Oswego State students filled Waterman Theatre Thursday afternoon ready to take advice and information about diverse media from a group of five panelists during the Lewis B. O’Donnell 2011 Media Summit.
Moderated by Dr. Michael S. Ameigh, general manager of WRVO Public Media, the panelists discussed the diversities that define media today that did not exist a decade ago.
Before the discussion started, panelist Louis A. Borrelli Jr. shared a video from his iPhone 4S. It was Al Roker, his friend from Oswego State, saying hello to the students at the summit and apologizing for his absence, as he was in fact invited to participate as a panelist. Roker sponsored the Media Summit.
The first question from Ameigh grappled with advertising to diverse audiences and user-bases. Ric Harris, sales leader and media strategist at Accenture, stressed the importance of researching the diverse consumer groups to find where advertisements would be most useful in targeting minority groups.
“It is easier to buy in bulk,” Harris said. “It is easier to turn to mainstream programs and hope for the best instead of researching.”
Panelists also assessed the growing new media that rely on fast and active technology, compromising the importance of context and accuracy.
“It requires users to be more responsible,” Borelli said. “The responsibility that used to belong to the news editor… now sits in the lap of the viewer.”
Kendis Gibson, the weekend anchor for WJLA-TV and a former student of Ameigh, referred to Twitter as “water-cooler story ideas.” He scans the 140-character updates from other news sources, discovering interesting ideas for himself.
“We need to figure out how to promote content without tipping off the competition,” Sharon Newman from ABC News Radio said.
The panelists also said graduates trying to find jobs must learn how to do as much as they can that relates to media.
“Push yourself until you’re uncomfortable,” Newman said. “And force yourself to listen to other viewpoints.”
The panelists also advised students to learn how to write well and how to tell a good story.
“The first story you have to learn to tell is your own,” Borelli said. “The first thing you’re selling is yourself. Convince them you can do it because if you can’t, the person who can will be the one who gets the job.”
After the summit, students walked out of the theatre to find career connectors waiting for them at round tables. They also had the opportunity to ask questions about their fields and listen to different stories about the successes in the lives of Oswego alumni.
