This website’s owners visited the campus of Lindsey Wilson College yesterday to assist a promising group of students learning about different forms of media.
Ten high school juniors-to-be in the Rogers Scholars program, majoring this summer in communications/media studies, met with County Line founders John Overby and Wes Feese to get feedback on their projects and learn more about journalism and media.
Split into three groups, each consisting of three or four students, the young scholars created a media packet to showcase their skills. Each group provided coverage on a different topic, and each packet consisted of photography and written stories laid out in newspaper format, as well as a corresponding one-minute video.
“We want them to gain some real-world experience in this field,” said Allison Cross, community liaison and youth programs coordinator for The Center for Rural Development, who served as the media studies instructor. “It’s about educating them in ways that they would not learn in a classroom.”
During the almost three-hour session, Overby and Feese provided suggestions on design and layout, how to write headlines, story structure, and common pitfalls and mistakes. They also answered questions from the group about how to get started in a media career and the most useful software programs for journalists.
Earlier in the week, the students visited Campbellsville University, The Adair Progress, 93.5 WAIN, and several government offices, interviewing officials on their duties and responsibilities.
“It was good for them because they were able to learn about radio, print, and broadcast journalism,” Cross said. “Now we’re putting that knowledge we gained to use by creating the media packets.”
Aside from only small nitpicks and suggestions, Overby and Feese both said they were wildly impressed with the students’ knowledge and creativity, particularly their proficiency with the relevant technology.
“It was a good day, a fun day,” Overby said. “These are some of the brightest kids in the state. It was a pleasure to meet and work with them.”
