The Advanced News Writing class in the Communications department will be tackling a project on poverty in the Dayton area. In past years, Ray Marcano ran the class differently; but this semester, he wanted to shoot bigger.
“I always look for the most challenging project that I possibly can," Marcano said. "Not only that, but also I want to help students get the best portfolio they can. When I’ve done this in the past couple of classes, some students struggled with finding news stories on their own. I wanted to change it up so we were focused on a single issue that’s big in the community."
Another aspect of this project was to draw attention to a large issue in the community, according to Marcano.
"Poverty is a big issue in our community that doesn’t get the attention that it deserves," Marcano said. They (the community) think about numbers, they don’t think about the face of poverty.”
When asked about how he feels students will respond to the project, Marcano said, “I have no fears whatsoever. I think that, in my experience, when the students get excited about something they behave professionally, they write professionally, they give it their all. I think it’s actually going to be something that’s going to surprise a lot of people and blow them away”.
This project is being done in collaboration with Dayton Daily News and the class runs much like an actual newsroom. Marcano, along with adjunct faculty member, Ken Paxson, runs the class with students chosen to be editors and reporters.
Marcano refers to his students as reporters, rather than students. “At the end of the semester, I think the reporters themselves are going to be blown away by what they’ve been able to accomplish.”
WSU senior, Stacy Worley, is serving as the web editor of the class and will put together a website for all of the finished stories to be posted.
“I plan to use elements that I know will work for a project of this magnitude," Worley said. "I have to make sure I have a nice window where I can work on the project between my studies. My other classes are not as intense as this class, so I have to make sure I have a set schedule."
The main goal that Marcano is set on for the class to create is, “awareness beyond the stereotypical base of poverty - that poverty really is somebody and the impact that poverty has on self-esteem,” he said.
