NEWSPA Spring 2013 Newsletter

Spring 2013

Vol. 36, No. 2

Spring is here; so is NEWSPA

by Haley Walters

O

n

Wednesday, April 17,

high school students

from all over the state of Wisconsin will arrive at UW-Oshkosh for spring’s most exciting event: the 2013 NEWSPA conference.

Coming to NEWSPA means a chance for students and advisers to meet new people, learn about journalism and receive critiques by the conference’s judges.

But it’s also an excuse to wear matching T-shirts.

Registration will begin at 7:30 a.m. in Reeve Memorial Union.

Five new sessions will be unveiled this spring and will encompass various issues that pertain to high school journalists such as staff relationships and the future of the newspaper industry. These sessions are “What’s Your Klout and Why it Matters,” “Keeping Your Yearbook Staff Motivated and Drama Free,” “How to Get Coverage of Your Entire Student Body In Your Yearbook,” “Blogging About Food (Or Any Other Topic),” and “Newspapers: A Dying Breed?”

NEWSPA will also offer many of the same popular sessions that cover everything from photography to column writing. Be sure to check out the official conference program available on the NEWSPA website for more details.

UW-Oshkosh journalism professor Miles Maguire will return (with candy) for “Journalism Smackdown,”

editors of yearbooks and newspapers can attend roundtable sessions to brainstorm ideas and learn more about what other schools do in their publications and one-on-one critiques will be held by UW-Oshkosh journalism professor Vincent Filak.

Speakers from all over the Midwest will come to Oshkosh for NEWSPA, including journalists from The Appleton Post Crescent, Press-Gazette Media, FOX Cities Magazine, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Chippewa Herald and Northwestern University, Keynote speaker Kirsten Strom of Pandora Radio will talk to this year’s attendees about her job in Internet radio as well as offer tips about having a strong career and being a successful journalist.

Following her speech and a break for lunch, there will be award ceremonies in the Reeve Union’s Ballrooms, 227AB and 227 BC, where students find out how their hard work has paid off.

Throughout the day, students and advisers are encouraged to tweet about NEWSPA. A live Twitter feed will be outside Reeve 227 all day.

During this year’s conference students and advisers are encouraged to go online to fill out a survey and offer their opinions about particular sessions.

Students can also “like” the new NEWSPA Facebook page to stay up-to-date on NEWSPA events throughout the year.

Table of Contents

features

04 08 09 11

Spring Conference Preview

Learn more about the new sessions and features of this year’s NEWSPA conference.

Kirsten Strom

This year’s keynote speaker, Kirsten Strom of Pandora Radio, talks about her college experience and career success.

Top 5 Software Programs to know

The top 5 programs for student journalists to master in order to be successful in the journalism field.

Wasau West’s Win

Last year’s large school newspaper winners, Wasau West, share how they make their paper better than the rest.

departments

03 10 12 13

Letter from the President How to: Become a better sports photographer

Featured NEWSPA alumni: Amanda Gadjosik Scholarships

Letter from the President

“

Ron Burgundy: I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of a big deal.

Veronica Corningstone: Really.

Ron Burgundy: People know me.

Veronica Corningstone: Well, I’m very happy for you.

Ron Burgundy: I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.

-Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

W

hen

I

”

was sitting at my computer trying to think of what to say for this article,

I

asked some students loitering in my room (it was 15 minutes after the final bell… why are you still here? Go home!) what journalism meant to them. I expected some response like “getting the hard-core facts of newsworthy events” or “discovering the truth through diligent interviewing techniques.” Instead, I got quotes from the movie “Anchorman.”

To me, this incident is a prime example of what is going wrong in our schools…the absence of journalism.

Many schools have discontinued their journalism programs, taken away funding for their newspaper or yearbook classes, or readjusted their curriculum so journalistic writing isn’t even covered in regular English classes. The decline in sales of newspapers has, erroneously, made districts believe the need for good reporting, strong interviewing techniques, and at least rudimentary knowledge of the inverted pyramid style of writing is no longer needed. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Good writers are still in high demand, just using different media. With the advent of technology, many people are getting their news online. They are still reading the news, though, so it still needs to be well written. Talented writers will still be sought, so the need to learn to write well will continue to be essential.

