Broadcast and print battle it out

From teleprompters to pens, cherubs see all journalists make up one melting pot

By Ivana Dukanovic

Linda Brozyna, a cherub from Lake Zurich, Ill., eager to begin the broadcast workshop, skipped some of the steps on the staircase at Louis Hall. Walking into the Northwestern newsroom she looked to her left and found two navy blue anchor chairs underneath a light wooden anchor desk facing real broadcasts teleprompters.

“Linda Brozyna, Entertainment Tonight anchor,” she said briefly to herself.

Of course when Cynthia Wang, associate bureau chair at the Los Angles office of People magazine, held her Magazine Publishing workshop, Brozyna thought Deal, the magazine she created with her group, could make it in the big leagues. She said she enjoyed brainstorming and the magazine industry would allow her to express herself. 

“Longer deadlines and less pay, but no one else can come up with ideas like this,” Broznya said. “My problem is I love them both, and now I’m torn."

Cherubs practice their broadcast skills during a lab.

Cherubs pose on a field trip to a Chicago news affiliate.

Cherubs from all over the United States and even the United Kingdom arrived at the cherub program in hopes of confirming their journalistic futures. Some came with broadcast in their blood, others with pens in their pockets. But all would try their hands at both broadcast and print reporting at some point during the five weeks.

“Every journalist must be comfortable specializing in all media forms,” cherub instructor Sarahmaria Gomez said. “The journalist who will get hired at the end of the day will be the journalist with the most skill.”

Gomez, along with Northwestern broadcast Professor Ava Greenwell, held three workshops in which cherubs were able to practice broadcasting techniques and live reporting. Prospective cherub anchors learned the importance of fact-checking, precision and presence.   

Cherub Jazz White of New Orleans said she believes there is a distinct line between broadcast and print journalism. 

“Broadcast allows me to speak to the world, and it is more powerful,” she said. 

White said she likes that a broadcaster has to have a certain personality.

“The goal of a print journalist is a byline, but, on TV, broadcasters put everything on the line,” White said.

White hopes to become a TV personality in the future.  But other cherubs, including Emily Mulholland, a cherub from Georgetown, Ky., find broadcast “completely over our heads.” She said print reporting always stays on her mind longer than the nightly news. But television experience is a necessary part of every journalist’s career. 

“I just tried to get it over with as soon as possible,” she said. “It was like ripping off a band-aid.”  
 
With new media outlets, it is rumored that print is dead. 

“Print will never be dead,” said Katherine Perry from Santa Barbara, Calif. “With writers like me that find it thrilling to see their name in print, the new outlets can only help us get our names out there.” 

Although broadcast is not her favorite media outlet, she said, “broadcast and print aren’t competitors. They are both needed for the perfect packaged journalist.” 

Some students find the camera intimidating. Gomez said students should but their fears aside.

“If cherubs can write a 1,200 word trend story, they can go on air,” Gomez said. “Just go for it.” 

“Media outlets are all a part of the journalism melting pot,” Mulholland said.  “Broadcasters with teleprompters and print journalists with pens are welcome.”