Tech Times, WTTU and The Oracle are no longer the only outlets for news on campus. The student-run broadcasting station WTLN is now available to students on Tech’s campus on channels 72 and 75. The WTLN broadcasts include news, sports, outstanding student and faculty recognition, as well as campus updates on counseling center workshops, career fairs and various student activities.
“Not everyone reads The Oracle,” WTLN anchor Justin O’Dell said, “so our goal is to provide another opportunity for students to get the news. The station also helps us gain real-world experience in the broadcasting field.”
Along with O’Dell as lead anchor is fellow journalism student-intern Joseph Gwynn.
“This project is something that hasn’t been handled in a decade,” Gwynn said, “so starting from scratch takes some time. We hope to receive a positive response from the students and really see success.”
The last attempt to create a broadcasting news station on campus took place in the late 90s but was unsustainable due to lack of student involvement. It restarted last semester.
“Working in the studio was a very rewarding experience,” former intern Brittany Ritzman said. “I feel I really learned a lot about video production and broadcasting that I hope to take to my future career.”
The students involved are in charge of collecting and writing stories, organizing the teleprompter and operating in-studio cameras, as well as gathering on-campus background footage. They are also responsible for anchoring the stories and completing all required video editing.
“It’s a lengthy process,” O’Dell said, “but we have a great production team working with us.”
Electronic Multimedia Specialists Gary Bradford and Rob Perrin work behind the scenes in the Volpe Library Media Center with the internship team.
New programming on advertisement-free WTLN premiers the second and fourth Friday evenings of every month, and the broadcasts continue at the top and bottom of every hour during the week.
If you or your organization would like to broadcast on WTLN, contact the station at WTLN72@gmail.com for more information.
