Hello everyone!
I realize I haven't updated in awhile. As it turns out, although long weekends are fantastic, short work weeks — not so much. Especially when you have the same workload but less time to complete it.
As a result, last week's newspaper wasn't archived and I haven't made my work from last week available yet.
But this is good news for you! That means next week, you'll have double the fun to sort through. Anyway, to tide you all over I have posted some photos I took over on the photos page. I was pretty proud of a couple of these shots.
I am absolutely in love with these cameras. I have yet to take my own out of its case because I know it just can't compare.
I think either this weekend or next weekend, I'll head out to the Pipestone Valley and get a few shots of my own. (Hopefully my editor will let me borrow a camera — or at least a lens.)
This week I also took a trip over to Rocanville and checked out PotashCorp mine and the expansion project that's going on. I now know a lot more about potash than I knew before! Be sure to check out the article next week.
Cheers,
Kristen
Friday, 24 May 2013
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Week three - full of ups and downs
Hello everyone,
Yikes, I'm not doing a very good job at keeping this thing updated. Anyway, I've uploaded the articles and photos from last week so if you want to check out the articles tab, go for it!
I'm pretty happy about the feature I wrote. I spoke to a woman whose brother was with the military police while they maintained security at the Canadian Embassy in Iran during the Revolution and Hostage Crisis. She came into the office Monday morning (when seven other people were in the front entrance attempting to get their paper. It's pretty crowded on Monday mornings) and while she was picking up the documents I borrowed for her, she said she enjoyed it. I'll admit, it made me feel pretty good.
This week is another story. It's definitely kicking my butt.
Yesterday was rough as I didn't get enough sleep (I kept waking up randomly during the night - I'm pretty sure I was thinking about how much work that needed to get done.) As a result, I felt sluggish during the day. It was another day of firsts - I went with my editor and a couple other people from the office to the Chamber of Commerce meeting. Every meeting, there's a guest speaker and whoever covers the meeting is required to summarize what the guest speaker talks about.
Luckily for me, it was all about property tax assessments. Yay. It's a good thing I know nothing about that. This morning, I went over my notes again and I slowly wrapped my brain around the jargon the guest speaker used. I now have a rough understanding of how property assessments work!
This afternoon, I also went to Maryfield to speak to an artist about the new portfolio she's working on. Her home is pretty awesome, it's the old hospital in the town. It was a long interview, and I definitely got more than I needed but it's better than not getting enough.
Now for my less than spectacular moment. Yesterday, I briefly spoke to an organizer for a quad derby that happened over the weekend. I knew that he had seeding to do so I tried to make the interview as short as possible. However, I missed a question about how many volunteers it took to organize the event (more than 650 people entered the derby). So I called again today, even though I wasn't sure I would be able to reach the organizer again.
And yet, things somehow just pull together. I was able to reach the organizer and another interview I need for a story this week. So all I have to do is write two stories tomorrow, add some more info to the derby and my column.
I think I might work on my column tonight, because I don't think I have enough time to work on everything tomorrow!
Anyway, that's what's going on for me right now. I can't believe next week will be my fourth week working at the Spectator. The weeks are just flying by.
Cheers,
Kristen
Yikes, I'm not doing a very good job at keeping this thing updated. Anyway, I've uploaded the articles and photos from last week so if you want to check out the articles tab, go for it!
I'm pretty happy about the feature I wrote. I spoke to a woman whose brother was with the military police while they maintained security at the Canadian Embassy in Iran during the Revolution and Hostage Crisis. She came into the office Monday morning (when seven other people were in the front entrance attempting to get their paper. It's pretty crowded on Monday mornings) and while she was picking up the documents I borrowed for her, she said she enjoyed it. I'll admit, it made me feel pretty good.
This week is another story. It's definitely kicking my butt.
Yesterday was rough as I didn't get enough sleep (I kept waking up randomly during the night - I'm pretty sure I was thinking about how much work that needed to get done.) As a result, I felt sluggish during the day. It was another day of firsts - I went with my editor and a couple other people from the office to the Chamber of Commerce meeting. Every meeting, there's a guest speaker and whoever covers the meeting is required to summarize what the guest speaker talks about.
Luckily for me, it was all about property tax assessments. Yay. It's a good thing I know nothing about that. This morning, I went over my notes again and I slowly wrapped my brain around the jargon the guest speaker used. I now have a rough understanding of how property assessments work!
