USC's Annenberg School for Communication Prepares Students for Real-World Broadcasting
In the competitive field of news journalism, technical experience is more important than ever. That's why the School of Journalism at the University of Southern California's (USC's) Annenberg School for Communication requires its bachelor's and master's degree students in broadcast, print, and online journalism to matriculate through a core curriculum that includes hands-on instruction with the industry's leading editing and broadcast technology. In addition to learning the principles of editing, USC Annenberg students are taught to operate Avid NewsCutter XP nonlinear editing systems and Avid iNEWS newsroom computer systems as a means to increase their experience and viability in the marketplace. Since 1997, more than 1,300 Annenberg students have been trained to use Avid NewsCutter, and since 2004 more than 200 students have been introduced to Avid iNEWS.
"Our job is to prepare Annenberg students for the challenges that they'll face in real news environments," says Chuck Boyles, program operations manager for the school. "Avid is a definite leader in the field. It's everywhere. So it only makes sense that we teach it here at USC Annenberg."
In addition to Avid NewsCutter XP and Avid iNEWS systems, students also use Avid's newly acquired Deko 1000 on-air graphics systems as well as a legacy Pinnacle Lightning still store. All journalism students are also issued their own DV cameras with Maxtor 160 GB removable hard drives so they can manage their own projects and media. "My goal is to create a systems environment that emulates an industry environment and challenge our students to do as much work as possible within it. This means keeping my technical staff involvement to a minimum so that the students carry the ball," says Boyles. "It's a tough challenge, but I have to say that I'm really proud of what we're doing here."
"Our job is to prepare USC Annenberg students for the challenges that they'll face in real news environments."
- Chuck Boyles, Program Operations Manager, USC Annenberg School for Communication
A True Newsroom
As the adage goes, the best way to learn is by doing, and this is exactly the thought behind USC Annenberg's two award-winning news programs: Annenberg TV News ( ATVN ), a 30-minute day-of-air news program, and IMPACT , a long-form news show. Both programs air on USC's Trojan Vision, a 24/7 local cable channel available across the USC campus and surrounding areas. News broadcasts are also available on the ATVN Web site. Written, reported, edited, and produced by USC Annenberg students, these shows provide exposure to the ethical dilemmas and deadline pressures that exist in real news environments. The shows also offer valuable work experience, which helps USC Annenberg graduates land jobs at top news organizations, such as ABC News, NBC News ( Dateline ), and Fox Sports.
"We hear back that after working on USC Annenberg programming our graduates are confident and prepared for work in the field," says John Goldsmith, ATVN production coordinator. "On shows like ATVN , they're getting real-world experience on real-world equipment, and that makes a big difference. They're also doing outstanding work."
ATVN has won two Mark of Excellence Awards for Best College Newscast from the Society of Professional Journalists and multiple Hearst Broadcast Awards, while IMPACT won the 2005 Academy of Television Arts and Sciences College Television Award for Best College TV Magazine Program.
The ATVN newsroom is configured for 30 concurrent Avid iNEWS sessions and has four NewsCutter XP video editing workstations with Avid Mojo hardware and three NewsCutter workstations on Windows NT. Using this setup, students working on the nightly news can ingest footage, search national and local wires, compose news stories, edit footage, create rundowns, and generate news packages as they would in professional broadcast environments. Students who work on IMPACT's long-form projects have access to four of their own NewsCutter XP workstations, as well as an Avid Xpress Pro system for non-news, creative editing power.
With source and record decks connected through the Avid Mojo hardware, Avid Xpress Pro software operates at heightened speeds for the fastest possible workflow. Students also have access to a state-of-the-art Digital Lab that is equipped with 30 Avid NewsCutter workstations, as well as other media-production tools and desktop applications for USC Annenberg students, faculty and staff.
"Avid has worked out extraordinarily well for us, so it's our ultimate goal to build a complete Avid broadcast environment."
- Chuck Boyles, Program Operations Manager, USC Annenberg School for Communication
Adoption and Evolution
Prior to implementing Avid iNEWS systems in 2004, USC Annenberg used a competitor's products; however, when replacing those products, Boyles and his faculty colleagues re-evaluated what to use next. "We were already using NewsCutter, so Avid was very attractive to us. In addition to our teaching priorities, it gave us a solution with a solid and diversified company behind it," says Boyles.
USC Annenberg's decision to go with Avid's broadcast systems is a strategy that has paid off. Not only did Boyles find interoperability among Avid products, but during the past year he has seen Avid expand in directions that he considers promising. For example, his students were already using Pinnacle's Deko and legacy Lightning systems for effects and lower-thirds and, within this framework, DekoMOS to feed Avid iNEWS rundowns. With Avid's recent acquisition of Pinnacle, Boyles knows that his Pinnacle investment is safe and will become even more integrated with his Avid systems.
"Avid has worked out extraordinarily well for us, so it's our ultimate goal to build a complete Avid broadcast environment. We're 80 percent there right now. The missing link is shared storage and media networking, which we believe we'll find in Avid Unity for News," says Boyles.
With a shared-storage configuration, USC Annenberg students will be able to perform a number of critical functions, including ingesting CNN Newsource satellite feeds from the school's Pathfire server; ingesting video from student acquisition on DV; sharing storage resources; archiving content; viewing media at iNEWS workstations; playing back content, and much more. "We see the potential for a huge video archive. We'll start with ATVN , but the content can spread out from there. We have faculty doing research in several areas that could benefit from storage and sharing," he explains.
The Big Picture
The USC Annenberg systems environment continues to grow. "In our Digital Lab, for example, we have students editing the news stories on the same workstations that they're writing their papers on. They're basically doing everything that a student would do on a computer and running Avid on top of it. In the old days Avid would be on a dedicated system and safe from the potential problems of running with other applications," says Boyles. USC Annenberg also plans to build a sound-proof radio news booth within the Digital Lab as part of its new Annenberg Radio News program. Like the newsroom, the radio booth will be equipped with field-grade systems, including audio mixers, microphones, and MiniDisc recorders.
The vision doesn't end there. Boyles already sees a need for additional systems, including Avid iNEWS Instinct, which combines newsroom, script, and video assets in a script-based format. "I find that our students have their biggest problems with audio. One of the great things about Instinct is that it automatically sets sound levels, so users don't have to do it themselves. This feature alone could really help us," he says.
With the adoption of NewsCutter systems in 1997 and the addition of Avid iNEWS workstations in 2004, Boyles and his staff have seen a lot of changes. "When we began looking at systems purchases we had two key aims in mind: we wanted to give our students the tools that they would find in the industry, and we wanted to buy what we believed were the best products on the market. Avid was the choice on both counts, and it has paid off in the continued successes of our graduates," he says.
CREDIT: Courtesy of USC's Annenberg School for Communication