3 student media organizations collaborating to deliver multimedia coverage of midterm elections
On Tuesday, several IU student media organizations will collaborate in a way they never have before.
The Indiana Daily Student, WIUX and IU Student Television are coming together to assist each other in coverage of the upcoming midterm elections. The three outlets will work together on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8. This three-organization partnership is believed to be the first of its kind.
“It’s hard for me to emphasize how important it is to vote,” said Kate Feinberg, president of WIUX. “This is a really big election. It’s for our House of Representatives and our Senate, and they’re the ones that kind of run the country.”
The idea for this collaboration began in August as the fall semester began. Cate Charron, the editor-in-chief of the IDS, thought it would be wise for the three organizations to align their coverage of the pivotal event.
“We wanted to pick an event that we knew was coming that needed coverage,” Charron said. “It’s not just going to be print; it’s not just going to be broadcast. All three of us can really have some great reporting.”
“Instead of being competitors, we decided to collaborate together to make our impact even stronger for our student audience and Bloomington,” IUSTV News Director Ella Rhoades said. “Something like this has never been done in the history of The Media School, and it’s been long overdue.”
Throughout the day, the news outlets will update their audiences on the different elections and referendums. Coverage will heat up in the evening as polls close and results finalize.
Starting at 8 p.m., IUSTV will begin a livestream on its YouTube channel and WIUX will start coverage on 99.1 FM. The IDS will have updates on its website and social media during Election Day. IDS writers will go on-air for WIUX and IUSTV’s YouTube livestream to help report the latest information.
“We’re basically shutting down the whole WIUX studio to make room for our writers for live updates,” Feinberg said. “There’s going to be people going in and out all night.”
IUSTV will be using Studio 10 in Franklin Hall to broadcast the event. The day will consist of constant cooperation between students of each organization, who will be in their separate locations.
“There’ll definitely be a lot of collaboration and communication as results come in,” IUSTV Executive Director Andrew Briggs said. “Just making sure that we efficiently – and hopefully timely – get those results in to then be reported by either our anchors or on-camera talent.”
Briggs believes the local coverage will benefit students who aren’t as interested in the polls that national cable outlets will discuss.
“Hopefully, that might be a little bit more of an appeal for them to be like, ‘Oh, let’s check out the student media outlets on campus,’” Briggs said.
“The majority of people who are going to be listening are kids our age, so they’re going to be college students, and I think college students making content and delivering information for college students is really huge,” Feinberg said. “I think by showing people that, ‘Hey, we’re in college, we really care about this, you should too.’ I think that will really resonate with a lot of people.”
While Tuesday’s coverage will be centered around the state of Indiana, the outlets will also look to serve IU students who reside and vote outside of the Hoosier state.
“Whether a student is voting in Monroe County, somewhere else within the state or out of state, this election will impact their future,” Rhoades said. “During our live coverage, we will be discussing other races within the country. We want to focus on other states as well because IU students are from everywhere and represent so many demographics within the country.”
The three groups hope this event will diversify their crews’ skills while delivering important news to the community.
“You can’t just be a writer now. You have to be able to work with other people, work as a team, work in multimedia and know how to speak on camera,” Charron said.
“It’s going to be very exciting, and it’s a great opportunity for people involved from all sides,” Feinberg said.
For insightful coverage on election night, follow along at idsnews.com, IUSTV’s YouTube and WIUX 99.1 FM.