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Today Taking and its Multimedianess

The use of multimedia journalism today helps news sites quickly and efficiently inform audiences of the importance of a story. Seeing as The Today Show is a television news program its use of multimedia is spans from their live show to their website and social media accounts. When discussing multimedia we must look at the sites use of convergence, parallel reporting, evergreen stories, and user-generated content. Today. com fortunately covers each with flying colors. 

Today.com's use of convergence can be found in each section of its site. Displaying a majority of its posted stories with written text, photos, and video. Using these media tools, creators of today.com are able to successfully inform site viewers of a story that aired on television earlier in the day, week, or month.

As seen in the above screen shot of a recent news story covering this adorable panda, today.com flowed text in between photos, tweets, and video. The elements displayed as such make it easier for the reader to obtain the information in a timely and equally entertaining fashion (with the use of coordinating photo and video) 

Today.com succeeds in its parallel reporting the same way it does convergence. If viewers miss a story they are aware (as the reporter states) that they can read or watch more about it on today.com. In the example below, the video clip from the show is posted among the article text. 

Here site viewers have the option of simply playing the video they missed or reading the quick article and viewing photos, if they aren’t able to watch the clip.

Today, as a family-oriented morning news program, supplies its viewers with many evergreen stories for their day-to-day life. With reports (and their today.com article pairings) that discuss health benefits, tips for parenting, or new ways to create a quick healthy lunch for your kids, today.com maintains a variety of stories that remain relevant for a long time. These stories (such as the ones below) pull viewers into the Today site, even with a simple Google search of these topics. Today thus creates their site-stickiness with these evergreen stories that will then lead viewers to explore the site further.

Not only does the Today Show involve its viewers and outside audience members in the live show, but they also generate stories from their lives. User-generated content, or “crowdsourcing” takes on a different role on today.com. Stories aired on Today come from videos sent in my viewers, such as this adorable little girl catching a fish. 

Or more user-generated content can also be found in tweets prompting viewer opinion on a story. Today enjoys using ordinary people to create news for other ordinary people to see. The show even has viewers writing in about a tragic event that their family has gone through with hopes of being selected for the Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb segment, “Everyone Has A Story,” in which Kathy Lee writes a song about the tragic event and its performed by broadway singers for the family live on the air.

By using real world people in their multimedia coverage today.com brings in an audience of viewers that feel this sense of reliability. Using multimedia journalism, the Today Show and today.com have both maintained a sense of interactivity with its viewers, prompting audience to watch , talk, and read the stories it generates on a daily basis. 

Tracking Today

Social Media

In a world where social media is how most acquire their daily news, Today does a great job in enabling their viewers to keep up. They live tweet during the show from their main Today Show twitter account and many of the show anchors live tweet from their personal twitters, and the same goes for Instagram. The show has social media accounts on all major outlets including: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest; essentially anywhere important.

  

screen shot www.today.com

Their latest social media efforts not only pulled on the heartstrings, but also boosted the program and its website by 173,000 followers: Wrangler, The Puppy with a Purpose. On January 14^th 2015, Wrangler was introduced on live TV as the official Today Show puppy. To jump start the hype, Today anchors asked viewers to vote on twitter for the puppy’s name, and Wrangler, receiving the majority of the 80,000 votes, quickly became the new cuddliest correspondent. It was announced that from the day and for the following 16 months, TODAY anchors and staff would help train Wrangler to become a guide dog. As of today, September 20^th, the golden lab has a trending hashtag (#TODAYpuppy) while simultaneously displaying the value of philanthropy the Today Show values as a news program.

Read and watch about it here:

http://www.today.com/pets/todays-puppy-purpose-has-name-wrangler-1D80427810

News Values

As an early morning “variety” show, The Today Show has, since its airdate, been a family oriented show, centered around discussing the day’s biggest headlines on a global and local scaled. Additionally, the program focuses on healthy living, lifestyle improvements and ways to keep yourself and your family happy and hearty.

www.today.com

 Each segment discussing such topics ends with how viewers can read more, find links to sites, and start social media discussions all on today.com.  Your morning news should not only keep you update to date on the world around, but moreover should show you how to improve it. The Today Show portrays its news values as such on their daily show and manifests them through its online presence.

screen shot www.today.com

Ethics

Ethically speaking, as a family centered morning news show, Today, keeps it clean. The headline news is delivered in typical fashion with a non-biased attitude. Entertainment pieces usually take place during a multiple anchor discussion, and though each anchor tends to have a personal opinion, the comments remain general and rarely have found themselves in “ethically sticky situations.” 

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The subject of live interviews usually leads to questionable question forming on the anchor’s side of the coin. From audience stand point some may think, “Did Matt really have to ask it like that?” or “how did it make Savannah feel to ask these questions causing this woman’s voice to tremble?” However, in my opinion and that of my most interviewers (I assume), the purpose is to formulate questions in order to obtain the most valid answer from an interviewee. Today.com, also remains ethically balanced. 

screen shot www.today.com

Its home page, covering the top stories of the day, ranges from breaking news, to updates on reoccurring news, from quick dinners for busy moms to why coffee disrupts your sleep cycle. The range displayed, portrays the shows values of family, health, and keeping viewers in know. The easy top bar tabs allow site viewers to navigate through shows general topics, lending each topic a similar amount of stories. There has been no gender bias, racial bias, or any bias thus far. As if this all didn’t put them in the ethical clear, the show (over its 4-hour span) also has 3 male anchors (1 African American), 6 female anchors (2 African American) and all range in age well enough to have varying view points and reliability to viewers. So from journalistic view the Today Show and today.com is in fantastical ethical standing.

 header from www.today.com

Why Today

The Today Show

 http://www.today.com

I can say with confidence the first time I witnessed to an episode of the Today Show I was inside the womb. My mother, an avid early morning viewer since her birth in 1966, and my grandmother since the show aired in 1952, both conveyed the importance of NBC to me from 7-10 (now 11) a.m. even before my arrival in 1995.

