News. We watch it. We discuss it. We react to it. But do we understand the role of journalists and the information they distribute every day?
Through the News Literacy Project we took students inside our industry, from behind-the-scenes to the front lines of story-telling in order to embrace the process and fully engage as journalists themselves. Hopefully, to walk away with a better grasp of why news and it’s impact matters in our free world.
“We did not learn just how to interview, or just how to write the script. Rather we learned every step,” said Isabel Debruin.
At NBC 26 it all starts with a meeting of the minds. So that’s exactly what we did to demonstrate to students how we decide what stories matter to the community and how they could chose a story that matters to their school. Anchor, Nina Sparano sat down with students from Appleton East High School for a brainstorming session. She invited ideas, discussion, and an invitation to enterprise.
"I asked the students; what subject was meaningful to them? What story can we put together and make an impact with classmates and the community?" Sparano says.
As a team, they decided on a topic: School Safety.
"The students immediately gravitated towards a story on school safety. They wanted to tell the story from a student's point of view," Sparano adds.
Sometimes the topic is the easy part. For journalist, this next steps are often where the real work happens and the story evolves from an idea to a reality. Sparano explained to students that journalist must conduct focused interviews in order to get the facts about the story and deliver a clear an accurate message that is informative but also raises awareness... and perhaps makes a difference.
“We discussed how to get to the heart of the story by asking the right questions. We also dug into the importance of getting to the truth of a story even when your subject is trying to control the interview,” said Nina.
To get all sides, students interviewed their fellow classmates and their principal, Dr Matt Mineau.
“I didn't realize how much journalists needed to consider in order to stay objective,” said Jenna Quinn.
Now from news gatherers to broadcasters.
We brought the students inside the world of NBC 26 for the day in the life of a reporter.
They got to see where we craft a fair and balanced story. Then, they used the same tools we use, so that they too would be able to take the sound from their interviews, and other pieces of video to lay out a piece their own on school safety. Nina explained how to take information from both sides and put those elements together for ethical and accurate coverage. The students logged each and every word of interviews they recorded.
From there, writing. And, a lesson on creating what’s called a package. A unique process that takes a certain skill.
“I learned that when writing an article, or a segment in the news, you always have to include the full information so the viewer does not get confused. When inserting a quote, you have to lead up to it so that the full story blends and the quote does not seem out of place," Alyssa Junkins explained. "Another thing is when you are talking about an event that happened in the past, you must include the date it happened and all photos or clips must be from that specific event, not any others. All of these factors allow the viewer to easily understand what is trying to be conveyed in the piece,” she said.
Broadcasters learn if you see it, you say it. Words and video unite as one in the editing process. Editing is something that is an important key to a well told story.
“It was cool to be able to piece together our story with sound bytes and track. It was very different to write using that type of media,” said Quinn.
“Before this project I had no clue how the news stations did it, and I did not know that with some help I could create a story too! It was so much fun learning about the different factors that go into making the story, and how much work it is” said Junkins.
Last. Finally, watching the finished product.
“It was really cool to see the entire process from start to finish; from the initial layout to the interviews, logging, writing, on-camera work, and seeing it finally come together. To see our ten-plus hours of hard work pay off was truly amazing,” said Jack Pingle.
For students they say now when they turn on the television, or read a story at NBC26.com they have a fresh perspective and deeper understanding of the stories they see.
“The best part of the whole experience was watching the final piece and seeing the script we wrote come to life,” said Junkins. “It made me really proud.”
