Students hone broadcast skills by interviewing network execs

Friday, Jan. 25, 2002 | 8:52 a.m.

So, kid, you want to break into TV news?

That's the offer three students at Henderson's Foothill High School jumped at this week -- an opportunity to interview major network honchos for news segments on the Varsity TV cable network.

"We had previously been in touch with VTV, and they called us and asked if we wanted to interview executives attending the National Association of Television Program Executives, and we said, 'Of course,' " said Karen Vaughan, teacher of the Foothill broadcast journalism class that kicked off last fall.

"It was a great opportunity for the students to work both in the technical end and on camera."

The dilemma was which three students out of the 30 in her class would get the golden opportunity to work for the cable network, which produces shows for the teenage market.

Vaughan broke the class up into three work groups of 10 and from each picked a winner based on grades and broadcast skills.

Those chosen were Ashley Conner, a 17-year-old senior who has shown promise as a photographer; Matt Mayhood, a 16-year-old junior who is a technical whiz; and Lacee Mann, a 16-year-old junior who has excelled in sound as well as on camera. All three had experience doing on-camera interviews in class.

The students were put to the test Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, interviewing major television network executives from NBC, Fox, Warner Bros., and others at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

"We will edit the videotapes and keep copies (for the students)," Vaughan said, noting that the interviews will air on future VTV broadcasts.