Elon co-hosts virtual high school journalism workshop

Three faculty and staff members offered presentations to scholastic journalists from across the state during the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association’s fall workshop.

Elon University’s School of Communications helped organize portions of the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association’s fall regional high school journalism workshop held virtually on Oct. 28.

Israel Balderas
Israel Balderas, assistant professor of journalism, led a session during NCSMA’s regional high school journalism workshop.

Full newspaper staffs and advisers from more than a dozen high schools attended the workshop, which featured tracks dedicated to news/online, yearbook, photography/art/design, editorial leadership and broadcasting/podcasting. The workshop opened with a panel discussion about mental health inside and outside the newsroom, as well as a presentation about how to create effective newsletters. Elon co-sponsored the event along with Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina A&T State University, UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. Central University and East Carolina University.

Here’s the full breakdown of Elon’s involvement in the workshop:

  • Colin Donohue ’05, director of student engagement and alumni relations and instructor of journalism, presented “Bigger, Faster, Stronger Storytelling.”
  • Randy Piland, senior lecturer in communication design, presented “Action, Reaction and Interaction: Photography Should Evoke Emotion.”
  • Israel Balderas, assistant professor of journalism, presented “From Field Reporting to the Anchor Desk: How to Go Live at 5.”
  • Abby Igoe, assistant director of multimedia projects, produced a video tour of the School of Communications for the workshop’s closing session.

NCSMA is a statewide organization that promotes excellence in scholastic journalism, promotes professional growth of journalism advisers, and speaks for scholastic media in matters of curriculum and instruction. The organization, which is run out of UNC, typically hosts several events throughout the year, and this is the second year Elon has co-hosted a regional high school workshop with NCSMA.