That is why this conference is so important. With these skills not always being taught in classrooms, it is imperative that we fill that gap. As a board, we work hard to provide a variety of sessions, from the basics of good journalistic writing, to lessons in the myriad ways technology is changing journalism. It is our hope that students will attain knowledge while having fun, and we make an effort to deliver just that with our spring conference.

To paraphrase Ron Burgundy, NEWSPA will help your students create great, compelling, and rich stories…and hopefully will enable them to be able to answer the question “what does journalism mean to me?” with more than just “Anchorman” quotes.

Sara Marquardt NEWSPA President uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa 03

Keyno te Kirste Speaker: nS Pando trom of ra Rad io ew Five n ! ns sessio

2013 NEWSPA Preview

After a successful 2012 conference where hundreds of high school students came to the UW-Oshkosh campus to learn about journalism by professionals in the field, NEWSPA is once again trying to outdo itself for the 2013 conference. This year there will be five new sessions geared toward both newspaper and yearbook staffs, along with a keynote speaker who took her degree in journalism and applied it to a career in online music. As always, sessions will strive to focus on how the field of journalism is changing with new media and give students tips on how to keep their reporting up-to-date and relevant. The conference will be held on April 17, 2013 in Reeve Memorial Union.

More info about the conference on pages 5-8 uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa 04

by Taylor Krentz

T

hey ’ re

back ! T he 2012 NEWSPA conference was the first year to feature on-site newspaper critiques as part of the spring conference, and the critiques were so popular that they will be back in 2013.

Vincent Filak, an associate professor of journalism at UW-Oshkosh, will again hold the critiques. Filak is also the faculty adviser of the award winning Advance-Titan, UW-Oshkosh’s weekly student newspaper.

Only schools that pre-register and pay a $25 fee can attend one of the eight 20-minute critiques. To pre-register, go to http://www.uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa. Click on the “on-site newspaper critique” link under News.

Participating schools must submit three copies of their school newspaper for the critique. Filak reviews the first copy, looking over every small detail, marking suggestions and making notes on what should be changed.

With the second copy, Filak looks over the newspaper in its entirety. This includes design, layout and pictures.

Filak also writes a three to four page typed critique that the schools can take with them. The written critique explains the markings so that the schools can remember what should be changed.

Filak uses the third copy during the actual on-site critique, going over the

NEWSPA 2013

On-site critiques continue for 2013

newspapers and explaining his thoughts as to what he marked on the other copies.

Filak also holds a question and answer session as part of the critique. He said he hopes that students will ask specific journalistic questions that may not have been answered during the critique.

Filak also notes that it is important for students to hear advice from someone other than their adviser.

According to Filak, an adviser could be giving the same advice, but hearing it from a professional journalist who has done more than 250 newspaper critiques in the past two years gives the advice more validity.

Some mistakes most student newspapers seem to make every year, he said. One common writing mistake is inserting the writer’s own opinion into an article.

Another common mistake is including dead art, or art for the sake of art, as Filak puts it. Many student newspapers use photos that don’t offer any additional value to an article; they just use the photo because it seems like the right thing to do.

The most important question that Filak asks students is to explain the reasoning behind a journalistic choice.

Filak said being able to provide a reasonable, logical and legitimate reason for choosing a font, photo or even a topic for a story is more important than most students realize.

NEWSPA

April 17, 2013 Reeve Memorial Union Registration begins 7:30 a.m.

uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa 05

Seminar to address today’s newspaper industry

by Hannah Opacich

W

ith the boom of

the Internet in recent years, it is safe to say that newspapers are not getting as much attention from readers as they did from previous generations, or even compared to five years ago.

Although many people still favor the tactile sensation of holding a newspaper in their hands while, for example, drinking their morning cup of coffee, countless others will opt for the convenience and accessibility that electronic news sources have to offer.

The Post Crescent is a newspaper run by the large newspaper publisher, Gannett Company, which focuses on the Appleton and Fox Cities areas of Wisconsin.

