2026 BEA OL

This session will cover best practices for students in producing sports media coverage such as play-by-play and live game broadcasts, sports storytelling, and the use of social media in sports coverage. This session will also include best practices in designing any sports media classes on those concepts for academic curriculum.

This panel explores strategies, tools, and newsroom practices that enable local television stations to deliver effective hyperlocal news coverage. It is connected to the Center for Community News at the University of Vermont, that promotes and supports campus media as a means of serving underserved audiences, but also recognizes challenges for local market commercial TV stations in maintaining local audience engagement, recognizing that audiences seek information that directly impacts their neighborhoods, communities, and daily lives. Panelists will provide specific scenarios demonstrating that TV stations have a unique opportunity to strengthen engagement through localized and specialized storytelling. The session will examine how local broadcast-based news can identify community-driven topics, leverage digital and social platforms, use data and audience insights, and create content that reflects the concerns and interests of specific demographic categories. Attendees will learn practical approaches for building audience engagement, increasing audience loyalty, and positioning their stations as essential sources of timely, relevant, and community-focused journalism. The panel will also help student media managers learn more about how they can benefit from engagement with the Center for Community News.
Moderator: Tony DeMars, Texas Wesleyan University
Panelists: Mike Arnold, Indiana University
Kevin Swift, University of North Carolina-Pembroke
Tony DeMars, Texas Wesleyan University
Clejetter Cousins, University of North Carolina-Pembroke

In a time when journalists are under greater scrutiny from the general public as well as those holding political power, the requirements of a journalist’s job continue to need reassessment. Several instances on the national level involving confrontational exchanges between President Donald Trump and mainstream media journalists have garnered national attention and sparked conversation regarding best practices for how journalists should respond and handle their composure during such confrontations. However, local journalists are and have been dealing with these same issues from hostile witnesses and lower-level politicians (e.g. county board members, city council members, etc.) across the political spectrum of ideologies who have been emboldened to treat the press in the same manner. In this panel, we will explore not only the well-known examples of Trump confronting journalists in public venues but local journalists experiences with confrontational sources and how, if at all, those journalists and those around them should respond. Tips for handling tense moments while gathering and reporting the news involving those in power will be discussed from both an academic and professional practice perspective.
Moderator: K. Megan Hopper, Illinois State University
Panelists: Bob Carroll, Illinois State University
Colleen Holden, Illinois State University
Steve Suess, Illinois State University

While most student radio and television stations work closely with campus partners, it can be difficult to build relationships with the broader community as a student media outlet. On many campuses, students are unfamiliar with the broader community since they are far from home and their on-campus living situation in a college town is temporary. From an advisor perspective, working with community partners can be particularly difficult for student media outlets because of frequent staff turnover. This panel will discuss how WZND Radio at Illinois State University has been able to successfully embed itself into the broader Bloomington-Normal community despite these challenges. Faculty and students will provide specific examples, including partnerships with local arts and entertainment venues, regular interviews with local newsmakers, and support for local philanthropic organizations. The panel will also discuss best practices for off-campus community involvement and how to get students to "buy into" a local mindset despite seeing the broader community as temporary neighbors.