Broadcast Journalism
Although I have always opted to write stories instead of filming them, the broadcast program has not been able to entirely hide from my determination to participate in all journalism fronts, including video. ​
Creating
Segments
Although I am not in the film room every day, the subject of increasing diversity in the Hall of Honor was something I wanted represented in all media forms.
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Last year I covered my school's Hall of Honor induction ceremony when two out of three candidates who were nominated by my classmates in order to increase diverse representation in our schools Hall of Honor were inducted.
The Lawrence High School Hall of Honor proudly holds the names of people like environmental activist Erin Brockovich and Google Earth co-creator Brian McClendon.
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I decided to take a look for myself at how underrepresented minority voices were in our Hall of Honor and I was shocked to find out that less than 10% of the Hall of Honor were made up of people of color.
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I immediately undertook the initiative to increase diversity from my previous editors who had graduated and wrote two pieces of my own.
First, about the Harvey Brothers; Frederick, Sherman, and Edward who all became some of the first Black Athletes at Kansas University, served in the 23rd regiment, advocated for a young Langston Hughes as well as the official desegregation of the KU athletics department.
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Second, I wrote about Thomas W. Henderson, the first Black Lawrence School Board member who served on the board as early as 1870. Henderson worked his whole life to advocate for racial equality through his work as a preacher, running for multiple other elected positions, and writing arguments against segregation in his political pamphlets The Colored Radical and The Colored Citizen.
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After completing this work, I wanted to promote my reporting with a video segment. However, I wanted to go more in depth, talking about the purpose of the project as a whole and why the previous editors started it in the first place.
When I pitched it, they asked if I could do the reporting and I eagerly agreed.
Video reporting
The video reporting process differs from the writing reporting in a couple ways.
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1. Visual Element
While doing video reporting, both the reporter and the person being interviewed have to be aware of the fact that there is a camera. I had to find the best lighting, check that the subject was in frame and pick a good background that was either blank enough to not disrupt the story or added directly to it.
2. Audio
We had to make sure that the person being interviewed had a microphone attached to a piece of their clothing. Although audio is usually included in regular interviews, the clarity of audio for a video segment is of the utmost importance because it will be used directly for this form of media. This usually included a mic check at the beginning of the interview and a playback of what their voice sounded like on camera.
3. B-roll
In addition to filming interviews, I had to come up with several places to shoot relevant footage that could be inserted for visual variety. I suggested the school mural, the Spencer Research library and the portraits in the hall of honor. A few locations came about spontaneously, for example, we found a board celebrating black women that had been made for black history month.
4. Quote Selection
Similarly to writing, quote selection is vital to making a good video. This involved transcribing all of the footage, highlighting quotes that we thought would work and listening to the original footage to make sure it worked audibly.
Quote timestamp:1:16
5. Voice over
This was arguably the most challenging part of the process. I worked with the film crew for more than an hour to get three minutes of voiceover transitions. I had to practice the tone, speed and clarity of my voice until it sounded perfect. I'm very glad I spent so much time on it because I was pleased with the results.
Filming the Lion's Roar Announcements
Earlier this year, I was presented with the opportunity to film the weather segment of Lawrence High School’s video announcements.
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It was intimidating to step behind the camera, but I quickly grew comfortable with the formulaic segment.
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This involved making sure the subject was in frame, checking for shadows on the green screen, adjusting the focus of the camera and running the digital cue cards.
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This experience taught me so much about the nuanced world of video. I admire the broadcast program at our school tenfold because of it.
You can see the segment mentioned above at 3:03 mark
Incorporating video into print
One of the best ways to collaborate with other publications is through advertisements.
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Room 308 ProductIons is the broadcast program at Lawrence High. Although we consistently cover the same stories, each program adds its own layer of value. The most important thing is that we support each other.
That is why for each issue of the newspaper, I feature a segment from their broadcast, “The Lion's Roar.”
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Reporting on Broadcast
There have been several times this year when the broadcasting program has had a newsworthy story.
The Lion's Roar has often featured the achievements of journalists, so this year, I wanted to celebrate them through our coverage in turn.​
When homecoming announced that the producers of the court video would consist of all women, I jumped on the opportunity to feature them in our newspaper.
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The broadcast program had been male dominated for the majority of my high school career, similar to the professional world of broadcast. Accordingly, the video crew filming court videos has almost always been male.
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This was the sign of a shift in the video production crew demographics, and I thought it was important to report on.
Writing Scripts
While I have never exclusively written a script for a news segment myself, I often help my friends edit them.
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While working with my peers, I have learned that script writing is very different from journalistic writing. It is broken up into short narrative transitions due to the format of broadcast reporting. Nevertheless, enjoy when I am able to provide valuable feedback for the wording of the scripts.
