I think this last semester has been beyond influential in who I am as a journalist in InFocus. I started this year wanting to make videos that people would enjoy watching, not the typical package we saw, which was often boring, and the reason students weren’t actively looking forward to InFocus in the morning. Because of this, I often paired with the same people who had the same goal, but a common trait among those who want to make these kinds of packages is that it often disguises their true desire to simply do less work.

What really caused a change in mindset was working with Om on the Redbull package. It was the first package under a strict system that I would call real journalism. It felt so rewarding to produce something with such high quality in every aspect, not just the ones I was in charge of. Something that would be recognized for its quality, something that would win awards. And while I believe that awards don’t necessarily equate good stories, I believe that at our level, it does. For me, journalism is about telling stories, and just because you didn’t win an award doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t do that, but I think that at our level, only those who truly do a good job at telling their story win these awards, which is what only further encouraged me to make more actual journalistic packages.

 

But, this year, my future in InFocus was not only in packages, but also in workload. I would first like to mention, and be blunt, that I think all the leadership positions for the producers were based on who the executives were most familiar working with, not a holistic decision on who would benefit the publication the most, and where. Om was an associate producer working directly with the Executive Producers, Liani and Alon were show managers working closely with all the producers on how to improve the show, and I have worked a lot with Neel in the past. I am not saying I disagree with the decisions, but I feel that they weren’t based on the right criteria. And while I have an inherent bias, even if I try not to, I believe there should’ve been 4 Execs considering how many people applied, and it would be much better under my vision of how leadership should be selected. This includes considering who has the most to benefit from what, how that would benefit InFocus, what would make InFocus a successful publication, and how this person would help carry it out. What do you believe should be prioritized when it comes to making InFocus a successful publication, etc? I hope to share my thoughts during next year’s selection process simply because I like to think I have a good eye for people who are good fits for certain leadership roles, but we will cross that bridge when we get there.

 

Lastly, I want to talk about commitment. In the two months of being an Associate Producer, I can’t help but feel I am doing more work than my peers, and am just taking on the majority of the workload of someone in a higher role than I have. I only see Neel, you, and me commenting on everyone’s packages. I don’t see anyone else during class asking other people where they are in their packages and if they need help. I don’t hear anybody else being called at 10 PM being asked how to upload packages to the website, and multiple calls in the days following, trying to troubleshoot issues. In fact, I am told by the same people that when they have tried calling the others in the past, they got sent to voicemail and never received an explanation.

 

If I am going to be completely honest, during the producer selection process, I was expecting to be an Executive Producer, but now that I am an Associate Producer, I find myself doing everything I wanted to do as an Exec, but with all the additional responsibilities of an Associate, mainly being packages. When I brought this up, I was told, “Ian, I did it last year and survived fine, suck it up,” but I didn’t have the heart to mention I wasn’t once asked how my package was going or if I needed help with anything until I was in trouble, something I have strived to change.

 

I have changed a lot this year, and I expect next year to be no different. But I am now in a position to also help others change for the better, and the truth is, that is my absolute goal. To help people grow, not necessarily just in journalism, but as people, as students.

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InFocus Website Profile: https://infocusnews.tv/staff_name/ian-harvie/

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Resume: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ag7ZI6bgsS_Ny2CUcw2xfPnZtDshv3QHXgsLmxjHs4Q/edit?tab=t.0

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