Here are a few updates:
1. We have our "What does your community know about modern-day slavery?" video posted on the site. Yay!
2. The SoundSlides presentation is waiting for approval from our supervisors in DC. It's the story of rescue and restoration of a young boy, Viswanathan, and his family in South Asia. The story is incredibly encouraging and the images (taken by IJM on the ground) are great!
3. Blog Tour: This is GREAT! We've already heard back from at least 7 of the 22 bloggers we contacted about making a post on ATEOS, and they've signed up for specific dates. I was surprised by how much work actually goes into making contacts with other bloggers. I realized how intentional we have to be in making specific comments about their work as well, so they can be sure our requests are not "spam" and that we're sincere in asking for their help. ALENow.com already posted about ATEOS on their homepage and Facebook page, so we reciprocated the link last week as well. We have at least one blogger signed up for each week leading up to the "Weekend to End Slavery" on November 14.
4. Discussion Forum: Melissa and I are wondering what's been going on with that. At this point, we think it may be more effective to continue to make all of our posts to the News/Updates site and enable "comments", including those posts specifically addressing those hosting house parties and/or church screenings.
5. New Timeline: Melissa and I have created a new timeline so we can be most effective with our time and resources leading up to the Weekend to End Slavery. Basically, we will be posting "What's in the News?", original content, blog tour updates and house party info on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as appropriate.
We're looking forward to connecting with our supervisor soon, as circumstances out of our control haven't allowed us to have a proper catch-up/re-orientation conversation.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
DC Premier: ATEOS
Ambassador Luis CdeBaca was one of many key influencers who attended the DC premier of IJM's documentary, At the End of Slavery. Some of his comments were featured in one article from the Christian Post, which highlighted the importance of rule of law as the most effective tool to smash global slavery, country by country, community by community.
This week, Melissa and I will be finalizing and posting a video showing a series of interviews with college students on modern day slavery. We're also producing a SoundSlides presentation of a young Indian boy named Viswanathan, which will be posted sometime next week.
On the "getting the word out" side of things, we're creating a template to send out to key bloggers in the human rights world to publish a post on At the End of Slavery, and will also be tapping into influential social networking sites as well.
Lots has been happening, schedules are being tweaked and we have a few other projects in the making that we're trying to figure out how/when to present on the site over the next few weeks.
This week, Melissa and I will be finalizing and posting a video showing a series of interviews with college students on modern day slavery. We're also producing a SoundSlides presentation of a young Indian boy named Viswanathan, which will be posted sometime next week.
On the "getting the word out" side of things, we're creating a template to send out to key bloggers in the human rights world to publish a post on At the End of Slavery, and will also be tapping into influential social networking sites as well.
Lots has been happening, schedules are being tweaked and we have a few other projects in the making that we're trying to figure out how/when to present on the site over the next few weeks.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Capstone Course Progress
Here is a great example of a story from IJM that highlights the hope in the middle of the depressing statistics we so often hear in the news.
The trailer to At the End of Slavery is also in the early stages of being distributed online. Very exciting!
This week, Melissa Urscheler and I laid out a tentative schedule for the content we will create and produce to keep Attheendofslavery.com fresh when the site rolls out this upcoming week. Also, we are in our preliminary research stage where we're learning what the most effective multimedia tools are in order to get people interested in a story or piece of information. This is just one of the several things we're focusing our research efforts on at the moment.
We're looking forward to getting the wheels of this project turning!
The trailer to At the End of Slavery is also in the early stages of being distributed online. Very exciting!
This week, Melissa Urscheler and I laid out a tentative schedule for the content we will create and produce to keep Attheendofslavery.com fresh when the site rolls out this upcoming week. Also, we are in our preliminary research stage where we're learning what the most effective multimedia tools are in order to get people interested in a story or piece of information. This is just one of the several things we're focusing our research efforts on at the moment.
We're looking forward to getting the wheels of this project turning!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Hope
If I had to choose just one word to describe what I took away from working with International Justice Mission this Summer, that would be it. Hope.
Each day, I heard heart-wrenching stories of girls as young as 5 stolen from their families and trafficked into brothels to be sexually abused; stories of entire families forced by evil men to work as slaves in brick kilns and rice mills; stories of corrupt leaders accusing people of murder and throwing them into prison cells to waste away in silence. But the beautiful thing is that none of these stories I heard at IJM ended there. Each of these stories ended with God using simple human beings to bring rescue and restoration to the hearts, spirits and lives of those who desperately need it.
So, why do we never hear these stories on the nightly news?
As far as I can tell, this is why I’m studying journalism at the University of Missouri. If you had asked me 5 years ago where I’d be going to school, I probably would’ve told you somewhere out on the East coast, West coast or Colorado. And if you had asked me what I would be studying, the answer definitely wouldn’t have been journalism. Honestly, the journalism industry (at least in the mainstream) frustrates me more than it inspires me. But, since I was a little girl, something I remember my dad continually saying was, “People gotta have hope. You gotta give people hope.” And this is what God has pressed into my heart throughout the different experiences He’s blessed me with over the last several years – and it’s as if God has used this experience at IJM to capitalize on my dad’s words.
