RTNDA student chapter organizes

The University of Iowa’s student chapter of the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) held their premiere meeting on Oct. 1.

In addition to becoming the newest outlet for aspiring professionals to sharpen their craft, some feel that the UI’s chapter of RTNDA has further potential.

“I first saw RTNDA as an excellent opportunity to strengthen my networks within the broadcast field,” said RTNDA President Ashley Fehlman, a junior from Geneseo, Ill. “It is also a chance to make a difference here on our campus for current and future broadcast students.”

One way the group hopes to make a difference is through the creation of an entirely student-organized newscast. Journalism and Mass Communication students not already involved with RTNDA will be invited to take active roles in the broadcast as producers, reporters, anchors and photographers.

In fact, this project was the inspiration for the formation of the group from the beginning.

UI Assistant Professor Stacey Cone had the initial idea, and wrote to the national RTNDA headquarters in Washington, D.C., for tips on how to start a university chapter of the organization.

“We were the last university in the Big Ten not to have a developed news [broadcast] curriculum, or part of a student newscast on campus,” Cone said.
Members of RTNDA spent subsequent meetings working on distributing tasks for the upcoming newscast, with the primary goal of providing opportunities to any interested students.

“I’m open to working on anything since I’ve never worked on a television broadcast yet, although I would love to either write or produce,” said group treasurer Julia Janssen, a junior from Wheaton, Ill.

Pam Creedon, J-MC School director, also has a goal for the newscast. Creedon hopes this project will provide a co-curricular outlet similar to The Daily Iowan.

“We will continue to work on this goal, so that our students interested in television news will have the same real world outlet that our print students interested in newspaper careers do,” Creedon said.

Other goals for the new student organization include creating a monthly newsletter as a way to inform J-MC students about RTNDA.

“As president I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching the organization grow,” Fehlman said. “I see it as an organization that can only grow and prosper here on our campus.”

— Nicole Norton and Katelyn Porter