Learning from home: How broadcast students at UI-7 are adapting

04/14/2020

Connor's video

With all the instructional changes on campus this semester due to COVID-19, Good Morning, Illini, a student lifestyle show, has had to adapt our format to continue to produce content for our campus audience and to continue to grow in our skills as journalists and TV personalities. The task of gathering news and telling stories now in this remote-learning environment poses unique challenges for a class that previously so heavily relied on our studio time and collaborative work.

For those who aren't familiar, Good Morning, Illini is a weekly student-produced morning show at the University of Illinois. We cover campus news and events, arts and culture, and everything in between.

As a producer and content creator for the show, my challenge has been twofold. Me and the other producers are working toward an increased online presence with written stories and online interviews and are working to continue our weekly broadcasts in a different format. On top of that, I’m challenging myself to continue to make the kinds of entertaining videos I was working on before spring break and to learn new techniques and skills.

Over the past couple of weeks, all of us at GMI have been working on vlogs to tell stories about what our quarantines look like. These have ranged from cooking videos, to driving vlogs of empty streets, and even to health tips. Despite all the hurdles in front of us, we haven’t let it slow our roll and see it as an opportunity to try something different.

Combining all the new skills we're gaining, the new tools we'e utilizing, and the incredible talent we have around the camera, I think the show next semester will be even stronger than ever. Catch all the work that we're doing on our website at https://ui7newslive.web.illinois.edu/wp/. Good morning, Illini!

Here are some selected videos:

—Connor Ciecko, junior in journalism

Note: Broadcast journalism students, including Connor Ciecko, and the journalism instructor for UI-7, Ken Erdey, were recently interviewed by Illinois Public Media about their adaptation to broadcasting from home. Read the article and hear the interview.