Bailey's Blog

For this project I interviewed Beth Wood. Beth has diabetes and she has had it now for almost ten years. I really enjoyed learning about her daily life. The purpose of my project was to shed light on living with disabilities as a college student. Working alone on the assignment was much more time-consuming. I was not able to receive feedback easily on my work and I always enjoy working with others more than working by myself. Since my partners were not able to help it took longer in every aspect.

Recording the audio was really fun and interesting. I was surprised to find out that Beth was so open to talk about her disease. I also thought it was interesting that she thinks diabetes has been a blessing in her life. It motivates her to lead a healthier life and make better decisions. I also thought it was interesting that her brother also has diabetes. She said this is uncommon and that her and her brother take part in studies to help doctors understand diabetes better. She is a very strong young women and had similar goals to mine. I was fascinated that she did not let her disease prohibit her in any way.

One difficulty was taking interesting pictures. I took pictures of her medicine and things that were important when taking care of her diabetes but it did not allow a lot of creativity. It was also a challenge working by myself throughout the project. If I could change anything, I would probably change not having any pictures of Beth’s friend. Lindsey gave good insight to Beth’s everyday life but I was unable to get any pictures of her. Overall I really liked my topic and enjoyed the project. I hope that I have given light to living with diabetes.

I really enjoyed this assignment and it was fun to listen to other group projects! The first project that I listened to was entitled This is High Country by Courtney Willhelm and Adrienne Morency. I really liked their project. It was done well and the pictures were perfectly in order with the audio. The pictures were also very unique and intriguing. It kept me interested with the story. I could hear the interviewees very clearly and I loved the ambient noise for the first few seconds. There were a couple of edits that were a little choppy but other than that I do not have any further advice for them.

The second Soundslide project that I watched was entitled The Laramie Animal Shelter by Nic Behnke and Tracie Perkins. I thought the project was very well done. The ambient noise was also well done. The noise of the cat did catch me off guard a little bit. The pictures were also well done and I enjoyed looking through them. The audio was very clear for the first interviwee but then for the second man the audio was not as clear. I could still tell what the man was saying it was just not as good as the first. Overall this project was very well done.

The last project that I listened too was entitled International Night by Anna Radar and Tiffany Le Gal. I enjoyed this topic and found it very interesting learning about Friday Night Fever and International Night. I liked all the pictures and ambient noise. There audio was choppy at times and the ambient noise was fun but a little loud and took away from the speaker. The first two speakers seemed a little nervous but I am not sure what they could have done to prevent that. Overall I loved the topic and it was fun to listen and watch their project.

http://klandreville.com/babbitt_gallo_newman/soundslider.swf?size=1&format=xml&embed_width=465&embed_height=400

This audio and slide story is featuring two couples. The first couple has been married for almost 25 years and the other couple has been married almost 50 years. This story features how each couple met, their biggest struggle while being married, and marriage their advice. This project was inspired by the New York Times and a story they did called, One in a Million. The purpose of this story is to provide two examples of great long lasting marriages in hopes to give the listeners advice and understanding.
I really enjoyed working with my partners and was glad to have their assistance on the project. It was nice to have someone to help with ideas and to keep me sane when things did not work like they were supposed to. Splitting up the work was great too and my partners did a great job. I really enjoyed interviewing each of the couples because I am newly married and I love to hear their advice. I really think our topic is very valuable. Marriage ends in divorce over half of the time so I think any advice a person can get is really important. The context and material in our story is very valuable to listeners.
My SoundSlides experience was slightly frustrating at first. We struggled mostly with Audacity and saving our work. We had quite a few glitches that took awhile to figure out. When I use new programs there will always seems to be some frustration. I really think the end result will be worth it. I might change some of the pictures in our story but overall I really liked our end result. This is a very time consuming project as well so you need to make sure to give yourself enough time to work on it. The project was fun and although frustrating at times the end result was very cool.

I am excited about this upcoming project and I have a few story ideas. My first idea is interviewing an engaged couple, a couple married for around 20 years and a couple married 50 or more years. This would be a really interesting story because it would give different perspectives on marriage. As college students it would have value because we are at the stage when our friends are getting engaged and married. The sources could be my close friends who might be engaged. My parents are also at the 20-25 year mark so we could interview them. My grandparents are also at the 50 year mark so I think it would be relatively easy to find sources. 

My next idea is to do a story on college jobs. It would give insight on how they work and go to school at the same time. It would be interesting to see all the different ways that college students make money and would be relevant in a college town. The sources I could use are my Mary Kay girls, I could ask classmates, and I could also ask the students who work in the Union.

