SAN FRANCISCO — Student reporters, advisers and professional journalists explained concepts ranging from the legal aspects of coverage to the creation of page layouts to impactful editing at the annual Journalism Education Association of Northern California Media Day today.

The World of Broadcast Journalism

NBC Sportscaster Bonta Hill shared his experience working in the sports media industry as a collegiate and professional sports reporter in the Bay Area. 

He discussed how to cover live games and interact with professional athletes, and he  emphasized the importance of persistence in journalism.

“One of the biggest obstacles of sports media is blocking out noise,” Hill said. “That noise can come in the form of hatred, insecurities and jealousies, but you have to focus on yourself. I just do what I need to do.”

Hill highlighted the importance of humility and positivity in journalism, and gave advice to attendees about staying true to themselves by drawing from his experiences with finding his place within the industry.

Attendee and Branham High School reporter junior Brayden Gassmann emphasized his key takeaways from the session. 

“He’s a very inspirational person to me, especially because I want to go into sports podcasting,” Brayden said. “Bonta definitely talked a lot about how journalism takes practice and it’s hard, but as long as you love the grind, that’s all that matters. It comes down to expressing yourself and having a smile on your face.”

Attendee and Berkeley High School video producer Sunny Lipton appreciated the chance to learn about working in the media industry and planned to bring the lessons she learned back to her school’s publication.

“I’m really excited to learn here, so this was a great opportunity,” Sunny said. “Not being ashamed of being persistent, reaching out to people, listening to what your audience has to say and covering what they’re interested in are all important.”

Art of the Anecdotal Lede

KPIX CBS News Bay Area broadcaster and former Louisiana Illuminator reporter JC Canicosa discussed how to write character-driven ledes in his session.

He opened by asking students about their current articles and advised them to find local, human angles to boil down broader issues. Canicosa then showed attendees a variety of examples that incorporated emotional, anecdotal ledes, including a video clip of an ICE raid and its effects on an elderly grandmother. 

Canicosa structured his session around the importance of highlighting people and their stories rather than purely focusing on statistics and objective facts. 

“I want [students] to see how important characters are to stories, how essential it is to tell stories through the lens of an individual,” Canicosa said. “At the end of the day, this is what we do. We give voices to people who don’t have voices. We give platforms to people who would not otherwise have it.”

Attendee and Branham High School reporter Sienna Moss echoed Canicosa’s sentiment. 

“It was really helpful to make sure that you’re focusing on not only facts but also emotions,” Sienna said. “I feel like you can get facts from sources, but the characters really tell you their personalities.”

Canicosa conceived of the session to instill a passion for in-depth reporting in high school journalists. An alumnus of Archbishop Riordan, Canicosa thought returning to his old school was especially rewarding.  

“Find your niche, find what you have passion for reporting about,” Canicosa said. “When you get to a place where you feel good about where you are, remember what it felt like to have someone reach down and pick you up, and pay that forward. My old journalism teacher at Riordan asked me to speak here, and I love giving back like that.” 

Design Like a Pro

Monta Vista High School’s El Estoque adviser and Journalism Education Association Northern California President Julia Satterthwaite, MJE, taught students how to create aesthetically pleasing and intentional spreads. 

She split her presentation into three sections: the design principles of C.R.A.P. — contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity — as well as professional inspiration and “marriage of elements meetings.” As she showed spreads from El Estoque and other publications, she pointed out elements like complementary colors, repeating motifs to organize information and justification options.

In her presentation, Satterthwaite emphasized the importance of innovation and uniqueness in design. 

“Think outside the box. Don’t be afraid to try new things, and make sure that you are planning something big, dominant and eye-catching,” Satterthwaite said. “The mistake that kids sometimes make is writing too many words.” 

Attendee and Albany High School reporter Nasiah Tesch shared that his main takeaway from the presentation was an emphasis on drawn graphic elements and a more streamlined process for planning layouts. 

“We definitely have to utilize graphics more,” he said. “I think a problem with our publication is balancing out photography with our drawn graphics. Getting professional inspiration ahead of time will definitely be super helpful for us.” 

Throughout the session, Satterthwaite stressed the importance of searching for design inspiration from a variety of external sources. Satterthwaite concluded the session with an activity where attendees proposed, sketched and shared page layouts for fictional prompts.  

She put together her presentation last December, showcasing it at the JEA Advisers’ retreat and the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention before today’s event. 

“Each audience is different,” Satterthwaite said. “It was supposed to be a quick review of C.R.A.P. design, but what I’m finding is that there’s not a lot of kids who know about it. So I think that I may need to do a presentation on the basics of design principles. It’s good feedback for me to hear so that I can prepare better to have both a beginning and an advanced level design class for students next year.”