‘Tennessean’ reporter gives career, life advice to students

‘Tennessean’ reporter gives career, life advice to students

The Tennessean’s Vanderbilt beat reporter Adam Sparks came to campus to speak to Lipscomb students about the importance of being flexible and honest in their careers. Lipscomb hosted its first Media Masters of the semester on Tuesday evening, with sophomore journalism major Spencer Boehme interviewing Sparks during the evening. Sparks, a graduate of MTSU, has been a sports writer for 19 years. He has won numerous journalism awards, including National Beat Writer of the Year. Throughout his writing career, he has covered a variety of stories, from reporting on the Titans and the Nashville Sounds to flag football and elementary basketball. Sparks encouraged Lipscomb students to be open to a variety of job opportunities, paid or unpaid. “If you are given an opportunity to work, you say ‘Yes,’” said Sparks, noting that unpaid or low-pay opportunities should not necessarily be looked down upon. “You have to get your foot in the door, [in] some way or some fashion,” Sparks said. Sparks gave an example from his own life, explaining that he often accepted reporting opportunities that were generally looked down upon, an attitude and choice which Sparks said he believes gains reporters respect. He also discussed the importance of work flexibility to non-journalism careers, sharing a story of his friend who wanted to be a loan officer but finally accepted a job as a bank teller, due to his lack of experience, and was later promoted to vice president. “The reason he got there is he finally said, ‘I’ll take whatever bottom position you’re offering me,’” Sparks said. In addition to his career as a professional reporter, Sparks is also...

Morality in the Media informs young journalists

The Lipscomb University Department of Communication and Journalism hosted the inaugural Morality in the Media conference Friday. The conference consisted of a variety of journalists and speakers who talked about different aspects of the media. From the changing dynamic of the media and its consumers, to sessions about how to cover gun control issues and gay marriage. Department of Communication Chair Alan Griggs opened up the conference with a welcome to introduce the first speaker Kelly McBride. McBride is the Vice President of Academic Programs at the Poynter Institute. She discussed how the media has changed since the 20th century, and different trends in the media as it relates to consumers. “Students who are going into journalism, or any other form of communication, need to know that our ethics are changing,” McBride said. “They’re changing because the audience is changing.” McBride wanted to make it clear that young journalists need to be aware of their surroundings and paying attention to the changes in the world. “They constantly need to be developing new knowledge about how that audience is changing, and you do that by watching what technologies does the audience adopt,” McBride said. “In addition to all the knowledge you gained in your studies, you have to be adept enough at looking at what the audience is doing, how they’re doing it, particularly around technology.” Following McBride’s speech, there was a panel of guests who discussed the way the media covers controversial issues. The first issue was gun control. The speakers were: retired editorial page editor for The Tennessean Dwight Lewis, WREG-TV news director Bruce Moore, WSMV-TV news reporter...

‘Nashville’ finds fans, extras at Lipscomb

One of the perks of living in Nashville is the great possibility of running into celebrities anywhere you go around town. Thanks to ABC’s newest show Nashville, local coffee shops, music venues and even grocery stores are now turning into TV sets, giving fans the opportunity for those two seconds of fame they’ve been dreaming of. Nashville supporters are taking advantage of the time they have with the cameras shedding light on Music City. Several Lipscomb students have even been featured in episodes that have been aired for the show. Lipscomb junior Kathryn McKinley made her on-screen debut as a Nashville Journalist. Ironically enough, McKinley is a communications major. Her role was to hold a voice recording while directors and producers called ‘action’ and ‘cut’ for three straight hours. “I actually got a speaking part even though I’m speaking with other people at the same time, but it’s still kind of cool because I can pick my voice out,” McKinley said. Students are also creating traditions out of watching Nashville. Lipscomb senior Katie Underwood said she and her friends gather around their TV every Wednesday at 9 p.m.  to view the show. “We love watching the show because we get to point out different places we’ve been to,” Underwood...
Lipscomb student, Occupy Nashville participant, speaks out after arrest

Lipscomb student, Occupy Nashville participant, speaks out after arrest

Senior law, justice and society major Brett Flener was arrested on Friday night along with 26 other protesters on Legislative Plaza as part of the Occupy Nashville movement. The arrest was captured on video by Nashville Scene reporter Jonathan Meador. The video is currently making its rounds on YouTube. At the :06 mark you hear Meador introduce himself as a reporter with the Nashville Scene to the protestors At the :13 mark Brett Flener, the Lipscomb student, introduces himself At :22, an office, over a bullhorn, tells the protestors that their “time is up” (the new Plaza curfew is at 10:00 p.m. with 10 minutes given to demonstrators to leave the area) At :26, you hear a protestor say, “they are approaching!” At :35, the trooper, pictured above, approaches Meador At :38, Meador, tells the trooper that he is “getting off” several times At :40, Meador is told that he is under arrest, and at the same time, Meador exclaims that he is a member of the media At :45, the trooper tells Meador that he “had his time” At :46 The troopers tells Meador that he is “resisting arrest” At :54, the initial trooper tells a fellow officer to “tell him when you get him up there, charge him with resisting arrest” At 1:10 you hear a very distinct sound of handcuffs clasping around Meador’s wrists At 1:38, the officer tells Meador, or “Hoss” at this point apparently, that the camera is going in his pocket The group was released later that evening by night court magistrate Tom Nelson. Earlier this month, senior Clay Smith gave us a video...