Daniel Hollis. Communication: Broadcast and Digital Journalism

My name is Daniel Hollis and I am currently a senior here at Mississippi State University. My major at Mississippi State is Communication but my concentration is Broadcasting and Digital Journalism. The reason I choose concentration is because I have been interested in videography and always wanted to learn more. I wanted to learn how to create stories, the different techniques and other interesting things about a camera.

When I was in High School I was at my local church and my youth pastor wanted us to work in different fields in our church to help us understand how to serve our community. So I saw on the list of different fields they handed us they are looking for someone in the media. So I decided to do that and after that I really enjoyed the field. I got to learn how they film the sermons, how to work the switch board and how to work the cameras and microphones. I told my dad about this and he asked me since I had a hard time picking a major for college why don’t I choose this as a career and I agreed.

I was also part of my Broadcasting class during my Senior year in High School. I remember that I wanted to learn more about the major that I was about to go into. So I joined the Broadcasting class at school and got to learn more about filming morning news, how to edit, and create videos. I remember a group and I were working on a parody in our class but we never got it done because of Covid making our senior year short.

What I love about this concentration is that I get to learn a lot of techniques about videography. I got to learn the different camera angles and shots, how to create a script for stories, how different shots create a scene and other interesting things about this field. Also when I create these video news stories for class, I get to meet other people and find out more information about their events that most students may not understand or know and how to create a story to get other people interested.

My favorite thing about this field is video. Growing up, I was always fascinated with television and movies. I would watch TV so much that I would tell anyone what the show was about, who was in it, and how it ended. I always wanted to know how each show was made and how it was added on TV. Plus there has been a part of me that is interested in working in films. Sometimes I would create a movie and imagine that I am a director for this movie that I created.

What I am interested in learning in this class is how to make multimedia news stories and how they are created. I have never heard of multimedia news and I would like to learn more about this class. I would like to learn how to make photos part of the news stories. I do not have photographic experience but I would like to learn.

I do not know what my plans are for the future. I plan on graduating from Mississippi State University in May 2024. After I graduate, I would like to go behind the scenes in either television news or in radio stations. I do have some experience in working in the radio station. When I was in community college I worked at SuperTalk Radio in Jackson, Ms, as a producer. I was a producer for the Garden Mama show and Handyman show on Saturday mornings and I would work on Friday nights for the High School Scoreboard show.

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Part of my job at Supertalk was that I had to make sure that the host and guest were ready for the show. I also had to answer phone calls and text messages from people who are listening to the show and wanted to ask a question to the host. Also I had to play commercials and let the host know when we went back on air. I really got to enjoy working at the radio station and learning about how it all works.

When I transferred to Mississippi State, I transferred to the Starkville station where I worked as a board operator for the Starkville High School and Starkville Academy Football games on Friday nights. Sometimes I would work as a board operator for Mississippi State Basketball or Baseball games.

I would also like to work behind the scenes in movies or tv shows. Like I stated earlier I am fascinated with television and want to learn more about it. I would either like to work in editing the films, work the camera or any other position behind the scenes. I would not like to work in front of the camera because I am very shy and embarrassed if a camera is pointed at me. But if I have to work in front of the camera as well, then I would be interested in doing so.

Email me at dth269@msstate.edu with any questions