Kat's Mastery

My experience at Full Sail University has been exciting, laboring, and rewarding. I have spent many sleepless nights working on getting an article finished or an assignment completed. The hours spent in the field and working on projects are uncountable. The classes have been enriching with the variety of learned skills that I have added to my skillset.

My first class was in “New Media and Communications” with Professor Kenneth Coussin. I began to set up my website and discovered my niche. I had to decide on what I wanted to write about and the theme for my website. I care about what is happening to the world with global warming and climate change. Or write about the arts and entertainment scene in the Kansas City Crossroads. I weighed my options on what information was more available to me, and the art & entertainment won.

We used the Pyramid of Journalism Competence: What journalists need to know by Roy Peter Clark. Looking at that pyramid now makes it easy to say the three things that stand out to me: culture, Audio-Visuals, and Storytelling. If I could pick four, I would add technology.

The following class was with Dr. James Carstens, “Research and Investigative Skills Development.” I learned about FOIA and Research and how to incorporate the research into a story.

In “Multimedia Development and Editing” with Professor Jeff Sharon came the real challenge of going out in the field and creating video. I can remember how nervous I was thinking, oh my can I do this? I did, and through time my skill improved. I learned about using the rule of thirds in the video as well.

We also learned the basics of Web Design and Development, Photojournalism, Audio journalism, and Multimedia Journalism. The project that I feared the most was audio journalism. I was scared to do a podcast. I did it, and the next time I was more relaxed.

Then there was “Digital News Production” with Professor Jeff Sharon, and this class is where we first started to decide what our Capstone Project topic would be. The projects I did in class included Video Basics, Visual Storytelling, Video Journalism, and Documentary Storytelling. Every course was informative and kept me on my toes.

Before the classes above, other courses I had were: “Writing for Interactive Media” with Dr. Carstens, where we learned about crafting our story, using editing tools, promotion and distribution, and story planning and focus. I also learned about the “Legal Aspects of Media” with Tami Maras, where I did a case analysis, learned about FOIA requests, Defamation, and did a case study presentation. I also learned about copyright, and last about commercial speech.

Then I had a class with Latoya Lee in “Multimedia Reporting.” I did a variety of presentations in this class. This class seemed to be a continuation of the skills learned in Professor Sharon’s class. In each category, we had to use a different element with text and images and some form of media. It could be a podcast, video, or creating an Adobe Spark Page.

“Social Media and Online Community Engagement” with Ginger Palmisano was about using social media, and each week we concentrated on either Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and LinkedIn. It was good to explore further into social media since a high percentage of visits to my website come from social media accounts.

The next class was with Greig Powers, “Public Relations and Reputation Management.” The course was enlightening. We learned about the fundamentals of public relations and Reputation Management, page scripting, a promotional story, Public Relations, Brand Journalism, and Reputation. The class got a little more in-depth with looking into influencers and creating a public service announcement.

Looking back at all these classes, I have learned something from each one. At the time, I didn’t always agree with some of the courses or thought they were a little outdated, but that just pushed me to do some research and find the most recent articles on what I was studying.

Getting to my Capstone class with Professor Jeff Sharon, “New Media and Distribution.” Wow, what a workload. I was running around trying to get last-minute interviews. This class was laborious. I had to apply everything I had learned and wrap it up into an extensive article close to 2,000 words. This class taught me so much, and to reflect on the start of my degree, I never would have thought I could have this achievement.

Now here I am writing my Mastery of everything that I have gotten out of New Media Journalism Master of Arts with Dr. James Carstens, who has helped me become a better writer with his feedback.

The most challenging part has been to write a Thesis on my Capstone Project Visionaries and Artists’ Meet at the Kansas City Crossroads Arts District. I almost feel like some of these are redundant. But I know that each chapter has its purpose. I have fallen asleep at my desk, never making it to bed working on my thesis. The follow-up story to the Capstone is: https://www.katdaydesign.com/post/justin-canja-meet-me-at-the-crossroads

Looking back at all the skills I have learned will help me expand my website, articles, videos, podcasts, and photography. The classes have helped to improve my writing and publishing of my pieces.

