Just For TV Teachers

So tell me this–what edgy, hard-nosed stories have your kids filed this past year?

Can you name one time that someone from your staff asked a question that someone else did not want to answer? Did your reporters anger anyone with their aggressive news-gathering techniques? Did they ever challenge the accuracy of a source’s answer? Did any of your students question authority figures about policies, use of funds, or rules that seemed unfair? In other words, did they act like journalists, or did they behave more like high school “good news” reporters, an internal public relations arm of the administration, avoiding any issue that might anger a principal or the higher-ups?

Just getting a show on the air is not enough. Getting a show on the air that does nothing more than retread the same old stuff you covered last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, is just not acceptable. You are missing the point. I know, because we miss it a lot ourselves.

Light, safe, easy, feel-good features are fine for first-year TV students, I suppose. They have to learn the basics But how long are you going to avoid the elephant in the middle of the student center? You know, the lack of funding for academics while sports receive all the financial support they need. Or the way some kids who don’t look like other kids are treated unfairly. What about the invasiveness of school safety procedures? How about the way some schools happily release lists of student names to the armed forces so they can recruit seniors for the military? Does anyone cheat on tests? Are class sizes out of control? Is the building falling apart? How about drug use and alcohol abuse among kids in your town? Anyone refuse to say the pledge lately?

My point, and it’s been on my mind for months, is that we are past the era when it’s unique to have your own student-produced television program. Thousands of schools have them, even elementary schools. We should finally be entering a new era, one where young broadcast journalists regularly tackle serious issues. My sense, and I’ve been looking around a lot online and on tapes and DVDs from other schools, is that most scholastic broadcasting programs are producing features about very safe, community-friendly, grownup-friendly topics. We are not pushing the envelope. I’m not even sure most of us are in the envelope.

Before I rant on, let me come clean. I realize some of the best broadcast teachers in the nation would love to produce more compelling content, but in order to even have a program, they have to live by restrictions and demands placed on them by ultra-conservative adminitrators who remind them all the time who controls the purse strings. I guess my challenge in this blog is not directed at them. They do what they can, and they certainly do teach “best practices” within the boundaries they are forced to follow.

For the rest of us, the advisers who do have the freedom to send our broadcast students after the harder-hitting stories, what is our excuse? I recently sent out an e-mail to the STN list asking teachers to share the most controversial stories their kids produced this past school year. Either everyone was too busy to reply, which I doubt, (because there are always plenty of responses when the topic is the amazing Tricaster, or copyright rules, or the cheapest new cameras), or hardly anyone was able to actually think of an example to share. I think three teachers responded.

I believe it is time for scholastic broadcasters to start reaching beyond segments about the big game, the big dance, the new coffee shop, or the teacher with heart of gold.

Honestly, we are very far behind some of our print brethren when it comes to covering grittier topics. A lot of us consider ourselves broadcast journalism teachers or advisers. But we need to consider what that means. Journalists rock boats, pick at authority, protect those who have little protection, and constantly ask why, or why not? Teachers, if your comfort zone has gotten too comfy, it just may be your boat that needs rocking.

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We are planning our 2007 Hillcrest Broadcasting Banquet. It’s a big night, with a lot of back-patting and plaque-giving. We honor achievement by our “HTV Magazine” staff, our “Static” staff, and our Broadcast I kids. Note: The “HTV” staff does our cable show, the “Static” staff produces our weekly in-house program, and the first-year kids get their feet wet doing projects for both.

It’s our 18th annual banquet, complete with food, then our version of an “Emmy Awards” type of evening, with clips from nominated segments, and student presenters who tear open an envelope to announce the winners.

I think our banquet hits the right notes. A lot of kids receive recognition for their hard work. Sometimes the competition is tough. We had a category back in 1998 in which four of the five nominees had earned national awards already. The judges took forever to decide that one. This year, something special is planned as our seniors unveil the 150th edition of “HTV Magazine,” saluting ten memorable characters we’ve met through the years.

We use HTV alumni to judge our contests each spring, and occasionally a local professional will have time to help out in a category or two. Students get to vote only for Outstanding Anchor and for Reporter of the Year.

The best part of the banquet for me is the induction of our newest “HTV Hall of Fame” members. It’s our highest honor, and you are not eligible until the year after you graduate. I pick the Hall members myself after watching the effort put into our class, and weighing the impact of the stories produced by those being considered. It’s a difficult decision to make every spring. We produce a package reflecting on each inductee’s contribution to our program, looking back at stories they produced, with a few funny moments here and there that bring a smile. My second favorite part of the night is the naming of the recipient of the HTV Alumni Scholarship, which means a new laptop computer for one of the seniors.

