Student Journalists Develop Craft
Last updated Sunday, January 28, 2007 4:01 PM CST in News
By Rose Ann Pearce
The Morning News
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SPRINGDALE -- Inside the electronics lab at Northwest Technical Institute, students worked on robots and other electronic gadgetry.
While the electronics students concentrated on their work, so too did Mason Delucci and Stan Watson as they worked their way around the large room of tools, workbenches, bright lights and stools.
Delucci, 16, and Watson, 17, traded their classroom at Springdale High School for the lab setting at the technical school to begin filming a three-part documentary about women studying for jobs in male-dominated professions. They were there to interview Starrla Hughey and Heather Brackett, two of three women enrolled in the electronics program.
The teenagers are among students at Springdale and Har-Ber high schools enrolled in beginning and advanced broadcast journalism classes. It's down-in-the-trenches, hands-on learning.
Students are trained in the basics of broadcast journalism, from news gathering and reporting to the anchor desk to the production side of filming and editing.
"They can walk right into a news business and be a functional employee," said Trent Jones, who teaches the broadcast program at Har-Ber.
The fruits of their labor are seen daily on Cox Cable Channel 14 in Springdale, which the two high schools share with the University of Arkansas.
The nationally recognized "Bulldog News" brings viewers highlights from Springdale High School. Har-Ber students do similar programs, such as Wildcat Entertainment and Wildcat Sports Network.
Jo Ray, who heads the broadcast program at Springdale High School, said other students also are working on documentaries. Topics include the history of Emma Avenue and a profile on Hispanic businesses in Springdale.
Delucci and Watson will return for follow-up interviews in the spring and next fall, Delucci and a new partner will complete the assignment. It will become a 10-12-minute package.
"Ten minutes is a long time," said Delucci, a junior, who noted the experience is leading him toward a career in broadcast journalism after high school.
Watson will graduate in May and plans to attend the University of Arkansas. He is unsure whether he will major in broadcast journalism, but plans to take more courses.
They watch television, particularly the news, with a more critical eye.
"When I watch the news, I know what's going on. It's a lot harder than it looks," Watson said.
Meanwhile, Billy Graham, who heads the electronics technology department at the technical school, hopes the documentary will encourage other women to enter the electronics field.
He's not sure why the number of women has dropped in recent years. He's only had "maybe 15-20" women students in his 22-year teaching career, he said in his interview with Delucci and Watson.
Women with smaller hands, slender fingers and better hand-eye coordination "can do well in electronics," he said.
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