Mark Holmberg: Print v.s Broadcast Media

A biology graduate rides his motorcycle to work to lay bricks. He comes across an Ozzy Osborne review in the newspaper and finds it to be “crap”. He attends a Ratt concert, writes a review about it, turns it in to a local newspaper station and lands his first job as a freelance writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch Newspaper in Richmond, Va.

After working as a freelance concert writer for one year, he was hired as a feature writer for eight years then wrote a Sunday and Wednesday column for 11 years, while also working as a general assignment reporter.

He is a 6 foot 3 inch man who sported his shaggy hairstyle and rugged look to work each day while working at the Richmond Times-Dispatch for 20 years. Holmberg recently switch two years ago to television and loves it. What prompted this shift in careers?

“Starting about three and a half years ago the newspaper business started going downhill,” says Holmberg, a WTVR CBS 6 reporter.

Holmberg said that newspapers once were a money-making machine, “they were great at printing the news, but terrible business people.” When newspapers started to lose advertising and the profit margin started to decrease they panicked.

As a solution to this problem, The Richmond Times-Dispatch tried to reach at-risk readers so they catered to a younger crowd by writing shorter, punchier stories with graphics. In the meantime, they were losing older readers, which led to discontinued subscriptions.

“They tried to turn newspaper into a little television show,” said Holmberg.

“They committed suicide.”

Print stories are known to be a daily in-depth look on what’s going on in the world. This separates it from the blunt, punchy, breathless television news, said Holmberg.

Another reason Holmberg left the paper is because of the demands his job started to make, which caused him for the first time ever to miss a deadline for a column. After hanging on a year longer Holmberg finally quit.

Shortly after, CBS 6 News snatched up Holmberg. Since then Holmberg has been working there as a Web reporter.

Holmberg didn’t plan for his next job to be at a television news station.

“I was planning on taking off to Nicaragua, my plan was to be a press secretary for a drug lord or something like that,” said Holmberg.

But he liked the idea and now enjoys every bit of web writing.

It may seem like an easy transition from writing for print to writing for broadcast. A reporter is a reporter, how much different can it be? Holmberg was a respected reporter and photographer while at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he won several awards. But when he started in broadcast, “it was a total disaster,” Holmberg said.

Holmberg admitted it that broadcast is very different from print. He just couldn’t get the rhythm of it at first. Even as a photographer, it was much different than what he was used to.

A typical day for a T.V. reporter starts out with the reporter and assigned photographer going out in the field to interview sources for a story and capture necessary video. They bring it back to the station, the photographer loads the video in the editing system and then gives it to the reporter to pick the sound bites he or she wants in the story and give them time codes and place them in the time line. The reporter then goes back and writes the story including sots, stand-ups, and natural sound. The photographer takes it and edits the video according to the script.

Reporters do a lot of writing. Holmberg had to quit writing to finally become comfortable working at CBS. Holmberg said once he stopped writing, he was able to start looking and listening, the necessary skills to good reporting.

The difference between print and broadcast news is that “TV tells the news with a sledge hammer,” said Holmberg. Print tends to be lengthier, more detailed and requires more digging because they provide more information.

While at Richmond Times-Dispatch Holmberg loved meeting people, interacting with them and gathering their stories. But it was also a struggle making it into a story readers would want to read. At CBS, writing for the web allows Holmberg to use different elements and cool techniques to put a story together making it come alive.

Although the two mediums seem to be on opposite poles, they share relatively the same principles. Holmberg writes the same type of stories as he did when he was with the newspaper. He gathers his information in a similar way and still does regular reporting at the same time. Holmberg said he is just as busy as he was when he was in print.

Print and broadcast are both in a crisis, but print more so than broadcast. The flaws in broadcast and in print are endless. For print, newspapers are drifting away from the bigger deeper story. Television’s flaws have always been looking at the stories they same kind of way.

“All media have been comfortable in their own world and that needs to change,” said Holmberg.

Holmberg believes in the next 10 years everything will be on the web. There will be one or two major newspapers left and there will be one or two national outlets. Blogs will play a significant role.

“Whoever has the best Website will be number one,” said Holmberg.

How Healthy Are VCU Students?

Walking, jogging, or riding a bike, along with eating a balanced meal each day contributes to a healthy lifestyle.
While most of these activities routinely take place at Virginia Commonwealth University, Katie Vatalaro Hill, assistant director of the Wellness Resource Center says that one in three of VCU students are overweight or obese.
VCU’s Institutional Data Report’s 2009 study shows that VCU students do not consume enough fruits and vegetables. Hill says there are a variety of healthy choices to eat on and around campus. But when new students enter Shafer Dining Court, students tend to over do it with its all-you-can eat food stations.
Hill encourages freshmen to go to Shafer when they are hungry, not starving. This way they don’t eat in excess. Hill also suggests that students first walk around the dining hall to survey the options before selecting their meal. This will help them avoid piling too much food on their plate.
Eating too much at once slows down the metabolism, she said.
Many students enter their first year of college fearing the freshmen fifteen or gaining weight their first year of college.
“You come into college, a new environment, whether it’s eating, drinking, partying or not taking care of yourself; you can easily gain weight because you are not in the same atmosphere as you used to be,” says Vanessa Elam, a junior at VCU.
Hill says the freshman fifteen is a myth because studies have not proven it to exist among college campuses.
According to VCU’s spring 2009 Institutional Data Report, 61 percent of students only have one to two servings of fruits and vegetables per day where they should have five servings per day.
Elam believes the survey is accurate when it comes to the fruit intake. Shafer Dining Court and other eateries serves salads and wraps, but “besides that it’s really just hot dogs, hamburgers and pizza.”
Elam thinks she is getting the necessary vegetable intake, but not with her fruits. She believes one reason why students do not eat fruit is because the fruit choices are not appealing.
“Vegetables are okay but the fruit could probably pick it up a little bit, said Elam.
Hill says that students also fall short of making the right choices because of the time constraints and budget issues. Students’ schedules don’t allot enough time to make wise healthy choices so they resort to a grab- and-go nutrition.
“Sometimes they’ll sacrifice their health in order to get everything done that they need to get done,” says Hill.
For example, many students go the entire day without eating, only to end up eating pizza or fast foods late at night. Everyone should eat every three to four hours; breakfast, lunch, a healthy snack, and dinner. Or depending on the person’s schedule, Hill recommends breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a midnight snack, if they like staying up really late. Either way it is important not to miss meals, she said.
Students often make the mistake thinking eating too much is the only contribution to weight gain. Overeating, lack of exercise, sleep, stress and genetics all plays a role into weight gain. Because college students do not get enough sleep they tend to eat and drink to stay awake even if they are not hungry.
“But exercise helps boost energy,” says Hill, and also helps combat stress.
“Exercise is extremely important for college students,” says Dr. Eric West, assistant director of Recreational Sports Fitness Programs. He says exercising helps students study better, retain more information, relieve stress and improves self-esteem.
Ana Sanchez has worked out for most of her life and now works out three to four times a week and enjoys it.
“It gives me energy, wakes up my body to keep going and studying,” says Sanchez.
Although college is stressful and time consuming, students can get their health habits on the right track by practicing some small changes. Setting a curfew to not eat past at night, eat more meals a day with fruits and vegetables, and walk, don’t drive to class.
VCU’s Wellness Resource Center has a registered dietitian to answer questions and point students in the right direction. The center also provides outreach programs for different organizations on campus.
“College student are healthy, but they can be healthier,” said Hill.