AMANDA I. LEEMAN 6828 Elliot Ave S • Richfield, MN 55423
(612) 701-2613 • Amanda.Leeman@uwrf.edu” Amanda.Leeman@uwrf.edu

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science in Journalism Minor in Sociology University of Wisconsin River-Falls (UWRF), May (2013)

RELATED EXPERIENCE:

New Director September 2010- Present WRFW-FM, UWRF
•Managed the on campus radio station by overseeing 5 weekly talk blocks by scheduling and approving their show material via email •Compiled a list of relevant issues to present on my 50 minute Public Affairs radio show, which informs listeners of community issues by researching the topic in depth •Evaluated budgetary issues for WRFW to ensure the future functioning of the station.

WRFW Reporter September 2010- December 2010 UWRF
•Reported extensively on two beats (College Of Business and Economics and Student Senate) throughout the semester
•Edited copy to fit the correct broadcast format •Co-anchored and producing several 15 minute newscasts

RF Update March 2009-May 2009 Independent reporting, UWRF
•Gathered and edited footage using iMovie for a bi-weekly five-minute online newscast •Anchored several newscasts while editing copy and operating video equipment •Interviewed various sources as a way to create entertaining, informative, and newsworthy readers or packages

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Adobe Photoshop iMovie Garageband H2 Hand Audio Recorder Adobe InDesign Audacity Flip Video Camera

AMANDA I. LEEMAN 6828 Elliot Ave S • Richfield, MN 55423 (612) 701-2613 • Amanda.Leeman@uwrf.edu” Amanda.Leeman@uwrf.edu

Professional References

Ms. Sandra Ellis
Chair, Journalism Dept.
Professor
University Wisconsin River-Falls
410 South Third Street
River Falls, WI 54022
(715) 425-3169

Mr. Rick Burgsteiner
WRFW-FM General Manger
Professor
University Wisconsin River-Falls
410 South Third Street
River Falls, WI 54022
(715) 425-3169

Mr. Robb Dahlen
Warehouse Manager
Relationship: Supervisor
HockeyGiant.com Retail Stores
758 American Blvd
Bloomington, MN 55420
(952) 881-1286

Featured is a story about River Falls welcoming a new chapter of the American Red Cross. For this story, I interviewed Public Support Specialist Heidi Jury.

This story aired on September 23, 2010 and was apart of the Practicum newscast.

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This story is about Dean Glenn Potts and his newly formed “Dean’s Council.” The council itself focuses on fund raising for the college, the content of academic programs, recognizing internships, and assisting students with job opportunities.

This story aired on November 18, 2010 as a part of Practicum’s newscast.

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Poll-Tastic Wednesday is an event created by UWRF’s Student Senate as a way to gather feedback from the student body concerning how well senate represents them.

Interviewed for this story was event coordinator Jayne Dalton, and Student Senate president, Leigh Monson.

This story aired on November 4th, 2010 as a part of the Practicum newscast.

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The future of journalism is unclear to me. To be perfectly honest, my only hope upon graduation is finding a job and “what do you want to do after you graduate?” seems to be the million dollar question.

In all honesty, I don’t know what I want to do. I know I want to report, however, report on what? Is it that simple? Can you really decide that for yourself as a student reporter? I know in my personal experience, there have been plenty of times I have been writing a story and thought to myself, “I don’t know if I really care about this.”

I love being able to communicate with various people, I love the news and being able to consume it, however, I unfortunately do not know what I love to report on.

I know the future of journalism doesn’t look promising. Or is this just what people who do not study journalism think? Or is it that many people do not understand what I actually do, and their own ignorance fuel the fire of my uncertainty?

I guess my largest complaint about this falls under the negative reactions I receive from just about anyone when I tell them, “I’m studying journalism.”

First, the misinterpretations come.
Journalism? Like the paper?
Well, no. I report for the radio.
So like…Paul Allen?
Well…not exactly…I mean…

Second, it’s the poor job market!
Being a part of this generation I belong to as a 21 year is challenging.
Rising gas prices, expensive groceries, increasing college tuition, seem to be a few concerning trends.

