Practicum members give life to stories found in The Hawkeye

The Hawkeye has gone digital. Starting with this week’s edition, the ULM school newspaper will be airing weekly newscasts on its website ulmhawkeyeonline. com.

Called “The Hawkeye Live,” the program will consist of three stories: two from the print edi­tion and one exclusively for the web.

The project is a collabora­tion between mass communi­cation practicum students, The Hawkeye news staff and student members of “Off the Record,” an entertainment website creat­ed in Professor John Rodriguez’ digital media classes.

The program will combine hard news stories, features, en­tertainment and sports, along with commentary and opinion ranging from school-related is­sues to national events.

Produced in the new digital media lab in Stubbs Hall, the show could expand to include in-studio interviews with staff, students, faculty, administration and sports figures.

“This is a great chance for students to get real-world jour­nalism experience while also helping the Hawkeye expand into new areas and reach a wider audience,” said Christopher Mapp, Director of Student Pub­lications and an assistant profes­sor in mass communications.

“It helps students to cross-train in different media because the future is all converging on­line. With this project, they’ll learn how to wear different hats, which will make them more competitive on the job market,” Mapp said.

The Hawkeye Live will feature two student anchors each week, with juniors Joe Lewis and Tra’ Hall taking the helm initially.

“I’m excited about this oppor­tunity,” Lewis said.

“I’ve always wanted to be a news anchor, and this type of experience is huge.”

Benjamin McDonald will serve as the show’s executive producer.

“We are excited to be able to put the school’s newspaper into a broadcast format. Putting this show together will give us great hands-on experience that will be beneficial to us later on in our careers,” McDonald said.

Through this experience, stu­dents hope to better their ex­pertise, learning team commu­nication skills and how to meet deadlines.

Hall, who plans to make broadcasting a career, said doing the show will give him a creative outlet along with valuable expe­rience.

“We have a really great team, and we work really well togeth­er,” he said.