Falcon staffers gain experiences at Paly journalism conference

J-Day, a journalism conference sponsored by the Journalism Education Association of Northern California, was held on Sept. 27 at Palo Alto High School’s new Media Arts Center. Journalism adviser Mike Tyler and three members of the Falcon staff attended.

The Media Arts Center, which opened this year and cost nearly $8 million, is two stories with multiple classrooms, has a central atrium and houses the school’s journalism, graphic design, photography and video production programs. In addition to classrooms, the 23,250 square-foot center boasts a cafe/lounge area, a traditional dark room and a portrait studio.

The three Falcon student journalists who went to the conference were juniors Gitika Nalwa and Oksana Trifonova and senior Trung Vandinh. The event offered three 45-minute sessions, each of which had courses for both student journalists and advisers and a two-hour-long interactive extension activity that allowed student journalists to practice reporting in an “iPhone reporting activity.”

Around six courses were offered in each session. Each course covered a specific topic, and topics ranged from “Editorials with impact” to “10 tips for shooting a great video.” The association also offered courses for advisers, such as  “Adviser survival! Roundtable discussion on scholastic journalism law, ethics and school politics.”

Other courses focused less on the writing and more on the details such as selling advertisements.

The conference even presented a small Palo Alto High club that started its own school-wide radio, bringing back the medium along with its old-time novelty.

Courses were taught primarily by journalism advisers and veteran student journalists, such as Jack Brook, the editor-in-chief of Palo Alto High School’s magazine, Verde. 

The convention also featured a keynote address by Elena Kadvany, a Menlo-Atherton High alumna who now works as an education reporter for the Palo Alto Weekly.

“Part of the beauty of being at the Palo Alto Weekly and having such a small staff is that I have gotten to cover so many different topics,” Kadvany said. “I have learned about so many different things.”

Kadvany also discussed how the introductory journalism course she took “on a whim” in college completely “changed her path.” Kadvany then offered advice to students and emphasized the importance of exploring new subjects.

“College is a wonderful place to take a class because you feel like it,” Kadvany said. “You might not know what you want to do.”

Vandinh, who attended Kadvany’s presentation in addition to sessions on photography, website management and sports coverage, found J-Day to be worthwhile.

“[The sessions] were filled with a large variety of classes, ranging from how to better conduct a journalism class to starting up a magazine,” Vandinh said. “It was a very educational experience.”