The Chart Online

Students running two shows: 'Campus News Update,' 'Southern Sports Sunday'
Allison Rosewicz

Editor-in-Chief

KGCS-TV is offering the Joplin area a fresh outlook on news and sports - from a student perspective.

Campus News Update and Southern Sports Sunday are two programs the station has created completely from the student broadcasters viewpoint. The students who produce the programs do so voluntarily. They are not required to participate in either show through practicum.

Students do all the work, said Judy Stiles, general manager of KGCS. They re working behind the scenes as well as on air. It s a chance to pursue their area of interest.

Campus News Update began last year, but this year the producers are trying to improve the program.

This is a revamped, new approach, Stiles said.

The program focuses solely on campus issues. Lori Burns and Lacey Messick, senior mass communications majors, co-host and co-produce the show. Some of the stories they have covered this semester include the crosswalk, security and campus parking. The show will soon air a piece about the new cell phone policy in Spiva Library.

We would just be copy catting if we did the same thing as national networks, Burns said. Campus stories are much more interesting because they re not geared toward adults, they re geared toward college students.

Bill Hunt, creative service director for KGCS, agreed with Burns that the show is tailored to its audience.

We want everybody at the College to see something in the show that interests them, he said.

Messick said Campus News Update is beginning to get more viewers.

Students are starting to watch the show, she said. It s getting a little more recognition.

Some of the more popular segments include Major Spotlight by Amber Hoyt, in which a particular major is featured, and professors and students are interviewed, and Where s Cliff?, where Cliff Erwin goes to a random place on campus. If a student can guess where he is, he or she can win a CD. Stiles said Erwin s segment creates student involvement.

Southern Sports Sunday has been airing since 1993-94, but this year, the students involved are working hard to make it better.

It gets better and better as the year goes on, said Gabe Mankin, senior mass communications major and Southern Sports Sunday producer and play-by-play announcer. Each show improves.

During football season, KGCS airs the Saturday home football games on Sunday evenings. But much more work goes into the show than what meets the eye.

A lot of people just think, Oh, the game is on, the game is recorded, Hunt said. They don t see the work from the days before. It s a pretty big job for him [Mankin], and he takes it seriously.

Mankin and his crew have a two-hour setup on Friday afternoons prior to Saturday home games to test the equipment. On Saturdays, the crew arrives two to three hours before kickoff to prepare. And after the game, they spend an hour tearing down.

It s quite a big deal, said Nathan Cassady, senior mass communications major and color commentator.

Mankin said commentating during the game is hard work.

You almost feel like you have as much pressure on you as the players, he said.

During basketball season, the show will feature various men s and women s home games.

The students involved in both broadcasts said the experience they are getting from the shows will help them later in life in their careers.

You encounter so many real-world experiences, Mankin said. You also learn a lot about yourself, how you re going to react under pressure.

Burns said it is excellent preparation.

To get a real job, you ve got to know how to do these things, she said.

Messick compared the experience to an on-campus internship.

Hunt said the key words are hands-on experience.

That s really what helps these kids, he said. They cannot only talk about editing, shooting, writing, being on camera. They can come down here and do it. There s not a lot of stations that will take the time to teach. So getting some hands-on experience is invaluable.

Mankin credited Stiles and Hunt for allowing the students to learn all the facets of television broadcasting.

They put us in the water, he said. It s a sink or swim kind of thing. They do a good job of handing the responsibility over to us.

Campus News Update airs at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays. The show is currently airing monthly, but KGCS hopes to increase to once every two weeks. Southern Sports Sunday airs at 8 p.m. on the Sundays following home games and repeats at various times. Both programs air on Cable One Channel 7 or broadcast Channel 57.