When selecting courses for the following year, there is often confusion distinguishing the differences between Journalism and Photojournalism. While the two classes do have their similarities, including covering stories through writing, interviewing students, and taking photos, they are completely separate student-run publications.
Both classes are media focused, serving the purpose of covering student life, though the way in which they choose to publish this information differs.
Journalism, also known as The Prowler, is responsible for the school’s newspaper, website, and Wildcat Weeklies. On the other hand, Photojournalism, commonly referred to as The Trivium, works all year to create the infamous yearbook.
Both classes are made up of mixed grade levels, from sophomores to seniors, creating strong collaborative environments. This pushes students to get out of their comfort zone and allows them to work with peers they may not otherwise be in class with.
Journalism class is a fast-paced environment, allowing students to explore both social and traditional media types. Within this course, students can write about their interests from a variety of categories including news, features, sports, opinion, and arts and style.
In Journalism, there are about two story meetings per quarter. At a story meeting, each member of the publication shares two of their newsworthy story ideas, as well as a short report of their specific topic of coverage, also referred to as a “beat”.
In addition to story cycles, members of The Prowler spend their time creating Wildcat Weeklies in small groups. These are the videos shown each Friday during the morning announcements that allow students to receive a peek into student life from the previous week, as well as recap and advertise school and community events.
Another large aspect of Journalism is the task of Elective Points, meaning each reporter must complete a total of 500 points by the end of each quarter. These can be completed in a variety of ways including creating spotlights on different student and teacher interests called Humans of Rockbridges, filming response interviews still students referred to as Prowler Polls, taking photo galleries, and writing additional articles. Elective Points are a great way to maintain motivation within the classroom and guarantee that The Prowler is constantly producing new content.
While Journalism focuses on creating a vast amount of content, Photojournalism narrows in on creating one perfectly curated yearbook.
As a first year in The Trivium, each student is placed into a group of 2 to 5 people. Each group will be assigned a different spread in the book, and typically completes a total of three spreads throughout the entire year. These spreads cover extremely diverse topics such as student jobs, sports, and other unique interests.
When crafting a spread, there are many different factors to consider. At the bottom of each spread is a question answered by students. This is called an “all book device question” and is answered by students within the building.
The spread building process also involves taking photographs and interviewing the subjects of each student present in an image. The main part of a spread is called the copy. This is the large amount of text featured on the page and is where the story of the spread is told.
As a member of both Journalism and Photojournalism, I can full heartedly say that both classes are something you should want to be a part of. On one hand, I love the vast different media forms I get to explore in Journalism, but I equally value getting to see a year’s hard work pay off when it comes to holding the physical yearbook created in Photojournalism class.
Even if you have the slightest interest in one of these courses, I would recommend reaching out to a current student, such as myself, for more information. If you would like to contact the teachers of these courses Journalism’s supervisor, Mary Holton, can be found in room T8 or at mary_holton@rockbridge.k12.va.us. Photojournalism’s supervisor, Brian Hamelman, is in room 114 or is contactable at brian_hamelman@rockbridge.k12.va. These publications are a great way to feel involved in the school, and truly do have something to fit each person’s diverse interests.
Follow both The Prowler and The Trivium on Instagram to see student produced content and stay up to date on all things RCHS.
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