Communication Arts Students' Story to be featured in PBS Broadcast "Planet Forward"

Students in Professor Bob Mann’s "TV and Digital Journalism" will soon have one of their news package featured on PBS’s Planet Forward broadcast. The story will be highlighted as part of PBS’s Earth Day programming on PBS stations around the country.

A team of Caldwell students produced, wrote and reported on Genesis Farm, a farm and learning center for Earth studies run by the sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell located in Blairstown, NJ. The students who worked on the piece were: Lucianne Reyes, Kristen Vega, Heather Barber, Steve Lepore, Samantha Payerl and Lynette Lopez. Reyes was the on-air reporter.

Professor Mann is very excited that his students’ hard work is paying off. "The Planet Forward piece was assigned as part of my TV and Digital Journalism course. During my spring 2010 sabbatical, my goal was to find out how major universities were adapting their communications programs, especially in journalism, to the demands of the new internet age. My biggest discovery came at George Washington University in D.C. Former CNN correspondent and Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno runs GW's School of Media and Public Affairs. He had been a guest on my XM show. During my visit, Frank invited Caldwell to be a part of Planet Forward."

Planet Forward was created by Sesno, who also hosts the program. It is a virtual public square based at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington. A broad array of participants including students at GW and other partner universities and colleges, scientists, entrepreneurs and business persons are invited to create content that highlights solutions for global energy and climate challenges. Sesno says it is a "unique place for conversation and the sharing of ideas." The participants compete for a chance to be featured on the national broadcast.

Professor Mann says the project is aimed at showing students how they have to adapt to the so-called multi-media journalism of the day. He is very excited that they "beat out competition from much larger and better known colleges and universities around the nation."

All the students in Professor Mann’s class benefitted from the project. "The students who produced the piece are—as you would expect—ecstatic. They did great work and deserve praise. But the other students in the course take away a lot as well. They realize that Caldwell College can give them the education they need to compete on a big stage. They also learned that it doesn't come easily."

Professor Mann says he "rode the students from the winning team very hard." They had originally "produced a piece which was strong on content, but weak and inadequate in terms of video. I sent them back to Genesis Farm—a long trip on a cold day—to shoot more footage to make the piece look professional. Without the competition incentive they may have not seen the need to pursue excellence. Now, they all see that outstanding journalism is rigorous."

And that understanding of the rigors of journalism is exactly what Sesno hopes university and college students get out of the project. He says he wants them to understand the discipline and research required in non-fiction storytelling, to be able to creatively engage audiences and to "shape the national discussion". Plus it is a chance for students to show their work to "larger, non –traditional audiences."

Be sure and check your local listings for the airing time and date in this market.
To watch the Caldwell College students’ video in full, go to http://planetforward.org/idea/genesis-farm-promoting-sustainable-agriculture-education/