In the heat of this extremely unique election and Philadelphia’s hosting of the Democratic National convention, Temple students were given the opportunity to participate in an interesting way.
With the help of five professors from the School of Media and Communication, these students had the experience of reporting on the DNC for various publications across the nation that may not have been able to afford to send correspondents of their own. Twenty students worked as producers, editors, photographers, reporters and journalists throughout the convention.
Students had to apply by ranking their different skills and writing a personal essay about why they wanted to cover the DNC.
Professor Turner discusses the importance of providing this type of hands on experience for students, “Most of the faculty had covered political conventions before. We knew the importance and uniqueness of the experience,” she wrote in an email. “We wanted to share it with the students.”
Aish Menon, one of the students selected and senior in the Journalism Department, reported for American Urban Radio Networks. “I got to interact directly with different politicians and congressmen,” she wrote in an email. “That was probably the coolest thing because they weren’t treating me like a student, but rather as a professional.”
This special topics course began its planning in October 2015 when Karen Turner had the idea of putting something together for students to participate. “We couldn’t have the Democratic National Convention or any major event happen in Philadelphia and not have journalism students cover it,” she wrote in an email.
Although Professor Turner had the idea, at the time, she was still not exactly sure how it would pan out. “I didn’t know what the activity would look like. I knew it would evolve,” she wrote in an email. But she knew something needed to be put together. “I had to help create something for the students, especially since I had covered political conventions,” she wrote in an email.
Dean David Boardman had also been trying to raise money for a project relating to the DNC, but it was when Paul Gluck and Bryan Monroe, Media Studies and Production professors, Bruce Hardy, a Strategic Communications professor and Jim MacMillan of the Center for Public Interest Journalism jumped on board alongside Professor Turner and Dean Boardman that things really started to develop.
Menon says this SMC collaboration was beneficial for the class. “We had five professors and Dean Boardman working with us and teaching us everything, which is pretty unusual for a journalism class but it worked out really well,” she wrote in an email. “They each had so much to share with us and all had so much experience with political conventions.”
This class comes at an important time in our country’s history. Despite the current political climate and existing sexist and patriarchal mindsets of many across the nation, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated by a political party to be president of the United States. This class gave students the opportunity to be there on a night that will be written in history books.
The coverage from the event created by the Temple students can be found on the Temple DNC News Bureau website: https://templedncnews.org/