2 Student Journalists From NJ University Will Report From White House On Election Day

WAYNE, NJ — As Nov. 5 nears, student journalists at William Paterson University are preparing to help lead a 24-hour Election Day broadcast with other emerging reporters around the country — and the world.

But, two of these students won't be on campus in Wayne with their colleagues — they'll be producing on-camera reports, along with plenty of other TV journalists, outside the White House.

This Student News Live broadcast is a global initiative, co-founded by William Paterson University journalism professor Nicholas Hirshon. Marshall University is the other founding school, as Hirshon partnered with Rob Quicke, director of the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications there.

The students' coverage of Election Day will be available through an online simulcast by iHeartRadio and PBS News Student Reporting Labs, and will begin at noon Eastern time on Election Day. They will also be broadcast on several YouTube channels, including for the Society of Professional Journalists and the PBS Student Reporting Labs.

One of the programs that will be featured is a 30-minute conversation with area journalists, hosted by William Paterson seniors Aria Capria and Alexander Felix, about political misinformation (and disinformation). That will air at 1 p.m. on Election Day.

Felix and fellow student Julia Menn will be the William Paterson representatives at the White House, with a university spokesperson saying they plan to produce on-camera reports from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Read more in this news release from William Paterson University below:

William Paterson University is at the forefront of an unprecedented initiative to bring together students across the country and the world to report on the 2024 presidential election.

Nicholas Hirshon, a journalism professor and advisor of the University’s nationally recognized chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, co-founded Student News Live—a global coalition of high school and college journalism programs that will cover the election in a 24-hour online broadcast simulcast by iHeartRadio and PBS News Student Reporting Labs.

Student News Live has also received support from NBCU Academy, which is training participating students and providing them with a resource toolkit on political and election coverage.

Hirshon is partnering on this initiative with Rob Quicke, director of the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University in West Virginia.

Participating universities have begun producing audio and video news content tied to Election Day. Colleges from across the country, from Colorado to Texas and from California to New York, will air live coverage, as will students in Ireland, Spain, and Nepal. WP is the only participating institution from New Jersey.

“Journalists of all ages deserve a chance to cover the presidential race. We hope Student News Live can help young reporters across the country jumpstart their careers,” Hirshon says.

Student News Live’s 24 hours of continuous coverage starts at 12 noon EST on Election Day. The 24-hour broadcast will air on StudentNewsLive.com, as well as the YouTube channels for PBS News Student Reporting Labs, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The audio from the feed will air on the iHeartRadio app and iHeart.com.

On October 24, about a dozen William Paterson students produced a 30-minute television program that will air on the Student News Live broadcast at 1 p.m. EST on Election Day.

They interviewed three journalists about political mis/disinformation on set in the WPTV studios: Robby Brod, a former reporter for WITF in Harrisburg, Issac Avilucea of Axios in Philadelphia, and Ken Burns of WHYY, also in Philadelphia.

Seniors Aria Capria and Alexander Felix served as co-hosts.

They developed questions for the journalists with Hirshon’s guidance and included pre-recorded questions that WP students across campus asked on camera. They covered a wide range of topics, including the impact of disinformation on Latino voters on Facebook and WhatsApp—a relevant topic for WP, a federally recognized Hispanic-Serving Institution.

“In the climate of our world today, it’s very hard to ask these kinds of questions,” says Capria, a broadcast journalism major who serves as news director for the University’s radio station and host and co-producer at its television station. “To give our campus and students across the nation the answers is very exciting.”