Christian Peterson
Reporter@riverbendnews.org
On Wednesday, Jan. 18, Riverbend News staff members Grace McAlister, Lucy Golub and Christian Peterson visited Suwannee Middle School’s (SMS) broadcasting class. The crew had been invited by the class’ teacher Tammy Neil, as an opportunity for the students to learn more about working in the news industry. However, Riverbend walked away with new knowledge as well.
The students walked into class that day to find the three Riverbend News staff members, a stack of newspapers and an easy period. The class started with Golub, Peterson and McAlister taking turns rotating between three different groups of students. Golub discussed her work as the paper’s ad builder, interactions with customers, and her favorite part of her job: covering sports events. McAlister focused on her job as a reporter, with a focus on crime. She told the students about the process of working with law enforcement for arrest reports, finding information on the internet and interviewing community members. Peterson also talked about his role as a reporter, with his focus being more on the paper’s interactions with local government and covering board meetings. All three made sure to answer any questions the students had to the best of their abilities.
Afterwards, the students were given the opportunity to show off the different things they do in class. They explained how they split into two different news teams, with everyone having a different role. Some students are anchors of their newscast, while others work behind the scenes on the technical side. Both groups are run by a different student, who acts as their editor. Riverbend News plans to work even closer with Neil and the SMS Broadcasting class in the future.