Everything that I have learned will be a benefit in my future as a journalist. I plan on continuing my website and hopefully will be able to travel and expand the reach of my website to art lovers around the world.

The feedback and critique have also been very beneficial in pointing out areas that I may have overlooked and prepared me to be a better writer. I am grateful to each person that has been instrumental in my learning.

In the class “Public Relations and Reputation Management,” I was not sure what to expect. Much to my surprise, I accomplished and learned quite a bit. I learned about creating a promotional story. I was unsure of the outcome, and it was favorable. I have had 309 visits to my promotional story page. I created an Adobe Spark Page for this assignment and used a lot of my photography from the last First Friday event for MOD Gallery & Space. I also made some gifs of photos which turned out nicely. This class has shown me that there are other avenues that I can utilize to my benefit. I have learned about influencers, brand journalism, public service announcements, the importance of having a professional about page on a website. I also got more practice on my scriptwriting to create a more professional about me pagefor my website. The about page reflects me and my work as a professional. As time moves on and my websitegrows, I am sure that I will keep updating it with new information.

I also spent a day down at the Gallery getting professional photos taken. The professional images helped in the aesthetics and added personality to my about page, giving it a professional feel. It is essential to have an inspiring about page to present to the public. I want artists and gallery owners to be impressed when they go to my site. I know that this is something new in the Kansas City Arts District, and the about me will help build my brand and strengthen my reputation. I was unsure how I felt about this class because the weeks took things differently, such as public relations and ethics, influencers, and blog comments. Brand Journalism was a new topic. I learned about the difference between content marketing vs. brand journalism. I have a good knowledge of brands and brand development from my bachelor’s degree days, learning graphic design.

Social Media and Online Community Engagement

What were my expectations in “Social Media and Online Community Engagement?” First, I would like to state that I did not have to take the Mastery Class because I am a returning graduate of Full Sail. I took Mastery in 2017 in Media Design. I have adventured into a different degree, Journalism. I have gotten so much out of several classes, and it seems like the expectations that I had for “Social Media and Online Community Engagement” were not as I expected. After reviewing my analytics, the numbers show that my numbers went down on social media. I am not sure if it is the topics that I wrote about or the way I posted. I had high expectations thinking that I would learn new ways to post that would reach a bigger audience. I was hoping to learn new tips in posting. I do not have access to the Mastery Class course syllabus to compare research. My expectations were high for this class, and I feel a bit disappointed. I read the material and listened to the tutorials and expected live classes with live engagement and class interaction where we would get new information and ask questions to help improve social media engagement.

I got some excellent responses from my instructor using Reddit, but I did not get too much attention on Reddit. According to the tutorial, Reddit is a different type of social media that is more like a newspaper-style platform. I feel that it sways more to government and technology. When exploring Reddit, that is where I find more interaction and upvotes. The categories that I needed to post in were much older posts and some archived. I may still post on it to see if I can get something started in the Arts and Music in the Crossroads and Kansas City. Reddit was one social media outlet that I learned a little more about but had never used. I am still a little confused, but I will research more to gain more knowledge about this platform. I won’t just quit but will try to bring back some of the categories I use. To see if I can get more interaction.

I learned more about the history of each platform and when they first began, and by whom. I also learned to sometimes lead with a question like on Reddit. I also became more acquainted with the various platforms. I also learned that questions seek action from your audience, and it is better to keep your posts short and sweet. The FindLaw article taught me that URL shorteners are wrong and to not use them.

