By Christina Buckles and Kolade Olanrewaju
Journalism students from Peerage (Yearbook), The Royal News (Newspaper), and PGTV News (Broadcast) travelled to Washington, D.C. on Thurs., Oct 18th to tour cable television production studios for TLC & Discovery, as well as visit the Newseum. In the studios, the staffs learned about sound effects, mixing music and sound, and how visuals are put together for short form promos.
After the tour, producers sat down with the students at lunch and spoke on a variety of topics about video, design, and storytelling. Students got an exclusive premiere of the show “Say Yes To The Dress” and a promo of the new season of “Gold Rush”. The speakers also talked to the staff about TLC, their jobs, and how their path led them to work with their companies.
“My best advice I can give you is to find a great mentor and learn as much as you can,” TLC Managing Producer Jennifer Pennypacker said.
After the stop at Discovery and TLC, the staffs road crosstown to the Newseum located on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Newseum has everything from exhibits on First Amendment Rights, to an FBI exhibit, to Pulitzer Prize photos.
Students saw an exhibit on the history of Supreme Court cases dealing with First Amendment rights. Cases such as Tinker vs. Des Moines are documented and shown in the Newseum.
The First Dog exhibit was also a popular attraction for the students at the Newseum. First dogs are dogs owned by the president and his family. The famous dogs in the display include Bo (Barack Obama), Liberty (Gerald Ford), Checkers (Nixon), Fido (Abe Lincoln), and Fala (Roosevelt).
A 4-D movie about the history of newspapers focused on how media covers major events in history. In addition a photo gallery full of Pulitzer Prize winning photos can be seen.
“The best part of the day was that we did a fake news broadcast and the chance to look at the pictures from the Pulitzer gallery,” said JoJo Taylor, sophomore newspaper staff writer.
Students enjoyed learning in an interactive environment that included many digital forms of media, inaddition to the historical authentic newspaper front pages from decades ago. Students stepped onto the stage of a really camera broadcast and also got to go behind the scenes for the television show This Week.
In one of the most anticipated exhibits students were able to see the actual broadcast needle that was brought down from the top of the Twin Towers from 9/11.
“The best part of the day was looking at all of the 9/11 memorial things, because it brought back the emotions of that day,” sophomore Casey Abernathy said.
