Cooper Morreale. Communication: Broadcast and Digital Journalism

Looking back, it’s strange I am where I am now. As I prepare to wrap up my college experience in the next few months, it’s wild to consider how much has changed in my life, interests, and the world in the last four years. In my life before Mississippi State, I never really had any interest in either broadcasting or digital journalism outside of watching television or occasionally reading a news story. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I got to Mississippi State, and it took a while to find my path here.I bounced around from being undeclared and a business major all the way up until the spring semester of my sophomore year when I decided I wanted to major in Broadcasting and Digital Journalism.

Thankfully, it turned out to be a fantastic choice for me. I’ve always been drawn to things with more of a creative focus and this major introduced me to a lot of great things that I had not tried before. Learning how to actually shoot photographs, create videos, and write creatively has been an awesome experience and I believe that those skills will help me no matter what field I end up in. In addition to the things I have learned along the way, I’ve gotten the chance to be a part of some really cool projects and experiences in my major here that I will never forget.

One of my favorite projects I’ve been a part of here at Mississippi State would be last semester when I got to write, produce, and direct a music video for Mississippi based singer songwriter Naomi Taylor. In that class each student had to create our own individual ideas, scripts, storyboards, and then present them to the artist. After spending time with all of our ideas, the artist actually ended up choosing mine, which gave me the opportunity to produce and direct the video. It was an awesome experience. Our class and the artist went all around Starkville to different locations and shot a bunch of great shots of her and her band acting out my script as well as performing the song. After then, we all had to create our own edits for her to choose from, and now we are waiting for its release in 2024.

Out of all the things I have gotten to do the last few years, I think photography surprised me the most. I absolutely loved my photography class here. Learning how to actually use a camera and take good pictures was such a cool skill to try and get better at. There are so many things you need to consider when trying to set up a shot- when you do it right and get a great one, it feels awesome. I think I’m a pretty good photographer and have the work to prove it, if there were something I could do in this class, that would be it.

I also have learned that I really enjoy videography as well. I have made a ton of different videos throughout my time here that span from news packages, commercials, scholarship applications, sport highlights, and the music video I mentioned earlier. I think I do well with videography-I have been able to write really effective scripts, get really good shots, edit well, and consistently have made good content all throughout my major. It was cool getting to discover this sort of hidden talent of mine behind the camera in all those classes. I try not to brag, but I do think I am pretty good at videography and would love to work in a field that might need me for it.

When it comes to writing, I think I’m a pretty good writer that could use a lot of improvement. I think I have the vocabulary and grammar skills to be a great writer, but really struggle with my efficiency and ability to write a lot. I have written a ton here at Mississippi State for pretty much every class I’ve taken, but still realize how much I struggle when it comes to length requirements. I’m not terrible, but I want to start becoming more creative in how I write and less redundant.

In this class, I’m most interested in learning how to become a better writer and finding new ways to enjoy writing. I feel like I am just okay at writing and consistently find myself having to edit massive portions of what I create. I really struggle to power through on long form writing and have trouble deciding what needs detail versus what needs less. Overall, I think too much sometimes when I’m writing and if there were any skills or tricks I could learn to focus and enjoy it more would be incredibly beneficial to me.

Currently, I work two internships here in town. I’m interning at WCBI, a CBS station out in Colombus MS, and at Hail State Productions, an on-campus sports broadcasting group that works with ESPN/SEC Network. I just started my internship at WCBI this week and am excited to get going over there and have loved everything I’ve worked on with Hail State Productions. With them I’ve been able to work at a bunch of different athletic events on campus and have gotten a ton of hands-on experience in the studio, it’s been a blast.

As for my career plans, I’m trying to figure that out right now. I really enjoy working in the production side of broadcasting as I previously mentioned and am pretty interested in doing something there. I’ve gotten to work as a Director, Producer, Camera Operator, Replay Operator, and more and have really enjoyed every one of those roles. If I could work in sports broadcast or really any broadcast setting in some kind of similar way, I think I’d have a really fun career.

Email me at acm1017@msstate.edu with any questions