Bethlehem Real Estate News Story

Today, Debbie and I compiled and posted our first news story for our J198 project. We interviewed three very different people about their experiences in the housing market in this recession. We took the three interviews and added voiceovers to make the video a news story similar to one that is shown on television. We also took some good B roll and found some great statistics that make the video interesting. B roll is the footage that is shown in between the clips of the interviews; it supports the voiceover. Windows Movie Maker was used to create the video, which was then uploaded to YouTube. From there, we upload the videos to our blogs and then advertise our work on our Twitter accounts in an attempt to drive traffic to our sites. Check out our latest news story video on my J198 blog http://jour198multimediareporting.blogspot.com/

Bethlehem Real Estate Podcast

Check out my Multimedia Reporting blog for our first podcast about our final project. I have never used or created a podcast before, so the experience was interesting! The process in creating a podcast is really easy...I was certainly surprised at how user-friendly these podcast posting sites are.

http://jour198multimediareporting.blogspot.com/

J198: Final Project

Currently, Debbie and I are working on our final project for J198: Multimedia Reporting. This final project is designed to take an in-depth look at a popular local topic. We choose to look at real estate in the Bethlehem area, so we will be launching a website that is based around our project idea to publish our work. On our website will be podcasts, a news story, a Google map, a narrative, as well as several other components that will enhance the site. Although the requirements of our final project seem really demanding, we are taking it one step at a time and are chipping away at each individual assignment. I am excited to see the final result!

Dancing with the Stars

While perusing people.com, I saw a picture of Kate Gosselin Easter egg hunting with her kids. This reminded me of a brief recap that I saw on the news the other night about her performance on Dancing with the Stars. I couldn't believe that a woman with eight children could take that much time to practice her routines and film the show! It's appalling to me that people like her could choose the media over their own children. I have not heard much about the father lately, so I am guessing that after their messy, over-publicized divorce, he is out of the picture.

I am disappointed and genuinely feel bad for Jon and Kate's "plus 8." They will be suffering the effects of the affairs, the divorce and being thrown into the media spotlight as young children for years to come. These kids deserve a break from the spotlight, and that starts with their parents. As we talked about in class, the job of a publicist is to keep a celebrity's name in the media. Kate's publicist has done just that, but unfortunately at the expense of Kate's own children. Jon and Kate need to realize the importance of family--not drama or dollar signs.

Jersey Shore

I just visited to get some new ideas for my blog post, only to find that Jersey Shore's Pauly D and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino had a big picture in the center of the page. I was shocked because I thought that Jersey Shore's fifteen minutes of fame was over--they had their trashy television show, their New Year's Eve party and endorsed several different products. Hasn't America grown tired of these ridiculous celebrities yet?

After reading the article, it's official. The Jersey Shore's trash-talking, fist-pumping, scantily-clad crew is moving to Miami! What could be more entertaining than Snookie in a bathing suit on the Miami strip? Come on, MTV! These people, or "characters" even, are ascribed celebrities. They haven't achieved anything--unless you consider their hair that is styled to perfection or the mastering of the fist pump an achievement. They have no real talent that is noteworthy enough for recognition, just dramatic personalities that clash frequently. I guess we'll have to wait and see how receptive their audience is to Miami Beach...

NCAA Final Four

Over the weekend, I was watching Butler play Michigan State in the Final Four. Butler, a small school in Indiana, did the unthinkable this season and found itself playing Duke in the National Championship. A recap after the game showed two commentators talking about Butler and their chances on Monday night. The commentator questioned whether or not the Butler players should go to class on Monday, given that Butler's campus is in Indianapolis and only 6 miles from the stadium. The second commentator's response was absolutely. He said that these kids need to feel the hype and recognition that they deserve going into Monday night's game.

Again, the concept of celebrity comes into play here. Players from a small, little-known school like Butler are now recognized on the national level because of the incredible run they went on during this year's March Madness. I had never even heard of Butler before the tournament, but because of the amount of recognition that they have been getting over the past two weeks, it is a name with which I am now familiar. Because they represent the smaller Division One schools, such as Lehigh, they were certainly rooted for as the underdogs when going up against a powerhouse program like Duke. Everyone wants to see the underdog succeed because the odds are stacked against them. Butler is to be commended for their immense success in this year's NCAA tournament.

Celebrities on Twitter

As a part of my Multimedia Reporting class, I have an account on Twitter and am responsible for tweeting several times a week. Prior to entering this course, I was completely unfamiliar with the site, its uses and just how many people it reaches. I have become a follower of my J198 classmates, certain Lehigh University organizations (i.e. LUbrownandwhite and LehighAthletics), other organizations such as the Patriot League, as well as celebrities. I haven't really had too much time to search for all of the celebrities that I would like to follow, but I have found a few that are frequently popping up on my twitterfeed. Currently, I am following Alicia Keys, John Mayer, Adrian Grenier, Asher Roth, Rev Run, Shaq, Ashton Kutcher, Paris Hilton, Chad OchoCinco and Kim Kardashian, amongst others. I have no particular interest in these celebrities...I just thought it would be interesting to follow them and see what they have to say.

I am surprised at how often these celebrities tweet, especially Kim Kardashian and Rev Run. It seems like they are always on twitter. I find myself wondering how they have time to tweet because they have such busy schedules. What I do appreciate, however, is when celebrities use twitter for the greater good. I have seen Kim Kardashian and Ashton Kutcher tweet several times about organizations that they are working with, such as Haiti relief efforts. They will post links to their cause or organization and ask their followers to help and support those who need it. For a celebrity like Kim Kardashian who has 3,259,045 followers, a post that takes 20 seconds to write can have a profound effect on a cause that is in desparate need of support.

LGcollegesports.com

The LG campaign has been going great so far. My partner, Jack, and I just found out that we won the first week's "Show Your Spirit" challenge. Each week of March Madness has a different challenge that rewards the school that has the best footage and pictures uploaded to the site in a timely manner, completes their marketing plan and weekly promotional plan and markets the LGcollegesports.com website the best. Winners receive American Express gift cards as incentives, so we are both really excited to receive this sort of recognition.

Twitter, Facebook and my blogs have been incredibly helpful in marketing our work. It is incredible how many people you can reach by the click of a button. I am fortunate to be taking Multimedia Reporting with Professor Littau this semester because it is in his class that I learned to market my work through these media sources.

CBS College Sports and March Madness

Over spring break, I found out that I got a job with LG and CBS College Sports. I will be using viral marketing to spread the word about the new website that LG is launching within the next few weeks. This website will be highlighting March Madness on college campuses across the country. I was so excited to get the job because I am a HUGE fan of the basketball teams here at Lehigh and have been working on using Twitter, Facebook and blogs throughout the semester.

At the tail end of spring break, I took plenty of pictures and video from both the men's and women's Patriot League Championships for upload onto the website. Lehigh students have been very enthusiastic with showing their school spirit! Check it out at