“The Newsfeed” at TCCD Studios is a weekly livestream posted on Facebook Live completely managed by students in the radio, television and film program, also known as RTVF.

The program was started three years ago when NE instructor associate Patrick Hogan and NE TV specialist instructor Darryl Hoelting decided they wanted to give students a chance to work on a live news broadcast.

“We try to give ‘The Newsfeed’ a real-life atmosphere,” Hoelting said. “Something similar to what they would be facing if they were working at a real TV station.”

There is a TV studio class offered by the RTVF department that teaches students how to direct, run teleprompters and record audio, skills that students use on “The Newsfeed” and will help them if they choose to pursue further broadcasting media. 

Every student that works on “The Newsfeed” volunteers any amount of time they can to work on the program, even during the summer. Hogan said that even when they don’t have active students in the summer, dedicated alumni will volunteer their time and efforts to run “The Newsfeed.”

NE student Brian Bavard said that working on “The Newsfeed” has helped him gain confidence in the work he does behind the camera.

“Once you have the hands-on experience, you feel more confident doing it,” Bavard said. “I feel like if I was to go into a workplace, I could at least attempt to do something and then build onto that.”

Since “The Newsfeed” is broadcast in real-time on Facebook Live, students in front of the camera do not get to start over if they make mistakes, simulating another pressure situation they would face while working on a real news channel.

“TV studio is teamwork,” Hogan said. “And I think that’s one of the best parts about it.”

Hoelting explained that even though people only see what goes on in front of the camera, everything needs to come together perfectly so that the final product will look good.

“You can have a fantastic audio guy, but if your two anchors are up there and they don’t know their script, your newscast is shot,” Hoelting said.

“The Newsfeed” is currently not broadcast on any TCC campuses, but Hoelting and Holder hope to work with the district to display the program around the campus to deliver news to more students.