WEBN Streams Election Night Coverage

On Election Night 2010, Emerson student-run television news station WEBN broadcast live coverage on the web for more than two hours. The broadcast aired on www.TheJournalismChannel.com, and in a few weeks will be re-aired on the Winthrop Cable Station in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

WEBN Faculty Advisor and Journalism Department Associate Professor Marsha Della-Giustina said the broadcast was “spectacular.”

“This was the best election show we have ever had,” said Della-Giustina. “There was a lot of pre-production and journalistic research that happened beforehand that really made the difference.”

Sixty Emerson graduate and undergraduate students were involved in the program. Four teams reported live on-location from the Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates’ headquarters.

“This was the best election show we have ever had. There was a lot of pre-production and journalistic research that happened beforehand that really made the difference.”

–WEBN Faculty Advisor and Journalism Department Associate Professor Marsha Della-Giustina

Laura Roberts (Dec) ’10 and Mumbi-Michelle Kimani led the show as Co-Executive Producers. Megan Gregg ’11, Saniya Ghanoui ’11, Brandon Penny ’12, and Laura Roberts (Dec) ’10 worked as News Directors along with Assistant News Director Anum Hussain ’12. Co-Anchors Brett Connolly, MA ’11, and Anaridis Rodriguez, MA ’11, were live in the WEBN studio along with Analysts Brent Fox ’11 and Xakota Espinoza ’14 and Twitter Producer Cassidy Brettler ’11.

The students had live in-studio guests, including Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville and, on location, they scored a live interview exclusive with Green Rainbow candidate Jill Stein at her headquarters. WEBN was also the only station to cover Stein’s concession speech.

The School of Communication’s Technology Manager Jonathan Satriale said it was the first time the department used the newly installed Ross OverDrive system in the Journalism control room.

“We used a mix of high-definition and standard-definition videos and we were very pleased with how the whole program ran,” said Satriale. “It’s a testament to how hard the Television, Radio, and Film (TRF) staff worked. It’s a brand-new system and we’re still learning how to use it.”

Satriale commended Technical Director Matt Doiron and TRF staff Oscar Ormaechea, Tim MacArthur, and Kerri Nelson for making the broadcast go smoothly.

Pictured above: Co-Anchors Brett Connolly, MA ’11, and Anaridis Rodriguez, MA ’11