New York Times, NBC, Yahoo
Jenna Pirog (centered), New York Times, talks to students about the complex world of virtual reality.
The second day was non-stop excitement! We had a packed schedule today with some incredible visits. The first stop was The New York Times. Jenna Pirog was our first guest. She is a photo editor turned virtual reality editor. She had such a fascinating job. She works in virtual reality, which is a simulation of an environment that you can interact with in a seemingly real way. Her first virtual reality project was The Displaced. It is based on three children who are “displaced” from their homes just like the other 60 million people who are forced to leave their homes due to war and persecution. It is telling their three incredible and unfathomable stories. The new medium has received overwhelming positive feedback. She described VTR as “ A tool. It is a medium that let’s people make up their own mind about something.” I think it is such a compelling medium that will get people aware of what is happening in the world.
Next stop: NBC Universal. I was so impressed by the organization. We received a full tour of the studios. From the control rooms to the SNL set, we saw it all. We later met Miami graduate, Daniella Pierre-Bravo. She is a news producer for the show Morning Joe. We could really relate to her because she was in our shoes not too long ago. She could not stress more the importance of internships and gaining that experience. It was eye opening to hear from a successful individual who knew that internships is what it takes to further a career.
Our last guest of the day was Cassie Carothers, the Food Editor of Yahoo. I had previously had researched her past experiences and accomplishments. Since I was the lead interviewer for Carothers. She was very open about the fact that Yahoo has been in the news recently. Although, she did not elaborate on what she thought the future had in store for Yahoo. I asked her what she thought Yahoo was. She said that “Yahoo is a fun way and place to get your new updates; it is a good middle ground between New York Times and BuzzFeed. She gave my peers and I a lot of information on the “day and the life” of a food editor.