by Cory Woodroof | Jul 23, 2014 | News Slider
Want to get to know Lumination’s new Editor-in-Chief Logan Butts better? Here’s a little bit more information about the site’s new head honcho. Tell us a little bit about your background. I am from Shelbyville, Tennesee, which is a small town about an hour south from Nashville. I lived there for all of my childhood until I came to Lipscomb. I was originally planning on going to pharmacy school after earning a chemistry degree in my undergrad at Lipscomb, but after two semesters I realized I was much more suited towards journalism. What made you want to be a journalist? I love telling people’s stories, especially stories that may not get told otherwise. I also love to write and to dissect things. Journalism is a way for me to practice all of those things at once. What are your favorite subject to write about? My favorite subjects to write about are sports and pop culture for sure. I love writing about basketball, soccer, movies and music, specifically within those categories. Who are some of your journalistic role models? I have so many. When it comes to sports and entertainment writing, I really look up to Bill Simmons and all the writers at Grantland, Sports Illustrated‘s Lee Jenkins and Rolling Stone‘s Peter Travers. As for hard news, I really admire anyone reporting from areas under duress, whether it be the Middle East, Crimea or wherever. I think the reporters for Vice, BBC, Al-Jazeera and Al-Jazeera America do their jobs well. And, of course, I greatly respect the journalistic work of all my professors. What is your favorite part about being in...
by Janice Ng | Mar 11, 2014 | News Slider
Al Jazeera America Nashville’s national correspondent Jonathan Martin likes the competition, creativity and spontaneity of his craft. “These three things really drive me to get up every morning and to work in news,” Martin said to a group of student communicators at Lipscomb University’s Media Masters event in Ezell. “Something is always going, always changing,” Martin said. “You’re competing against yourself. You’re competing against other stations and companies. I love that competition. “Second of all, I love the fact that there is creativity involved in this business,” he said. “You can make it your own. Finally, I think the spontaneity of things is really what drives me.” Growing up in Atlanta, Ga., Martin always knew he wanted to pursue a career in news. His passion started when he was only six or seven years old. “I always wanted to watch the news,” Martin said. “I was obsessed with the production, the anchors, the current events.” Martin began his career in the city of Augusta, Ga. Two years later, he got a call to be the morning anchor at WSMV Channel 4 in Nashville. From there, he was able to work his way up to a weekend anchor position. When he got the call to join Al Jazeera America’s Nashville bureau eight months ago, he said he was “all about it,” and has been working there for six months. Martin took some time to discuss the type of stories he gets to cover and showed a clip of one of his latest stories about undocumented immigrants qualifying for in-state tuition. “Today, I was covering another story at Vanderbilt Hospital and...
