Introduction
Through my time on newspaper and as a teen who consumes media constantly, I’ve learned that students get their news through videos, primarily through TikTok or Instagram. This is because younger people engage with news when it’s being depicted visually through video content or pictures, or when reporters or influencers are speaking. This could be in correlation to shortening attention spans, because there are more methods of engagement, such as scrolling, clicking and more, or because it’s the most visually appealing and therefore stimulating. I have a deep passion for broadcast journalism. As journalism evolves with the needs, interests and behaviors of viewers/readers do, I think broadcasting is becoming more dominant. This is incredibly enticing because I want to report more using visual elements. And to give viewers a direct view of what’s happened, with in-person interviews and other spoken information, whether that’s in the event of natural disasters, protests, elections or something else, I’m deeply invested in presenting them with those realities in meaningful, eye-catching ways.
Back story: For National Substitute Teacher Appreciation Day (Nov. 21), my supervisor on the Shawnee Mission School District communications team, for which I intern, asked me to make a short promotional clip. I interviewed Terry Preston, a building substitute who specializes in special education, special education teachers and students and our secretary. My principal’s secretary is someone I speak to almost daily. She helps me find story ideas just about every issue. So when I asked her who a building sub was that she believed deserved recognition, of course, I’d take her word for it. And the more faculty I spoke with about him confirmed it. This was my first experience with using portable Bluetooth microphones and taking video interviews with my phone. The application I use to take videos and store audio is called Blackmagic Cam.
Back story: In experimenting with multimedia coverage, I wanted to get more involved with my publication's Instagram by doing video interviews. This is something I’ve seen do really well with audience engagement, especially when coverage is going into libraries, lunchrooms or crowded events and asking people questions will small microphones. This is something I’ve recommended reporters on staff do to get polling stats, quotes for “We Heard You” sections and find breaking news reactions on a larger scale. When Spotify Wrapped came out, I filmed a reporter asking students during lunch who their top artists and songs were and what they thought about it. I edited these clips in Capcut, and we uploaded the post that same afternoon.
Back story: On Feb. 17, 2026, we covered an Anti-ICE walkout, to which hundreds of students participated in. A first-year reporter and I wrote breaking coverage and photographers published photos, both on their social media and in a gallery on our website with the news story. Another reporter went out to get video interviews with people who attended the protest, and another staff member filmed her doing so. Another staff member followed the protest and posted live updates on our Instagram story with B-roll and captions regarding locations, what protesters were saying/doing, times and more. We wanted to branch out in our coverage after hearing about another Anti-ICE protest on Feb. 26. Early that afternoon, those covering the walkout met in the journalism room and discussed how coverage could look different. What went well last time? What didn't? What's something new that we've been wanting to try? We wanted to continue getting those video interviews, which would be uploaded to our Instagram and digital news website. But these video interviews were done with students who chose not to attend the protest. These protests are some of the first opportunities that my staff has tried to get broadcast coverage. We don't have film camera equipment, so any recent broadcast coverage has been conducted on our cell phones. I'm interested to see how staffers will adapt once the "bell-to-bell" ban has been implemented across Kansas schools starting next year.
Back story: On a visit to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln last summer, I met with editors of the Daily Nebraskan who spoke about how they planned on starting a podcast. One talked about her inspiration being taken from the The Daily from the New York Times, which is also a podcast I listen to regularly. What really resonated with me was how she said reporters have so many meaningful conversations throughout their coverage process, and readers are only given a small sliver of that, which doesn’t seem fair. I couldn’t agree more, which is why my staff is starting a podcast this semester. Our title is “The Final Edit.” And we’ve planned, starting in our first issue of 2026, to introduce a 30 minute segment after distributing our printed issues where our podcast editor will interview staffers, teachers, students and administration about breaking coverage, opinion pieces and our center spread feature. Questions will be asked about the reporting process, what stuck out to those interviewed about their experiences with whatever topic or event is being covered and extracting more information from experts. This is meant to deliver news in a more engaging and accessible way, and reach new audiences through social media platforms. It’s also to act as a teaser for our print publication and attract more readers. The plan for this podcast, consisting of what it’s about, what resources are required, why this is important and more was presented for my newspaper final innovation project. More visuals can be found on the slides.