Lastly I could do a story about parking at the University. I always hear people complain about it and when I lived in the dorms I remember how frustrating it was. This is relevant because it is a real issue that the University of Wyoming is facing. For sources I could talk to my friends who live on campus, I could get input from my roommates who live off campus, and I could also get some feedback from professors who teach on campus.

These ideas are just a work in progress but I am excited to get started on this project. It will be fun and a great learning experience.

I listened to three of my fellow student’s audio editing profiles and I enjoyed what I heard! It was great to hear about background information on my classmates and helped me to get to know them better. The first profile that I listened to was Courtney Wilhelm’s. She interviewed Adrienne Morency. I really liked the story that Adrienne told and I thought Courtney edited it very well. It was really smooth and it sounded great. The volume was good and the story flowed really well. I don’t have any critiques for Courtney. I thought the story was unique and I enjoyed listening.

The second audio that I listened to was by Rachel Ross. She interviews Anna Rader. This audio talked about Anna’s college experience and how she is involved in many aspects of college life. Rachel did a good job editing this audio and it was also very smooth. At the end it seemed to just cut off and to make it better she could have added a little silence at the end. There was a point when Anna laughed and it made the sound kind of scratchy, but I am not sure what she could have done to prevent that. The other sound quality was great and a very interesting audio clip.

Lastly I listened to the audio by Brad Estes. His was a little different because he interviewed his roommate, James Burgess. The questions he asked were interesting and the sound quality was good as well. A couple things I might change is to edit the questions out of the audio. There was also some background noise. It sounded like a TV or a radio possibly. The interview itself was good. I would just work on editing it slightly more. I was also confused because the title says by Brett Farve.

I really enjoyed this assignment and I also learned a lot about editing in the process. I learned how to edit and rearrange audio to make the story flow better. I learned that you have to really work to make the audio not sound choppy and it’s best of the interviewee does most of the talking. I look forward to using this skill in the future. You can also check out my edited audio.

Bailey interviewing Alex edited by bsgallo

This is my edited audio. It took me quite a bit longer than I thought it would but it is a good skill to have. I experienced a little frustration at first because it sounded a little choppy. Once I got the hang of using the program it was a lot easier and I could probably do my future editing a lot quicker. I did learn a lot of useful interviewing techniques from trying to edit this audio. I learned to keep my responses to a minimum because the more you respond the more needs to be cut out of your story. I found myself responding to Alex without even realizing I was doing it. I learned how to do basic editing and rearrange audio to make the story have better flow.

I enjoyed learning how to edit and interview properly. It was a good experience because it is something that I can use in the future. I didn’t enjoy editing every little comment that I made after Alex would respond to a question because it took forever to edit. I was surprised that after learning how to use audacity how simple editing can be. I know I just did very basic editing but I was surprised about how audacity is so user-friendly.

I wish that I did a couple of things different. First, not comment after Alex said something interesting and to let her talk as much as possibly without interruption. I checked the sound before we started but I would have liked it to be a little louder. So for future interviews I need to put the recorder a little closer. One other thing that I would do is have Alex answer each question by stating the question in her response. I thought this project was very helpful and useful. I am glad that I learned how to edit!

Interview with Alex Newman by bsgallo

This audio is my interview with Alex Newman a fellow student in my online journalism class. I have not edited the audio at all. This is the first time that I have recorded an interview. The interview experience was pleasant but at first it was a little awkward. It was awkward because I am used to commenting after each comment in a conversation but with recording is was important that I let Alex talk as much as possible. I really liked using the recorder because as a journalist you can go back and refresh yourself on the story.

I was also interviewed for this project and things were slightly different on the interviewee side of things. It felt weird being recorded because I was worried about how I sounded on the recorder. It was hard not to fidget or make hand motions while talking. Five minutes seems like a short amount of time but I was apparently not given the gift to gab. It was hard to talk about myself for five minutes.

This experience was very helpful for me. I learned a lot about doing interviews and it gave me insight on how the interviewee feels while their conversation is being recorded. I learned that it is important to test the sound quality before recording and that you need to be in a quiet room. I am feeling much more comfortable with the recorder as well. I also learned that it is important to brief the person of the questions you will ask so they speak with fluidity.

I really enjoyed doing this interview. I learned more about my classmate and also learned techniques while interviewing. I do not think there is anything that I would have changed. The interview was short and to the point and I am going to enjoy trying to edit it.

I recorded myself counting to ten in order and out-of-order and then edited the second track. I used Audacity to edit my out-of-order counting to put them in the correct order. It is very basic and it was my first time editing audio.

