Broadcast journalist are offered trip to Las Vegas in April

Leigh Ann Vanscoy / Features Editor

For the last six years Elon’s Radio / Television News Director’s Association (RTNDA) has taken students and faculty to Las Vegas for the international Broadcast Education Association convention.

The event is composed of reporters, broadcasters and anyone interested in broadcast communications. “It is a social and bonding event as well as a business meeting,” assistant professor of communications Thomas Nelson said. He is an assistant professor and RTNDA’s advisor at Elon. He will be attending the event with selected students and ESTV’s Linda Lashendock. He has attended the four - day trip in the past.

The students on the trip will be able establish connections with people already in the broadcast industry from all over the world and will have a first hand look at the broadcast culture. During the gathering, participants will attend seminars, presentations and social events, in addition to learning new ways to do their jobs better.

“The RTNDA is important to Elon’s communications program because it builds a sense of camaraderie and professionalism,” Nelson said. Students can also meet with publishers and attend the latest equipment / technology demonstrations, all which will be important when they go out into the field of broadcast journalism.

ESTV has been awarded by the BEA in past years, and many faculty members appeared as presenters, moderators, and participants in panel discussions. Many different people from Elon will be presenting in the seminars at the BEA conference this year. Paul Parsons and Don Grady will be panelists for a seminar called "Assessing Media Education: Developing and Measuring Student-Learning Outcomes." This seminar was formed to discuss the huge emphasis on testing and assessment in higher education. The groups are hoping to receive awards again this year.

The Elon chapter of RTNDA was established in 1999 and meets once a year for the convention. The organization is open to all full-time students who are interested in a radio or television journalism career. There is a $50 fee, which gives students access to a job bank, helpful web sites, other resources and a one-year subscription to Communicator, the RTNDA magazine.

Contact Leigh Ann Vanscoy at pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.

Photo submitted

Last year at the RTNDA convention, in Las Vegas, students were able to make many connections with professionals already in the broadcast industry. Students will be attending the conference again this year under adviser Tom Nelson.