PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS FROM CNN VISIT HPS

Aug 28

On Wednesday, August 26, Hettinger Public School had a pretty unique opportunity.

A group of professionals working in journalism, videography, and multimedia with CNN—and specifically with the team that works on Anderson Cooper's longer, deep-dive stories—stopped by HPS to talk with students.

The group is currently in the area working on one of their stories, and thanks to West River Health Services and their connection with the team, they were able to take some time to come to Hettinger Public School and share their experiences with our students.

During their presentation, they talked about what it is actually like to work in the field. They shared some of the work they have done, showed clips from previous projects, and talked about everything from traveling across the country to finding and developing stories.

Students had a lot of great questions, and the team was very open about both the challenges and the perks of working in journalism and multimedia. They talked about what goes into creating these longer, in-depth stories and what it is like to be constantly traveling and working on productions happening all over the country.

They also brought along some of their equipment and gave students a look at the tools they use in the field. This included cameras, drones, and equipment that allows them to live broadcast from virtually anywhere.

The group also had the opportunity to tour our multimedia studio, which is still a work in progress. It was exciting to show professionals who are actually working in the industry what we are building here at Hettinger Public School and some of the opportunities we are trying to create for our students.

But probably the biggest thing students took away from the presentation was something the group told them directly:

"There is no difference between you and I. The only difference is experience, which takes time. So if you're interested, go for it."

I think that is a pretty powerful message for students to hear.

Sometimes it can feel like careers in journalism, videography, broadcasting, or multimedia are something that happens somewhere else. Somewhere bigger. Somewhere far away.

But these professionals reminded our students that they started somewhere too. The biggest difference between someone just getting started and someone working professionally in the field is simply experience—and experience only comes from getting out there and doing it.

We are incredibly grateful that they took time out of their schedule to come talk with our students, answer their questions, share their work, and give them a firsthand look at what life in this industry can actually be like.

A huge thank you as well to West River Health Services for helping make this opportunity happen.

It is not every day that professionals working on national stories for CNN stop by a small school in southwest North Dakota. It was an awesome opportunity for our students, and hopefully, it helped show a few of them that if this is something they are interested in, there is no reason they cannot go for it.