“Ten presidential candidates will make their case to voters during the fifth Democratic debate in Atlanta”.

https://www.newsy.com/stories/black-voters-could-be-a-major-focus-during-democratic-debate/

Drum roll please…It’s a big surprise I chose a story on Andrew Yang and or politics. It seems so natural, and natural that it is yet time again for another democratic presidential debate. While Georgia almost lost its governor race to a Democrat in 2018, trends are on the upward for the party even in the south. This is probably why the debate is in the Georgia tomorrow, apart from just having to travel around the country. Is the southern part of the country ready for a leader like Yang or Bernie Sanders? Time will tell, and so will the televisions tomorrow night. The video does a great job hyping up the debate but with facts and keeps things honest.

Well, I don’t exactly have the most experience in photojournalism. In fact, while I find it quite interesting, photography has never been my thing. Despite media convergence and the advanced technologies with camera phones for instance, I still can’t manage to snap that perfect image or photo.

My audio story is involves country music, and I thought I could carry on the theme with our photojournalism stories. But how can I obtain a picture that tells this story of country pop and this evolution of country music that has heavily changed in the last decade?

Looking back at the powerpoint, the images are captivating. They draw the viewer or reader in. Be it Tiananmen Square, V-J Day, celebrating the end of WWII, or the picture of Albert Einstein, each photo captures a story.

I think instead of going the country music route, I may try to capture a photo of the sunset at the riverwalk, adjacent to the newly developed Armature Works. I work on the property and the scene during the early evening right by the water is amazing! The right photo would tell a story about the beauty of the area, how far it has come in the last few years, and the potential for other areas in Tampa to reestablish themselves.

If one were to write about a politician, I would think it would fall under a background or personality profile piece. Andrew Yang is the talk of the town. If you forgot I was thinking about writing about the crowd-surfing entrepreneur, maybe you have set eyes on my #YangGang navy blue t-shirt.

My service-learning story could fall under three different categories in our class study: research studies, background, and personality profile. Since I am promoting one individual, naturally the burden is one me to describe who Andrew Yang is today, and details about his background that led him to run for president. The greatest challenge and meat of the piece is the research aspect. CNN asks on YouTube, “How far can $1,000 a month take Andrew Yang?”, and Yang’s proposed freedom dividend will be a solid portion of the research. I will explain what universal basic income is and how Yang proposes to pay for it. The data from the research highlights restructuring our economy to better assess the mental health and well being of every American citizen. As I have previously mentioned, the next presidential election draws closer and closer. It is important to feature that candidate that is a breath of fresh air, and perhaps has real solutions to America’s toughest problems.

Whether you are a fan of the signature red hat or are praying for impeachment, informed citizens collectively want to know if President Trump will win reelection in 2020. For the moment, the president and first lady lie comfortably in their oval office oasis, while what felt like one hundred democratic presidential candidate hopefuls, thought it would be a good idea to all run for president at the same time. What began as nearly a 30 person confused and muddled pool of skilled manipulators trying to somehow stand out, only one truly has. He is businessman and entrepreneur, Andrew Yang.

With three debates in and finally down to 10 candidates, Yang has more than stood out. He isn’t a politician, he’s a problem solver. Appearing on every talk show imaginable, many being conservative platforms, Yang consistently and calmly provides concrete, logical answers to the tough questions. As a problem solver, Yang seeks to help prevent a real and ever reaching threat, job loss due to automation from technology. This isn’t a Terminator movie, it is everyday life. It’s working at call centers, retail, banks, movie theaters, truck drivers, fast food and food service jobs that will see be replaced by technology and artificial intelligence in the coming decades.

While the election is 11 months away, it is getting closer, and one can feel it in the air. Andrew Yang is feeling it too, his status is currently rising in the polls, recently polling higher than Senator Kamala Harris in her own state of California.

If you must takeaway one thing, it’s Yang’s proposal of the freedom dividend. Why should you care? Well if Yang’s proposal of $1,000 a month to every adult goes through, it would help pay financial aid, help eliminate student loan debt, help pay the rent while being able to focus on school and other duties, etc.

Getting the support from recognized economists and local citizen opinion of local economists on both sides as well as how local citizens feel about a freedom dividend is key to the success of Yang’s story.

Katrice Graham, Ph.D.

TO REFRESH everyone’s memory, I had the privilege of taking a tour of the college of journalism and communication at the University of Florida back in January of this year. Yes it is my dream school. Before I forget, it’s worth mentioning UF was recently ranked the 7th best public university in the country.

