Towson junior Kevin Hess has already made several accomplishments toward his aspiring career in jounralism. He is The Towerlight's associate sports editor He has interned with his community newspaper. He is interning with Press Box Magazine. He has made strides to achieve all of these positions and has done this without letting difficulties come in his way.

Listen and watch as Hess tells his story.

This is my second semester of my sophomore year and I am even more excited to dive into the world of multi-media journalism than I've been before. After learning a great deal in Journalism and New Media I and sharpening the skills that I've already grasped, I am now ready for JNM II. I believe there is still so much more for m to learn even though I feel as if I am already becoming a professional journalist.

Currently, I serve as the Associate News Editor at The Towerlight. Here I am able to write stories on deadline, edit other's stories, create headlines and cutlines, make executive decisions and assemble the layout of certain sections. I am fortunate to be in this position and know that it is bringing me forward in my path to mass communications. Here is the link to my staff profile: Daniel Gross - Assocaite News Editor

Apart from The Towerlight, I also co-own a media production company that formed in Southern Maryland, where I am from. Change of Scene Productions (www.changeofscene.net) has now been in business since 2007 and we are always looking for opportunities to create a project and increase our experience. We offer video documentaries, promotional videos, photography, Web design, graphic design, wedding videos, and much more.

There are many things that I have already experienced that has made an impact on my future career. Starting from publishing a weekly class newspaper in my fourth grade class, I've more recently interned at The Enterprise, a community newspaper in St. Mary's County and worked for TheBAYNET.com, Southern Maryland's #1 online news source. At this salaried job, I was a reporter, photographer, Web developer and sales associate. Check out the news in Southern Maryland by clicking here.

I am very interested in video, photography, broadcast, reporting, writing, Web design, graphic design and almost any aspect of journalism and new media. I find it is very important to publish information and stories in a non-biased voice and find a way to most effectively distribute information to the masses.

Here is a link to my personal Web site

There are so many important factors that are essential to proper journalism. Any reputable journalist must maintain several characteristics within their reporting at all times. It was difficult to choose only three important rules for journalistic writing because all of the rules I find very important. Below is a list of journalism rules that every journalist must not avoid.

Objectivity -
Journalists must maintain an objective standpoint whenever covering a news event or writing about a particular story. When a journalist looses their objective traits, the reader is then reading solely opinion instead of hard news.
Example: "Sen. Barack Obama will soon take office and will do a wonderful job as the nation's new president."
----This example clearly shows an objective viewpoint toward this topic and does not reflect journalistic qualities. The reader does not want to know how the reporter feels about the subject but instead wants the information as it stands. That is why objectivity is one of the most important traits to a journalists.

Accuracy-
I cannot stress enough the importance of accuracy for a journalist. A reporter that does not report accurate information looses all credibility for their stories. Being able to report accurate information is one of the most important elements to a story.
Example: "A robbery occurred on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Bank of America, causing the bank's entire savings to be stolen."
----If the Bank of America was not the bank that was robbed and if 5:30 p.m. was not the right time of the robbery, this statement will spawn all sorts of problems among society and those that may be involved with this situation. These are extremely important facts to write correctly. That is why accuracy is very important because being accurate is one of the first steps to producing a newsworthy story.

Plagiarism-
There are many rules and limits that hinder journalists each day. Plagiarism is one of these rules that journalists are forbidden to do. Plagiarism is taking other written works, someone else's information or another person's quotations and using it in a reporters own story. This is highly forbidden and could result in a loss of job.

This is one of the most important aspects to a journalist because it could result in very extreme penalties.

To learn more about journlism ethical issues read SPJ Code of Ethics

Photo Taken from Google Images
Article Title (9/14/08): Code Red Heat Alert Issued for Today

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.briefs141sep14,0,3140283.story

Short Report:

With high humidity and temperatures forecast in the mid-90s today, the city has issued a Code Red heat alert and plans to open emergency cooling centers. Six centers, operated by the city Housing Department, will open at 10:30 a.m. They include: Northern Community Action Center, 5225 York Road; Southern Community Action Center, 606 Cherry Hill Road (inside the shopping center on the second floor); Northwest Community Action Center, 3314 Ayrdale Ave.; Western Community Action Center, 1133 Pennsylvania Ave.; Southeastern Community Action Center, 3411 Bank St.; and Eastern Community Action Center, 1400 E. Federal St. Residents can also go to Recreation and Parks centers throughout the city for relief from the heat, officials said. The Baltimore City Health Department recommends that residents check on older, sick, or frail people in the community who may need help.

Story taken from The Baltimore Sun (baltimoresun.com)

Article Title (9/14/08): China faults dairy for delayed notice of tainted milk

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.china14sep14,0,3045693.story

Story Lead:

BEIJING - China's health minister blamed a dairy yesterday for the delay in warning the public about tainted milk powder linked to kidney stones in infants and at least one death, as authorities increased the number of known sick babies to 432.

What is a Lead??? What is a short report???

Illustration and explanation by: Daniel Gross

• A lead or lede in journalism is generally the beginning sentences to a news story. This is where the journalist attempts to write the most newsworthy portion of the story, usually including a number of the five W's (who, what, where, where and why.) The lead to a story is found at the very top of the story and is read before anything else.

Now, what you'll find is that in many stories, the writer does not always fit each of the five W's into the lead but saves some of them for later down the story. This is where the most prevalent information and story relevant sentences are found.

In my example, The Associated Press explains a situation in China where the health minister has blamed a dairy for not making proper warning to the public about certain milk causing kidney stones. The lead gives the reader a general idea of what the story will entail and what it is concerning. This lead chooses to cover the who, what, where and when of the story but does not explain the why until later. Still, it gives enough information to segway into further details.

• A short report can mean a number of specific things relating to a news story. Much of this is depending upon the source of media you are reading the news story from as well as the level of interest the story has. The short report is usually only a few sentences. It usually gives some interesting lines that will draw the reader in to let them know the basis of what has happened. It doesn't necessarily give a full outline of the story but it gives out something interesting to make the story appealing.

These shorts can also be used to get small pieces of information out before having the actual full story completed. This could be the case for some breaking news or news alert where there is something happening but the story is still being developed. The shorts can also be used for stories that don't necessarily deem full coverage. In the example, The Sun posted a weather alert to explain the heat advisory. There was no interviewing or investigating involved with this story. It was simply posted to alert the public and provide useful general information.