purplepuma13
Nov 25, 2012
Undergraduate / 'The Editing Instinct' - Letter of Intent, USC Annenberg School of Communication [2]
Prompt: All applicants to Broadcast and Digital Journalism, Print and Digital Journalism, or Public Relations majors must submit a one-page Statement of Intent, explaining their reasons for pursuing an education and career in journalism or public relations. Please attach your response to the Supplement.
I'm still not exactly sure what they're looking for in terms of format/content, but here's what I scrapped together. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! (my 1st choice major= Print and Media Journalism)
When my family and I went on college tours over spring break last year, we visited over 12 different campuses in a 5-day period. While other students collected pencils or sweatshirts at the various student gift shops, I made sure to find a copy of each school's daily newspaper to take home and analyze. Once back in the seclusion of my room, I read each one over, with the intent of gaining insight into the student life on each campus. But, sooner rather than later, my "Editing Instinct" kicked in and I found myself with a red pen, circling typos and highlighting journalistic flaws. The papers with the fewest red slashes, such as USC, moved to the top of my college order of preference.
The Editing Instinct is a habit developed after long hours of chipping away at yearbook copy and helping friends refine theses for English essays. While in base form it may seem an obtrusive OCD obsession with detail, at its core it is a simple desire to communicate effectively. Growing up I have pursed communication through a variety of forums - telling stories through theatre, making emotion audible through music, taking language to another level with American Sign Language, and reverting back to the original mode of human expression: words.
My pursuit of the written word began when I was very young: while other kids would doodle monsters and unattractive caricatures of the teachers, I filled the corners of my math notes with poetry. I spent my time listening rather than speaking, conveying my ideas not through blabber but rather in the form of hidden journal entries and word documents. My writing first came to a public forum when I began Yearbook in my sophomore year. My silent spell was naturally shattered as I found myself nosing my way into every school event I could, calling peers and strangers alike to get new perspectives on my stories. No story was too big or too small when it came to immortalizing a year of high school in a single publication. While I gained invaluable technical skills ranging from interviewing to editing to photoshopping, my biggest journalistic pursuit was yet to come.
That pursuit was in the form of Open Orchard Productions, a company that 4 students, one teacher and I have built from the ground up. I am Co-Producer of The Core, a podcast that seeks to share teenage voices with the world. We interview students one-on-one and then edit up to 120 minutes of interview material into a 7 to 15 minute clip that will be posted on our website. Stories range from dealing with bulimia to escaping gang life - they are open, honest, and, most importantly relatable for a teen or adult listener. Between hours of meetings discussing target audiences, pitching to possible funders, researching marketing opportunities, and redesigning logo after logo, I have found a passion for the radio and media world, and, most importantly, the art of story telling. Already, barely 6 months into production, our podcast staff has quadrupled in size and has received recognition from professionals such as Jones Franzel at PRX, Alex Shaffert at KPCC, and Peter Clowney from APM. When it came time for me to focus on a career path, radio journalism seemed the obvious field. And when it came to pursing an education in that field, the Annenberg School was the obvious choice.
Prompt: All applicants to Broadcast and Digital Journalism, Print and Digital Journalism, or Public Relations majors must submit a one-page Statement of Intent, explaining their reasons for pursuing an education and career in journalism or public relations. Please attach your response to the Supplement.
I'm still not exactly sure what they're looking for in terms of format/content, but here's what I scrapped together. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! (my 1st choice major= Print and Media Journalism)
When my family and I went on college tours over spring break last year, we visited over 12 different campuses in a 5-day period. While other students collected pencils or sweatshirts at the various student gift shops, I made sure to find a copy of each school's daily newspaper to take home and analyze. Once back in the seclusion of my room, I read each one over, with the intent of gaining insight into the student life on each campus. But, sooner rather than later, my "Editing Instinct" kicked in and I found myself with a red pen, circling typos and highlighting journalistic flaws. The papers with the fewest red slashes, such as USC, moved to the top of my college order of preference.
The Editing Instinct is a habit developed after long hours of chipping away at yearbook copy and helping friends refine theses for English essays. While in base form it may seem an obtrusive OCD obsession with detail, at its core it is a simple desire to communicate effectively. Growing up I have pursed communication through a variety of forums - telling stories through theatre, making emotion audible through music, taking language to another level with American Sign Language, and reverting back to the original mode of human expression: words.
My pursuit of the written word began when I was very young: while other kids would doodle monsters and unattractive caricatures of the teachers, I filled the corners of my math notes with poetry. I spent my time listening rather than speaking, conveying my ideas not through blabber but rather in the form of hidden journal entries and word documents. My writing first came to a public forum when I began Yearbook in my sophomore year. My silent spell was naturally shattered as I found myself nosing my way into every school event I could, calling peers and strangers alike to get new perspectives on my stories. No story was too big or too small when it came to immortalizing a year of high school in a single publication. While I gained invaluable technical skills ranging from interviewing to editing to photoshopping, my biggest journalistic pursuit was yet to come.
That pursuit was in the form of Open Orchard Productions, a company that 4 students, one teacher and I have built from the ground up. I am Co-Producer of The Core, a podcast that seeks to share teenage voices with the world. We interview students one-on-one and then edit up to 120 minutes of interview material into a 7 to 15 minute clip that will be posted on our website. Stories range from dealing with bulimia to escaping gang life - they are open, honest, and, most importantly relatable for a teen or adult listener. Between hours of meetings discussing target audiences, pitching to possible funders, researching marketing opportunities, and redesigning logo after logo, I have found a passion for the radio and media world, and, most importantly, the art of story telling. Already, barely 6 months into production, our podcast staff has quadrupled in size and has received recognition from professionals such as Jones Franzel at PRX, Alex Shaffert at KPCC, and Peter Clowney from APM. When it came time for me to focus on a career path, radio journalism seemed the obvious field. And when it came to pursing an education in that field, the Annenberg School was the obvious choice.