Dan Flannery, the executive editor of The Post Crescent, will be addressing these issues of changing news media at his upcoming NEWSPA session.

The seminar Flannery

will be leading is titled, “Newspapers: A Dying Breed?”

Those thinking about becoming a journalist in the future would be wise to attend Flannery’s session.

He will be speaking about many important issues in today’s journalism market. “[I’m going] to talk about the changing job market and what we’re looking for,” Flannery said. “I’ll [also] be talking a b o u t the different roles of journalists today as opposed to even five years ago, as well as the different skills that are needed that are unique to our times.”

Flanner y is a longtime journalism professional with over three

decades of experience.

His job duties as executive editor, according to his LinkedIn profile, include overseeing groupwide enterprise, investigative and watchdog reporting, group-wide digital growth initiatives and coverage of statewide events for Gannett’s 10 Wisconsin daily newspapers and websites.

Flannery has also worked at other publications in the Midwest, including the Southern Illinoisan and the Green Bay News-Chronicle.

Flannery says that his seminar will be beneficial for students

since it is directly involved in their future employment opportunities.

“I think they’ll find this helpful because it’ll be coming from somebody who makes decisions on whether they’re employed or not,” Flannery said.

“I’m employed by the nation’s largest newspaper chain. We employ more journalists than anybody else in the country.”

Flannery looks forward to events like NEWSPA because he enjoys connecting and networking with emerging journalists.

“It’s always good to chat with folks who are entering the business or have an interest in the business,” Flannery said.

“I’ve been in this business for 33 years and the views I have on how things get done, what needs to get done or how people consume news are probably going to be different than folks who are entering the business.”

Flannery’s session begins at 9:20 a.m. in Reeve 213.

We want your feedback!

Bring your smart phones or electronic devices like iPods to NEWSPA so you ocan give us feedback. After each session, please go to http://www. surveymonkey.com/s/NEWSPA2013 and take a short survey about the presenter(s) you just heard. Or scan the QR code to the left to go to the survey directly. To access the Internet, go to your device’s WiFi, Network or Wireless settings control panel and select Titan Guest. Type the username, reeve guest, and password, which will be posted on signs around the conference. uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa 06

More Sessions to Consider Learn to keep Session One Blogging About Food (Or Any Other Topic) Get the Most From Every Interview How to Create Editorial Cartoons Journalism 101: The Basics of Journalistic Writing Making Images Speak Without Words

Photo Critique of Entrants Using YouTube and Social Media to Market Yourself Working on a College Newspaper Writing Reviews Yearbook Editors’ Roundtable Yearbook Theme Development

Session Two Advanced InDesign Get the Dirt: Harnessing Search Functions on the Web to Get the Story How to Get Coverage of Your Entire Student Body in Your Yearbook How to Survive and Thrive in Your First Year of College It’s All About You. Not! The Art of the Artful Column Journalism Smackdown

Keeping Your Yearbook Staff Motivated and Drama Free Newspaper and Yearbook Advisers’ Meeting (For Beginning Advisers) Newspapers: A Dying Breed?

Photojournalism: From Still Shots to Moving Images The Art of Newspaper Design What’s Your Klout and Why It Matters

Session Three Advanced Photoshop

Journalism Smackdown

Brainstorming: How to Find Features and News Stories

Newspaper Editors’ Roundtable

Feature Writing for Newspapers and Yearbooks Get Your MoJo: 21st Century Journalism How to Cover Controversial Topics How to Get the Big Picture in Sports

Newspaper & Yearbook Advisers’ Meeting (For Seasoned or Advanced Advisers) Sports Writing Yearbook Layout and Design Elements Yearbook Writing and Trends

staff drama free

by Haley Walters

D

yearbook staff? Or how about writers or photographers who don’t understand the word “deadline”?

If so, you’ll want to attend a new session, presented by NEWSPA president and longtime adviser Sara Marquardt, titled “Keeping Your Yearbook Staff Motivated and Drama Free.”

