10 minute read
Martinelli
March’s Adjunct of the Month Department of Communication
What advice would you offer to students interested in Broadcast Journalism?
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Write a lot, become a very good videographer and editor, and watch a lot of broadcast or digital news. From watching, you’ll start to pick up on industry standards and realize what will be expected of you. Here’s another one – don’t wait for class assignments to do the work. If you’re passionate about it, storytelling and editing should already be “hobbies” that you’re doing outside of school time. Lastly, internships. They afford tremendous networking opportunities. It’s been a disappointing year in that regard as a lot of companies ditched internships altogether because of COVID, but you really do need to immerse yourself in a culture of where you’d potentially want to work: 1) To see how you fit in: Do you like it or not? 2) For the people you will meet - these people will write letters of recommendation for you and/or make a difference in whether you get a job or not. So, when you get that internship, make an impact. Meet people. Get to know them all and (hopefully) make a good impression on them all. You just never know which relationship is going to pay off for you later. I don’t say that to be calculating. You should want to be doing this. At its core, broadcasting is about connecting and communicating with others, right? So, this should be a given.
Share one of your most memorable stories that you covered?
Being a journalist provides for many unique opportunities. No two days are the same and you will be allowed access to places the general public will not. So, understanding that, there’s no question what’s number one for me. A few years ago, the Air Force Thunderbirds were flying at the Atlantic City Airshow. The NJ Air National Guard wanted to publicize their visit so they were giving media people backseat rides in an F-16. How to describe that! I got to experience the life of an Air Force fighter jet pilot for a couple days: the training, the briefings and a flight. We went up with another plane, practiced dogfighting, pulled 8Gs and “strafed” the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. Just incredible! I’ve always been a huge fan of military aviation so I just don’t know how that experience will ever be topped.
On News 12 NJ, you cover a segment, 3 Things to Know. In your opinion, what are 3 things that Broadcast Journalism students should know?
Three things every broadcast journalist should know include the following:
1. Become the best videographer and editor you can be. The days of having some other person handle those jobs are gone. Your entry level job will most likely be as a multi-media journalist, meaning it’s all on you. Those technical skills will elevate your storytelling. 2. Broadcast journalism is a learned skill so reps are very important. It’s like training to be a good golfer. You have to practice. So, practice! Go write and shoot stories on your own. Do not wait for it to be assigned in a class. You should be doing stories daily/weekly on your own. Write stories about friends and neighbors. Cover events in your town - just for practice. You’ll develop good work habits and you’ll be surprised how much of a better storyteller you become.
3. If you want to be an on-air broadcaster, be ready to move. This is a tough reality. You live in the number one media market in the country. Reporters and anchors all over the country want to move here. It’s very hard to find entrylevel on-air work in the tri-state area. Those jobs are going to go to people with many years of experience. So, you have to go get that experience, which means you might need to move to Rochester, MN or Beaumont, TX. After you get those small market reps, you can start to think about getting back here. That’s a hard reality given family considerations. If you want to write or be a producer behind the scenes, you can absolutely start in this area. It’s a difficult challenge, however, if you want to be in front of the camera. There’s a sense of adventure in it, though. I grew up in Las Vegas. I’ve lived in Reno, Spokane, Detroit and of course, New Jersey. As a west coaster, living and working in NJ for 25 years, I couldn’t possibly have imagined it way back when. In class, I point to students and say, “You could be a main anchor in Phoenix one day” or ‘You could be a sports reporter in Houston.” You have to be open to those possibilities.
Julie Nagle
March’s Faculty of the Month
Department of Art
Your work, Slumber Underground: Interspecies Burrow, was featured in The New York Times and was on view at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. What inspired you to create this piece?
What are the joys of being an artist?
What I love most about being an artist is fostering curiosity and following it to discovery. I’ve cultivated a studio practice where I learn from every project I create, and get to constantly investigate new subjects and processes. I entwine those discoveries with my independent thoughts and emotional responses to make fantastical experiences for others. Most of my artworks are interactive, so I get to observe the discoveries and sense of play in my audience when they engage with them directly.
What do you enjoy about teaching in the Department of Art?
I work with incredible artists and writers in my Department. The faculty have great rapport with each other and I’ve learned so much from working with them for the past four years. The students perfectly balance down to earth maturity with wild creativity and are open to seeking the potential greatness in each other’s work. No matter what is going on in the outside world, I am filled with enthusiasm when I enter the classroom to work with them. Slumber Underground: An Interspecies Burrow is a great example of a project melding field work with fantastical sculpture. In 2017, I was invited to join a radically collaborative group of artists and scientists who create artworks together called Omnibus Filing and received a sub-award from the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative. Slumber Underground is a model of a ground hog burrow I scaled up so people can crawl inside to encourage empathy with nature. I began by studying existing burrows with Ground Penetrating Radar and Arthoscopic cameras, then wove my version out of rattan and found materials. I took soil samples, which Rachel Field, BioMechanical Engineer, analyzed in her lab at Columbia University. I lined the inside of my burrow with felt sculptures of the bacteria she identified. The opening at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan was thrilling. Children created games and tossed the bacteria sculptures around during the opening and were enthralled by the video footage of Chewy, the groundhog I filmed. In the end, the piece is about stacked habitats and appreciating the creatures who live around, under, and inside of us.
