Cat Gonzales
Lantern Staff
Members of Butler Community College’s Mass Communications program traveled to the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP)/College Media Association (CMA) conference in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 25 through Sunday, Oct. 29. The conference featured sessions in various aspects of journalism such as working with a dysfunctional staff to creating a sports podcast.
Upon arrival, the students visited with vendors from various media organizations and possible internships with The Charles Koch Institute, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and the Institute of Political Journalism. These affiliated with The Butler Lantern newspaper, The Grizzly Magazine and Radio/TV students attended the ACP/CMA conference.
“Personally I think every department could benefit from conferences like this,” The Grizzly Magazine Editor-in-Chief Tatum Sturdivant said. “In high school, my teachers always told me that no matter what I decided to go into, I could always use what I learned in journalism and apply it to what I am doing. One session I went to, Coaching Writers, could be used in every department. Everyone struggles with starting an essay and beginning a speech. If instead of just doing the work for them, people could ask them questions getting their thoughts flowing and guide them down the right path. By doing that, then the next time they have to write a paper or give a speech, then they know how to improve rather than relying on others to “fix” their work.”
Mass Communication students attended sessions that spoke to their individual interests.
“I attended the seminar for public relations and sports, how to report on a music concert/festival and turn an investigative report into a podcast,” sophomore Tyler Krenzin said. “The ideas to future my education, and there are several things we couldn’t learn other than there.”
Dale Hansen and Hugh Aynesworth were among two featured keynotes speakers. Hansen, who spoke at the conference on Thursday, Oct. 26, works as a sports caster in Dallas, Texas. Aynesworth, an Emmy award winner, spoke at the conference on Friday, Oct. 27, about his reports and witness testimony of former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald’s arrest and later his murder.
These conference are held yearly, and many collegiate journalists from across the country attended.
“I would go on this trip again and recommend it to other students,” Sophomore RTV Promotion Director Marbella Gonzalez said. “It was informative and fun to meet other students/advisers as well as seeing colleges from around the country with information about their schools and internship opportunities.”