Broadcast Journalism
Photo by Alex Fagell
This year, I fell in love with plain old video and the art of captured motion. I’ve started to appreciate the beauty in movement. Snow rushing down, eager to unite with the ground. The brief crinkle around my grandfather's eyes when he catches me capturing him. Grasses swaying, in tune with the earth. Flowers rustling in the wind, calling attention to their bold colors. The pleats of a quickly draped sari slipping. Sound adds another layer. The sizzle of onions as they hit the spices and oil my mother is cooking up. The constant humming and soft singing coming from my grandmother as she moves through her daily life. The fast clacks of keys in our newsroom when someone finds their flow. These little moments captured through my eyes and ears, filmed with lower quality by my phone camera, are not at all different from the goal of broadcast journalism. I’ve only just begun dipping my toes into the vast ocean of skills to capture the essence of these small actions, but regardless of the scale, the idea is still there – a record of life.
Learning!
Because my first foray into journalism was with print, when I wanted to expand my abilities, I had to first learn how to broadcast. I did this in a few ways, including going to broadcast sessions at summer camps, getting tips from people familiar with video at my school and, most importantly, just playing around with Premiere Pro myself.
Experience at Cherubs
When I was at the Medill-Northwestern Journalism Institute (also known as Cherubs) this summer, I was suddenly presented with many opportunities to explore broadcasting in ways that aren't possible at school due to a lack of equipment. We had multiple classes and other optional clubs that were available to learn about broadcasting.
One notable example of this was getting practice with anchoring.
My friend Lynn-Clara Tun and I co-anchored a segment on the dining hall experience during camp. Most of what we did was just for laughs, but it was a great way to get some exposure to a side of journalism I hadn't ever tried before.
Our segment was played for the group as part of a larger set of videos recapping what the Cherubs did the first week at camp.
This is the short script we wrote together. I found that writing for broadcast exercised a totally different part of my brain from print-writing, and it was a nice refresh to experiment with presenting information in different ways.
We got many opportunities for direct mentorship from our instructors who are professionals in the field. I went to an optional Broadcast Lab a few times over the month and experimented with different kinds of video segments. Below is another example I co-wrote with Sarah Schwartz based on information we were provided with by our instructors.
I enjoyed getting to play with humor, something I rarely ever do with print news reporting.
We were also provided a behind the scenes look into the production side. While other students anchored, I was able to sit in the control room with a headset and press a few buttons – mainly to play and pause, but neat nonetheless!
Me and Sarah Schwartz in the control room.
In addition, we, of course, learned about story packages and the very basics for how to put one together. Below is the example that I made using the tools we had learned, including variation of shots and trying to effectively use b-roll. This wasn't my first time filming a broadcast video, but it was my first time editing in Premiere Pro, and I was in awe of the number of tools and options to customize the look of the video.
Getting Premiere Pro
After learning how to use Premiere Pro over the summer and seeing how many tools there are included, I felt it would be really nice if we had access to Premiere Pro on our school computers. My adviser submitted the request, and it went through. I went back and forth a few time with a tech person at our school in order to figure out how to download it onto the computer, but it ended up working, and I've been able to use it ever since.
An email exchange I had with the tech person at our school to figure out how to access Premiere Pro, as this was a platform that most of our publication was unfamiliar with.
Story Packages
Click on the titles to view the published videos on The Emery website.
This was the very first time I filmed a news video. I remember being really nervous about going up to people and asking to take a video of them talking, and to be honest, that is still something that I find challenging. But I really wanted to create video and learn more about broadcast, and I just took a deep breath each time and went up to each person. I skipped back to the classroom after this, thrilled that I had done something outside of my comfort zone.
This video was filmed by me and edited by Brody Turner.
I learned the benefit of being open-minded about how to present a story through this experience. I walked into the Green Fair, eager to report, but unsure of what format I wanted to present the information in. I had been going between doing video, photo and just writing a story. But as soon as I arrived on-set, I saw how beautiful the crisp fall day was and how happy the crowd was, and I knew the best way to capture it would be through video, so that's exactly what I did. I filmed edited this video completely on my own with what I had learned from the summer at Northwestern, and although I realized too late that I should have used a mic and that one can never have enough b-roll, I was really satisfied with the end product. I realized how far I'd come with just a little bit of learning, and I was excited to continue.
Filmed and edited by me
Promotional Videos
BV 50
Part of the BV 50 celebrations included a promotional video that Chinmaya Mission West asked Ann Arbor to create. I am the person who does this kind of work for our center, so I created this video in Premiere Pro using the flyer I had made earlier and videos from Chinmaya Mission members. This video has been sent out around the continent to the 50+ Chinmaya Mission centers, inviting them to our event this summer.
Music: "Aaj Khele Shyam," composed by Swami Tejomayananda of Chinmaya Mission and sung by Abby V. ℗ 2025 Central Chinmaya Mission Trust (used with permission)
CORD Global
I also created this video for an organization called CORDUSA – Global Network the global wing of CORD, a non-profit women's empowerment program started in Himachal Pradesh, India over 40 years ago. I filmed and edited this video for a promotion during one of our national Chinmaya Mission camps.
Music: "Jagadananda Karaka" by Lalgudi Jayaraman; paid for use.