“I think it is really beneficial to have a highly motivated staff,” Marquardt said. “It helps get the work done in a timely manner and it greatly reduces the stress of deadlines if everyone is working as a cohesive unit.”

Marquardt has been advising her school’s yearbook for five years and was a newspaper adviser for eight years prior to that. She began hosting NEWSPA sessions in 2003.

Marquardt has noticed over her years of teaching and advising that personality conflicts tend to arise when different types of students join the staff of a publication.

“At the beginning of the year there is always a great divide and distrust among the staff members and this can lead to a lack of motivation,” Marquardt said.

In order to address these issues, Marquardt plans to share different team-building strategies in order to create a more relaxed atmosphere amongst staff members.

“My goal is to create a family atmosphere where you want to do well for yourself, but also for your teammates, too,” Marquardt said.

The session will incorporate various types of team-building activities. “It’s going to be mostly hands-on,” Marquardt said.

She plans on handing out a packet of team-building exercises and then trying some of them out with the participants in the session.

Her goal for the session is to address issues that yearbook staffs may face and offer information that can be taken back to their schools and put into place.

“I hope that this session helps yearbook staffs work out issues in trust and team building and make yearbook a fun and prosperous extracurricular activity,” Marquardt said.

The session will be held in Reeve 220 at 9:20 a.m. uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa 07 o you have drama queens on your

Strom melds love for media and music

by Hannah Opacich

the company.

Today, Strom’s position at Panhen today’s generation dora has her overseeing staff as thinks of Internet radio, the well as other daily tasks. first word that undoubtedly “As a client services supervisor comes to mind is Pandora. Pando- I manage a team of five sales planra, founded in 2000, places a world ners in Chicago and Detroit,” Strom of music at your fingertips, refin- explains. “Sales planning is a sales ing its music choices by your given support role, working with the Panfeedback. dora sales reps to find advertising The service is free and utilized solutions for brands and agencies. by the majority of students, wheth- Our role focuses on understanding er they want to listen to their favor- internal procedures and systems, ite genre or broaden their horizons product knowledge and availability, by discovering new artists. and changes to Pandora.”

Those attending the April 17 On an average day, Strom says NEWSPA conference will get a whole she works with a Pandora sales repnew look at Pandora Internet Ra- resentative to do tasks such as andio, as the keynote speaker, Kirsten swering agency requests for proposStrom, is the client sales supervisor als and submit internal requests for in sales planning at Pandora. inventory, product details and more.

Strom, a 2008 graduate of She also works with her team UW-Oshkosh, was a journalism ma- to answer questions and problem jor and participated in activities solve. such as the National Student AdverStrom is firm in her beliefs that tising Competition and Marketing the UW-Oshkosh journalism proClub. gram prepared her Before working for her career. at Pandora, Strom “ U W- O s h k o s h Success isn’t handed to was not only familiar provided a lot of you - you have to work with the company, great opportunities hard for it. but an avid listener to prepare me for Kirsten Strom post-graduation real to the Internet radio giant.

Pandora Radio life,” Strom said.

“I have been a “The professors and Pandora listener for faculty create an environment that many years and always enjoyed the is similar to the workplace.” music discovery it offered,” Strom Although professors helped said.

Strom immensely, she still said that Before her position at Pandora, it is mostly up to the student to beStrom was a senior sales planner at come successful.

Collective, Inc. “They give students the tools “In a previous position I worked needed to succeed, but it’s up to with the Pandora sales team and the student to use the tools to finish highly regarded their customer ser- their project,” Strom said. vice and quality of work,” Strom Strom also stressed that the said. “I knew it would be a company path to success isn’t always easy.

I would enjoy working at and would “Success isn’t handed to you; have similar principles that I incor- you have to work hard for it,” she porate into my work.” said.

Strom discovered the job at During her time at UWO, she utiPandora on the job networking web- lized many resources outside of the site LinkedIn and landed the spot classroom. through the power of networking. A “UWO also has a lot of great outformer colleague of hers works for of-classroom resources that every

W

“

”

Kirsten Strom of Pandora Radio will be this year’s keynote speaker. student should take advantage of - career services, clubs, networking opportunities, office hours, sports, etc.,” Strom said. “They give every student the opportunity to make their college experience exactly what they want; it’s not cookie cutter.”