The article by FindLaw states that the best days to post are Thursdays and Fridays. It also says that it is best to keep posts under 80 characters. Did you know that posts ending with a question can have 15% higher engagements? Why? The questions create action (Ramirez, 2011). According to Ramirez A. (2011, April 12), “Thursdays and Fridays tend to be the best days of the week to post content, as the “happiness index” for users peaks toward the end of the week. And weekends can be effective days for posts, yet many businesses avoid the weekends. Monday is the least effective day for posting.” Ramirez also says that Thursdays and Fridays tend to be the best days to post content, and Mondays are the least effective (Ramirez, 2011). I have learned about and researched Twitter. According to Driver, S. (2021, March 3), “Your Twitter profile has six parts: your Twitter handle, username, profile picture, bio, header image, and a pinned tweet. All these elements should work cohesively to be an accurate representation of your business.” One thing that I recently learned, according to Driver, S. (2021, March 3), “You can use the header image behind your profile picture to highlight promotions, events or news about your business. Unlike your profile picture, this image should change regularly.” I need to start changing my images. For more information on using Twitter, here is the link. After looking over the information, I think I have learned much more than I realized. The Social Media class has been a good course, and I need to pay more attention to new information that is up to date.

According to a recent article by Kuligowski, K. (2021, April 15), “It’s becoming more important than ever for businesses to have a distinct voice and engage with customers on a human level. Social media provides an easy avenue for this, allowing you to develop an identity and a voice to showcase your brand values and engage with followers.” Kuligowski also links the major social media platforms for business Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat, and TikTok and how to market to Generation Z.

Learning to use social media correctly can significantly help me greatly in my journalism adventures into the creative world of art, music, podcasting, website development, and other endeavors. It could also help me in a job that requires me to post on various social media accounts for their business.

I look forward to expanding my knowledge and learning all I can about the best ways to use social media.

Time has flown by so quickly. It is hard to believe that we are already on week four and doing a Mastery Journal for another class. But I think that happens when you are staying so busy with schoolwork and reading lessons, going to lectures, and going out hunting for stories or setting dates to do podcasts. 

I did not have to do an initial Mastery as I had already taken the class in 2017-2018. Since then, my goals have changed, and with every month that I finish, I add more skills to my resume. I am not sure if I want to work for anyone or freelance. I have discovered I am enjoying this MA in New Media Journalism more than I could have imagined. I have gotten so much out of this degree program and still have so much more to learn, In week one, I planned, produced, and published a follow-up second cycle developing story on MOD’s First Friday events. The goal was to use the skills that we have used so far in the NMJ program. The story was titled “June’s First Friday, Hits the Ground running at MOD Gallery & Space.” Week two was a little different. I applied an introduction to the two podcasts with Justin Canja, a local artist that showed for the first time at MOD Gallery & Space. Canja sold seven paintings. The title of the story was “Getting Raw with Justin Canja.” I also added a backup podcast with Brian Ousley, owner of MOD, that would verify my quotes with Canja. I hadn’t done podcasts in quite some time, so this was a great way to reuse my skills. In addition, I learned more about editing in Adobe Audition. What I did was take an interview I had started conducting at MOD, talking with the artist and seeing if Canja would be opened to do a podcast. I had photos and finally was able to get Canja to do a podcast with me. Canja was happy once he saw the results of the podcast and thanked me for giving him a platform to work! I had an excellent greeting and introduction and designed a logo for my podcasts. The goal for this week was to:

v Merging hard news and feature storytelling techniques

v Standards for evaluating feature and narrative stories

v Using various media elements to present the narrative interview

v Planning, producing, and publishing feature stories centered on narrative interviews

v Understanding the “Benton Curve of Interestingness” and the connection between breaking news and feature stories

In the discussion, I was to locate, describe, and evaluate a narrative multi-media story within the last three months and write about it. I chose to write about something important to me. Melting ice: What’s the big deal? Week three was different because I had to plan, report, and publish a multi-media story that talks about how a newsworthy issue has affected our story. I chose to write about how the pandemic has affected my subjects and how they survived through it. I have tried to stay away from reports on the pandemic, so this was a new style. In addition, I did a video interview with Brian Ousley of MOD. I also did a zoom interview with Noah Davis, which turned into a podcast on SoundCloud. The title of my story was “Surviving the Pandemic through the Eyes of Artists” I had problems with my audio and thought I had lost the interview. I took the video into different platforms and found that Adobe Premiere Rush was the best platform to work with the audio in and reduce the background noise from a fan and raise the voice audio of Brian Ousley speaking.