The worst part of the banquet is seeing great kids walk away empty-handed because, well, not everyone can win an award. It’s that way in life. I have been teaching for 23 years, and I have never won a single award for my efforts. I actually like it that way. The last time I received an award, it was for Missouri’s high school baseball “Coach of the Year,” after we won the state championship in 1988. Even then, it felt a little weird. I didn’t throw a pitch or swing a bat all season. I filled out the line-up card and tried to stay out of the way most days. The team was that good, trust me.

Banquets are great for recognizing the kids, saying “good job,” then saying goodbye. Some years, that is easier than others. Our staffs have done a great job this year, so it will be a bittersweet night. But banquets are also a transition, the changing of the guard, as the new staffs for “HTV” and ‘Static” look ahead to the fall and all those deadlines.

I hope you are celebrating your staff’s accomplishments this spring. It’s worth the effort. Invite the parents, put together clips of the year’s best (and most humorous) moments, order some food, and have some fun. Just make sure you charge enough to cover the cost of the plaques!

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My annual survey of my broadcast students, totally unscientific, mind you, reveals the same thing it has always revealed: The most difficult part of being a broadcast journalist is finding good stories.

I could read a lot into that. For instance, are my kids a little too sure of their technical abilities? Do they really think telling the story is easier than finding it? Are story ideas really that hard to come by, or are these students just out of touch with the news, failing to keep tabs on the world around them?

Lots to ponder, I grant you, and I have pondered it. For the better part of two decades. Finding good stories. That seems to be the biggest challenge of all. It’s a little ironic, I think, considering we have told hundreds of stories since we began in the fall of 1989. In fact, “HTV Magazine,” our monthly cable show, is known for its storytelling, for finding those little “surprises” and tackling so many edgy topics. We have also told our share of what I call “so what?” stories, to be sure. Those wonderful little packages that shed no light, bring no insight, leaving the viewer yawning and looking for the remote.

So what’s a broadcast journalism teacher to do? Here are some ideas that might help students with story ideas so your next pitch meeting goes better than usual.

*Make them read a newspaper, or newspaper website, everyday. You can even take a page from history teachers and demand they clip out or (print out) a current event everyday until the “get it.” Localizing national or international events is always a possibility. First, they have to become aware of those events.

*Keep a folder of possible story ideas for “someday.” Ideas come up all the time that don’t seem timely, or they generate little interest, but they are viable topics that you can revisit. If you don’t write them down and file them away, they have a way of disappearing forever.

*Teach kids to have “news radar.” That’s what I call it. Get them to listen to daily, routine conversations in a new way, always thinking, “Could that be a story?” Tell them to think about people they have known for years who might be interesting to your audience. Some of our best people stories were about characters right in front of my students. Until they developed their “news radar,” they never considered them as possible subjects for a profile on our show.

*The summer list. I believe in it. Assign your returning staff to write down story ideas they think of in the summer. Ask them to return to school with at least ten ideas. They won’t all work, but many of them will. Minds do not have to take a break just because kids are physically not at school. Traditionally, our first show of the year is pretty good because we come back with all sorts of story ideas.

*Look at your own archives. That’s right, topics your show has covered in the past can be covered again, and brought up to date. For example, we have tracked drug issues with teens for years. Unfortunately, young people continue to find new ways to take a break from reality. The latest one we learned about, “Pharm parties,” where teens swap prescription medications, is on our schedule. So take a second or third look at a trend. Track changes since you last covered weighted grades, tardy policies, teen jobs, standardized tests, fashion, pop culture, etc.

*”Borrow.” I see no problem in covering a story you saw on another school’s show if it is of interest to your audience. Just because HTV did a piece on a local clothing bank, for example, doesn’t mean your kids can’t do the same about a similar organization in your town. Nobody owns a topic. The key, I think, is taking your own, fresh approach. Heck, go to our “Now Loading” section on htvmagazine.com and see if something there sparks an idea.

*Finally, at your pitch meeting, make it clear there are no bad ideas. It’s okay to pitch something offbeat or odd, or to toss out a story idea you are not sure about. Small ideas, undeveloped topics, the right phrase or word, said aloud, can inspire a great idea. There is power in numbers.

It continues to be my kids’ biggest challenge, finding those story ideas that turn into good stories. Feel free to share your ideas by leaving a comment. We’re all in this together, and speaking for myself, I am ready to pounce on any suggestions you have!

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