The Original
Counting Original by bsgallo

The Edited
Counting Edited by bsgallo

The purpose of recorded myself and then editing it was to first get familiar with the program and to learn how to edit simple sound. In journalism it is important to being able to record interviews and then edit them if needed. Before this assignment I barely knew how to use a recorder so to be editing audio is sort of exciting. It seems sort of funny that editing would be exciting but it is a good skill to have.

My experience with editing overall was a pleasant one. The media edits almost all audio that we listen to. I always wondered how they used editing. I can also see that when you are editing it is important not to change the meaning of the story. Since is it so easy to edit then it is also easy to deceive the listener into thinking someone said something that they did not. I have actually experienced this in a news story that my dad was featured in. They took parts of his audio and rearranged it so it gave the story different meaning. My dad was angry with the whole experience so as journalist we need to be careful when editing.

It was really cool to learn to edit audio and I am excited to use it more. It is a skill that I will need in the future. It was much easier than I thought it would be and I am glad I learned how.

I am excited to share my ambient noise, this is my first attempt at using a recorder so it is very basic. These are just noises from around my house, outside at a parking lot and at my office. Very basic but it was fun to use the recorder.

Fan by bsgallo

This first track is a fan. I recorder this sound from my bedroom. My husband needs a fan to fall asleep at night so i quickly recorder it before we went to sleep. This could be included in a story about the unnecessary uses of electricity since the fan has to be plugged in.

Laundry Dryer by bsgallo

The second track is a laundry dryer. I got this sound from my house when my friend came to do her laundry. This could be used in a story about how many loads of laundry are done by college students during the semester.

Car Alarm by bsgallo

This sound is a car alarm. I was getting out of my car at the parking lot and noticed someone’s car alarm was going off so I recorded it. This sound could be used in a story about the University’s parking dilemma.

Microwave by bsgallo

This track is from a microwave. I got this sound from my house when I was heating up leftovers to eat. This tract could be used for a story about a college students diet. It is sad but true that most of our meals come from the microwave.

Typing by bsgallo

This track is typing. I got this track when I was at my office and my assistant was typing up her schedule for next week. This sound could be used in a story that talks about how much homework students have to di each week.

Dog Drinking by bsgallo

The last track that I have is of a dog drinking. I recorded this noise from my Pomeranian who was drinking out of her water dish. This sound could be used in a story about people having pets.

The New York Times audio story was really intriguing. The story was called One in 8 Million. I listened to the audio entitled The Ladies’ Man. This audio was about John Keegan and his job as a dating coach. He charges $2,000 for 10 sessions. He is the modern-day “Hitch”. The movie Hitch with Will Smith that came out several years ago reminds of Mr. Keegan’s real life. I really liked the audio story because it was about something unique and I did not remove to attention from the story until it was finished. There is something powerful about audio and pictures together. The journalist did very good when it came to ambient noise. There was background sounds whenever Mr. Keegan was talking and it gave a real life setting experience. There was not anything that I didn’t like about the story. I thought it was very well done. The story was very interesting and I would listen to it again.

The second audio story that I listened to was from the NPR website. The title was How Can You Tell When a CEO is Lying? 

The content was very interesting. It talked about key ways to tell when a CEO is lying and what to look for when you think you might being lied to. Some key things to look for were when CEO says “we” a lot and not “I”. When you say “I” you are taking responsiblity for your actions. The story also said that when CEO’s use extravagant words to describe how well the business is going like, fantastic, excellent, or tremendous when they are lying. I really liked how the inclusion of the author, the narrator, and examples from others. It was not just a single person talking but multiple. It gave the story credibility. The journalist did a great job collecting outside sources to prove the point that CEO lie. The only thing I didn’t like about the story was there were no pictures it was all audio. By having pictures it would have kept me more engaged in the audio. I had a hard time just listening.

The story that I listened to last was another story from the New York Times. I got it from the segment called One in 8 million. It was entitled The Walking Miracle and was a story about Freda Degannes. She was told that she had a 99% chance of dying because if blood clots found in her stomach. She said yes to the surgery and actually survived! My experience while listening to the story was sadness and astonishment when I realized she had overcome such great odds. I really liked how they showed a picture of her stomach that showed many scars and it gave me a better understanding of how serious the situation was. The journalist did a great job editing and collecting the quotes and the story had great flow. The one thing I didn’t like was the length of the story. At the end I found myself wanting more story because I was so intrigued. The journalist did a great job overall and there is nothing else that I would change.