Instructor Presented at Broadcast Education Association Convention

Bradley Weaver, Westminster College instructor of broadcast communications, made presentations on two panels at the Broadcast Education Association convention in Las Vegas.

The AIRCHECK panel featured faculty from three institutions, each showcasing their student-produced newscasts, the institution, and the curriculum. Weaver presented "Living and Learning with Weekly Deadlines on The County Line - Keeping a Student Television News Magazine Live and Local Every Week at a Small Liberal Arts College." Other panelists represented Emerson College in Boston and Hofstra University on Long Island, New York.

"Part of my presentation included showing a segment from an episode of The County Line," Weaver said. "What I discovered is our weekly television news magazine dedicated to Lawrence and Mercer counties exceeds the abilities of much bigger schools in many ways. Hofstra, like many colleges and universities, is limited to closed-circuit television on its campus. WCN's [Westminster Cable Network] ability to reach cable audiences in Lawrence and Mercer counties affords our students a genuine local audience. This validates our efforts in our curriculum to require students to look beyond their friends and outside the campus bubble to cover local stories of interest to the people in our communities."

"In addition to gaining valuable experience and building a dynamic video résumé, our students take with them the stories they produce, without any copyright restriction," he added. "Many institutions relying on CNN feeds for students to repurpose for their newscasts are prohibited from using the material on video résumés or posting the content online. The ironic twist is Westminster College is a CNN affiliate in both radio and television, but we require our students to strike out on their own to create original, local content for their shows."

According to Weaver, the presentation generated a lot of positive feedback and questions from faculty and students seeking more information on how Westminster integrates the curriculum with radio, television, and online content for a local audience.

"I returned from the convention with pride and validation that our program is competitive, vital, and innovative, as WCN and The County Line expand to our efforts online with WCN 24/7 and titanradio.net," Weaver said. "I have come to appreciate the scope of what this means: This type of peer review and feedback, added to the Princeton Review's ranking as one of the top campus radio stations in the country, means we are indeed a leader in broadcast communications and media education. Experience does matter for our faculty and our students."

Weaver's second presentation, "Well-Rounded Experiences: A Liberal Arts Approach for Journalism in a Rapidly Changing World," was part of a five-member panel on "Would a Certification or Licensing Program Improve Broadcast Journalism?" Weaver explored the historical dimensions raised in the early 20th century between John Dewey and Walter Lippman and its relevance for today's shifting media landscape.

Weaver, who has been with Westminster since 2000, earned an undergraduate degree from Alderson-Broaddus (W.Va.) College and a master's from the University of Kansas. He is currently engaged in doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education with research involving media literacy and issues of teaching journalism. Weaver has worked as a broadcast journalist since 1985.

Contact Weaver at (724) 946-7238 or e-mail weaverbl@westminster.edu for additional information.

Bradley Weaver