Upon further research, I took it upon myself to broaden my horizons based on who I should call, when the person to talk too was literally right in front of me. Last Wednesday, our business seminar class had the opportunity to talk to a few Kent State alumnae who now have a job with WTWH Media in Cleveland. We asked some questions, and got pretty moderate answers. The next day, I called one of them to get more in-depth information without a class.

I talked to Jessica East, an integrated media specialist for WTWH Media, and she told me how she not only shoots video, but she pretty much is the video department. Before her, no one else had the experience to work with a camera, so East, who used to work for the ESL department in the building of Journalism and Mass Communication, made herself her own boss when it comes to shooting video.

“Working with WTWH, I wasn’t expecting to have this much freedom,” East said. “You start off as the new person, so you should really work your way up and because I ran video for the site, I worked my way up faster than I anticipated.”

One of the questions I asked made think of what the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was fighting for. My question was based on ethics and whether or not there have been any ethical dilemmas. The answer was yes and no. For WTWH’s website, and sometimes in the magazines, there are photos she uses that she didn’t take herself. These photos, however, don’t depict any major threat for copyright infringement because of how vague and dull they are. For instance, one of the photos she took from Google images was of a recycling bin and that was it. It had a white background and was simple as she said. Others were from various companies that the publisher is partners with.

“I’ll admit to taking some photos of companies that I didn’t take personally,” East said. “Those photos of a certain company is placed with the story about that company and they’ve never expressed any issues. It’s an unethical line to cross, which is why I’m careful with what I use.”

East said she doesn’t recommend Google images  knowing we as writers should use what we take and write. I bring this up because this is also an example on what makes each company unique in its own form. All publishing companies work differently, and will probably bend the rules, as long as they don’t cross a line and that their superiors are aware. East has never had to deal with an ethical issue regarding her work.

Lastly is how she reports. East said she reports the way she always does during an interview and that’s eye contact, poise posture and many follow-up questions. She said people like follow-up questions because it allows the reporter to go off track and onto a different one, making you and your source feel a close connection. This is another form of trust as she puts it. Even if the questions have nothing to do with the interview itself, it allows the reporter to gain a connection that will most likely help for future reference.

“It’s a good feeling to just talk,” East said. “I’ll know next time to get back to them, they’ll pick up the phone right away.”