I want my DVD

Teaching Generation Y how to write TV news

Thomas McHardy, a professor in the School of Media Arts and Design, is changing the way that broadcast journalism is being taught. Mc-Hardy's DVD-ROM application, VR-reporter, has received two awards from the Broadcast Educational Association's Faculty Interactive Multimedia Composition contest. He earned the Best in Show award and first place in the instructive form category. VR-reporter was also featured on MacCentral Online magazine in February.

VR-reporter is an interactive simulation program that allows students to maneuver around a 360-degree scene of a criminal assault. Students investigate, interview individuals, take notes on an onscreen notebook and capture B-roll footage. After completing the investigation and follow-up interviews, students save notes and a tape log of interview and B-roll footage to disk. Using the accompanying video and a nonlinear editing system, students then write a story, record voice-overs and edit a complete news package. The application includes more than 60 video clips of interview questions and B-roll shots, which serve as a model for the types of questions a reporter should ask and the type of shots a news camera operator should try.

"It is a good first experience before students actually go out on a real assignment," says McHardy. "My students have used the VR-reporter for the past two semesters as an introductory exercise, and the results have been very positive."

VR-reporter has several important educational features and requires critical thinking from students. McHardy explains, "The simulation provides the necessary story facts in a manner that requires students to explore the scene thoroughly, since no single character provides all the pertinent information required to tell an accurate news story. The simulation is based on a story that has not been covered by any other media organization, and this prohibits simple paraphrasing. The students have to think for themselves."

Not all the information needed for the story is easily obtained. Students have to make follow-up calls and deal with witnesses and police who are not always cooperative. Of the three uniformed officers at the scene, only one will provide information, and it is given "off the record." That raises the ethical issue of how to handle the information. Students are also given opportunities to make follow-up telephone calls to the hospital and police station to find additional information.

Although the application was originally designed for Macintosh computers, it is also available in a PC Windows format. McHardy has received inquiries from professors at other colleges and universities about purchasing the program for their courses in electronic news gathering. VR-reporter is published by First Light Video Publishing (a TMW Media Group division), which plans to make the program available to other colleges and universities.

VR-reporter is the second interactive, instructional program McHardy has created. Last year he received similar recognition for a program used to teach students television frame composition, and he is working on an application to teach how to direct a television show.

By Sarah Jones ('01)