So, that’s encouraging! But, I really have no clue how that’s all going to look…and I’m learning that that’s actually okay! To be honest, this can definitely be frustrating (especially for people like me who would like to figure it all out), but right now it’s making me laugh. We don't always need to know exactly where the next stepping stone is; sometimes all that is required is the step, and the rest figures itself out.
As Gary Haugen writes in his book, Just Courage, “Deep within all of us there is a yearning to be brave. And like all of our deepest, truest and best yearnings, it comes from how we were made. Courage – the power to do the right thing even when it is scary and hard – resonates deeply within the original shape of our soul. Why is it so beautiful to see someone do the right thing when it is hard? Why, on the other hand, should there be such shame about our cowardice? Why should it matter so much to my inner being that I do the right thing rather than the safe thing? It’s a mystery. But there it is, pointing relentlessly to the nature and delight of the One who made me. In fact, the beauty and goodness for which we were fashioned by our Maker is more glorious than we dare to imagine.” (p.103)
So, this semester and for the rest of my life, I want to take hold of the beauty and goodness for which I was made. And maybe more importantly, I want to shine light on the beauty and goodness that exists on our planet in order to give hope to a world bogged down by the weight of depressing, immobilizing facts and figures. There is SO much hope -- it just needs to be highlighted.
"Wise shall be the bearers of Light"
Each day, I heard heart-wrenching stories of girls as young as 5 stolen from their families and trafficked into brothels to be sexually abused; stories of entire families forced by evil men to work as slaves in brick kilns and rice mills; stories of corrupt leaders accusing people of murder and throwing them into prison cells to waste away in silence. But the beautiful thing is that none of these stories I heard at IJM ended there. Each of these stories ended with God using simple human beings to bring rescue and restoration to the hearts, spirits and lives of those who desperately need it.
So, why do we never hear these stories on the nightly news?
As far as I can tell, this is why I’m studying journalism at the University of Missouri. If you had asked me 5 years ago where I’d be going to school, I probably would’ve told you somewhere out on the East coast, West coast or Colorado. And if you had asked me what I would be studying, the answer definitely wouldn’t have been journalism. Honestly, the journalism industry (at least in the mainstream) frustrates me more than it inspires me. But, since I was a little girl, something I remember my dad continually saying was, “People gotta have hope. You gotta give people hope.” And this is what God has pressed into my heart throughout the different experiences He’s blessed me with over the last several years – and it’s as if God has used this experience at IJM to capitalize on my dad’s words.
So, that’s encouraging! But, I really have no clue how that’s all going to look…and I’m learning that that’s actually okay! To be honest, this can definitely be frustrating (especially for people like me who would like to figure it all out), but right now it’s making me laugh. We don't always need to know exactly where the next stepping stone is; sometimes all that is required is the step, and the rest figures itself out.
As Gary Haugen writes in his book, Just Courage, “Deep within all of us there is a yearning to be brave. And like all of our deepest, truest and best yearnings, it comes from how we were made. Courage – the power to do the right thing even when it is scary and hard – resonates deeply within the original shape of our soul. Why is it so beautiful to see someone do the right thing when it is hard? Why, on the other hand, should there be such shame about our cowardice? Why should it matter so much to my inner being that I do the right thing rather than the safe thing? It’s a mystery. But there it is, pointing relentlessly to the nature and delight of the One who made me. In fact, the beauty and goodness for which we were fashioned by our Maker is more glorious than we dare to imagine.” (p.103)
So, this semester and for the rest of my life, I want to take hold of the beauty and goodness for which I was made. And maybe more importantly, I want to shine light on the beauty and goodness that exists on our planet in order to give hope to a world bogged down by the weight of depressing, immobilizing facts and figures. There is SO much hope -- it just needs to be highlighted.
"Wise shall be the bearers of Light"
Friday, May 1, 2009
President, Pigs and Money
...just some of the things Journalism and I have been enjoying this week.
Newsy.com continues to challenge my research skills and ways of thinking. It's awesome. This week I researched, analyzed and wrote a story comparing/contrasting what news organizations were saying about President Obama's "First 100 Days". Multi-perspective storytelling in 2-minute video segments is not only a great way to place bias, opinion and truth next to each other...it's a great way to learn how to think critically about issues that matter and helps innovate the curious mind to find and understand truth.
A second story I wrote for Newsy this week: Swine Flu: Precaution or Paranoia? (I think this is definitely a valid question to ask as news outlets and social media networks continue to hype the issue).