Strom says that after students graduate and are catapulted into the real world, they may find themselves unsure about many things, but the most important piece of advice is to keep calm and absorb all the knowledge they can.

“On your first day of your first job you won’t know anything, and that’s totally OK. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new and trust that those around you are there to help and teach you. You don’t know everything and you don’t have to – [just] understanding that you need to grow shows maturity and professionalism.”

At the NEWSPA conference, Strom will be talking about how to utilize your resources to gain success and a career.

Strom plans to also inspire students to work hard and be persistent.

“I also want to encourage hard work and dedication because finding a job and keeping a job is a job in and of itself.”

Strom’s presentation will begin at 11 a.m. in Reeve 227 BC. uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa 08

Top 5

1

Programs to Know

2

InDesign InDesign is used by many journalists to lay out pages and design publications both for print and online. Having a working knowledge of InDesign is essential because it allows journalists to expand their skill set to encompass design as well as writing. InDesign offers more comprehensive design features than Microsoft software and allows for more intricate layouts for newspapers and yearbooks.

by Haley Walters

Photoshop

Photoshop is another useful addition to the Adobe program suite.

It is essential for student journalists to know how to edit pictures before they are used for publication. Photoshop allows the user to perform tasks quickly, such as gray scaling and resizing pictures and then importing them into documents. The biggest drawback of all Adobe software is the price and frequent updates.

Google Docs

3

WordPress

Almost all newspapers now have an online presence in some way. However, m o s t websites cost money to produce and maintain. Word Press is a frugal option for student publications who would like to increase their readership to an online audience.

The easy-to-use blogging interface can be manipulated to mimic a news website and can be updated easily.

4

For newspapers or yearbooks who may not meet on a daily basis, Google Docs offers an easy and free solution for collaboration between writers and editors. Users can begin documents and share them with other users who can edit and make comments on their work directly on the document. Editing can be done almost immediately and users won’t have to wait a week until the staff meets again.

5

Twitter Student journalists can stay connected with their readers more easily than ever before.

By creating a Twitter user account for a publication, writers can stay in the loop about things that are happening around them as well as sharing stories online and posting promotions for upcoming issues. For ideas on how to correctly utilize Twitter, check out various professional newspapers and magazines that use the site, such as The New York Times. uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa 09

How to take a perfect sports photo

Whether it’s the basketball team or the swim team, getting good pictures at sporting events can be tricky especially for amateur photographers.

T

The last adjustment that can easily lead to blurriness and has to be made is the lens apincorrect focus points. Howev- erture. er, sports photos are widely viewed Using the smallest number by the readership of any publication, possible is equal to the largest making it important that they are of a aperture size. By using smaller numbers, more light can be high quality.

That’s why NEWSPA asked UW-Os- captured by the camera. hkosh journalism professor Tim Glea- Now that the camera is ready to son to offer a few tips on how to cap- go, it’s time to begin shooting. It’s ture the perfect image at a sporting important to find a good spot on the field or court to capture the subject event.

For this tutorial we’ll use a digital you wish to be photographing.

SLR camera as an example. Point and “A photographer needs to think shoot cameras may not be powerful about which way his or her team is enough to adequately capture high facing, where the officials tend to be so you can avoid them, and where the quality images fit for publication.

The first step is to set the camera light is best,” Gleason said. to the correct settings beginning with Gleason recommends to first bethe ISO. The ISO controls the cam- gin shooting players who are not movera’s censor sensitivity. When the ISO ing around; for example, batters in is at a high setting, it is more ready baseball. Once enough of those picto capture movement in low light con- tures are taken, the photographer can begin to experiment ditions, according to with more interesting Gleason.

The best pictures are angles and positions.

When shooting on unusual and gripping.

“The best pictures sunny days the ISO Tim Gleason are unusual and gripshould be set to 200400. When it is overJournalism Professor ping,” Gleason said.

