SHSTV hits ground running with weekly broadcasts

Photo by Salmaan Javed

SHSTV has gone weekly this year.

SHSTV, a branch of the Media Arts Program, has begun a new tradition with its weekly Friday broadcasts, a more interesting way for students to receive the often mundane announcements along with short news reports.

“I think it’s great that we are putting out these weekly announcements,” said senior producer Talia Sisco. “But the stress level from last year has definitely increased.”

In the previous year, the staff churned out video announcements every other month. They were longer broadcasts and often focused on topics on a more in-depth level.

“Getting broadcasts out every week means we have to get information out and put together quickly,” Sisco said. “We also can’t go too in-depth because our time is limited; we can only be as long as the average ASB morning announcement.”

The quicker broadcasts mean catching events early on and delivering them on video in a concise fashion.

“It is hard work, but it really feels like it pays off,” senior reporter Katya Simpson said. “I love seeing our work every Friday and the weekly broadcasts are helping the department’s recognition on campus.”

Many SHSTV team members believe that the biggest difference between this year and last year has been the increased efficiency level, versus trying to get every piece of the broadcast perfect. The process to put together an SHSTV broadcast is often chaotic.

The anchor must sit up straight and read the teleprompter three times, once looking at the camera that has a shot of both anchors, then another camera with just a shot of one anchor, then once more with another camera that gets the shot of the other anchor.

“We do this on Thursday, one day before the broadcast during our MMJ period, so if we mess up we just restart the whole thing,” sophomore reporter Ethan Gelfand said. “And Mr. Palma usually helps us by telling us what to do if he notices something wrong in the other room.”

In addition to having to film the broadcast, the process of getting an idea for a broadcast approved can also be tedious.

“The most difficult part is the pre-production because we have to think of a topic to use and get it approved,” Gelfand said. “If you’re lucky and get it approved the first time, you have to then set up what questions you’re going to ask, who you’re going to ask and when to pull them out of class, where to conduct the interviews, etc.”

Despite the hard work and long hours put into creating the Friday broadcasts, the 28 students on staff have a great time and enjoy seeing their product on the screen.

“I think Friday overall the broadcasts are a lot more successful than last year,” junior reporter Greg Yang said. “Having the broadcasts weekly reminds students of important information while giving them something interesting to watch.”

It seems that students are in agreement, as many enjoy watching their peers on the TV screen while getting information from a different take than the normal intercom announcements.

“I think the SHSTV broadcasts are really good,” senior Salmaan Javed said. “They’re really informative and it’s interesting to see news broadcast in a different medium than usual.”

The timely broadcasts have introduced a new perspective to the program; instead of covering events at leisurely pace and reporting them every other month, students must make sure they cover the current news and broadcast it to the student body almost immediately after it occurs.

“With multimedia journalism we get new people every year, which means they need to get the fundamentals down first before they start working,” said senior producer Nicole Shadman. “So while in class, we often observe people learning rather than work getting done. It’s difficult, but its a new aspect to the program, and it feels like a current news broadcast, which is helpful for students who want to know what went on that particular week.”

SHSTV has its own website to which it uploads current newsworthy videos, as well as coverage of events such as assembly’s, sports, and dances that occur during the year. All videos can be found on shstv.saratogahigh.org.