Broadcasting quality stories will be easier for students at Bremen High School in Midlothian thanks to 12 new photo and video kits.
The equipment, which is funded by a $1,439.40 grant from the Illinois Press Foundation and Illinois Farm Bureau, includes a tripod holders for phones, microphones and light kits.
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The new features “turn phones into a mobile storytelling unit,” said Michael Lynch, media adviser and sponsor of the school’s Digital Media Production course.
“Since the course is project based, this technology will allow students to produce multimedia stories about our community for our student-based news program Bravecast,” he said.
The program is delivered to viewers via its own website, www.bdtv228.net, as well as through the school’s social media channels.
In his course, “students learn to analyze, evaluate and create multimedia content,” Lynch said, though he’s hesitant to call what he’s teaching journalism. Rather, students are being equipped to “properly express their freedom of speech on national and world events.”
Several years ago, the school recognized the importance of getting multimedia up-to-speed and began to focus on digital storytelling, web content and broadcast.
“It’s amazing how technology has advanced,” Lynch said, noting the new equipment can create a professional looking product even in a “situation where the light may be dim.”
“The goal is to give them the real feel of the journalistic storytelling experience through this equipment,” he said.
But the equipment and course does more than enhance the technical and also adds to the importance of good storytelling.
“Once you know other people’s stories, it’s one of those things where it makes you more empathetic to the people of the world,” said Lynch, who has been teaching for 19 years. “I think that’s something we need in society today.”
The Illinois Press Foundation contributed more than $20,000 in grant funds to schools for laptops, cameras, podcasting stations and other equipment.
“This year’s group of grant recipients is especially interesting because not only is there a variety in the regions where schools are located but there’s a diversity in the forms of journalism being practiced,” said Jeff Rogers, director of the IPF. “Student newspapers, agriculture programs, multimedia digital platforms, podcasts, film clubs, even a TV news broadcast.”
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.