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Sparking interest
‘Light the Wick’ brings entertainment scene into focus
By Denise Dick
youngstowN
Telecommu- nications students at Youngstown State University are sparking interest in the area entertainment scene.
“Light the Wick” is recorded weekly in a YSU television studio inside Bliss Hall and available online at lightthewick.blip.tv.
“Telecommunications students focus on interesting and important people and events in the arts and entertainment corridor of Wick Avenue and downtown Youngstown,” said Fred Owens, a professor in YSU’s Department of Communication.
The class does a full- production show on the first and third Fridays of the month. On the second and fourth Fridays, students do “Sparks” — sort of an entertainment/arts billboard listing upcoming events.
The program focuses on real people, not “suits” as Owens calls officials.
This week’s show, recorded Friday, was a full production, with pieces focusing on a local brewery, a new restaurant, an Arms Museum exhibit, a church dinner and progress of the university’s indoor sports complex.
“This is all done by the students,” Owens said.
Their roles rotate. The host of one week’s show takes a behind-the-scenes post the next.
Keith Stinson of Howland worked as host and executive producer this week.
He’ll graduate next month and is sending out r sum s hoping to secure an on-air job.
The experience working on the show has been invaluable.
“All of the TV stations have basically one-man bands,” Stinson said, where one person functions as both the reporter and camera person.
To get his story ideas, Stinson checks websites and community calendars.
“But the best stories aren’t on any list,” he said.
They come from keeping your eyes and ears open to what’s happening around you.
Stinson was walking to class one day and saw the Barone Concessions hot-dog stand on Lincoln Avenue. It gave him an idea for a story. He approached the people involved, asking if they’d be willing to be part of a story and they agreed.
Jon Raidel of Girard, though, prefers things behind the scenes. He worked as technical director on Friday’s production.
Raidel has extensive experience working with wrestling and other sports, working about 60 hours per week in addition to school. He’ll graduate in May.
“I don’t want to be on camera,” he said. “I like to be behind the scenes.”
That expertise also may provide him an edge when he’s looking for a job.
The equipment is state-of-the-art, with the system used in Friday’s production all fitting on a table top.
While Stinson delivered his introductions and story setups in front of a plain green backdrop, it appears like he’s in front of the “Light the Wick” logo.
The program started in fall 2009 with two telecommunication studies classes handling its production. One class was News Practices for Broadcast Media, taught by Matt Stone. It’s a sophomore-level class in which students learn the basics of media writing and producing.
The other was Owens’ Seminar in Telecommunication Studies, focusing on producing news programs as well as shooting and editing video, making graphics and doing promotions.