Seeking Feedback on Local Story Ideas I’m working on several potential journalism pieces focused on Houston and would appreciate feedback on which ideas feel the most compelling or worth pursuing. 1. Freight Trains Idling in Houston Residents across parts of Houston frequently report long freight trains blocking crossings or idling for extended periods. Angle: Why are trains allowed to idle this long in urban areas, and who is affected most? 2. Why So Many Abandoned Buildings

Ezekial Alvarado Doordashing / Maddison Freeman I used an over-the-shoulder framing and composition technique for this photo in Exercise One. This means the camera is placed just behind Ezekiel, showing part of him while also showing what he’s looking at. This technique helps the audience feel like they’re seeing the world from his point of view . Instead of just looking at him, they’re almost in his position—watching as he searches for orders while DoorDashing. It creates

Concept exercise one was about practicing real-world reporting. We had to stop random people, talk to them, and choose the most interesting person to write about. The goal was to learn how to find a good story in everyday life and turn it into a detailed profile. Interviewing is a vital instrument for journalists because it helps get real information from real people. It humanizes the story. Without interviews, stories would feel less trustworthy and less personal. When I int

This spring semester was my first foray into working alongside other journalists. A huge skill in virtually any professional environment is collaboration. The ability to coordinate and accomplish goals with your peers is a foundational tool of the workforce. It does not necessarily come easily, despite this. I was surprised at the clash of styles, ideas, and the disparate strategies we all had in mind. Working with my peers forced me to realize I had to be vigilant. This care

Working on Concept Exercise 2 was a fun but somewhat challenging experience. People seemed alarmed or surprised that we were asking to talk to them. However, once we were able to get in front of Jane Sidwell, an academic adviser for the School of Education at the University of Houston, she appeared delighted to speak with us, urging us to publish the story so more people would know more about the minor the story was focusing on — applied behavioral analysis. Her passion for t

During my work on assignments for my COMM 3316 Electronic News course, I accrued extra footage. Here are unused bits of b-roll I collected while working on Concept Exercise 2. The story centered on a lesser-known minor at the University of Houston, explaining what the minor is and why it sparked some controversy. To construct an explanatory news video, b-roll was needed to establish the setting and help retain audience attention. The key question was: What b-roll should we co

This exercise demonstrates the use of a digital tool in a journalist's arsenal: an interactive timeline that immerses the audience into the impact and chronology of events.

Podcasts are one of the many vectors through which journalists communicate, and this exercise was an attempt to convey news information through that audio format.

Concept exercise 2 delved into the structure of explanatory news, requiring a thoughtful explanation of a newsworthy topic in a video that engages and entertains the audience.

Dashing for a Dime: Gig Work Lining College Students Pockets How one Gen Zer is using Doordash to pay his rent. By Maddison Freeman, Amirah Zeidat, Valeria Casadevall Tessman For many college-age Americans, independence is a goal that often collides with financial reality. Rising costs for housing, groceries and transportation have left many students living paycheck to paycheck. Ezekiel Alvarado, 21, a former college student in the Houston area near the Second Ward, now reli

UH South/University Oaks Transit Center Nov. 20, 2024 / Maddison Freeman Houston is the most dangerous city in Texas, with the Texas Department of Public Safety reporting Harris County and the Houston PD as the highest crime rated jurisdictions among the top 25 populated jurisdictions. More specifically, the University of Houston is located in the Third Ward, touting an overall crime rate three times the national average according to reporting by Wiechart . Recent troubling

Students hold all of the world's news at their fingertips, privy to see historical events unfold before their eyes in high quality—right after they swipe through just one more funny TikTok. It has long been clear that news is no longer watched by the youth through cable television, or even through traditional news networks. Instead many younger people prefer the convenience of consuming information alongside casual entertainment found in social sites like Facebook, TikTok an

13 U.S States and D.C have enacted lawsuits against the media company TikTok, and are seeking financial penalties. The states accuse TikTok of intentionally using addictive software against children and misrepresenting its content moderation effectiveness in order to boost profits. TikTok rebuffs these claims, saying they offer robust safeguards for parents of teens. UH students share their opinions on the situation.

Featuring Communications Major Mia Gutierrez