This afternoon, I also went to Maryfield to speak to an artist about the new portfolio she's working on. Her home is pretty awesome, it's the old hospital in the town. It was a long interview, and I definitely got more than I needed but it's better than not getting enough.
Now for my less than spectacular moment. Yesterday, I briefly spoke to an organizer for a quad derby that happened over the weekend. I knew that he had seeding to do so I tried to make the interview as short as possible. However, I missed a question about how many volunteers it took to organize the event (more than 650 people entered the derby). So I called again today, even though I wasn't sure I would be able to reach the organizer again.
And yet, things somehow just pull together. I was able to reach the organizer and another interview I need for a story this week. So all I have to do is write two stories tomorrow, add some more info to the derby and my column.
I think I might work on my column tonight, because I don't think I have enough time to work on everything tomorrow!
Anyway, that's what's going on for me right now. I can't believe next week will be my fourth week working at the Spectator. The weeks are just flying by.
Cheers,
Kristen
Monday, 6 May 2013
Articles and photos now available!
Hello everyone!
I'm proud to say I finally found a way to share my articles and photos with you here on this blog. (Although, figuring this out probably took more time than it did to actually write them.)
You can read my articles by clicking the "Articles" tab. I've also added a "Photos" tab as well.
I'm using GoogleDocs to display PDFs of the articles and I've changed the settings so that you should be able to view them without signing in to Gmail. Please let me know if you are not able to read them or if any other problems come up.
This week is already shaping up to be pretty busy. Today, I had to take a moment to myself and just sort out what I needed to do this week and when it was going to happen. (I just remembered I have to come up with a topic for this week's column. Add that one onto the list.)
Cheers,
Kristen
I'm proud to say I finally found a way to share my articles and photos with you here on this blog. (Although, figuring this out probably took more time than it did to actually write them.)
You can read my articles by clicking the "Articles" tab. I've also added a "Photos" tab as well.
I'm using GoogleDocs to display PDFs of the articles and I've changed the settings so that you should be able to view them without signing in to Gmail. Please let me know if you are not able to read them or if any other problems come up.
This week is already shaping up to be pretty busy. Today, I had to take a moment to myself and just sort out what I needed to do this week and when it was going to happen. (I just remembered I have to come up with a topic for this week's column. Add that one onto the list.)
Cheers,
Kristen
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Introduction: Week One
Hello everyone,
If you don't know me, my name is Kristen. I've recently completed my first year of journalism school.
As part of the program I'm enrolled in, I'm taking part in two internships over the next few months. So, to follow in the footsteps of some classmates of mine, I'm starting up this blog to write down my thoughts. That way I can at least reference something when I have to hand in an essay about the whole experience.
And who knows, maybe I'll continue this thing even once the internships are over.
Let's cut to the chase, shall we?
Week One:
My first internship is at one of the oldest weekly newspapers in Saskatchewan - The World-Spectator. The first issue ever printed dates back to 1884. Believe me, I've seen the original printing plate. It's pretty darn cool.
Monday: I wrote my first article on the local Relay For Life team. I was also given three other assignments to set up interviews with for the remainder of the week.
Tuesday: I wrote my first column, which I suspect is probably mediocre. It's a column that explains why I chose journalism - I figured I had answered the question enough times that it wouldn't be difficult to write Anyway, I'll try to figure out how to post that column and the rest of my articles on here.
I also took a stand-up photo for a local business donating money for a playground project at the elementary school.
Wednesday: Wrote an article about the tree nursery being shut down at Indian Head as well as an article about a benefit being held for a woman with an uncommon muscle disorder.
Thursday: Revised the article about the tree nursery as I had spoke to additional sources, wrote up a short story on the gala taking place in June for the centennial of the armoury hall as well as a piece on the high school drama club's success at the Saskatchewan Drama Association Region 1 Drama Festival. (It's not as dramatic as it sounds.)
Thursday was a long day for everyone at the office. Not only are there only two reporters on staff, besides myself, but everyone in the building is dedicated to putting the paper together during the week. Often the staff stays late on Thursdays to make sure the paper is ready to go on Friday, just in case a last minute story pops up on Friday morning.
Friday: The final touches were made on the pages. It was a short day because the paper goes to the press by early afternoon.
Through the magic of InDesign, the paper comes together throughout the course of the week. (A big shout out to print lab instructor Mark for teaching us how to use the program during the last semester. It's really coming in handy!)
