Broadcast Journalism
The Lion's Roar video announcements
Although I am not part of the video production team at my school, journalism and video students work together on projects throughout the year. The Lion's Roar produces our twice weekly video announcements. They often pull journalism students to anchor the show. Something I do all the time.
Coming into the experience as a journalist, I have helped producers come up with questions or get angles for their segments, since oftentimes they come from a more video-based background rather than a reporting background.
It took a lot of adapting to become comfortable reading what I want to say rather than writing it. Intonation is difficult, especially when you have to be fast for video.
Reporting break news
When LHS had a lockdown because of a suspected weapon, both myself and the video program reported on it the next day. I led our coverage even though I had just returned from Boston for the National High School Journalism Convention.
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I wrote a story about the pros of having a quick communication system and anchored a Lion's Roar segment interviewing teachers and security about the lockdown.
Incorporating broadcast into print
Putting QR codes into the yearbook is a fun way to modernize a print publication. While helping keep digital memories alive, it also helps add other staffer's work that isn't traditional writing.
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This is an example of a video a staffer made linked with a QR code. For our homecoming page, we also linked the court video on the page since it's mentioned in a few captions and the story.
Live Twitter Coverage
I was thrown into using Twitter and found a knack for it. I remember offering to cover a budget cut committee meeting at the last minute. I didn’t know that meant live tweeting via The Budget. At first, I was scared and nervous to mess up such a different platform than I was used to.
As I started, I realized how fast I could get reporting out to viewers. I typed fast, had a recording close by, and laser focused on anyone who spoke. It was rewarding getting to do such fast reporting, and the rush of wanting to get the full story in a thread helped drive me to live report more in the future. I found myself eager to live tweet sporting events, board meetings and local community events.
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This is an example of coverage from a typical board meeting. For this, I was pulling charts and data to include visually from the board's agenda as it was presented. Click on the photo to see the full post.
An example of live reporting from a home soccer game. Click on the photo to see the full thread.
Branching out to Tik-Tok
New this year, we made Friday videos to engage with students.
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Using TikTok, a platform more students use, created it new way for us to reach a wider audience. My fellow EIC and I started out with Friday announcements about games and interviewed teachers, students and athletes. Quickly, our staff had loads of ideas and put many into motion.
