Broadcasting the Good News
While most high school students are sleeping in on Sunday morning, Kevin Cheng and Edward Park are busy in Concordia’s basement studio of the United Herald TV Station. The founders and producers of the student-run broadcast news show are shooting and editing the fifth instalment of the newscast that will be aired for the entire high school in the coming weeks.
The idea for the show started last year when Kevin discovered that the school had purchased high tech broadcasting equipment for the students, but noticed that the high school wasn’t taking advantage of it. A fan of broadcast television, and more specifically broadcast anchors, Kevin had a plan.
“After learning how much our school had invested, I thought it would be a tragedy if I didn’t utilise my passion for [broadcast television] and utilise the technology for my passion,” Kevin says.
He approached Edward, who shares his love of broadcast news, and the two undertook a four month process to launch the TV station. After all that preparation, the broadcast of their first show was nerve-wracking – especially considering that it was airing at the all-school end-of-the-year assembly just before the students leave for their summer holidays. With Edward acting as director and Kevin behind the desk as lead anchor, they aired their first show.
“It didn’t go so well,” Edward says, through a nervous laugh, as Kevin jumps in to explain. The school had switched the speakers before the assembly started, and the new speakers picked up the background noise instead of the voices of the reporters. The whole thing came out mumbled, a disaster after all their hard work. Bryan Munson, the faculty advisor of the program, told them to take the summer to work on it, and they did, coming back from the holiday with a show they could be proud of.
“The audience went crazy. It was really satisfying to Kevin and Edward,” Mr Munson says about the first show of the current school year. “Now when the student body finds out there’s a student assembly on a Friday, they know there is going to be the broadcast and you can feel the energy.”
The show includes a variety of segments that take in the entire Concordia high school community, from varsity sports recaps to theatre previews. One recurring segment that Edward created called the ‘The United Herald Humanitarian Segment’ highlights the different service opportunities in the community.
“I wanted to do something for the people who are less privileged than us and help them in any way possible. This segment was our way of allowing the student body to become more knowledgeable about the issues around them and how they can become involved,” says Edward. “And I think the biggest tool to eradicate any problem in the world is knowledge. One way for us to incorporate that idea into our initiative is to show [these issues to our audience] and shock them about what’s happening around them, so that they will be motivated to act.”
Edward’s passion for service drove him to write his college application essay on the ‘The United Herald Humanitarian Segment’. He credits the essay, along with his work at the TV station as the reason for his early acceptance to University of Chicago where he plans to study economics and become a human rights activist. Kevin also attributes his experience at the United Herald for early acceptance to his top school, Northwestern University, also in Chicago.
In addition to helping Kevin and Edward achieve their collegiate goals, the United Herald is changing Concordia from the inside. The success of the TV station has encouraged the school’s administration to incorporate more digital media into the classroom, going so far as to create a new mass communications course.
“The United Herald and Zeitgeist [Concordia’s literary magazine] opened the eyes of the administrators to say, ‘This is the direction we need to be going with language arts and communication,’” says Munson, who will be teaching the new course. “The 21st century learner is not necessarily someone who sits down with a pen and paper.”
A perfect example of this tech savvy generation and the target audience for the new curriculum is Jonah Murray. A junior on the United Herald staff, he is being groomed to take over one of the producer roles when Edward and Kevin graduate.
While attending an international school in Tokyo, Murray made highlight reels for his school’s sports teams and enrolled in film class. A new student at Concordia this year, Murray was swayed by the school’s equipment and the show itself when deciding where to matriculate.
With the future of the TV station riding on his shoulders, Jonah is a little nervous about the passing of the mantle. “Edward and Kevin have made the show so good, and they have to pass it on to me. It’s a lot of pressure. I’m just worried that it won’t be as great next year.”
Luckily for Murray and his fellow rising seniors, the elementary and middle school classes are already very involved in their own media studies, including creating and shooting documentaries. Mr Munson is looking forward to the injection of talent from the younger classmen.
“The middle school students coming up have a lot of talent. Their teachers know a lot more about the technology,” he says. “In about four years, we’re going get the fruits of that labour, and the face of the United Herald will change dramatically.”
