New student organization works with UI-7 to put students in charge both in front and behind the cameras
Before the College of Media began admitting freshman into its program in 2008, video cameras and television studios were as foreign to some underclassman as seeing snow was to international students from the Australian outback.
UI-7 and the College of Media's student organization, JAMS (Journalism, Advertising, Media Studies), have helped change that.
Starting in the 2009 spring semester, the club began producing a monthly news show, "JamSession." The show airs on UI-7, the University's cable channel, and is also streamed online at UI-7's Vimeo site.
The latest segment of JamSession featured a story about the Registered Student Organization "October Lovers," a critique on Champaign's local restaurant Fat City, and segments with movie reviews and sports.
JamSession from UI-7 on Vimeo.
In the past, JamSession has interviewed former College of Media Dean Ron Yates and Miss Champaign-Urbana Denise Hibbard.
"The ultimate goal is to get enough people that we could have a show every other week," said UI-7 Program Coordinator Kate Brickman '07 JOURN. "It will happen with time, when the students get enough experience and can train new people. It has potential to be on a regular basis, even in the summer."
Brickman was looking for programming ideas and hoping to get more student involvement when Chelsea Insprucker '12 JOURN, a newly arrived freshman, founded JAMS.
"Chelsea really wanted to get involved and start a group that would do hands-on stuff," Brickman said. "She met with advisers, people in the College, and that led her to me and UI-7. I was looking for a crew and she was looking for experience."
Since then, JAMS has produced five shows and is working to be a monthly production, with more productions coming in November and December.
Entering the College of Media's first freshman class in 2008, Caroline Pahl '12 JOURN saw JAMS' involvement with UI-7 as a tremendous opportunity to learn how to put together a television program.
"I got really involved when I heard about an organization where I could get firsthand experience," Pahl said. "As a freshman, I took it on full force and took advantage. I got to anchor a show for an hour, learn the technology in the control room, and I helped train people."
In her second year, Pahl has taken on a larger role as the producer of JamSession as well as JAMS' Broadcast Journalism Committee Head. As JAMS continues to grow, the students look to expand the production and make it even better.
"This year they needed people to fill in at the producer position, and I'm grateful for the opportunity," Pahl said. "We have so much freedom, it's almost overwhelming. Once we train people in the control room, writing broadcast copy, and with the technical side, we can bring in new things like stand-ups, field reporters, packages and wraps, and live shots."
Things were a little different for Kayla Flam '12 MEDIA STUDIES, who already had experience doing similar work for her high school's television station. She currently works with UI-7 as a student intern.
During JamSession productions, Flam serves as director. This means she is on the headset and communicates with the anchors as well as all the other students working in the control room. Flam also cues all the graphics and video clips.
"I would have been really disappointed if I wouldn't have been able to work with a camera in college, so I applied with UI-7," Flam said. "Now I have more projects, and UI-7 is more widespread so more people see it. It's just really cool to get recognized for your work."
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