MISSOULA, MT (April 18, 2024)–We anxiously walked into a conference room of 170 journalism students from across the state. We could almost feel the anticipation and camaraderie between students throughout the room. The award ceremony highlighted some of the best journalism within the state and the eagerness was felt by students and advisors alike. Helena High was incredibly proud of the four awards we took home, and that thrill would set the tone for the rest of the day.
Within the selected workshops we chose to attend, the engagement, excitement, and thoughtful responses from all the students made for strong and thought-provoking sessions. The room of students challenged my ideas surrounding journalism, writing, research, and analyzing my work—as well as what it means to be a journalist.
From investigative journalism and photography in war-torn countries to audio reporting and tips for interviewing, students from every part of the state sat with each other as a curiosity was planted in their minds about the depths of journalism and the power of the craft. We walked away from the day better journalists and more thoughtful students. (by Nugget Editor Will Eaton)
Pretending to be College Students (A Guide)
After the first two sessions, it was lunch time. Everybody was sent to the “Food Zoo” for a free, all-you-can-eat buffet with a salad bar, pasta, burgers, and even tacos! After we ate, we were allowed to go explore. Another student and I went to a big field which had lawn chairs every few meters. On campus they had a green house, lots of statues, and even signs to tell you what kind of plants you were looking at, and those signs had Braille! After chilling for a few minutes, we went to the Student Union building which had many different shops! There was a Pizza Hut, a boba shop, a Grizzly merch shop, and many others!
Overall, the campus was very inviting and comforting, we had lots of things to do and explore and we were never bored! (by Maleah Jacques)
Mouthful of Awards
The award ceremony was very interesting! It was chock-full of food, like banana bread, small doughnuts, orange juice, pastries, and coffee. I ate 6 slices of banana bread and tried zucchini bread (which did not taste nearly as good). I considered drinking coffee, but it isn’t worth it to try on a trip. Deadly consequences may follow. On to the ceremony itself—Hellgate won a lot of awards, along with Sentinel. I, along with DJ, Will, and Nick won awards representing the Helena Nugget. It was really weird to have my name called for an award, especially one for a major category, opinion writing. DJ’s award was 1st place in political cartoon, Nick’s was second best audio, and Will’s was second in news, and mine was second in opinion writing. (by Jack Royal)
How To Not Steal Things 101
Lee Banville, the head of the journalism department of UM, taught a session about copyright. At the beginning, he asked us about a certain situation with the singer Prince and the famous artist Andy Warhol. It was about a photographer and Andy Warhol’s company fighting over the rights of a picture. (Both celebrities had already passed away.) The photographer had been paid $400 by Andy Warhol’s Company as payment to license her photo of Prince. Warhol had no idea about the deal – he just made the art. Later on, after the artist had passed away, his estate was going to give the picture for a magazine to use in exchange for $10,000. But the original photographer stated that she only gave Warhol the right to use it once. It was complicated, but the court ruled in favor of the photographer. Mr. Banville stated that in these situations, since the laws on copyright are so vague, the court tends to rule based on their guts.
He then moved into copyright issues in the music industry. One of the most controversial elements of copyright in the music industry has to do with whether and when an artist or company owns a melody or a beat. He brought up examples of companies suing new artists for using old melodies. Some of these cases include Blurred Lines- Robin Thicke vs. Got to Give Up- Marvin Gaye and Seven Rings- Ariana Grande vs. Some of My Favorite Things- Sound of Music. He also brought up parodies, telling us about how parodies are like a loophole in copyright. Lee stated that parodies are “okay because they’re making fun of the song.” He also brought up the fact that journalists go against these laws all the time. We never got through the whole presentation because we dove into those examples and looking more deeply at the facts and reasons for rulings the court had given. It was a really fun lecture and captivated my attention. This was definitely my favorite session out of the ones I attended. (Sky Lee)
“And That’s The Way It Is”
“We’re live in Helena High with student reporter Aaron Quackenbush. Talking today about reporting. Ironic right? Well, if you want to be a reporter and be in the spotlight, you’re in luck because live reporting is an option. But be warned you may have a secret stutter or a panic attack while live; also reading a prompter IS HARD! Don’t read what’s in the parentheses you will look very dumb (like me).”