Yes, every major network dabbles in the morning mix of hard news, entertainment, weather, and variety segments in between, but the Today Show has always been, for me, the perfect blend of breaking news (both world and local), lifestyle advice, and pure early morning entertainment.

I recently acquired the app The Skimm. A mobile news app in which the day’s headlines are explained for all levels of intelligence reading, in order to get the message across to readers, all with a comical twist when appropriate. For me the Today Show does just the same, only on live TV.

screen shot www.today.com

The reasons above are why I have selected today.com to follow for my news track blog. Each morning I pop on the Today Show, normally coming to the end of a piece, and hear “If you would like to know more about  ______ head to today.com!” The show’s website is not only up updated daily, but also per hour, depending on when a story was told, or health tip was given. Their homepage displays that day’s top stories along with their major social media outlets and various tabs of show’s topics. When a viewer selects a story they are brought to a page that includes an article on the story, photos, and usually video that was shown during the on-air segment.

screen shot video side bar www.today.com

screen shot video page www.today.com

                           

Speaking of video, the “All Video” tab on the right side of the screen will lead viewers to clips from the show that day or previous days before. In case you missed that segment about the new face treatment Savannah Guthrie and Matt Lauer (Today’s current lead anchors) put on their faces, you can re-watch it again, and then maybe again.

Today.com allows show viewers to say update on the latest news, trends, and ways to improve their life. I look forward to assessing its strengths and its weakness over the next few weeks. I hope to additionally prove why it’s a site you should be visiting and a show you should be watching.

logo screen shot www.today.com

Whatever Is That Construction at COM?

As the students of Boston University break into the fall semester, the Turner Construction Company has been breaking into terrier ground to complete the new Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering, prompting many students to ask, “what’s happening to COM?”

The only small signage of what the construction will be 

The $150 million new building construction will bring together life scientists, engineers, and physicians from the Charles River and Medical Campuses, according to BU Facilities Management and Planning. However, this is a fact, a chunk of the student population is unaware of.

To most students last spring, this now construction site, was simply the Morse Auditorium parking lot. For some it is still just that. When asked if she knew what this new addition to Commonwealth Avenue construction was, senior Madeline McGill, asked, “Nope, think it might be like a parking lot?”

 

A look inside through the scaffolding path

McGill is not the only student who is uniformed of what is occurring in a central portion of BU’s campus. Freshmen Dante Sciento and Benson Cherian both had stating they had no idea what the construction was for. But Sciento added, “but this is what city is to me, construction.”

 

A side view of the construction site currently covering a portion of the COM building

The construction is currently covering a portion of the College of Communications building prompting some students to believe the construction is COM based. Senior Carley Mirvis questioned, “I want to say the COM building is doing something?” While first year graduate student, Ify Onochie observed, “It kind of looked like they were extending the building for COM.” Freshman Matthew Dyer was on the same page when asked what the construction was up to, “Presumably renovation on COM?” he asked.

Not only are students unaware of what the construction’s purpose is some find it has reduced the green space on campus. Sophomore Sarah Zeisler, who presumed the construction was a new parking lot stated, “People in COM like to hang out on the COM lawn which is half gone now, so it’s a little sad.” Senior McGill felt the same way stating, “I think its disruptive it reduces the green space on campus that there is already so little of and that was kind of a cool place to hang out.”

 

The construction site from a bird’s eye view, previously a BU parking lot

When complete, The Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering (CILSE), located at 610 Commonwealth Avenue, will be nine-story, state-of-the-art research facility.

Hayley Branchford, a biomedical engineering sophomore in the College of Engineering, was fully aware of what the construction, learning about the construction from her professors.  “We don’t have a space for the life science and biomedical engineering programs to collaborate, so it will be nice to have the facilities and equipment they need for collaborating and research” stated Branchford.

Branchford also stated that most students do not know what is happening right on their campus, “A lot of people don’t know what it is because half of COM lawn is gone right now, I just I know because of my engineering professors.”

 

Morse Auditorium angle of the construction company equipment

If you are one of these students here are some quick facts from BU Facilities Management and Planning:

• ·      The center was designed by Payette and is currently under construction by the Turner Construction Company.
• ·      It will be a 170,000-square-foot building will include neuroscience research, systems/synthetic biology research, a satellite vivarium, and a cognitive neuroimaging center.
• ·      For those who will continue their walk to class under a scaffolding path with hopes that the COM green space will soon be resorted, put those hopes on hold for now. The construction completion will not be until Spring 2017.

Perhaps it is time for a larger sign to inform students that COM will not be receiving a new extension.  Additionally it may be time for professors, other than those in the College of Engineering, to inform students of what is occurring on their home away from home.

A student’s walk to class through the scaffolding

A noisy stroll through construction scaffolding