Final Jour61 Broadcast

The Learning Experience of Broadcast Journalism
By Justin Riray

Can San Jose State broadcast students survive their major without owning their own recording and editing equipment?

SJSU’s broadcast journalism majors learn, early on, that all serious video editing is done through Final Cut Pro. The program only works on Macs.

Students also need to use quality camcorders and good audio recording equipment. After paying for rent, tuition, a parking permit, and books, most students have no finances to spare. They will rely on renting hardware from the school.

Poor equipment availability for these students can turn a fair and enjoyable broadcast project into a nightmare.

Broadcast student Jean Walker feels that, “… there would have been enough time if the proper resources had been available.”

PC owners are usually unwilling or financially incapable of buying a Mac. They are left no other choice but to fully complete their Final Cut projects on campus.

The best place for journalism majors to edit their videos used to be open for as long as students needed it.

Broadcast professor John Shrader explained why the room is only open if a faculty member is moderating it.

The availability of the room is now limited because “… some thievery occurred and that really impacted the amount of time that was available in [the news video editing room].” said Shrader.

Besides the Update News room in Dwight Bentel Hall, which closes around 3 p.m., the university only has four other computers with FCP capability throughout the entire campus: a couple of editing stations at Clark Hall.

The lack of Macs with FCP is only one challenge for the school’s PC owners.

Equipment that students can borrow from the university are usually all out.

Walker recalls, “I went to the checkout room at least once a week during the last half of the semester trying to get a voice recorder for a photojournalism project or a camcorder for Jour 132B, and I was told every time that there was nothing available, they didn't know when things were coming back, and they didn't even bother to keep a waiting list because they didn't know when things were coming back!”

In the JMC, students do not get fined for holding borrowed items for long periods of time.

SJSU broadcast major Jacob Amaya explained, “The [Instructional Resource Center] only rents cameras and [microphones] out for a day, and I usually need it for longer than that.”

If getting possession of proper equipment isn’t enough trouble, time poses a whole different set of problems.

According to Walker, “Getting everybody's schedules to match up …” was an added challenge.

As a working student, it would be hard to coordinate schedules with possible interview subjects and getting enough time to spend editing on school desktops.

Many students’ days are full due to the combination of class and work. Sometimes the only time they have is very early in the morning or really late at night. Most interview subjects are only available during business hours.

Time constraints are worsened when there are group projects, and even more during the final month of school “… during everybody's busiest time of the semester. My other four classes also had major projects due at the same time,” Walker added.

Perhaps the one upside to this experience is getting a feel for the reality of being in the broadcast field. It teaches students that they must be very determined and well-prepared for any job they are given.

Shrader said, “If you’ve done all your preparation and you’ve worked hard to prepare yourself for the moment when the pressure gets crazy, then the whole world kind of slows down a little bit and you can work under pressure. The key is don’t think about the big picture, just think about the little picture you’re working on.”

Amaya concluded, “It’s pretty rough, but this is the only way we’re ever going to learn.”




Sidebar:

I had a lot of trouble with my final broadcast project.

I didn’t have my own camera nor do I have a Mac. My friend Anne lent me her camera, but needed it back in three days. So, I had to shoot, cut, upload, and edit my video files in that short
period of time, all while I still had class, work, and other projects.

My teammate and I shot SJSU’s 2009 Pilipino Culture Night. The show lasted four and half hours, so we were there for about six.

I called in to work that Wednesday so I could edit my files. Sadly, I didn’t have enough room on my flash drive. I had to drive all the way to Best Buy and spend $120 on a portable hard drive.

When I got back to school, the editing room was locked up for the remainder of the night. I took my gear over to Clark Hall only to find that both the editing stations were occupied and there was a two person wait. Students can use the stations for up to two hours.

I figured I would call it a day, so I went home to do other projects and study for my Mcom100w final.

The next day I had work right after class, so I went in early and found out that the fire wire I borrowed wasn’t working so I couldn’t upload any video files to FCP.

After asking around for about half an hour, I managed to have someone lend me theirs. Finally, I began to upload my interview and b-roll footage.

The next day, I spent four hours at Clark Hall writing my track and script for the news report. Before actually putting it together, I had to record my voice over track.

