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BROADCAST JOURNALISM
While I don't have the most experience in broadcast compared to other areas, I definitely made significant progress this year in trying to amend that. I edited my first broadcast video, made content for social media, and explored podcasting.
BROADCAST TOP PROJECT
At the end of the year last year, our staff participated in another TOP competition, but this time, we were tasked with creating a broadcast video instead. With it being the end of the year, my team decided to make a farewell video for the seniors, as a way for them to give any advice to younger students and say any final words before graduating.
However, because it was so late in the year, it was harder to track down seniors to interview. This made it more difficult for us to film interviews and get B-roll for the video, but I feel that the ones we did get turned out pretty well. My teammates and I worked on setting up the interviews with our stakeholders, our videographer shot each interview on her camera, and I edited the entire video from start to finish.
I had a lot of fun creating this video, and it made me want to continue to pursue broadcast in the future. Moving forward, I would love to create some fun videos to post on our social media pages and website, as a way to engage our student body even more.
NSPA INSTAGRAM COVERAGE
At the National Scholastic Press Association Boston 2023 Conference this year, my colleague Isabelle Duncan and I decided that throughout the trip, we wanted to make fun videos for the ODYSSEY Instagram to document our experiences. We did fun dinner interviews at some of the restaurants we ate at, we documented our experience riding on the train, and we covered walking around the city.
While it wasn't the most hard-hitting, journalistic coverage of our trip, Izzy and I both had a great time filming together, and it was a great bonding experience for the both of us. Click on the videos above to watch two of the interviews that we did at dinner one night!
UofSC BROADCAST ROOM
During the Southern Interscholastic Press Association Conference 2023, our adviser set us up on a tour of the University of South Carolina School of Communications, and we were able to go inside their broadcast studio.
Our tour guides let us sit behind the desk they use for filming, we got to stand in front of the cameras and talk with the green screen, and they showed us the control room where they were live broadcasting.
It was because of this tour experience that I began to really consider UofSC as a college that I would like to attend to study communications, and I ended up applying and getting in!
PODCASTING
LETTER TO MY YOUNGER SELF
PODCAST PRESENTATION
During my sophomore year, I created an episode of one of our program's recurring podcasts, "Letter to My Younger Self," which is where members of the program can write a letter to a younger version of themselves full of advice, warnings, and tips for the future.
I decided to write my podcast about my experience as a dancer at East Athens Educational Dance Center, from when I got my start to where I am now. I wrote to my younger self to let her know that the work is hard and there will be extremely rough moments, but that it ultimately pays off so well. After I wrote my letter, I recorded and edited my podcast all from my phone, using Garage Band to help with the music and audio.
I am very proud of what I produced, and it even ended up winning Best in Show: Second Place from NSPA in 2021. Click on the photo to listen to my podcast!
Also during my sophomore year, my colleague Kalliope Samaltanos and I presented on Productive Podcasting at the Georgia Scholastic Press Association 2022 Spring Workshop.
In our presentation, we spoke about how to get started, where to find inspiration, what a solid podcast should contain, how to edit a podcast, and more.
I had the best time working on this presentation with Kalli, as she had become an older sister figure to me that year. She really helped guide me through what presenting should look like, and it's because of her that I found my passion for presenting at conferences.
Click on the photo above to view our presentation!
SIPA 2024 PRE-CONVENTION
Harwell_Benjamin podcastArtist Name
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At the 2024 Southern Interscholastic Press Association conference, I attended a pre-convention session on podcasting where I learned how to use the software Audacity to make my own podcasts. I worked with a partner from another school to come up with an interview topic, record in a quiet space, assemble background noise, and edit the final product.
I had an amazing time recording and creating the podcast, and I am very proud out of how it turned out. Click on the audio player above to listen to the podcast I created!
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