The benefit that comes with this is that no one else can crop your picture or cut your article for space on the page. If room is needed for an article, we are able to make room for it. Word limit isn't really an issue. (Judging by the length of this introduction post, it's pretty clear that I'm grateful for the lack of a limit.
We also are able to just write our articles onto the page itself. We're able to shape the page how we want it as we're writing the article.
It was the middle of the week when I was sitting at my desk and I began to feel slightly overwhelmed. I honestly think that I had done more in the past three days than I had all semester during school. Now, that may or may not be true but I distinctly remember complaining to family and friends about how stressed I was with school work.
If I were in possession of a time machine I would go back and visit myself in February and just laugh. Actually, that's not true. If I had a time machine, I would make much better use of it than travel back a few months. Maybe go into the future or something.
The point is, the real job is a lot different than school. I have a feeling that when I go back to school, the pace is going to feel considerably slower than what I've been used to.
I'm also pretty excited about some upcoming stories I'm going to work on. Sometime in the near future, I'll get the chance to explore the potash mine.
I'm sure I'll tell you all about it!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you don't know me, my name is Kristen. I've recently completed my first year of journalism school.
As part of the program I'm enrolled in, I'm taking part in two internships over the next few months. So, to follow in the footsteps of some classmates of mine, I'm starting up this blog to write down my thoughts. That way I can at least reference something when I have to hand in an essay about the whole experience.
And who knows, maybe I'll continue this thing even once the internships are over.
Let's cut to the chase, shall we?
Week One:
My first internship is at one of the oldest weekly newspapers in Saskatchewan - The World-Spectator. The first issue ever printed dates back to 1884. Believe me, I've seen the original printing plate. It's pretty darn cool.
Monday: I wrote my first article on the local Relay For Life team. I was also given three other assignments to set up interviews with for the remainder of the week.
Tuesday: I wrote my first column, which I suspect is probably mediocre. It's a column that explains why I chose journalism - I figured I had answered the question enough times that it wouldn't be difficult to write Anyway, I'll try to figure out how to post that column and the rest of my articles on here.
I also took a stand-up photo for a local business donating money for a playground project at the elementary school.
Wednesday: Wrote an article about the tree nursery being shut down at Indian Head as well as an article about a benefit being held for a woman with an uncommon muscle disorder.
Thursday: Revised the article about the tree nursery as I had spoke to additional sources, wrote up a short story on the gala taking place in June for the centennial of the armoury hall as well as a piece on the high school drama club's success at the Saskatchewan Drama Association Region 1 Drama Festival. (It's not as dramatic as it sounds.)
Thursday was a long day for everyone at the office. Not only are there only two reporters on staff, besides myself, but everyone in the building is dedicated to putting the paper together during the week. Often the staff stays late on Thursdays to make sure the paper is ready to go on Friday, just in case a last minute story pops up on Friday morning.
Friday: The final touches were made on the pages. It was a short day because the paper goes to the press by early afternoon.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The amount of work that goes into this paper is tremendous.
The amount of work that goes into this paper is tremendous.
Through the magic of InDesign, the paper comes together throughout the course of the week. (A big shout out to print lab instructor Mark for teaching us how to use the program during the last semester. It's really coming in handy!)
The benefit that comes with this is that no one else can crop your picture or cut your article for space on the page. If room is needed for an article, we are able to make room for it. Word limit isn't really an issue. (Judging by the length of this introduction post, it's pretty clear that I'm grateful for the lack of a limit.
We also are able to just write our articles onto the page itself. We're able to shape the page how we want it as we're writing the article.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was the middle of the week when I was sitting at my desk and I began to feel slightly overwhelmed. I honestly think that I had done more in the past three days than I had all semester during school. Now, that may or may not be true but I distinctly remember complaining to family and friends about how stressed I was with school work.
If I were in possession of a time machine I would go back and visit myself in February and just laugh. Actually, that's not true. If I had a time machine, I would make much better use of it than travel back a few months. Maybe go into the future or something.
The point is, the real job is a lot different than school. I have a feeling that when I go back to school, the pace is going to feel considerably slower than what I've been used to.
I'm also pretty excited about some upcoming stories I'm going to work on. Sometime in the near future, I'll get the chance to explore the potash mine.
I'm sure I'll tell you all about it!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sidenote: I'm planning on posting my work here on this blog. If it isn't available online, I'll see what I can do to get a version of it on here.
Feel free to comment or ask questions about anything I've brought up here, or what else you'd like to know about.
Cheers,
Kristen
Cheers,
Kristen
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