Elementary Students Make "News" Friends

OU Nightly, the student-produced news broadcast based in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, is hoping to reach out not only to its campus community but to the Norman community, as well. Research conducted by Connextions, our public relations campaigns team, concluded that parents, who make up a large portion of the Norman community, would be a valuable public. Norman is strongly rooted in family values and the community of parents offers OU Nightly an easily reached audience that can easily multiply itself. By this, I mean that when one set of parents is reached, through parent-teacher associations or PTA, play groups and other parent organizations they will undoubtedly spread their enthusiasm for any given topic, cause or even the local news broadcast.
It is because of these research findings that we decided to host our event at Kennedy Elementary School. I am friends with a second grade teacher at the school, and when I approached her with our idea to have the anchors come speak to the children, she couldn't have been more open to the idea. This was not only an opportunity for OU Nightly to reach a potential audience (parents, grandparents, extended family and the students), but the students would be exposed to news and news consumption.
The event was a success in the eyes of all involved. The anchors enjoyed themselves, the teachers were intrigued, the students made new "college friends" and our post-event surveys showed that the majority of the students parents had watched OU Nightly and/or planned to watch in the future.

Life After OU

Life After OU

by Linden Chalfant

When I started at The University of Oklahoma in August 2004, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. Business always seemed like a great major, but little did I know, there were so many other options out there. I stumbled upon public relations because one of my friends decided on that and she explained to me what broad career possibilities this major allowed. I started thinking about it and every company needs a wonderful image to back their product. Whether I wanted to work for a PR firm, or simply do public relations for a certain company, it looked like there would be tons of possibilities after graduation.
Leaving OU, I am so glad that I chose this major because through it I have met dedicated professors, made wonderful friends, and gained hands-on experience through internships. Public relations is interesting because its fundamentals are applicable to every aspect of life.
Now that graduation is rapidly approaching, I have narrowed down this vast array of possibilities that I once imagined. Upon graduation, I will be doing risk analysis for an insurance company in Dallas, Texas. This opportunity allows me to use analytical skills, writing skills, and it provides a foundation where my career will be built and maintained upon relationship management with clients. Although I am not going into public relations specifically, I feel like my education through the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication has prepared me immensely for the real world!

"OU Nightly:" Promoting news consumption to children

"OU Nightly:" Promoting news consumption to children
By Annie Bowen

Situated at the end of a long hallway in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Oklahoma students work diligently for hours each weekday to produce the nightly news broadcast “OU Nightly.”

“OU Nightly” covers news and events relevant to the OU campus and Norman area, as well as national news and weather. Despite the specific focus on the OU and Norman communities, however, many students and Norman residents are unaware of its existence and/or details about the program, such as when it airs.

One of the publics we are targeting in our campaign to promote “OU Nightly” is Norman parents of elementary-aged children. We plan to publicize the general details of “OU Nightly,” while also relaying the idea that “OU Nightly” is concerned with Norman children and the community.

The main messaging and strategy we developed for this public is a focus on encouraging children to begin to follow the news at an early age, and educating parents about how to speak with their children about the news.

We found a considerable amount of research about the media consumption habits of children and young people. For example, a 2007 Pew Research Center study found that close to 61% of parents (with children in kindergarten through senior year of high school) encourage their children to consume news content, such as reading the newspaper or watching the news. Despite this, however, only 6% of children currently follow news about national and international issues very closely. In fact, “the vast majority don't follow the news too closely or at all.” Other studies also indicate that fewer young people are watching the television.

Further, we found that parents are seeking guidance in regard to how to dialogue with children about the violence they witness on the news each night. As part of our campaign, we will provide sources like the PBS Web site that contain information about how to speak openly with children about events on the news.

Overall, we reasoned that, through a relationship centered around their children, we could provide Norman parents with useful information about news consumption, encourage a new generation of media consumers and also promote our client to its target publics.

Image available at http://jmc.ou.edu/Pulse/broadcast_students.html

They're Here, You're Not Watching

"They're Here, You're Not Watching"

By: Lani Eyster

For nearly 3 years students from the Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC) program at the University of Oklahoma (OU) have volunteered their time to bring late-breaking news to people on the OU campus, in Norman, and the surrounding Metro area. Unfortunately, it is possible that the number of people working on the program might out number the people watching it. Despite being aired on Cox Cable channel 4* the program is not receiving the viewer ship it deserves, and that’s not a biased opinion based on the fact that I am part of a team working to promote the program because the program has been recognized nationally for its level of excellence.

Here is where some of the magic, if you will, happens. During our site visit we had a chance to look at the studio and take a look “behind the scenes”. I say that because all of this state-of-the-art equipment can be seen by anyone who walks through Gaylord Hall, the JMC building.

After our group meeting with Dana Rosengard, who is this director and founder of this program, to discuss what he was looking for out of the campaign I was concerned with the idea that we have such an outstanding student-run media outlet and it is not being taking advantage of by even the students. However, this year marks the beginning of a new relationship between “OU Nightly” and Sooner Football. The program is now able to produce a special edition of “OU Nightly” that is aired before kick-off each game over the jumbo-tron in front of about 80,000 people in attendance!

I am looking forward to working for such a unique client, and there certainly are a lot of areas that we can increase the number of people that are aware it exists. Although we will have difficulty measuring our success because there is no rating system for the show, I think that even if we can only get a few more people to turn it on the content and presentation of "OU Nightly" can and will speak for itself.

TUNE IN FOR THE LATEST

TUNE IN FOR THE LATEST
BY: MELIA WRIGHT

A few weeks ago in my final Public Relations class, Public Relations Campaigns, my team of five, PR4OU, was assigned to research and present a successful campaign for the University of Oklahoma student-produced news station, OU Nightly (http://tv4ou.ou.edu/newsfull.html). OU Nightly is televised on TV4OU (http://tv4ou.ou.edu/), the OU television station, twice a day, Monday through Friday. Our goal for this campaign is to raise awareness about the show and to increase viewership.

OU Nightly is an award-winning broadcast yet many people, including students of the university, are not aware of this. Despite the many awards the show holds, OU Nightly lacks not only viewership but credibility as well. Due to the fact that OU Nightly is student-produced, we currently feel as a group that many viewers will not choose OU Nightly as their news source. OU Nightly competes with large Oklahoma news stations such as KOCO, KFOR, and KWTV. It is our mission to change the public’s perception of a student-produced news station and raise the number of viewers.

From researching other successful student-produced news stations, PR4OU found that in order to be successful, OU Nightly must be set apart from all other news casts. We found something special about OU Nightly and what makes OU Nightly different from other news casts is that they found their niche in their daily “Franchise Pieces.” In order to be favored, OU Nightly must be unique and bring its own characteristics to the competitive world of news casts. OU Nightly found its uniqueness in these pieces and is a great opportunity for the show.

PR4OU spoke with Professor Dana Rosengard about what he hopes for us to accomplish during this campaign. From speaking with him we found he has high hopes for the show and hopes to air statewide soon. The Dean of the College of Journalism is working with Cox Cable on this project and Rosengard is confident that by December 2007, OU Nightly will be available statewide.