Lecture Notes | Jon Palfreman

Technology changes at an ever-increasing pace, whether you look at the development of the personal computer or devices that help us tell the stories we spend hours researching and interviewing.

Today’s speaker in my J100 class started his career with the BBC across the pond and later brought his talents to the States, producing one-hour documentaries for the likes of such PBS programs as Nova and Frontline. He’s won a Peabody Award for his documentary series on the development of the personal computer, The Machine That Changed the World, and an Emmy for his work on the Nova series Siamese Twins. Jon Palfreman’s focus, like that of Ed Madison, was primarily broadcast journalism, but a few points stood out that are universal to journalism storytelling as a whole.

Lecture notes | Ed Madison

I’ve been a University of Oregon student for a full four weeks now and I’ve already had a bevy of experiences, the overwhelming majority of which have been positive. Many of my introductory journalism classes have featured guest speakers who teach us something about what it’s like to be a professional in the broadcast, radio, print and online trades. Even though each guest offers different perspectives on the industry, they’ve left me with one key thing: Inspiration.

Consider this the first of many articles. I’m writing these lecture notes as much to convey the messages these professionals are communicating as I am as a means to retain the lessons I learned from them.

I can’t think of anyone better to begin this series with than Ed Madison.