Right now, it feels as though I’m paying money to study a career that doesn’t even have a promising future. However, I think about how much I love reporting. How much I love learning new things, and how much I love talking to new people, and uncovering or discovering things by myself. Despite all of the negative reactions I face after saying, “I’m studying journalism” I smile…because only journalists can understand why they do what they do.

As far as the future of journalism, there is still no clear cut answer to what it will be like. I know it will be an uphill battle, I know the market probably isn’t the best it could be, or has been. But I also know it is something I want to do, and will be doing, for the rest of my life.

As a UWRF student you are well aware that our campus is far from being “large.” This poses as a large challenge for reporters because our options for newsworthy stories are somewhat limited.

I think of my trip to KSTP for “Intern Night.” Here there was a panel of professional journalists that answered our (aspiring journalists) questions. I asked, since these UofM students are my competition, how do I separate myself from them? The way I saw it, they have so much more at their fingertips but what I missed was the advantages we have at UWRF.

The largest issue I had with covering the campus community was turning “ideas” into newsworthy stories. A lot of my stories were of upcoming events (“Poll-Tastic Wednesday,” International Video Series, Executive in Residence, etc). While all these events are important, it was difficult to define, “why is this really newsworthy?” Sure this was difficult but my ability to think critically about stories showcases my capability in being creative in order to create a working, accurate, news story. Again, not to suggest that campus events are unimportant, however, my vision of reporting and what I am most passionate about does not reflect what stories I got to cover.

With that being said, I do wish to explain how fortunate I am to be a campus reporter. Establishing the relationships I have with various sources is something that I do really enjoy. I take pleasure in uncovering things, learning more about events, talking to people, and gaining more information about things that the majority of students are unaware of.

For example, the flawed Student Senate election was something I talked about on my Public Affairs show. I would have covered it for our newscast; however, I wanted to give it more attention. Learning about what happened from the Student Senate president was something that was very rewarding because (if I can be corny), “knowledge is power” (thanks G.I. Joe).

Overall, reporting for the campus of UWRF is challenging because it is a small, secluded campus that can “run out” of newsworthy story ideas. However, the people I got to meet, the stories I covered, and the material I learned about throughout this experience is something I will always value.

Looking back on the semester as a whole, I guess one word I could use to best describe it would be: busy. Being a student reporter, on top of being a student, an employee at Buffalo Wild Wings, and WRFW News Director was a hectic year, and often times it was difficult to “breathe.”

Of the stories I covered, I enjoyed covering “WellCheck,” an annual event that covers the eight areas of Human Health. I used this event as a way to gather footage in order to meet our second multimedia requirement, and I am glad I did because it was a “visually busy” event. However, covering this event did have its challenges.

First and foremost, while I was interviewing my sources with the camera I was also attempting to gather quality sound with an H2 recorder to use for a wraparound story I was working on for our weekly newscast. This was a large obstacle because at some points, my frames were not centered, and in the final product, their heads were cut off diminishing the quality of the overall package.

Secondly, the audio I gathered with my H2 was of high quality, but the audio that was gathered while using the microphones from the TV kit was not. There were many “pops” and “cracks” that suggest our equipment is not of the best quality.

This was the hardest story to cover in respect to how many things I was attempting to do. In hindsight, I wish I had chosen two to three sources to interview just for my multimedia story, and two different for my wrap around. If I did this, the professionalism of my footage, and overall package would have increased. Also, next time this opportunity arises, I think I may enlist the help of a peer to assist with filming the interviews. Just to make sure I can focus in the source and the interview rather than the technical issues I had to overcome.

This is audio of my wrap around story used in the newscast that aired November 11, 2010:

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This is the package I put together for a multimedia requirement:

[jwplayer config="myplayer" file="http://uwrfjournalism.org/media/2010/12/101213wellcheck.m4v"]