“Showing eyes tends cast or close to sunto make sports photographs more exset, increase the ISO to 800. Indoor citing because you can see the drama sporting events should be shot with in the subject’s eyes.” an ISO of 1600 or higher. recom The shutter speed also needs to Photographymad.com mends using the burst mode, which be adjusted before beginning. Gleaallows multiple pictures to be taken son advises to not use anything lower very quickly, giving the photographer than 1/250. On sunny days, set the shutter speed to 1/500 or 1/1000 for more of a chance to capture a good shot. optimum picture quality. aking photos of moving objects

“

”

by Haley Walters

The website suggests against using a flash unless the subject is close enough for it to be effective.

After shooting enough pictures, upload the photos and do some editing in Photoshop. “Unsharp Mask comes in handy because every digital can be improved with proper sharpening,” Gleason said.

Gleason advises against using in-camera sharpening options which may be too invasive and actually lead to a poorer picture. He also said cropping pictures can lead to poorer image quality. Photographers should get as close to the action as possible to avoid having to crop the images later.

Editing should be kept to a minimum, according to Gleason. “It is unethical in journalism to remove objects or change them significantly, so use Photoshop minimally,” he said.

“The best advice is to know the sport thoroughly,” Gleason said. “Try to get to know how the players play like a good opposing coach. You start to know what the other team will do and you can prepare for that action.”

By keeping these tips in mind and a little practice, any student journalist can improve their photographs and grow as a photographer.

How to set a camera for Sports Photos Cut out and keep in your camera bag!

ISO: Sunny: 200- 400; Overcast: 800; Indoor: 1600+ Shutter Speed: 1/500 to 1/1000 *no lower than 1/250 Lens Aperture: Lowest number possible Flash: No uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa 10

Wausau West committed to excellence

by Hannah Opacich

W

ausau

West High

School’s newspaper, The Warrior West, received blue ribbon honors at the 2012 NEWSPA conference. The newspaper is different from many other high school publications because it is offered as an actual class rather than an extracurricular activity.

“People come into the classroom during their unstructured time like lunch to write their articles or captions and do other things,” said student editor Jaimie Anderson. “In order to pass, people must do quality work, not just for good grades, but to get published.”

Anderson explained that the newspaper has tasks they perform on a daily basis.

“Each day, student journalists interview people, write articles, take photos, and design advertisements and other graphics for all three of our publications,” Anderson said. “The other editors and I design all of the spreads for the magazine.”

Student editor Adam Yarish also said the newspa-

per staff decides in advance produce the newspaper. what they want to achieve.

“Our publications staff is “My fellow editors and fortunate enough to have I sit down toward the be- professional cameras with a ginning of the year and variety of lenses as well as discuss design and overall the Adobe (Creative) Suite,” goals that we want to ac- Anderson said. “I also apcomplish in the upcoming preciate the fact that we issue,” Yarish said. “Daily, have a relatively high budwe keep a watchful eye look- get; it allows us to print on ing for story ideas, assign- higher quality paper and ing them, editing them and use updated versions of so on, and that gives us an Photoshop, which makes opportunity to sift through for a more professional our options and what we are looking publication.” most confident in gets put According to Anderson, in the magazine.” most of the paper’s money Being completely stu- comes from ad sales for dent-run, the yearThe Warrior book and West staff NEWSPA is great because magazine. is able to it provides feedback that The Warrior have more we’d probably never get if West staff creativity takes pride we weren’t involved. and flexibilin being ity. able to Adam Yarish “ W e compete in Warrior West Editor have a lot the NEWSof flexibilPA proity in terms of what kinds gram and they find it helps of things we can put in the their publication grow. magazine, things beyond “NEWSPA is great bearticles, like infographics cause it provides feedback and how-to guides,” Ander- that we’d probably never son said. get if we weren’t involved Wausau West is also and that helps us gauge our able to provide its stu- strengths and weakness,” dents with the proper Yarish said. But the NEWStools and equipment to PA conference also gives

“

”

the staff new ideas they can bring back to their school thanks to the variety of sessions or the chance to meet with other students interested in journalism, he said.

