ePortfolioAriam Solomon
Hello all! My name is Ariam Solomon and welcome to my E-Portfolio! I am currently a freshman here at Ithaca College and enjoying every moment of it. I am originally from Silver Spring, MD and to be now living in upstate New York has become a very exciting and new experience for me. I am a Television-Radio major with a concentration in media production and couldn’t be happier with what I am studying here.
Growing up, I’ve always known that entertainment media and news has been something that consistently interests me. I would always keep up with what is going on in the entertainment world by watching E! News with Giluana Ransic and Ryan Secreast, award shows such as the Oscars and Grammys, and also reading pop-culture based magazines such as Rolling Stones, confirming my decision to pursue a career in this field. To be able to attend a school like Ithaca College with endless opportunities and to be able communicate with actual people in the media industry, I couldn’t feel more confident with where I’m headed with my major and career path.
Although I have only been attending Ithaca College for a semester, I have already been exposed to so many various opportunities and experiences within this short time frame. With everything I have learned so far in this semester, it has made it much simpler to narrow down my career path and goals that I need to fulfill. There are several aspects of the world of communications that I have been exposed to such as how essential it is to know multiple languages. Communications today has become more global than ever before with the new technologies that allow several people to share ideas and communicate with one another around the world. To be able to speak multiple languages will help one to become more valuable and accessible for jobs today. As of now I can speak two languages,(English and Amharic), but I am considering taking Spanish because the amount of Spanish-speakers has increased in the U.S. Also, although everyone is aware of how communications is constantly changing, what is more essential is the way we communicate through social networking websites I constantly being. With sites such as Facebook or using Skype, we are able to communicate with people around the world in real time, but the question is what type of tool or site will be created that will be even better than what exists today? What will be the next great thing?. What I have also learned is in order to get familiar with television and the communications field, I need to get involved. Ithaca College has several television shows on ICTV that are legitimate live shows with different genres such as Sport News, talk shows, scripted shows etc. I worked as a production assistant on the show E16 which provides entertainment news such as gossip, web, music industry, movies etc. To be able to work for E16 was very overwhelming but exciting because although I have never had real experience working on and setting up a live show, it was really exciting to see the process from the beginning to the start of the show. It was also exciting because I was learning so much while being a part of a show that mirrors E! News ‘content, it made it enjoyable for me because of my interest in entertainment news. I have also learned that while applying for jobs in the media industries, people who evaluate applications look for how many internships you have worked on and who you have worked with. In order to make it in this very competitive field I have been looking for internships for news and radio stations that I can work for this summer to help start my resume process and make myself appeal more to future jobs I apply for. What I also learned is how journalism is now become popular globally and is beginning to receive much appreciation in other countries. For example, African journalism is an up and coming field that is receiving much attention because of its in depth coverage of news and information of what is going on in different countries in Africa such as Nigeria. Because I am of Ethiopian decent, this type of journalism has grasped my attention because it appeals to me in terms of maybe covering news in Ethiopia and bringing it to the U.S But mainly what I have been constantly exposed to is the way media is delivered has changed so much in even the last ten years with the various technologies that are created, you are able to receive news more easily than ever. With the help of internet and Google, if you are curious about any topic or even news, you can simply type a question and your answer will be available to you within seconds. Also with the help of social networks such as Twitter, you are able to follow news anchors and channels such as Anderson Cooper and CNN that tweet information or news that you can easily receive access to, making you feel closer to the news than ever. It has become evident that television on its own is not look at anymore as the main source of media news, but is considered one of the many outlets that are available to the public next to the internet, social networking sites, mobile internet etc.