Bryce Newberry
Cronkite Senator
By this point, you’ve probably heard all the rave about the Cronkite School. “Cronkite Kids” just don’t stop talking about how great it is and how in love they are with the school. And whether you like that or not, they have a reason to be … it is a pretty great place.
So, what’s all the hype?
Cronkite runs 12 (and counting) professional programs all across the country. From Washington, D.C. to Santa Monica, Calif., the school has students covering news and sports everywhere. For credit, students work in a real-life newsroom and file stories like they would on the job. It’s a second-to-none opportunity to get experience and be prepared for the workforce.
The Cronkite School opened on the Downtown Phoenix campus in 2008. The building, if you haven’t seen it or been inside, is state of the art. Each floor has special features, equipped with the tools needed in the 21st century to do journalism. The sixth floor studios are even nicer than some real TV studios, I’ve been told.
TV studios mean nothing without a station, right? Arizona State University recently acquired Arizona PBS, so now, the Cronkite School runs local channel 8. Not many other universities have students reporting and anchoring on a local television station (not to mention in the 12th television market in the country), competing with the local ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX affiliates.
And even as a freshman, it’s easy to get involved quickly, even if that doesn’t mean appearing on PBS every night. Each week of the fall semester, the Cronkite School brings in industry leaders to talk about their experiences and inspire students into the future. People like Kim Tobin from ABC15 Arizona, to the journalists who broke the Panama Papers story, come visit the school on Monday nights and meet students.
Every November, the Cronkite School honors a famous journalist, like Charlie Rose and Robin Roberts, with the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. That means the journalist actually comes to Phoenix and is honored at a luncheon. But, greater, the journalist generally comes to the school to meet with students and actually share their own experiences and advice for success.
Countless other opportunities are available at the Cronkite School and students are always revolutionizing the way it all comes together. If you’d like to know more about the school or learn about some of the opportunities available to you, I’d love to chat!