Annenberg TV News, USC Annenberg's student-run nightly newscast, announced its Election Central section is up and running beginning Oct. 27, and will air live on election night beginning at 7 p.m.
ATVN students will turn the newsroom into Election Central the evening of Nov. 4. They are already reporting on election topics including profiles and propositions, and blogging about politics.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity for our students to gain the multimedia experience that local and network news organizations value so highly," ATVN director Serena Cha said. "Students will be able to say, 'I didn't sit back, I covered the 2008 election live.'"
Student crews will cover campaign gatherings and election viewing events. On election night, they will send back live shots and reports using ATVN's new laptop technology and Skype, including raw, unedited video that will appear on the ATVN Uncut section of the page.
"This is a great opportunity for students to get involved on such an important night," said Stacey Persoff, ATVN's executive producer in charge of political coverage. "If journalism or multimedia work is what you want to do, you should be here."
Visitors to Election Central will be able to fill out an election survey and see instant results. They can also monitor an election map that will be updated throughout the evening, and will find interesting, quirky election facts in their Did You Know section. In addition, ATVN students will blog throughout the evening of the 4th.
“In past elections, we've never had a way to get live video from the field back to the newsroom,” said ATVN co-executive producer Ned Dannenberg. “That meant there was always a delay before reporters could actually get their stories finished. This year promises to be much more exciting both for the ATVN crews and viewers.”
Students from Annenberg Radio News, ATVN's sister news organization, will collaborate with ATVN on this multimedia project. ARN crews will head out to do interviews and take still photos, capturing the mood of election night. Those photos will be edited into slideshows that will appear on atvn.org.
To see the students' work in progress on election night, go to atvn.org, click on the Election Central link. Or, click here. The live Web site will also be featured on one of the screens in the Annenberg building's east lobby that night.
“You can feel the excitement building in the air as people realize what they are going to be doing on Tuesday night, and that is very rewarding," Persoff said. "We do have the pressure of trying to fill a few hours with good valuable air time. We want to bring viewers the best possible content we can. There is always the fear that there will be a technical problem, or we will run out of things to say, but I think everyone's confidence has grown over the past few weeks as we have prepared for this historic night.”
