Photo/Video-graphers

From Tampa comes word that the photo staffs of the Tampa Tribune and WFLA-TV will be merged. Photogs will have to reapply for their jobs. The story comes from St. Petersburg Times media critic Eric Deggans.

We'll be seeing more of this.

$38 Million a Year

Whether you love him or hate him, you have to admire the talent of Rush Limbaugh. For 20 years now Limbaugh has been the undisputed gorilla of talk radio. His new contract will pay him a base of $38 million dollars a year, not including signing bonuses, merchandise, and additional ad revenue.

Limbaugh is not only an accomplished broadcaster, but also a powerful influence on our political system.

The New York Times Magazine has this rare candid conversation with "el Rushbo."

Audio Recorder the Size of a Pack of Juicy Fruit

I love my little Olympus WS-310M (the WS--311M is the current model) digital voice recorder. It captures high quality audio in the WMA format for radio or online audio pieces. I can also download MP3 files into it, so it serves as my poor man's Ipod for traveling. The battery case pulls off, revealing a USB plug for direct connection to your desktop or laptop computer.

Some editing programs will not natively edit the WMA format, so you have to convert the files (I use a shareware program called Switch to do this). But higher end editing tools like Adobe Audition will import the files directly. Audio purists might not like that there is no way to control the record level manually, only the built-in ALC. But
I find that to almost never be a problem for interviews or nat sound.

One weakness...the battery door falls off easily. So, I keep a rubber band wrapped around mine.

Thanks to Mindy McAdams for recommending this particular recorder. As you can see from this week's New York Times photo, it has become popular with journalists on the campaign trail.

Spanning the Globe

Today we pause from summer vacation to honor the memory of Jim McKay, a pioneering sports television journalist. McKay was best known for hosting Olympic Games coverage and for the long-running ABC's Wide World of Sports.

McKay won a dozen Emmys for his sports coverage, but also won a news coverage Emmy for his masterful anchoring of the coverage of terrorism at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Update: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Brian Burwell has this insightful column on McKay's legacy.

A Fountain of Knowledge

Roosevelt University Professor John Fountain was the guest speaker in my RT 430 class on Friday. He showed examples from his reporting work for the New York Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune.

Fountain reminded us that a journalist's first obligation is to report the truth.

It was a good way to end the semester with some thoughts to ponder.

Celebrating Excellence

Sorry i haven't posted here in a while. Between the National Association of Broadcasters Convention, visits by candidates for Dean, and the end of the semester chaos, I just haven't made the time.

We had a very nice Radio Television Department Awards Ceremony the other night. Students were honored for their award-winning projects or scholarships. Students of the year were also named in each specialization.

The Connected Generation Not So Connected

Journalism Profession Ted Gup has this commentary about what his students DON'T know.