Reporting is fun. Plus, you get paid—what more could you ever ask for. You get stress and money like two-in-one combo meal am I right? Cut. (Aaron Quackenbush)
Covering Conflict and Corruption
Erin Trieb is a conflict photographer with over 20 years of experience. On our trip to UM on April 18, Ms. Trieb shared a detailed account of her time in Israel, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and most recently, Ukraine. The pictures explained themselves; often, the inner thoughts of the subject were made clear simply by how much detail was woven into the photo. For example, she shared a striking photo of a female, teenage Syrian liberation fighter with a pink sleeping bag next to a gun—an AK-47. Photos like this can capture more than words. The hour we spent with Ms. Trieb visually explained a lot about the conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe and added clarity to the brutality of the conflict that is often overlooked in the mainstream media.
Another workshop speaker was Joe Eaton, a journalist who now teaches at the University of Montana. Mr. Eaton specializes in investigative journalism and spent the first hour of our day in Missoula instructing an investigative journalism workshop. One topic he covered was if sports betting encourages gambling for college students. In addition, we discussed the important role journalism plays in democracy as well as techniques to better apply ourselves in interviews. Journalism is truly fundamental to a functioning and informed democracy. (Iain Maciver)
Field Recording
During the first set of sessions, Nick and I attended the podcasting class. The instructors for this class spoke to us about the importance of sound and the use of audio in an audio presentation like a podcast. To demonstrate this, we were shown a clip from a podcast where the host spent 24 hours in a diner speaking to various clientele. We spoke about how the background noise of a restaurant is engaging and interesting to listen to and how it draws us in even before the first interview takes place.
Then we were put into small groups where Nick and I were given a recording device, headphones, and a microphone. We were tasked with stepping outside and recording five interesting noises that could be used in an audio piece. While other groups captured the sounds of dogs barking and people spitting, we recorded the sounds of trees rustling, people walking, and people riding a bike. We both learned a lot and gained wonderful experience from this amazing workshop! (DJ Knickerbocker)
License to Fly, Not to Spy
Did you know that Helena High School has two drones in the library for student use? Well, at the journalism conference I attended, there was a session discussing the use of drones for journalistic use. We spoke about drone licensing: anyone flying a drone for commercial use (anything you are getting paid for) needs to have a license to fly that drone.
For any recreational drone usage (taking pictures of yourself, finding your car from a bird’s eye view, or just looking to have some fun with a quadcopter) has a lot less restrictions. When flying for fun, the only rule is to make sure that you are not invading on airspace; this can be checked on the B4Ufly app, and try not to take pictures of anybody without permission, or cause damage but those are less formal. (Nick DeWald)
And Now For a Story About Elk
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation buys and preserves land to save it for elk habitat. Despite the name, Rocky Mountain Elk foundation isn’t bound to just the Rocky Mountains. While it did start in the humble town of Troy, Montana, the foundation has spanned from Maine to Hawai’i, Florida to Alaska, and the progress is very visible. From three issues of their magazine—the first one made of photos taped with scotch tape onto wax paper—to 22,200 issues of the bi-monthly magazine The Bugle. Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation conserves land by buying land, and then giving the land to Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Fish Wildlife and Parks. Once again, this process has spanned from sea to shining sea.
Helena High School Journalism students had the amazing opportunity to meet some of the people behind the scenes of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, including (but not limited to) the editor for The Bugle. Students were given a tour of the HQ and completed a short quiz on the history of RMEF. A Raffle was placed, and many students were able to net some sweet Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation swag. (Gavin Payne)
