J199 students get first crack at field reporting

By Eric Steckling

Most students would be out reveling in the Green Street nightlife or taking it easy at their dorm or apartment on a Saturday night.

But on Saturday, Feb. 27, students from the Science & The Media class were hard at work, reporting on the 27th annual Insect Fear Film Festival held at Foellinger Auditorium.

Armed with video cameras, audio recorders, and notebooks, the students set out asking experts, community members, random bug lovers, and even...each other... about everything the festival had to offer.

For most students, it was their first time acting as a live journalist out in the field.

"It was a pretty cool experience. I never knew some people loved bugs so much," student Robbie Lowe said.

While a lot of people may be timid about being assigned to interview complete strangers, the students took the crowd and patrolled the room looking for interviews. 

The students then had to turn around and blog about their experience, choosing to write about bugs, an art contest and the head of the entomology department, along with a number of other topics.

One of the most impressive skills displayed by this group of freshmen is that they picked up quickly on how to interact with subjects, reporting on different exhibits while trying them out at the same time.