Sixth Presidency and the Press gets underway

The sixth annual Presidency and the Press got underway Saturday as 28 high school students settled into college life at Franklin Pierce University.

The five-day journalism conference aims to educate the students on the fundamentals of modern journalism and its role in American politics, sponsored by the Fitzwater Center of Communications and run by its director, Dr. Kristen Nevious and her staff. Highlights of the program include working with state-of the-art equipment to produce news packages, trips to Manchester to meet state and federal politicians as well as representatives of the media, and finally a meeting with Marlin Fitzwater himself, former White House Press Secretary.

The students come from all over the country. Though there is a large group from New Hampshire, the state known for its First in the Nation Presidential Primary, others hail from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, California, Florida, Kansas, and Maryland.

As they navigate the world of the newsroom and studio, learning to use pocket camcorders, digital cameras and professional electronic newsgathering equipment, and post news and photos on the program’s website, their previous experience plays a part in their work. Most are not newcomers to the industry – among the group are Fitzwater Scholars Sarah Rodriguez, a spokesperson for juvenile diabetes, and Ian Hayden, who has worked for  years on his mother’s public access news station in Methuen, Massachusetts.

Although these students come from a variety of places and backgrounds, they all have one thing in common – a passion and drive for journalism and politics. Follow the group on Twitter @presidencyandpr and on the website www.fitzwatercenter.com for updates throughout the program.