I completely forgot about the defective fire wire until I unsuccessfully tried to upload the audio.

I drove about 25 minutes to Anne’s house because she had Final Cut Express, a lesser version of FCP.

She uploaded my audio track onto my hard drive through her Mac. I tried to edit my piece on it, but since my project was saved as a FCP file, her FPE couldn’t open it.

Well, at least I was set, all I had to do was to put everything together the next night.

At Clark Hall again … the students who worked the facility joked that I should just live there. I didn’t laugh. It seemed like a great idea.

When I attempted to combine my original FCP project with the audio FCE that Anne uploaded for me, it wouldn’t work. I figured, since FCP is the higher version, then I should surely be able to load FPE files with it.

I checked the forums. I was wrong. The files were completely incompatible. So, not only do I have to have a Mac and Final Cut, but the two versions didn’t even correlate. This became more and more of a disaster.

Anne had to drive the tape down to me so I could re-upload it.

It only took me an hours and a half to actually piece the footage together for my news package, less than a quarter of the time I took filming and organizing my files.

I came to Clark hall at 8 a.m. the next day to add the finishing touches. Lastly, I was required to add in the Update News lower-thirds. Clark Hall computers didn’t have it.

Pressed for time due to having work at 11 a.m., I ran to Dwight Bentel Hall to get into the update news editing room to grab hold of the Update lower-third.

It was locked. I ran through the whole building looking for someone to open it. Finally, Lilly Buchwitz had a key. I borrowed it and ran back to the room only to find out that her key opens up the first room, but not the second room that had the Macs.

Right before I began to cry, I looked around the primary room and saw that there was a lone Mac sitting in the corner. Sure enough, it had FCP and the lower-third effect I needed.

Fifteen minutes later, I was finished and pleased with my project.

I realized that, if I were as rich and tech-savvy as I were hard-working than I would be an elite broadcast student.

Unfortunately, not being able to afford my own hardware and software exponentially increased the time and effort I should have spent on this project.

Though I am very relieved I am through and created a great newscast, I am very infuriated on how difficult it is to be restrained by lack of finances in the school of broadcast journalism.




Broadcast Woes
[1:02]

CAN SAN JOSE STATE BROADCAST STUDENTS SURVIVE THEIR MAJOR WITHOUT OWNING THEIR OWN RECORDING AND EDITING EQUIPMENT?

SINCE ALL EDITING MUST BE DONE THROUGH FINAL CUT PRO, WHICH IS ONLY FOR MACS, PC USERS ARE POSED WITH A DILEMMA.

BROADCAST STUDENT JEAN WALKER FELT THAT TEACHERS ALLOW STUDENTS ENOUGH TIME TO COMPLETE VIDEO PROJECTS, BUT THE PROPER RESOURCES AREN’T EASILY AVAILABLE.

THERE ARE ONLY TWO PLACES ON CAMPUS THAT OFFER MACS WITH FINAL CUT PRO FOR STUDENTS.

THE MAIN ROOM IS THE UPDATE NEWS ROOM WHICH HAS RECENTLY HAD VALUABLE ITEMS GONE MISSING.

NOW INSTEAD OF THE ROOM BEING OPEN UNTIL STUDENTS NEEDED IT, IT NOW CLOSES WHEN THE FACULTY LEAVES.

CLARK HALL HAS FOUR EDITING COMPUTER STATIONS THAT ARE NORMALLY OCCUPIED.

THE NUMBER OF RENTABLE CAMERAS AND OTHER RECORDING GEAR ARE ALSO VERY LIMITED.

SJSU BROADCAST PROFESSOR JOHN SHRADER MADE LIGHT OF THE SITUATION.

BY HAVING TO FINISH A BROADCAST PROJECT UNDER PRESSURE, STUDENTS MUST LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH TIME CONSTRAINTS AND OTHER OBSTACLES.

STUDENT JACOB AMAYA AGREED, IT’S PRETTY ROUGH, BUT THIS IS THE ONLY WAY WE’RE EVERY GOING TO LEARN.

FROM SAN JOSE, JUSTIN RIRAY, UPDATE NEWS.

[1:02]