Monday, March 23, 2009

Byron Scott: "The Job is a Privilege."

WHAT DID YOU THINK of our guests from last class, NBC10 reporter Byron Scott (right) and videographer Sam Adkins (left)?

Here are the things I thought stood out:

- Journalists are recording history as it happens.
- There is a great deal of pressure to have more information than competing newscasts.
- You should always be improving your writing skills.
- When you start out in broadcast journalism, you may feel like you are always working.
- As a journalist, you may see awful stuff (dead bodies!) and bad things may happen around you (gunshots!).
- Most anchors started as reporters.
- Telling a news story isn't always exploiting. It can be. You need to recognize when to back off, Byron said.
- It is a privilege to enter people's lives, learn about them, and transmit their tales on air.

What did you think?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought Byron Scott was very informing as well as encouraging. I really enjoyed his presentation and his approach to journalism.

Anonymous said...

Scott delivered the news in a very interesting way it showed that the competition is severe people in the business will do outrageous things to get noticed, i guess it all goes into the entertainment aspect of Broadcast Journalism. However, he touched on the competition in the field and yet he made it seem that the underdog, the one who will do his work for less pay is the winner, this discourages me from broadcast Journalism because i don't see expanded my career in the field if someone is always willing to hire a person who will do it for cheap vs. experience. Its a shame this is happening to careers in Journalism.

Anonymous said...

I was veryyyyyy excited that Byron Scott came in to speak, not because I'm a fan (I've never heard of him before in my life) but because it gave broadcast journalism majors a chance to see how the job is done! It seems like most journalism classes I take are all geared towards newspapers and really makes me think that publishing articles is all the industry has to offer. This was definitely a breath of fresh air, and a reminder of why I picked this to major in the first place.

Anonymous said...

I really appreciated Byron Scott and Sam Adkins coming over to our class last week. They are two of the people that love what they do. In today’s journalism industry, not too many people trying to be a journalist, especially when the technology is taking over.

Anonymous said...

I thought they were both very informative and interesting. The biggest thing that stood out to me was when they said that you cannot except failure, that it's not an option. I also liked the fact that Bryon Scott made the distinction about when to back off when pursuing a story.

Brittney Corridean said...

Adkins and Scots visit last week I found to be quite enjoyable. Scott demonstrated his enthusiasm to report the news and his clips showed us just how diverse and outgoing his reports can be. I think they were both very encouraging and had a positive energy among the students. Overall, I liked hearing the different encounters and watching the clips.

yekunoamlak said...

i thought they were pretty cool down to earth fellas. i thought they both had an interseting perspective on journalism. i realized that you had to be in it for more than the money. that the reward comes from serving your community rather than from capital. in more of a selfish manner it gives you a voice in a sea of static. the comment that touched base the most with me was the reality of job, meaning the awful things you would have to report on or the hostile condisitons you would have to report in. all in all i thought it was a very realistic lecture on the occupation and was very enlighting.