PENN STATE STUDENTS JOINING HIGH-PROFILE NATIONAL MEDIA
July 8, 2000
University Park, Pa. -- David Broder of The Washington Post is covering the National Governors' Association Annual Meeting, which is being held July 8-11 on Penn State's University Park campus and in the State College community. So are C-SPAN and CNN, the Associated Press, the Baltimore Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Harrisburg Patriot-News, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Centre Daily Times and the Daily Collegian -- to name just a few.

Also part of this distinguished media gathering are more than 15 Penn State students, who are covering the NGA meeting through two University classes in communications -- one in advanced newswriting and one in public relations. The newswriting class is being taught by Russ Eshleman, who tood a year's leave of absence from the Philadelphia Inquirer to work as a lecturer in journalism at Penn State; the PR class is being taught by Steve Manuel, senior lecturer in communications.

For the newswriting class, the students are researching and writing stories about the governors' meeting and related happenings; some of their stories, with bylines, are appearing in the local newspaper, the Centre Daily Times. For the public relations class, students are writing stories for a daily newsletter they're producing throughout the four-day run of the meeting. In addition to producing the newsletter, the public relations class students are performing various tasks in the NGA's media headquarters throughout the meeting.

Says Eshleman: "The idea is to give the students some real-life reporting experiences, including finding the right people to interview for stories and getting those people to talk to them, then writing stories on deadline. This is the kind of thing that's hard to replicate in a classroom."

Manuel said that the event "provides our students with a unique opportunity few classroom settings can offer. Being able to participate in a major event such as NGA's annual meeting provides students with real-world experience as well as valuable exposure to some of the brightest minds in the public relations field."

Among the students in Manuel's class are: Susan Shoup, Lancaster; Courtney Spangler, Overland Park, Kan.; Brianna Cox, Corry; Carl Rathjen, Middletown, N.J.; Jamie S. Olson, St. Louis Park, Minn.; Couortney Kaufman, Orlando, Fla.; Anna Orizaner, Moscow, Russia; and Matthew Royse, Champaign, Ill.

Among the students in Eshleman's class are: Regina Brown, Irwin; William Dunn, Shavertown; Stephanie Kahn, Wyomissing; Katrina O'Toole, Philadelphia; Hiran Ratnayake, Fridley, Minn.; Nikki Petrowicz, Norristown; David Reynolds, Summerville; Heather Thompson, Greenville; and Stephen Virostek, Boontown, N.J.

NGA's meeting begins today with an opening news conference at 11 a.m. at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel and concludes Tuesday, July 11, with a closing news conference at 11:30 a.m. on the Penn State campus.

For more information, contact Alan Janesch, of Penn State's Department of Public Information, at NGA media headquarters (814) 865-4600.