Hello! In this article, I want to overview the Press Day Omega staff writers attended. This was the Garden State Scholastic Press Association fall press day, where high schoolers gathered to learn more about journalism from expert journalists in our state. To name some crucial people, Mike Simons, an advisor in Corning, NY, comes to Rutgers every year to share his insight on the world. He talks about different problems with us, the students, and how our First Amendment rights can be breached while being a journalist. Maria LaRosa is a news reporter for the WBNC New York News. She comes to share her insight on how to be a news reporter. From what I have heard from my fellow clubmates, she explained how she built her way to being a news reporter. Finally, Heather O’Rouke is a 3 time Emmy award winner for her work at WACB-TV. I will share my personal experience and an overview of the press day.
Starting the day, I first sat in with about 150 people and listened to Mike Simons talk about the First Amendment rights regarding students within journalism. I was given a pen and a journalist’s notepad to write the key points of the speech and felt like a journalist for that day. As I write this article, I have this notepad beside me, giving me insight into what Mike Simons was trying to teach me that day. He talked about the difference between Hazelwood and Tinker states, which is the difference between First Amendment rights being enforced for journalism students. He also referenced different protests regarding this problem, like the black armband protests. This was something that students wore in protest against the suppression of the student’s voice. He gave us a lot of different examples of the suppression of the student’s voice, like Brandy Leevy being suspended for something said off the school grounds. He then went on to talk about the Legitimate Pedagogical Concern of censorship. This talks about how Hazelwood states allow protests but censor journalists who cover them. By censoring the news reporters and students, not many people know about the protests, and the overall value goes down. He sent us unique and essential information to help us understand our rights.
After learning all this from Mike Simons, I entered the “News Story” content, where about 40 students were allowed to write a news story about what we learned. It was an exciting experience as it was my first time writing a proper news story. Obviously, I didn’t know what to expect. We had a time limit of 45 minutes, and this was in an essay-esque style that tended to the students around me more. After this was done, I met some new people in the journalism class to understand better where upcoming journalists come from. One girl I met attended a communications school and always loved journalism growing up. She said that news reporting gave her a feeling that nothing else could. I was very intrigued by that, seeing that journalism can be people’s life dream. It isn’t currently mine, but it is something I do enjoy as a hobby.
This fall press day, Oct 28th, 2024, really taught me and other club mates what it is like to be a journalist. Whether that is in a news section, sports, podcast, or any other relevant journalism, we all learned something that day. I am grateful for the opportunity to attend and hope I can experience something like this in the future!