A few stories I worked on while at KOMU were:
"Second Possible Case of Swine Flu"
"Missourians deal with flooding"
"Woman Charged with Domestic Assault and Burglary"
I had a fun time finding an appropriate image for the Swine Flu posting. I had to be careful not to take an image with ambulances, flashing lights, people in hospital beds, etc., as this would have conveyed the opposite message. I felt the word "possible" (in the headline) had to be conveyed through the image as well...which is why I went with the scientist conducting research.
Also, I learned a valuable lesson while Twittering from KOMU.com: "It's not what you say, it's how you say it!" This is a phrase my dad has drilled into my head since birth and I've always valued it, but in a moment of busyness it seemed to pop out of my head while tweeting a question to KOMU's Twitter community. Lesson learned!
So, where does "Money" come into all of this? MoneyCommons of course! After our meeting today, I'm just reminded again of how important vision-casting is. We could have a great idea, but if the vision isn't cast properly, it doesn't matter. No one will believe in it. We have to see where we're headed in order to convey that path and destination to others. Not gonna lie, that sounds slightly cheesy, but it's so true.
And Yay! In a quick note, I won two awards from Flickr for photography I did for the Missourian!
First Place (News - Cover) and First Place (Multi-story package - News or Sports)
Sad day though...I never got a byline. The grad student who worked on the print portion of the story is listed instead. This happened last year and frustrating though it is, it's still encouraging to get the awards! : ) And it was an awesome story to interview, shoot and edit into a Soundslides package. I learned lots and lots.
Newsy.com continues to challenge my research skills and ways of thinking. It's awesome. This week I researched, analyzed and wrote a story comparing/contrasting what news organizations were saying about President Obama's "First 100 Days". Multi-perspective storytelling in 2-minute video segments is not only a great way to place bias, opinion and truth next to each other...it's a great way to learn how to think critically about issues that matter and helps innovate the curious mind to find and understand truth.
A second story I wrote for Newsy this week: Swine Flu: Precaution or Paranoia? (I think this is definitely a valid question to ask as news outlets and social media networks continue to hype the issue).
A few stories I worked on while at KOMU were:
"Second Possible Case of Swine Flu"
"Missourians deal with flooding"
"Woman Charged with Domestic Assault and Burglary"
I had a fun time finding an appropriate image for the Swine Flu posting. I had to be careful not to take an image with ambulances, flashing lights, people in hospital beds, etc., as this would have conveyed the opposite message. I felt the word "possible" (in the headline) had to be conveyed through the image as well...which is why I went with the scientist conducting research.
Also, I learned a valuable lesson while Twittering from KOMU.com: "It's not what you say, it's how you say it!" This is a phrase my dad has drilled into my head since birth and I've always valued it, but in a moment of busyness it seemed to pop out of my head while tweeting a question to KOMU's Twitter community. Lesson learned!
So, where does "Money" come into all of this? MoneyCommons of course! After our meeting today, I'm just reminded again of how important vision-casting is. We could have a great idea, but if the vision isn't cast properly, it doesn't matter. No one will believe in it. We have to see where we're headed in order to convey that path and destination to others. Not gonna lie, that sounds slightly cheesy, but it's so true.
And Yay! In a quick note, I won two awards from Flickr for photography I did for the Missourian!
First Place (News - Cover) and First Place (Multi-story package - News or Sports)
Sad day though...I never got a byline. The grad student who worked on the print portion of the story is listed instead. This happened last year and frustrating though it is, it's still encouraging to get the awards! : ) And it was an awesome story to interview, shoot and edit into a Soundslides package. I learned lots and lots.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Pirate Booty
Here's a link to a story I wrote for Newsy.com last week, when pirates took an American Captain Captive... (Note: He is no longer held hostage...see the follow-up story on Newsy.com).
I've also begun working on a Flash photo slideshow and have run into a couple technical difficulties. Apparently there are no guides at KOMU to explain how to go about doing this and my made-up way isn't working too well at the moment. So, needless to say, I think I may need a one-on-one with Jen for this one! Also working on interviewing average Joes and Janes in Columbia, MO about what they'd like to see on a community-centered, economy-focused website/forum, such as MoneyCommons.com.
Quote of the week: "Bingo!! Give it to Daddy." - Jim Riek (In context...Jim won a game on Sporkle.com)
I've also begun working on a Flash photo slideshow and have run into a couple technical difficulties. Apparently there are no guides at KOMU to explain how to go about doing this and my made-up way isn't working too well at the moment. So, needless to say, I think I may need a one-on-one with Jen for this one! Also working on interviewing average Joes and Janes in Columbia, MO about what they'd like to see on a community-centered, economy-focused website/forum, such as MoneyCommons.com.
Quote of the week: "Bingo!! Give it to Daddy." - Jim Riek (In context...Jim won a game on Sporkle.com)
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Basketball Dough
Fun little thing Amy and I posted to KOMU.com...
Earnings: Big 12 Basketball Coaches
The two graphics are the coolest part. : )
Earnings: Big 12 Basketball Coaches
The two graphics are the coolest part. : )
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