someone who is intoxicated. Kerry Donnell admitted to this fact herself to the Intel. She commented that the administrators know these students and would be able to tell when they are acting differently. My rebuke: in a school of probably over 1000 students, how do you really know 13 of them that well, especially if you’re not directly teaching them.

And even when an OPP officer, who is trained in finding out if a person is intoxicated, offered a breath test, this was turned down. There are no arguments as to why this was turned down, this is a professional piece of equipment, not a person’s personal judgement. If the breath test was offered the students that wanted to try and take in order to get into the Prom should have been allowed to do so. I reiterate, there is absolutely no reason why this option should have been turned down.

I believe that Lisa Vincent and the two others involved made a poor choice in blockading these students from their one night of personal freedom with their friends. At the very least these students should be refunded their prom money, since they were physically turned away and did not make the decision themselves not to attend.

I truly feel for these students and for their parents who probably shelled out a fair amount of cash as well on helping prepare for this major night in a teenagers life. Let’s hope that the school board makes the right choice and reprimands those involved who turned down a professional breath test.

Repatriation and publishers blues

Today is going to be a day dense in emotion but as well a day of progress. I’ll be traveling back to my hometown of Trenton ( a far trip) in order to cover the next repatriation story. Could this be the last Canadian soldier we see in a coffin from the Afghan war? Harper is pulling our troops out this summer. Or is spring beginning to melt away the moment of peace frozen in time.
I will find out what people at the fence feel about this possibly being the last of the ceremonies they attend. Many have been coming to the fence for the past 6 years, constantly ready to salute the soldiers that fight for freedom. I will find out exactly what will come into focus with these people when the fight comes to an end.

As for production, my discussion with the experts kicks off tomorrow, polling a panel of authors and industry workers in the field of book publishing and selling. These word jockeys will take the time to answer questions about how they’re striving to keep up with the new industry of ebooks and online sales, and what changes they may need to make in the future in order to adapt. Tune in to Qnet news tomorrow and search for ‘The Future Of Publishing’ in order to keep up with the discussion!

Federal Election and sunny days ahead

It looks like we’re in for another Federal Election, so now is the time for you to weigh in…who do you think will be voted into office?

Budgets, blowhards and bills

It’s a battle between blowhards with the budget on the horizon. Many opposition parties are beginning to use Ontario’s 2011 budget as way to take shots at each other, and with two elections on the way it’s excellent timing to get under each others skin.

While finance minister Dwight Duncan promises to keep tax hikes to a minimum and stretch tax payer dollars by using contractors that will do the job for less, opposition leader Tim Hudak warns the Liberals can never be trusted, and tax hikes could be in our near future.

Similarly Duncan claims that the conservatives will threaten our economy by making deep cuts to major arteries like hospitals and education.

In a plus, Duncan says the budget will offer $15 million towards breast cancer screening, and over $250 million towards kids with mental health disabilities.

The question is if October ends up with the Liberals in office again, will the mask be removed and the real monster show its face with tax hikes and cuts to other services?

Hopefully this isn’t all smoke and mirrors to help the Liberals grab another term in office in Ontario.

Missed the Oscars? Well just check it out online!

Does anyone remember a time when you had to make the time to watch a show on TV that you actually wanted to see? And if you missed it you cursed up a blue blazes but there was no chance you were ever going to see that episode again unless they re-ran it (which was highly unlikely).

Now as we have the internet and gadgets like TiVo, OnDemand and television recorders, we don’t need to rush home to catch that new episode of ‘How I Met Your Mother’, or sit in front of the TV for three hours watching the Oscars.

Maybe you recorded it to your digital box, and then you can skip over those pesky commercials. Or maybe you’re one of those people that love online streaming video, and you just discovered ‘Hey! They posted the entire Oscars live show online!’

It seems that in our fast paced world, television is still racing to try and keep up with us and our demanding lives. Or maybe, its possible that television is beginning to show signs of losing its grip, and producers and executives are beginning to realize they need to move to the net to survive.

The term ‘webisode’ was first used in 1998 but Stan Lee Media, in order to market a new comic coming out by using small streaming videos 30-45 seconds in length.

During the next 10 years webisodes would move from short bits and pieces to almost full length episodes. At first they were used in connection to a television show by producers in order to market the show in all points of social media. The producers would put together 5-10 minute broadcasts that would consist of lesser characters from the show overcoming a small problem.

In 2010 the idea of webisodes changed. Networks like SyFy and NBC were beginning to recognize the usefulness of these online episodes. A complete series was released by SyFy named RIESE: Kingdom Falling, for online purposes only. They were not able to fit the show in their busy time slot, so the executives at SyFy decided that the show had enough power to run itself completely online.

It seems that the possibility of television making a transition to the internet is not as far fetched as some might think. Like newspapers began to flock in the late 90′s with bloggers and small snippets, television may too be suffering the same fate.

But not to worry, those expensive high definition televisions you’ve recently purchased are perfect web-savvy devices. Capable to visit your favourite web sites like a computer. Maybe the revolution has already begun and its right under our noses.

Troublesome Coyotes more than just a mere annoyance

In January of 2010 the municipality of Prince Edward County agreed to allow a bounty of $100 per coyote carcass brought in by farmers.

Since then hunters have been joining to league of farmers who seek to bring an end to this malicious predator that stalks their farms by night.

Now a group of environmentalists seek to study the habits of coyotes living in Prince Edward County and surrounding areas to decipher their behaviour and increasing boldness.

Reports of coyotes attacking not just farm animals but pets and sometimes in rare cases, people, have been springing up all over the country. One fatal encounter happened in Nova Scotia where an up and coming young folk singer was killed by two coyotes when she was taking a hike in the woods.

Most specialists agree that this aggressive behaviour is mostly because of humans slowly infringing on what once was coyote habitats with new housing developments and farmland.

While many may have hateful feelings towards these animals, it is important to remember that in an ever growing urban world, we have to learn to share our land with the beasts who still live there.

If anyone has any stories about a close encounter with a coyote please feel free to post it in comments.