I was ready to make another two hour trip up to Gainesville, where I would follow up with an academic advisor I’ve been in contact with named Miesha Wade. I wanted to get an honest interview on the unique aspects which separate UF’s journalism school from other top tier universities. As my luck would have it, Miss Wade informed me two days prior that she had some things come up that would have to shift our interview one day. That however seemed impossible to rearrange with my work and school schedule. Step 2, improvise.

I was walking by the library at the Dale Mabry campus one day before I was supposed to drive up to Gainesville and four days until the assignment was due. To my complete surprise and like a gift from above, in front of the library was a women standing behind a booth sporting orange and blue colors. The table cloth cover read University of Florida, college of journalism and communication. I was overjoyed and immediately walked over to introduce myself. I nearly thought I was being pranked or something. I had the pleasure of meeting Katrice Graham, who is the director for the Knight Division, which is designed to help transfer students like myself, with scholarship opportunities and other services. The Knight Division was a newer program to help with the overall immersion experience. I had never heard of it, despite my constant research of the jschool. Apart from the background noise from the quad and foot traffic, I quickly managed to interview miss Graham on the spot, simply rephrasing some of the questions I had prepared for my trip up to Gainesville. By the end of the 10 minutes, we were both laughing and seemingly enjoying each others company. I received lost of helpful and new information about the jschool. I was also pleased with orang and blue goodie bag of school merchandise.

I’ve always had knack for writing a juicy introduction, at least that is family, friends and peers told me from an early age. To this day, it is still favorite aspect of any writing assignment. For some reason, even as a kid I have always been into creating the right lead that is both creative and detailed. In junior high school during the early 2000s, teachers were pounding certain terms to a pulp, like a hook opening and thesis, and of course the unmentionable five paragraph essay.

So the lead covers the hook, that solid opening couple of sentence, and the thesis is still well, the thesis or main idea of the piece. My lead came from an awesome and random sequence…While engaging in some light trash talking with a florida state fan (purposely not capitalizing school’s name), a blue table cloth cover caught my eye in the background nearby. I swiftly ended my conversation with my rival and proceeded to check out the eye catching blue booth that stood near the bookstore on the Dale Mabry campus. Low and behold a representative from my dream school stood behind the booth, sporting a friendly smile, an attentive appearance and gift bags exploding with orange and blue Gator goodies. Before she even knew who I was, academic adviser for the college of journalism and communication at the University of Florida Katrice Graham, reached out to shake my hand as if to say welcome, you’re one of us.

After discovering she was promoting a newer immersion program called the Knight Division, I asked Miss Graham things like why was there a need for the Knight Division? What kind of immersion opportunities can a student receive in deciding to join? How long have you been with the college what are some of the changes you’ve been witnessed to along the way? Are there any scholarships available for communication students? What is your favorite aspect of Weimer hall? Why are people I talk to always raving about this journalism college?

interviewing potential

In the sunny San Diego summer of 2007, I was entering my senior year of high school and decided to take an introduction to film course. I was drawn to the lesson on the three-act structure, and specifically how creative storytelling is done in cinema. When discussing how to make character and plot choices in our own stories as writers, I remember the professor teaching us the importance of balancing these decisions, discovering the middle ground between imagination and reality. 

When choosing someone to interview for this next assignment, I have to be realistic, while still pursuing a creative story and standing behind a clear purpose behind the interview all together. It would have been nice to interview Nick Fitzgerald, a former highly ranked South Eastern Conference quarterback who played for Mississippi State University. If we’re going off of our professor’s two main concepts he has been emphasizing, timeliness and proximity, Fitzgerald just graduated last year from Miss St, has recently signed on with the Tampa Bay Bucs and was sitting at my bar with a buddy just last Wednesday night. I would like to ask him about the state of college football today, discuss the multibillion industry to which the NCAA has become, what it takes to be a successful player in the SEC and at a four year university. As an avid college football fan myself, I would like to know why the SEC has gone downhill ever so slightly from a decade ago, as well as get his take on the new transfer portal and the future of the college football playoff.

If the Fitzgerald ship has sailed, ideally, I would love to interview someone at my dream school, the University of Florida. I would like to either continue with the college football route and try to land an interview with a former or current coach/player, or switch gears to academia. Despite having researched a decent amount about the program and seeing it in person eight months ago, I would relish the opportunity to interview a current student, staff member, alumni, or professor who is involved at the college of journalism and communication. I would like to know from a former student why they choose this school, and what they feel truthfully separates this journalism school from others like it. As a future student in the program, I would like to know about immersion opportunities, local businesses and internships connected to the college, suggested do’s and don’ts for a journalism student, and tips for studying mass media. I am confident I can reach someone on the staff at Weimer college to set up an interview about all the juicy details of Florida’s Jschool!