Revelations in Darkness, 2019 Green-sustainable resin, blown glass, steel, hydrophone, amp, speaker, aquatic plants and mystery snails 6’ x 4.5’ x 1.5’
“What i LOVE
most about being an ARTIST
March’s Alumni of the Month
Department of Music
You’ve worked as a freelance audio technician and technology consultant. Tell us about some of your clients and productions.
I was extremely fortunate to be thrown into the world of broadcast audio through an internship with Music Mix Mobile, a mobile recording company that was doing the live stream for the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in 2012. Since then, I have worked on a variety of shows – Saturday Night Live, Good Morning America, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The GRAMMY Awards, and The MET: Live in HD to name a few. My information technology chops come from ongoing work with the Enterprise Systems team at William Paterson and has branched out into consulting for production and entertainment companies that require a technology specialist with a true understanding of their industry. All live events are supported by a technology heavy backbone and navigating that space has become a specialized job. It is a fun mix of geeky meets rock n’ roll.
What advice would you offer to our Music students?
Stay grounded, diversify your skillset, and never stop attending shows as an audience member. There may be moments when you feel the magic of a career in music slipping – do not panic or get discouraged. Work, even in the field of entertainment, is still work. Balancing that work with incredible personal experiences is the glue that keeps the dream intact.
Tell us about your work as a poet and musician.
I have been playing flute since the third grade and would not be here answering questions about a career in audio without the profound influence music has had on my life (shoutout to every music educator I have ever had – thank you!). These days, I am playing for myself and missing the large ensemble experience terribly – it is my hope to join a community orchestra when it becomes safe to do so. I have also been writing since a young age. In the last few years, submitting poetry has been a way to extend beyond my comfort zone and learn more about the publication process. Exploring how writing and music inform each other serves as both creative release and professional development, and I’m humbled by how lucky that statement is.
March’s Student of the Month
Department of Music
Who are some of your favorite musical artists and who would you like to collaborate with?
I have so many favorite artists! Some of them are Jazmine Sullivan, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson & Beyoncé. My #1 dream collaboration has to be Jazmine Sullivan. I’d also love to work with producers, Rodney Jerkins and Timbaland.
What inspires you to create music?
me to make MUSIC. being able to CREATE is LIBERATING.”
My love for music inspires me to make music. It’s truly the only thing I can never get tired of doing. Being able to create is liberating. Also, the fact that music can positively affect and influence the listener, makes me want to create music. I want my music to do to others what the music of others does to me, which is change and positively impact lives.
What are some of your favorite WP music courses?
Some of my favorite WP music courses that I’ve taken are: Songwriting, Pop Vocal Ensemble, Chamber Music (a class that allows student to create their own ensemble). Last year, my friends, Khalil King and Rajaun Hailey, created an R&B Ensemble and Ear Training. These classes were not only informative but fun.
YEAR
OXOF THE
The Center for Chinese Art in collaboration with the Departments of Art and Communication, exhibited Chinese New Year Woodblock Prints Exhibition in celebration of the Year of the Ox. The exhibition was from February 10, 2021 –February 28, 2021.
1. Chinese New Year Woodblock Prints Exhibition at Power Art Gallery.
2.Flowers of Wealth and Distinction in Blossom
Printed from original Qing dynasty woodblocks Szhou, Jiangsu province, China 12x19.5”
The peony is popularly regarded as a symbol of wealth and distinction. This print features several peony flowers and osmanthus in full blossom and pomegranate fruits ripe and cracked revealing scores of pips and peaches offered as a birthday present transplanted in a vase, reflecting people’s wish for riches, honor, more sons, greater fortune and a long life. Shown in the lower part is the zither, chess, calligraphy and paintings, suggestive of the leisure and refined taste of wealthy and noble families. It is representative of Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints with good luck as the theme.
3.Door God Zhao Gongming
Modern print from original Qing dynasty woodblocks Suzhou, China, 8z12” Zhao Gongming is a god in Taoism.
Legend has it that Zhao, a hermit of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC), went into the mountains to cultivate himself according to the Taoist doctrine and became a disciple of Divine Master Zhang. He served as guardian of the Xuan Altar, hence his appointment of Marshal of the Xuan Altar by the Emperor of Heaven. Here Zhao Gongming, a warrior with a
