Wauwatosa Student Broadcast Network April 2011

Lights! Camera! Action!

Students at East and West high schools recently got a hands-on learning experience about the world of broadcast journalism. The Jump into Broadcast Journalism course provided students with the basic concepts surrounding video broadcast journalism. The course was funded by a grant from the Education Foundation of Wauwatosa (EFW).

The Jump into Broadcast Journalism course provided students from East and West high schools with an introduction to all concepts related to producing a video news broadcast. Students learned how to shoot, capture, work flow, process and edit video. Students also learned how to write in a journalistic style, how to write for a news broadcast and basic interviewing and story development techniques.

As a result of participating in the program, students developed basic fluency in the technical and production aspects of broadcast journalism. Students received over 30 hours of training. Students will be producing two full news programs as a result of that training. Each news package will contain multiple stories. The first production is posted on this page.

The class targeted approximately 24 students – 12 from each school – and met on Wednesday afternoons for two hours. Instruction was provided by two industry professionals, Sitora Takanaev and Meg Ciccantelli. Both Sitora and Meg have extensive experience in the film and video industry. The students also had the opportunity to spend the day at the Milwaukee Area Technical College/Milwaukee Public Television studios for introductory training.

West High School teacher Chris Lazarski and East High School teacher Elaina Meier, believe the journalistic process fosters numerous academic and life skills. When applying for the grant, the two advisors wrote: "Students gather and analyze information from a wide variety of sources to make a story balanced and accurate. They plan and arrange meetings with people unfamiliar to them. They discuss and interview people about ideas. Students take an idea and translate it into a real world product. Students learn to make important decisions and solve problems under pressure. They debate and select topics for coverage. Students make editing and design decisions. Students had to work within budgets and meet deadlines. They solve problems related to topic selection, inadequate sources, design, budget constraints, deadlines and the work environment. Students learn to work as a team. They learn how to divide the labor. They mentor each other. They develop core ethical values such as responsibility, respect, caring, self-control, patience and cooperation. They take on the responsibility of publishing. And when mistakes are made, they learn lessons through the process of corrections, following up on stories and allowing dissenting voices to be heard. Journalism provides students with a supportive and encouraging learning environment."

Lazarski is also the advisor for the West High School student newspaper West Side Stories. Meier is the advisor of The Cardinal News, the East High School student newspaper. Both newspapers are award-winning publications.

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