Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Student Journalists Get Breaking News Experience

Tuesday, August 4, 2015, By Keith Kobland
Share
Newhouse School of Public Communications
Students from The NewsHouse videotape an emergency drill staged along College Place.

Students from The NewsHouse videotape an emergency drill staged along College Place.

For students in Newhouse School Assistant Professor Aileen Gallagher’s “News Writing and Reporting” class, it was a real life taste of spot news. As part of a dual exercise involving emergency management, faculty and student journalists, a realistic drill played out like a Hollywood movie on College Place on the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 4. It was all an act, but it gave first responders and budding reporters a taste of the real thing.

The scenario (devised by Professor Robert Silver from the Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute) involved a despondent man with a knife, and possibly and explosive device, who was noticed on a campus bus. A passenger on the bus sent a text to Department of Public Safety dispatchers, who sent officers to the scene.

DPS Chief Bobby Maldonado addresses student journalists at a post-incident news conference held at the Sci Tech building.

DPS Chief Robert Maldonado addresses student journalists at a post-incident news conference held at the Sci Tech building.

Once there, they confronted the suspect (played by adjunct faculty member Charles Miller) and ordered him to drop his weapon. Miller turned the knife on himself before officers were able to subdue him. All the while student journalists were nearby, recording every moment and asking for details.

While officers are using the exercise as a training experience, so too are the students. As part of their coursework, they’re required to file breaking news stories from the scene, along with posting tweets and a wrap-up story 90 minutes after the final news conference. Faculty from Utica College also took part, and stage makeup artists were brought in (along with a little fake blood) to make the story as real as possible for students.

The entire incident was staged, but it gave students an adrenaline-pumping experience they won’t soon forget.

Campus emergency drill from Syracuse University News on Vimeo.

 

  • Author

Keith Kobland

  • Recent
  • “Syracuse University to rename the Carrier Dome – what name would fans choose?”
    Wednesday, May 25, 2022, By Lily Datz
  • Digital Badges at Syracuse University: Recognizing and Authenticating Microcredential Moments in Higher Education
    Wednesday, May 25, 2022, By Lyndy McLaughlin
  • Social Work Student Bre’Yona Montalvo Receives First Sunflower Scholarship
    Wednesday, May 25, 2022, By Matt Michael
  • 5 Things to Know About the JMA Wireless Dome
    Wednesday, May 25, 2022, By Jen Maser
  • NBA Player Shares Personal Experience With Stuttering With CSD Students
    Wednesday, May 25, 2022, By Dan Bernardi

More In Media, Law & Policy

Trustee and Alumnus Larry Kramer ’72 Honored With the Distinguished Achievement Award from SABEW  

Syracuse University Trustee and alumnus Larry Kramer ’72 has had a legendary career as a journalist, media executive and entrepreneur. His award-winning career included more than 20 years as a reporter and editor with the San Francisco Examiner and The…

Rockell Brown Burton Joins Newhouse School as Associate Dean of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility

Rockell Brown Burton, an experienced academic leader and accomplished researcher with a passion for cultivating impactful, mutually beneficial relationships, has been named associate dean of inclusivity, diversity, equity and accessibility at the Newhouse School. After a national search, she was…

Funding Expands for Newhouse Professors’ Work on Technology to Combat Fake News

Two professors from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications who are working on the development of technology to detect manipulated media and combat the spread of fake news are supported by a subcontract that now tops $1.1 million, thanks…

As the School of Education’s Italy Program Returns, Sara Jo Soldovieri ’18, G’19 Reflects on Its Influence

Now a doctoral student researching inclusive education, Sara Jo Soldovieri ’18, G’19 was a sophomore when she took Literacy, Inclusion and Diversity in Italy, a study abroad short course offered by the School of Education and Syracuse Abroad. Soldovieri matriculated…

New Law Scholarship Honors the Ongoing Legacy of the Hon. Theodore A. McKee L’75

Syracuse University College of Law is pleased to announce the establishment of the Hon. Theodore A. McKee L’75 Endowed Law Scholarship with a generous gift from Syracuse University Trustee and College of Law Board of Advisors Member Richard M. Alexander…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2022 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.