Mount Carmel Journalism Club launches ‘Knightly News’

Mount Carmel School’s Journalism Club premiered last week a video broadcast news program about the institution and its alumni, called “Knightly News.”

The inaugural episode was shown at a student assembly of 7th through 12th grade students and has also been posted on the show’s YouTube channel. To simulate a television news broadcast, the inaugural episode also included commercials like the school’s “What is a Knight” video promo and commercials from the school’s Theatre Club.

Anchored by Journalism Club editor-in-chief and Saipan Tribune correspondent Thomas Manglona II and guest anchor Jillian Angeline from KSPN2 News, the inaugural episode focused on the school’s celebration of Catholic Schools Week.

News segments included stories about the 2014 Teacher of the Year and Parents of the Year, a Class of 2003 AlumKnight scholarship award, the renaming of Hagoi Road to Knight Street, a sports roundup, and sights and sounds from the Night with the Knights AlumKnight fundraising banquet.

Students’ response to the show was enthusiastic.

“I really liked it. I thought it was really cool the way it was put together and how they brought in a real TV reporter. Also, because we can’t make it to all the school events, this will help us know what’s going on,” said senior Ashley Ayuyu.

Keiko Yamagata, Journalism Club adviser and school business manager, is very proud of the club’s work. “The school community is proud of the Journalism Club’s successful debut of Knight News. The club members worked diligently to research, interview, develop the script, film, and edit. It was their initiative to transition into broadcast journalism and we congratulate them for reaching another milestone,” she said.

“Knightly News” editor and student filmmaker Miguel Dandan appreciated the challenge of piecing together the many parts of the show into one professional looking episode.

“It was challenging but fun. Especially since this was our first episode, we kept brainstorming and changing, not sure of what template to follow, but in the end, we made it work. Overall, this was a really good experience,” he said.

The Journalism Club plans to produce Knightly News on a bi-weekly basis, with in-school screenings as well as posting episodes on its YouTube channel.