’Swiss Army knife’ reporters
The need for professional newsrooms to have ’Swiss Army knife’ reporters that come equipped with a wide range of skills and a willingness to take on a variety of different tasks was an emphasis of Chris Klug’s keynote speech to an audience of high school students during the Iowa High School Press Association’s annual State Conference.
On-the-spot news contests Iowa high school students sign up for one of seven contest categories at the Iowa High School State Conference in Iowa City. Photo by David McNace
"We wanted them to know what their options are, should they decide to continue in mass communication and for them to improve on their current skills," IHSPA Executive Director David Schwartz said.
IHSPA is an organization that aims to advance scholastic journalism through a collaboration with and among advisers throughout Iowa and other states. This year’s conferences brought together roughly 575 students from more than 30 schools for a day of learning.
Working on a deadline A high school student takes pictures during Chris Klug's keynote speech for the photography on-the-spot news contest. Photo by David McNace
Students had the opportunity to compete in on-the-spot contests in several categories, including news writing, opinion writing, sports writing, yearbook design, editorial cartooning, copy editing and photography. The contests gave the students a chance showcase what they can produce while working on deadline.
Those in attendance took part in a number of the 33 sessions offered on a variety of journalistic areas. Sessions included themes such as ’Creating Pages to Attract Your Readers’, ’Photojournalism vs. Pedestrian Photography’, ’Taking Design Beyond Basic’ and ’Is Social Media Going to Save Mass Media.’
"The graphic design ones are always really well-attended because people always want to pick up those skills," Schwartz said. "The ones about social media were well-attended as well."
At the IHSPA Regional Conference on Oct. 2, KCCI-News Channel 8 anchor Marcus McIntosh presented his keynote speech, ’Journalism, it is a job that can be serious and a whole lot of fun…’.
"I wanted to let the students know that journalism is like few other jobs out there," McIntosh said. "It is a job for people who enjoy dealing with other people."
McIntosh’s resume includes work at television stations in Monroe, La.; Madison, Wis.; Bend, Ore.; and Springfield, Mass.
According to McIntosh, conferences open the students up to all the aspects of the profession and it is important for the students to know there are a number of jobs behind the scenes that they do not always see including anchoring, reporting, producing, camera work, management, sales, production and engineering.
"I think it is vital for journalists to know they are telling stories," McIntosh said. "It is simple as that. You tell stories to viewers the same way they tell them to a friend. When they get too focused on using fancy words and phrases they lose the viewers and dilute the meaning of the story."
This year’s IHSPA State Conference keynote speaker, Chris Klug, vice president of Shaw Suburban Media and general manager and executive editor for the Northwest Herald, presented his speech, "Journalism: When you get there," on Oct. 29. Klug discussed how it is important for students coming out of high school and bound for college journalism programs to be aware of how quickly the media landscape is shifting.
’Swiss Army knife’ reporters During his keynote speech, Chris Klug explained how reporters need to be equipped with a wide range of journalistic skills. Photo by David McNace
"Journalists should never stop learning," Klug said. "I think it’s great that the students in Iowa have an annual conference because it allows them to see so many different forms of media all in a single day. Right now, these students are in the early stages of aggregating skills. The conference seemed to be set up in such a way that it allowed the students to jump in and out of quite a few interesting sessions.
Klug also noted the importance for journalists to spend time with the First Amendment so that they can understand why the protections that it guarantees are so critical to journalism and the freedom of our country.
"Of all the attributes that a journalist might acquire, there is none that is more valuable than a clear comprehension of the First Amendment," Klug said.
Each year, the conferences tend to focus around a theme. However, this year the IHSPA decided to not name a general theme.
"We are trying to show the students a little bit of everything," Schwartz said. "We thought by just calling it ’the conference’ that that was enough. The key was finding the right speakers."
At the conclusion of the working sessions, the students were able to have a greater appreciation for mass communication and obtained enhanced writing skills to use within their own high school’s journalism classes and newspapers, according to Schwartz.
Timm Pilcher (B.S. 1994), President of the IHSPA and representative for Hoover High School in Des Moines, believes that IHSPA serves as an invaluable educational and scholastic journalism resource for students and advisers in the state of Iowa and surrounding states as well.
"Students gain insight into the world of scholastic and professional journalism through sessions offered my some of the nation’s top media journalists," Pilcher said. "Hands-on and one-on-one experiences highlight each conference, as well as keynotes by some of the country’s most knowledgeable media authorities. Networking is also featured, as the students interact with hundreds of other scholastic journalists, advisers and professionals at each conference."