Kash Jones

Mass Comm 202

Dr.Finney
May 1,2019

Mass Communications is an opportunity for a reporter to use the news to platform media. Mass
Communications 202 has shows me as a student the correct way to approach stories used for
media. A reporter must have unbiased,credible, and always have references. A unbiased story
does not influence the reader in opinionated work. Having credible sources is very important to
the trust of your work.

In writing mass media stories is very important to know what kind of story you are writing. In a
story about a company and someone's personal life the content used would be different. In mass
communication 202 I learned to do research for all stories but, it’s not necessary conform the
story into a research paper. When writing a story about a company it would not be negative to
use data to support a claim. If a claim is made that is negative or positive about a company data
could be used to prove a point. In a story about someone's life data would be okay but it would
depend on the context. If someone was writing a story on the influence of Dr.King it wouldn't be
necessary to have data on how many times he was arrested.When writing about someone's
personal life defamation,and accuracy play a role.Defamation Defamation are things that are
negative that can hurt a person's reputation.Accuray is very important reporters use accuracy to
be truthful.

The process of learning in Mass communications has been very positive to me. In Mass
communications 202 i have the opportunity to increase my knowledge. From the beginning of
Dr.Finney's class to the end I learned something new that would make me a better reporter. I've
learned new concepts about writing. At the beginning of the semester we started of introducing
the ideas of different points of views to write a story. First person,second, and third are all
techniques used in news writing. We heavily discussed to never use second person unless you
truly know your reader. In mass media most of the time you don't know the reader directly so its
best to use third person. Using third person to write a story gives the reporter the opportunity to
use sources in their work. Using sources a reporter can gain trustworthiness.

We started the semester with our first story on the topic of a Martin Luther King lyceum. In our
stories we had to incorporate the pyramid scheme. The pyramid scheme is used in mass
communications to help the reader stay interested in the story. The inverted pyramid scheme puts
the most important information at the beginning of the story so the reader doesn't lose interest.As
a reporter using the pyramid scheme can be challenging without a focus point. A focus point is
the main point you are trying to come across in your paper. Since our first story i've had a
chance to better grasp the pyramid scheme by incorporating it into multiple assignments. Prior
to taking this mass communications class I had never interviewed an authoritative source or
secondary. The new experience of interviewing people has went well for me. A tip that guided
me in my interview story was coming up with questions before the interview. A skill that I can
refine in the process of interviewing is finding the most important interest point. Within a
interview there are many points that are made by the expert.As a reporter it's necessary to
highlight the focus point. Each new story gives me a chance to refine my skills as reporter.

Improving my vocabulary in associated press is something that i've focused on all semester.
Every week we take an online associated press quiz that makes you critically think. Before
taking the quiz it's wise to read the chapter for a better understanding. Being progressive in
Dr.Finney's class is very vital to helping me mature as a reporter.

The first half of the semester in mass communications was a large process of learning for me.
One of the biggest challenges for me in mass communications is converting from modern
language to associated press. Converting to associated press language in writing can be, but it’s a
universal language when it comes to media. In associated press writing there is a simpler flow of
language used unlike modern composition writing.
In the second half of the semester i incorporated the pyramid scheme,focus point, and associated
press language drastically better in my stories. My last Three stories of the semester compared to
my first ones showed a difference in how i applied the concepts learned.

In the first semester It was brought to my attention that I needed to refresh my basic grammar
skills. Dr.Finney directed us to launchpad where we did a self-assessment. In my self-assessment
i showed weakness in subjects such as nouns,verbs,sentence fragments,and punctuation. Using
my self-assessment i created a 12 week grammar plan. Every week I used my grammar plan to
gain knowledge in areas I struggle most with in writing.

Towards the end of the semester I finished my grammar plan and it has helped me as a writer.
In the time period of 1 semester a 12 week plan guided me to refining my grammar skills. For the
12 week plan I used a exercise and quiz to show my strength gain in weak areas of grammar.
Grammar workshop is very good for your skill set as a reporter.
One of the most interesting assignments we did in class was the obituary story. Obituaries are a
necessary part of lmedia. As a news reporter it's necessary to be accurate and knowledgeable
about obituaries. In media many mainstream outlets usually want to be first and that's with any
type of story. Assignments in this class consists of research, communication and accurate facts.
Using Being credible and having credible sources is a concept that can really help as a reporter
in mass communications.