I chose this famous sign off delivered by the great journalist Edward R. Murrow at the end of everyone of his broadcasts. I borrow his line as the title of my final blog post on LCTV13. At the end of today I will be able to call myself a Loras College alum and am ready to go out into the world and put everything I have learned these past four years into practice as I hopefully am able to find a job as a television news reporter.

My roles at LCTV have varied over the past four years. I started out as a reporter and moved up to anchor and associate producer. I have had the opportunity to interview regular people on the street to presidential candidates and have met some really great people along the way. I have also had the privileged to work with some very talented people who are going to have great success in this business. The growth that LCTV has had in the past four years has been amazing and I am proud to be apart of it.

I know that LCTV is in good hands next year and that they will continue to bring you Loras and Dubuque news. We would not be here with out viewers and those of you who check out our website. While I may not be here anymore and this blog will disappear I know that LCTV will continue and have great success.

Have a great summer and hopefully I will be reporting on the news on another television station before the summer is over.

Good Night and Good Luck LCTV!!!
Andrew Huck
From the Boulevard
Associate Producer, Anchor, Reporter

Seven months ago I paid a visit to Apple River Fort in Elizabeth, Illinois. At that time the historic site was facing possible closure by then Governor Rod Blagojevich in an effort to solve the state's budget problems. When I visited site workers and visitors were still hoping to prevent the closure but at the end of November the site was forced to close its doors for the last time, leaving its employees without a job.

Since taking office in January Governor Pat Quinn has slowly been opening state parks and historic sites closed by former Gov. Blagojevich. On Thursday, April 23, 2009 it will be Apple River Fort's turn to reopen after being closed for months.

Apple River Fort was constructed in 1996 and is a replica of how the fort looked on June 24, 1832 when the settlers stopped an attack by Black Hawk and his Sauk warriors during the Black Hawk War. Today the site serves as a history center where you can go and learn about the history of the fort and Jo Daviess County and take part in historic reenactments.

I really enjoyed reporting this story and I would encourage everyone in the tri-states to take a trip over to Elizabeth and visit the site and learn about the history of this area.

Below is a link to the original story that I put together on the fort. On a side note I would like to mention that this story recently won first place in the photojournalism category from the Northwest Broadcast News Association Awards Ceremony. A special thanks to my photographer Daniel Randolph for the great award winning shots.

Here is my story on Apple River Fort.

I thought I would take a short break from my Media Studies Capstone research and share a little bit about what I am doing and learning. The topic of my research looks at how television news stations utilize their websites. As you know most people visit a website for news before turning on the television or picking up a newspaper, you got to this blog from a news website.

Most of the research I have been reading on this topic is that today's news managers want their reporters and staff to be a multi-media reporter. This means that they want their reporters to not only write their story for print or broadcast but also post their story on-line with extra material. The problem is that many reporters don't know how to do this and managers don't have the time to teach these skills. If you are going to be entering the journalism field soon having multi-meida skills will open doors to great careers for you.

The education needs to start in college. All colleges that offer a journalism or media degree need to offer many convergence courses. Students need to know the theory behind it and all the skills to use in a newsroom. As great as YouTube and Flicker is no newsroom uses them. I was recently at a conference that was discussing news websites as soon as the students in the room started sharing their online habits and started asking the convergence classes be taught at their colleges the professors in the room started complaining.

This disturbed me not only as a student and future reporter but also as someone who comes from a family of educators. There is something wrong with the education system if professors complain about their work load, students, and the lack of resources. I think professors don't want to teach these classes because they don't want to admit that they might not know much about this subject and would have to learn along with their students. By not teaching these skills you are not providing your students with the important skills to get a great job.

Books on this topic do exist and there are tons of great blogs and online tools that explain what you need to know about convergent journalism take advantage of that. I encourage all colleges to offer a legitimate convergent journalism course and if your school does not offer one get the books and learn it on your own, you'll be glad you did. Back to writing but I leave you with this final thought. Online journalism is more than just posting a copy of your story and video on a website.

First off I would like to apologize that it has been so long since I last blogged but I have been working on my Media Studies Capstone and a few other projects that have kept me busy but a couple of media law related issues have been in the news recently that I thought are worth talking about.

The first took place in the Cincinnati area the Cheryl McCafferty murder trial. Last week a jury found her guilty of killing her husband. The issue this case brought up was how much a judge can limit the media's access to trials. Local media had planned on live blogging about the trial and taking video; however, right before the trial began the judge banned live blogging, recording devices, and camera's from the court room. A pen and paper were the only things that could be used to record the trial. The ability to allow camera's in court rooms is decided on a state by state level. Illinois, for example, does not allow camera's in court rooms reporters are left to use pen and paper and rely on court room sketches to tell their stories. Does the public need to know what is going on in court rooms across America or should some information not be available to the public every minute of a trial. Should court rooms of America adapt to new technology and the new demands of the public or does media need to be restricted in order to protect the legal system?

The second issues is that there has been a small victory for reporter's privilege. Reporter's privilege is a legal term that protects members of the media from being forced by the courts to give up their sources or be held in contempt. There is big push for reporter's privilege on the federal level. CBS News does not have to hand over the unaired footage of a 60 Minutes interview with a Marine who is being investigated for deaths that occurred in 2005 in Haditha, Iraq. Prosecutors argued that First Amendment protection does not apply to military courts; however, Lt. Col. Jeffery Meeks does apply to court martial proceedings.

I write about these two issues as a reporter because these issues will only become more talked about and debated in the future. As technology expands journalists will want to bring more into court rooms but is this necessary? Prosecutors and lawyers will want to continue to go after and force reporters to hand over their sources, making the work easier on them, but shouldn't sources be protected so the media can still report on important stories and find out information that will benefit the public they serve? Conversations about this should be taking place in newsrooms and classrooms around the country good topic for a communication law or ethics class.

Every so often a journalist updates you to some of the projects they are working on and as you may have guessed it that is the subject of this post. This semester I am working on a very exciting project for my Media Studies Capstone class. I am researching convergent journalism specifically the look and usability of a television news station's website. I am in the process of reading and finding out what all the experts say are effective and not effective ways of using news websites. While all of this research is great there is another source of input that I would like to have. The need for this is because as apart of the project I will be designing web pages for a fictional television news station based on what I think works and doesn't work.

So who is the other source I would like to have? The answer is YOU! I would like to know what you look for in a television station's website, what do you like, what don't you like, what is not there that you would like to see?

Television stations work to serve the interests, convenience, and necessity of the public that they serve. Since as journalists we work for the public, you, I would like to know your opinions on television news websites are.

You can let me know what you think by commenting on this post or e-mailing me at Andrew.Huck@LCTV13.com. I look forward to reading what you think!