by Janice Ng | Mar 11, 2014 | News Slider
Al Jazeera America Nashville’s national correspondent Jonathan Martin likes the competition, creativity and spontaneity of his craft. “These three things really drive me to get up every morning and to work in news,” Martin said to a group of student communicators at Lipscomb University’s Media Masters event in Ezell. “Something is always going, always changing,” Martin said. “You’re competing against yourself. You’re competing against other stations and companies. I love that competition. “Second of all, I love the fact that there is creativity involved in this business,” he said. “You can make it your own. Finally, I think the spontaneity of things is really what drives me.” Growing up in Atlanta, Ga., Martin always knew he wanted to pursue a career in news. His passion started when he was only six or seven years old. “I always wanted to watch the news,” Martin said. “I was obsessed with the production, the anchors, the current events.” Martin began his career in the city of Augusta, Ga. Two years later, he got a call to be the morning anchor at WSMV Channel 4 in Nashville. From there, he was able to work his way up to a weekend anchor position. When he got the call to join Al Jazeera America’s Nashville bureau eight months ago, he said he was “all about it,” and has been working there for six months. Martin took some time to discuss the type of stories he gets to cover and showed a clip of one of his latest stories about undocumented immigrants qualifying for in-state tuition. “Today, I was covering another story at Vanderbilt Hospital and...
by Janice Ng | Jan 22, 2014 | News Slider
WSMV Channel 4 News chief investigative reporter and anchor Jeremy Finley says investigative journalism is outrage. “That’s what investigative journalism is all about,” Finley said at this month’s edition of Media Masters Tuesday evening to a crowd of communication and journalism students at the Ezell Center. “It is outrage on a lot of different platforms,” Finley said. “When I come on the air with a story, that’s what I’m bringing. I’m bringing outrage of some kind.” To Finley, investigative journalism involves digging deeper than just reporting on a story. “I knew what I wanted to do. I didn’t just want to cover, I wanted to uncover. That’s the difference between general assignment and investigative.” Uncover, he did. Over the course of his career, Finley has exposed corruption, crime, how taxpayer dollars are being used, what public officials are doing and many scams that are out in the nation. Finley discussed an unusual case involving prison inmates updating Facebook pages from behind bars. The inmates had smuggled cellphones into their cells, and were using social media to show the public their life behind bars. Finley and his team did an investigative piece on the issue, which led to 15 more investigative stories on the smuggling activities of prison wardens and inmates. The story also led the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate the state prisons. Finley said that although investigative journalism has given him a lot of experience, some of his most memorable experiences came before he stepped into that field. Finley recalled helicopter rides, cave expeditions and covering the Summer Olympics in Greece. Besides investigating, Finley also anchors the...
by Janice Ng | Nov 12, 2013 | News Slider
Journalism is a part of everyday life, whether it be a morning read of the newspaper, a lunchtime checking of social media on smartphones or watching videos right before bed. Maria De Varenne, executive editor and vice president of news at The Tennessean, spoke to communication and journalism students about the professional world and the importance of work ethic at the second annual Media Masters event Monday, Nov. 1,1 at the Ezell Center. A longtime print publication, The Tennessean has adapted to the digital age, serving consumers based on when, how and where they want news and information. “While many people think print is dead, we don’t think they’re right,” De Varenne said. “For the past few years, we also deliver our stories, photos and other content on digital platforms. We deliver more local news and information than any other source in the market.” Since several news outlets also deliver news on digital media, what makes The Tennessean stand out? “Watchdog journalism and community leadership,” De Varenne said. “We not only have the area’s largest news staff, but we dedicate the most time, space and attention to local issues.” Watchdog journalism, or investigative journalism, has won The Tennessean several awards in the past. The publication was a Pulitzer finalist for their coverage of the 2010 Nashville flood. With her current success with The Tennessean (over 900,000 weekly readers), it would be almost impossible to believe that De Varenne didn’t initially plan on a career in journalism. “I had a music scholarship in college, and I took art classes,” De Varenne said. “I signed up for an intro to journalism...
by Emily Snell | Oct 7, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
This week, anchors Wade Funderburg and Jessica Burke tell you everything you need to know about pledging and bid night, Brad McCoy’s presentation during Family Weekend, the 32nd annual Tau Phi Cowboy Show, missions fair, College of Arts and Sciences fair, and Campus Safety and Security. Also, Lumination explores students’ fall break plans; interviews Stephen Greyser, the guest speaker for Media Masters; and talks about the big athletics announcement. Lumination has all that, plus a look at entertainment, sports and weather. Please upgrade your...
by Kathryn McKinley | Oct 13, 2010 | News Slider
As a part of the Media Masters series hosted by Lipscomb University, Alan Kelly, founder and CEO of Playmaker Systems, LLC, spoke in front of students and faculty. Kelly is somewhat of a pioneer in the communication field, creating a periodic table for strategies that classifies different influence strategies run by companies and individuals. Kelly’s goal with this table is to standardize communication techniques and help predict future decisions made by companies. Please upgrade your...
