Finding the right experience : news students at Ball State learn in a new way with NewsLink Indiana : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

Abstract

NewsLink Indiana gives news students at Ball State the opportunity to serve as reporters and photographers gathering news and producing it daily. The immersion program gives each participating student 12 credits for his or her work in what is essentially a 9-to-5 work atmosphere in news broadcasted on Muncie's WIPB-TV. I decided to find out what it is like to go through this program for the students involved so that other students and prospective immersion participants can find out more about the program. I followed different student news crews through their process of coming up with stories, going out and finding them, and then piecing them together in the editing room. My video shows frustrations, triumphs, and relationships all formed at NewsLink Indiana in an effort to simultaneously provide news for East Central Indiana and give students practical experience. I found that the students are pleased overall with this form of experience, and most of them would suggest it to incoming students. I also found that it is not an easy 12 credits for these students, but, by the end of the semester, the students' reflection showed their appreciation for such an opportunity.