Melissa Brown
Published: August 23, 2006
Where do you get the majority of your news? Do you rely primarily on the printed newspaper, or is the Internet your main newsgathering hub?
In this age of media evolution, more and more people are turning to the web for news and information, and PJC’s Corsair is right in step with the changing trends.
“A sign that our culture is different from past cultures is to see change in the way that we inform people of current events,” said Corsair Multimedia Director Zeke Hazewinkel. “There’s been a big surge towards electrical means of broadcast, but I think it would be beyond comprehension to ever see print being outmatched by other sources.”
PJC has published a student newspaper since 1950; in 2004 the Corsair began offering an Internet version of the free press, found at www.ecorsair.com.
But that’s not all.
New to the website are multimedia articles that blend several different types of media – print, audio, photography, video, illustration – and “tell a story in a way that involves more than one of the senses,” Hazewinkel said.
“You can’t always tell a story [only] in print,” said Corsair Adviser Christina Drain. “It just doesn’t come across the same way.”
“We’re lucky at PJC,” Drain continued, “because we have a broadcasting department, we have a multimedia department, so we have students that are already being trained on other parts of the campus.”
And that training is essential to the development of new broadcasting techniques.
“A lot of stuff I’ll learn in my classes just across campus I apply here at the Corsair the very next day,” Hazewinkel commented. “It makes worlds of difference because I’m learning and applying in a matter of 24 hours, and it’s really interesting to see what I’ve learned come to life.”
With the popularity of i-Pods and mp3 players abounding, the Corsair staff is joining the ranks of other journalism professionals and producing entertaining and informative podcasts, facetiously dubbed iCorsair.
Podcasts are “another up and coming trend and a lot of colleges are starting to do it,” Drain said. “We’ve got everything we need to be able to create Podcasts.”
“We really have state-of-the-art editing equipment,” Hazewinkel said. “We have the capabilities of producing top notch, top quality productions.”
“And that’s where I think we as a community college really shine because we’re able to just go out and do this,” Drain said. “Here at the Corsair it’s not a lab; [the staff is] actually working in the field so they’re able to take this information and run with it.”
And run with it they will.
If you would like to be a part of these exciting journalistic changes, drop by the Corsair office (Bldg 4, Rm 469) and apply for a paid staff position. The full-time editor-in-chief position is still available and other staff is needed as well. Come join the fun and be a part of an award-winning crew at your student publication.