The Coronado High School (CHS) Journalism class is quite familiar with the process of press production. With the class’s weekly publications in the Coronado Eagle and Journal, students have had their fair share of journalism practice. Students are able to pitch stories, write, photograph, and see their stories in print. However, one field a majority of the class was foreign to, was college-level journalism.
For their annual field trip, they ventured on the upwards of two hours drive to the University of Southern California (USC) campus in Los Angeles.
It was a toss up between the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) or USC. Ultimately, Editor-in-Chief Angelica Moser coordinated alongside Coronado Eagle and Journal publisher Dean Eckenroth to make the official trip pitch.
“I wanted to go to USC because I thought it would be really beneficial to expose our newsroom to professional journalism at the Daily Trojan,” comments Moser.
To solidify a plan, Moser reached out to the staff of USC’s daily newspaper, The Daily Trojan–or “DT” as students would learn from news editors during the field trip. Then, with the help of CHS Principal Karin Mellina’s coordination and the CHS PTO’s generous donations, the trip was made possible.
As students awaited their bus on November 15th, they were required to come up with questions for the Daily Trojan staff they’d be meeting with. Upon arrival to the USC campus, students and their advisor Tam Hoang made their way to the Daily Trojan’s newsroom, which resides in the Student Union building.
Students got the opportunity to explore their newsroom and hear “DT” writers many stories about their experiences working on a major college publication. USC’s Daily Trojan paper has been around since 1912 and is published five days a week with an average of eight pages per issue.
Managing Editor Christina Chkarboul discussed overseeing projects while expanding her personal writing style. Even as a global studies and earth science major, she spoke about how the Daily Trojan was the best exposure to real world journalism she could have in college.
Following suit, other members of the “DT” masthead, like News Editor Jennifer Nehrer and Sports Editor Stefano Fendrich, recalled 2am editing sessions and the unbiased ways the newspaper handles campus controversies.
All of the valuable information covered can be applied to the Islander Times as they continue their weekly publications this term before moving onto club status during second term.
After the meeting, students broke for lunch and witnessed the USC campus doused in rain–apparently a rare sight according to some USC students.
After the weather cleared, students made their way to the Annenberg School for Communications. Hoang helped coordinate this aspect of the field trip so students could see the academic side of journalism at USC. Student interns led the group starting off in the media center. The high-tech room was complete with an old-fashioned newsroom fire pole and a podcasting studio. Tour guides covered all five stories of the Annenberg School allowing students to get a thorough sense of the standard of learning done in this department.
During the three hour drive back to Coronado, CHS journalism students got to ponder on their new knowledge of USC, the press industry, and what the Trojan spirit will be after their rivalry game with UCLA this weekend.
