Caitlyn's final essay

The 2006 Junior Urban Adventure was an experience of a lifetime. From radio stations to watching TV broadcasts, there was so much to learn! I was able to successfully answer my essential question, which asked if the world of media has been and will be benefited by the steady rise in the use and necessity of technology. The answer is yes, but that only begins to describe what goes on behind the scenes and what is in store for our world next.

Our first stop was visiting the public radio station NPR. Though media is advancing dramatically through the use of technology, radio stations are advancing equally as fast. Radio stations all over the world have expanded onto the Internet in places like iTunes or mp3 streams. As an avid podcast listener to begin with, I was elated to be on a tour where the production of it takes place. The sound proof rooms are beyond state-of-the art, and to top it off, NPR is alive off donations from dedicated listeners. I learned that the there is a large difference between public and private radio. Public radio does not reap in benefits from paying advertisers, and if so, time is limited and certain words are prohibited. Following that, we visited ESPN radio Boston, which was drastically different from NPR.

ESPN is a nationwide station that broadcasts current news feeds about many different sports. From professional basketball and football to college sports teams, it requires a lot of organization, communication, and especially innovation. The Boston radio station has a writing team, a vocal team, a sound team, and a marketing team. Together, they work in conjunction to provide and produce a constant on-air news feed for all of Boston to hear. The employees who were working at the time were all very upbeat and outgoing. They seemed to be very open to the ideas and questions we had, and in return, they had a few questions for us. Next on our stop was even more awesome, Emerson College.

Immediately enamored with what Emerson encompassed, I had no idea what lay inside. First, we were taken into the school’s television studio. Emerson has state-of-the-art technological appliances in order to aid students in a very progressive study and prepare them to be instantly ready for the real world of media upon graduation. The journalism was something to behold. The classroom was set up in a series of cubicles, all connected to the Associated Press news wire. We were then given a tour of Emerson’s own personal radio station that is accessible to the public as well. Voted the number one college radio station in the country, it was easy to say why. Emerson’s radio station was even more advanced and complex than what we saw at ESPN! It was a sight to behold. Another sight that captured our JUA group was watching the filming of a TV news station.

After a somewhat long and tumultuous bus ride to get to the TV station, we got a better look into the world of what goes on behind the scenes of our television sets. Again, just like what we encountered at Emerson, people worked in connected cubicles and constantly were tuned into very recent news on the Associated Press wire. To the back of the studio, at least 20 little television sets were stacked, all tuned in to different stations in order to monitor what other news stations were broadcasting. We got to meet and chat with various news hosts, one of which was a New Hampton alumni! The woman who gave us the tour was from Miami, Florida, and we went to rival schools! I thought it was pretty interesting how media truly does make the world a smaller place.