I had always thought that being a journalist was an unrealistic job. However, on November 14th, I witnessed Pitt’s own efforts to become an open-minded journalist. Pittsburg High School’s Broadcast Journalism classes got the amazing opportunity to participate in Diablo Valley College’s Journalism and Media Expo (JAME). The Expo was guided by several experienced journalists from different categories; Nolan Higdon, a political analyst concentrated in AI literacy, propaganda, and news media history; AK Sandhu, a film maker concentrated in reproductive rights, the immigrant experience, and bringing to light lost history; Abel Anguiano Gomez, a freelance journalist student currently studying at UC Berkeley, writing for the Daily Californian, and for the San Jose Earthquakes; Jennifer Seeling, vice president of news format or Audacy brands and director of News and Programming at KCBS; and Jessica Christian, a photo journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle. All journalists participated in a sit down panel for all attendees of the expo. Each speaker provided a different insight to how they started their careers, what inspires them, and what being in mainstream media entails. 

After the Industry panel the attendees were invited to different classrooms on the DVC campus that explored broadcasting, green screens, photography, and writing. The professors that take care of these classes did not shy away from informing students what their class is about, along with answering questions about their craft. Some students do state it would’ve been nice to be a little more hands on with certain classes because everything seemed so new. To most it was. 

The event had a special highlight to networking, which is the main form journalists work their way into this field. Tables were offered in case students wanted to get in contact with universities regarding journalism majors. Alongside them were news and radio stations like KQED that were interested in looking for media interns. Or students just got the opportunity to talk further with journalists they found interesting in the panel. The networking tables allowed for opportunities to fall right into the hands of what could be future journalists. 

Overall, the trip was definitely worth doing.