Half-hour news program written, produced by students debuts May 7
Rogers State University’s television station will debut a half-hour, student-produced news magazine featuring news and stories from around campus. RSU Magazine will debut 9 p.m., Wednesday, May 7 on RSU-TV, which broadcasts on UHF channel 35, Claremore and Tulsa cable channel 19, and more than 70 cable systems in northeastern Oklahoma and southern Kansas.
The show was reported, written and produced by RSU students with mentoring provided by RSU broadcasting faculty and the RSU-TV production department. The students produced news stories on topics including the library expansion project, student parking concerns, RSU’s budget reductions and RSU President Dr. Joe Wiley’s meetings with students regarding a possible tuition increase.
Feature stories included the Bit-By-Bit therapeutic horseback riding program, a Civil War re-enactment on campus, the Native American Heritage Festival and RSU Radio’s Jam Band III benefit concert.
“We’ve been exploring the development of a student video magazine for some time, but the process recently culminated as a result of significant university growth and increased student interest and enrollments in broadcasting at RSU,” said Virgle Smith, RSU-TV general manager.
RSU is the only university in Oklahoma to operate its own full-power public television station and is currently in the process of adding digital television capabilities. The initial show will air throughout the summer. In the fall, RSU Magazine is planned to become a regular monthly feature on the station.
The anchors were Jenni Collins of Chelsea and Meghan Reeves of Bartlesville. Reeves also served as the student producer. Producer/reporters were Mayme Burns of Salina, Collins, Jamie Evans of Claremore, Julie LaBarr of Claremore, Tye Miles of Claremore, and Ryan Prewitt of Claremore. Prewitt and Parks also served as the primary photographers.
The student production staff included Chris Anderson of Claremore, Burns, LaBarr and Parks. Smith praised the behind-the-scenes support provided by RSU broadcast faculty Dr. Paul Shaffer and David Nelson, as well as the station’s professional staff including Dale McKinney, Tim Yoder, Mona King and Bryan Crain.
The university offers an associate’s degree in radio/television. Utilizing the on-campus, broadcasting facilities, the program provides students with practical “hands-on” experience in the studios of RSU-TV and RSU Radio (91.3 FM).
A combination of technical and lecture courses provide students with a basic exposure to radio and television broadcasting, news writing, etc. RSU-TV broadcasts at 2.75 million watts and reaches an audience of about 1.2 million people within a 75-mile radius. RSU-TV is a key component to RSU’s distance learning programs, which includes telecourses and live interactive programming.