Anderson also adds that the competition aspect makes students work harder to produce quality work.

“People want to earn an ‘A’ in the class and see their story printed in the magazine, but they also want to win awards,” Anderson said. “In order to win those awards, they must put in extra effort and not settle for blurry pictures and meaningless quotes. NEWSPA provides guidelines to create excellent publications and offers incentive to motivate students to make it happen.”

Yarish said they must juggle what will appeal not only to fellow students, but also to the judges.

“My biggest concern is meeting and exceeding the high standards that previous publications from our school have set,” Yarish said. “We have a great track record and I take that very seriously.”

uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa 11

NEWSPA alum becomes dormestic goddess, blogger

by Taylor Krentz

A

Gajdosik is a student at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in Illinois. But it wasn’t long ago that she was a student at Berlin High School taking advantage of the opportunities that NEWSPA offered.

Gajdosik attended the annual NEWSPA conference her sophomore, junior and senior years of high school.

During these years, she wrote for her school newspaper and as a senior, she became editor-in-chief.

This year, however, she will be back at NEWSPA, but in a different capacity. Gajdosik will be leading a session titled “Blogging About Food (Or Any Other Topic).

As a NEWSPA alumnus, Gajdosik said it is exciting to be leading a seminar for students who are in the same seat that she was in just a few years ago. Gajdosik said she learned about writing and gained confidence each time she attended the NEWSPA conference. Seeing other student journalists and talking with professionals was uplifting, she said. But winning a few awards along the way proved to her that she was creating quality work.

Now, as a college student, Gajdosik has found a way to combine two of her favorite things: cooking and writing.

After searching the web for a copycat recipe for Starbuck’s Petit Vanilla Bean Scones and finding the best answer on a blog, Gajdosik was instantly attracted to the blogosphere. She spent hours searching and browsing manda

the millions of other blogs available online. After a few weeks of checking her favorite blogs daily, Gajdosik wrote her first blog post, a recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies.

“The photography was terrible and I’m sure the writing was even worse, but I did it,” Gajdosik said.

Even though her posts are sporadic, Gajdosik’s love of blogging and baking has grown.

Blogging is something that more and more journalism students are turning to in this digital age. With websites like Blogger.com and Wordpress.com, anyone can start their own blog for free.

In some classes at UW-Oshkosh, students are required to start their own blog and create a social presence in the blogging world. Blogs are a great tool for up-and-coming writers for a lot of reasons. First, blogging is writing and any kind of writing helps build journalistic skills.

Creating and maintaining a blog will also come in handy when looking for a job. Writing and expressing ideas about a topic of interest on a web-based platform gives aspiring journalists an advantage for possible job opportunities.

Blogging isn’t only about creating pieces for your portfolio or making yourself more marketable for future jobs. Blogging is a fun, creative way to easily compile thoughts and ideas. Most people have busy lives and don’t get a lot of time for things that they love.

For a busy college student like Gajdosik, it’s no different. “I’ve al-

Amanda Gajdosik, Northwestern University student, has taken her journalism skills and love for food and combined them to create her own blog, The Dormestic Goddess. ways got ideas swirling around in my head for new recipes and flavor combinations, and I needed somewhere to put them,” she said.

According to Gajdosik, the most important rule when starting a blog is to write about something that interests you. “I love, love, love food,” Gajdosik said. “Always have and always will. When I found out I could combine my passion for food and my knack for writing, I was like, ‘sign me up!’”

Her session begins at 8:30 a.m. in Reeve 227 BC. To learn more about Gajdosik and to read her recipes and adventures as a college student in the baking and writing world, visit her blog, The Dormestic Goddess, at thedormesticgoddess. blogspot.com. uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa 12

Journalism Scholarships NEWSPA Scholarship

$500 April 1, 2013 Applicants must have worked on a school publication, attended a NEWSPA conference, be graduating in 2013, and plan on majoring in journalism or something pertaining to it. An application and 500 word essay are required.

