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Local news can hit from any The South Texan |
 Javier Quintanilla Staff Reporter thesouthtexan@yahoo.com |
You may have heard the phrase “news travels fast.” April 16, was certainly no exception.
As I was traveling with the Advanced Advertising class to the National Student Advertising Competition in Dallas, we were just minutes away from the hotel when one phone call after the other suddenly began to reach the van.
We were all surprised to find out that TAMUK was placed on lockdown. With the managing editor for The South Texan and the News Director for TV2, and a few reporters for both of these student-led media outlets on board, it was amazing to see the van transform into a traveling newsroom.
As all of this was happening it became apparent that TAMUK’s journalism program is on a different level than most and that it is on the right track.
There are two important elements worth highlighting that come out of this experience. First, while the students on their way to this competition were focused on the task at hand, they were able to place this function on hold and immediately fill in their roles as journalists without thinking twice about it. This is a testament to the caliber of students that the Department of Communication and Theatre Arts specifically in their Journalism and Radio/TV programs are producing.
Second, while various reports were flooding the phone lines, it was even more encouraging to see the journalists themselves asking questions and following up with even more, not just for the sake of clarification and good reporting habits.
When incidents like this occur, there is always a risk that those in the position to make such decisions may be over reacting, however it is important to emphasize that without those charged with the task of reporting the events, we would not be able to make those judgments and thus, would be left in the dark.
It is encouraging to know that at this level in the game, students are not being pressed to focus on one angle or just one element of a story and to report on that prematurely, but are being trained to comprehensively report the news when it happens and recognize the importance of reaching their intended audience.