Staff members of “The Bengal” have recently begun working with Idaho State University Mass Communication program students on an entirely student-produced weekly preview video series.
“I had the idea about two years ago after seeing other college newspapers using a YouTube link to put stories on their websites,” said Jim Kluza, a student in the Mass Communication department and the producer and creational driving force behind the series.
Kluza said he hoped to increase exposure for the newspaper while simultaneously offering ISU students an environment in which to hone their professional skills.
After sending out department emails to look for interested talent, Kluza and his partner started their work.
He is joined in producing the project by fellow Mass Communication senior Ellie Spencer, who acts as host. Each week Spencer reads through a short script previewing the articles to be included in that week’s edition of the paper.
“At first I was a little rusty and nervous but as the weeks progress I am becoming more comfortable,” Spencer explained.
Kluza was happy to be able to provide an outlet for students like himself and Spencer to work with an ISU production.
“I enjoy reading ‘The Bengal’ and thought it would be fun to work with the staff to add locally produced video to ‘The Bengal’ website,” Kluza explained.
Spencer shared his sentiment.
“I love ‘The Bengal,’” she said. “I read it every week and I think it needs more exposure so this was a great way to help make that happen.”
In addition to showing the student-produced videos on the newspaper website and social media sites, Kluza has been working with ISU employees in charge of showing video in the Pond Student Union Building (PSUB). He hopes to have the weekly productions, which are roughly two minutes long, shown on the various television screens found in the PSUB in order to further promote the newspaper and student video work. Though negotiations are still in the works, Kluza expects them to be available on campus in the upcoming week.
Kluza said this aspect of the project has proved to be most challenging, especially as the television screens in the PSUB are not equipped to play audio and require script dubbing.
“Finding the right format to load up to the video monitor has been difficult,” Kluza added, “and finding a look to draw attention to the monitors when the videos are showing.”
He said he has enjoyed getting the project off the ground and is excited to see it start to work.
The weekly videos can be found online at “The Bengal” website at isubengal.com, as well as on the newspaper’s Facebook site at facebook.com/isubengal. Students can also keep their eyes open to spot the video in the PSUB in the near future, as well as potentially in other television locations on campus.