For more info visit www. uwosh.edu/journalism/ newspa/scholarships

Dr. Alma S. Adams Scholarship

$5,000 April 30, 2013 Applicants must have completed community service, preferably in the area of tobacco prevention and be able to effectively utilize media to convey anti-smoking messages.

For more info visit www. legacyforhealth.org/adams-scholarship.aspx

Clifford A. Chirstl Memorial Scholarship March 15, 2013 Applicants must have graduated from Green Bay East High School and plan to obtain a degree from the College of Letters and Sciences at UW-Oshkosh.

Preference is awarded to those who are majoring in journalism and are the first to attend college in their family. Applications are available at Green Bay East HIgh School.

Free Spirit Scholarship $1,000 February 2014 Must be a high school senior who is interested in pursuing a career in journalism and who demonstrates the qualities listed in the scholarship guidelines.

For more info visit: www.freespirit.org

All students attending NEWSPA should turn in a permission slip allowing NEWSPA to use their images online, in our newsletter and for other promotional activities. For those over 18, they just need to sign it. Those under 18 will need a parent’s signature. Please turn in all permission slips when you stop at the registration table on April 17.

You can download the permission slip at http://www.uwosh.edu/journalism/newspa/uwophotorelease.pdf

2012-2013 NEWSPA Board Members

Sara Marquardt, President (2015)

Amy Karoses (2013)

Reflections (yearbook) Oshkosh North High School 1100 W. Smith Ave. Oshkosh, WI 54901-1896 920-424-4020, ext. 2684 sara.marquardt@oshkosh.k12.wi.us

Notebook (yearbook) Oshkosh West High School 375 N. Eagle St. Oshkosh, WI 54902-4294 920-424-4092; fax: 920-424-4950 amy.karoses@oshkosh.k12.wi.us

Susan Carlson (2015)

Shannon Kuehmichel (2015)

The Hi-Light (newspaper) Green Bay East High School 1415 E. Walnut St. Green Bay, WI 54301-4305 920-448-2090 scarlson@greenbay.k12.wi.us

Red ‘n’ Green (newspaper) Berlin High School 222 Memorial Dr. Berlin, WI 54923-1252 920-361-2000, ext. 1815 skuehmichel@berlin.k12.wi.us

Lucas Cleary (2015)

Aaron Rompani (2014)

Hi-Lights (newspaper) Plymouth High School 125 S. Highland Ave. Plymouth, WI 53073-2599 920-893-6911, ext. 1538 lcleary@plymouth.k12.wi.us

Jason Cummings (2014)

North Star (newspaper) Oshkosh North High School 1100 W. Smith Ave. Oshkosh, WI 54901-1896 920-424-4020, ext. 682 jason.cummings@oshkosh.k12.wi.us

Rebecca Rozz (2015)

Spartan Times (newspaper) Luxemburg-Casco High School 512 Center Drive, P.O. Box A Luxemburg, WI 54217 (920) 845-2336 rrozz@luxcasco.k12.wi.us

Emma Slowinski (2015) The Paw (yearbook) Ashwaubenon High School 2391 S.Ridge Road Ashwaubenon, WI 54304 (920) 492-2955 ext. 5126 eslowinski@ashwaubenon.k12.wi.us

Noctiluca (newspaper) Appleton North High School 5000 N. Ballard Road Appleton, WI 54913-8942 920-832-4300 ramponiaaron@aasd.k12.wi.us

Contacts at UW-Oshkosh

Rebecca Rousseau (2015)

Barb Benish, Executive Secretary

Tigil, (newspaper) Gillett High School 208 W. Main St. Gillett, WI 54124-0227 920-855-2137 rrousseau@gillett.k12.wi.us

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Mailing Address:

NEWSPA Department of Journalism UW-Oshkosh 800 Algoma Blvd Oshkosh, WI 54901-8696

920-424-7145 Fax: 920-424-7146 benish@uwosh.edu

Haley Walters, PR Assistant 414-467-8195 walteh07@uwosh.edu

Cindy Schultz, Academic Program Associate 920-424-1042 Fax: 920-424-7146 schultzc@uwosh.edu

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