Aidan Meyer ENGL334

  Going deeper into the defined elements of visual storytelling, photographs should tell a story on their own. Therefore, a photographer must have a balanced mindset and take photos with a clear understanding and mind. In Beck Lettenberger's National Public Radio article, he gives five essential tips for making a better image. He shows that images require focus, involvement, and a willingness to be different than your traditional style. He says first, put down the mic and focus on visuals, get close to capture emotion, shoot a lot to ensure good options, change the perspective for variety, and be patient. He shows the true intentional elements of photography and how being persistent is key in creating a great image. His advice is really interesting and shows the mental side to photography rather than just the technical elements. He teaches us that we should get out of our own heads and challenge our thoughts to see perspectives we didn't observe before. Prioritizing the momen...

  Visual storytelling can take many key formats. This can include images, videos, charts, graphs, and other elements that tell an interpretive story without any direct statements. In Claire O’Neil’s National Public Radio article, she shows that the key to a good visual story is using the right key components and media. She draws examples from decorative visuals to useful storytelling visuals like charts and graphs. She guides the reader to match the format of the visual to the function. The story should guide the reader through the visuals and be useful in the narrative rather than just accessorizing it. In Zambelich and Jan’s National Public Radio Article, they dive deeper into not just mere photography but the importance of a moving portrait, or a portrait that tells a story about the person it depicts. The use of a portrait connects the reader to the person they are trying to tell about and goes far beyond a generic headshot. They build character and show the humility of a per...

  Beyond the photographic visuals of the last blog post, there has to be a combination of those skills, along with others, to plan a successful video shoot. In the National Public Radio article by Bria Granville, she points out the top things she learned while planning a video shoot. She highlights the distinct steps of planning and how she works collaboratively to organize the perfect video. She teaches a few key lessons: defining the project scope, assembling a good team, creating timelines, having check-ins, preparing, and lastly staying calm in the face of any problems. She gave a few specific examples about her product shoots, about how she tests things in advance, assigns roles to teammates, and overall creates an organized workspace where she can trust her talent and create something great.  In my experience with video production in class, it's important to organize with creative vision and logistical vision. Much like the other blog posts, you have to be sure to capt...

  There is a common saying among recent generations that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and in the case of photojournalism, that is completely accurate. Today, photos are a quickly spread image that can tell a whole, honest story without the influence of opinion or interpretation of anybody. In Kainaz Amaria’s National Public Radio article, she gives a great guide to taking a spectacular photo. She claims that there are three central elements to any good photo: content, composition, and light. She shows that the strongest images balance the event or story, technique, and emotion within the frame. They show great examples of symmetry and perspective to craft an argument through an image. Symmetry shows a careful balance in the image with even display throughout the frame. Perspective can come in many forms through comparison or difference to really heighten the perspective of one of the subjects. These strengths in photography allow the audience to interpret and invest in th...

  When looking at articles online, viewers often consider the article with an eye-catching or shocking headline. They look for keywords, phrases, and other factors that could pique their current interests. In the new age of technology, Google search engine optimization has taken away the need for endless searching online to find a compelling article. Google takes analytics and certain keywords and ranks them based on the likelihood to one's search. Holly Morris, in her National Public Radio article, explains that good headlines have to attract both the readers alone and the search engine results. This shows a need for the careful placement of words and phrases in a way that captures the eye while also falling into many searches. She explained that the headlines need to be concise yet conversational and to perhaps play around with detail or humor if appropriate. She explains that in order for Google to pick it up, it needs to be straightforward with plenty of keyword options. This...

  To be a successful journalist, one must prioritize how the reporting happens and how all of the sources are collected and presented. In doing so, the storyteller practices proper reporting and builds trust with a media audience. In George Bodarky’s National Public Radio article, he emphasizes that the best reporting comes from truly being there and immersing oneself in the event or story being covered. He explains that by showing up in the community and being honest in interviews it creates a very clear and truthful narrative, while still keeping boundaries and relationships with the interviewees. By presenting oneself as a credible reporter and carrying on a conversation rather than bold, structured interview questions, it establishes a trust level that can create a fantastic story. In Socolovsky’s National Public Radio article, he dives into a story about a Middle East Reporting assignment. He emphasizes that journalists consistently have to make quick decisions about structu...

  In storytelling projects, it is essential to determine the right formatting and approach through careful research and analysis of impact. In Kelly McBride's National Public Radio article, she argues that great and engaging journalism depends greatly on aligning the story the writer is trying to tell with the correct formatting. This means that you can have a truly spectacular story, and “miss the mark” by putting it in the wrong media format. She brings compelling examples of both good and bad journalism formatting. She pulls out this example of a podcast that complements the format with an article. Meaning, that there is both an audio and visual element to the storytelling that unveils the complexities of the narrative. She then demonstrates how a radio interview was later condensed into a few words in an online article, which resulted in the story losing its depth and dimension. These two examples she gave showed how the format can either be a great asset or a detriment to st...

The installation of a new pope  Fox News Network, LLC. (2025). Pope Leo XIV. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/category/person/pope-leo-xiv What format is used to tell this story? (radio, podcast, television, photo essay, written) This source is written. Does this format work for the story? Why or why not? This format does work; however, it lacks some of the depth needed to tell the story of the Pope's installation. The intended audience leans right and is nationalist, which explains the use of nationalistic speech for an American pope. However, many of the pope’s followers are catholic and desire to understand the tradition and the spiritual considerations that take place in the choosing of the pope. This written piece lacks the detail needed for that audience, both through the writing and the visuals. If it does not work in this format, what would it have needed? Is that possible in this Format? Since this is a legacy television company, they would have done better to explain the...

Reflection I think ChatGPT did a great job playing devil's advocate to my claim. While I still hold strong to my beliefs, I believe my stance on AI use in writing is more of a societal problem of people having too much access to it, and less of a problem with the tool itself. This framed it very nicely that AI can be used as a brainstorming first step so that writers can spend more time and money on the second line of brainstorming and framing. It also claimed that society, in return, needs to prevent this ideology by having control over its use of this abundance of information. By doing this, there is still an authentic idea that is simply aided by the use of this tool. This response didn't change my stance, but it gave me a broader perspective on the role that society needs to have in the use of this tool rather than condemning the tool itself. Just like much of modern technology, if it isn't abused, it is a great tool for thought. One question to consider and further e...

Reflection I believe that the AI response to this generalized prompt was inspiring for ideas, but didn't quite address everything it needed to, in order to direct me towards a good place to begin for my story. By starting with clarifying questions, I do see how answering them would create a good result; however, there are certainly some gaps. The questions most definitely seem to address the research elements of this story assignment, yet lack the social and ethical elements. The ideas are a great start. They bring together those ideas in a tangible, involved way. While I don't believe I can mimic them, it does allow me to take into consideration certain elements of the audience. I like the idea of collecting diverse thoughts through collaboration with student organizations and high-traffic areas. While it might be a little hard to achieve, as everyone is in a hurry, this ensures a wide spread of student response. I think this definitely didn't answer all of my questions,...