What Happened to the Bear News?
After nearly two months of waiting for the school news to go back on-air, students and the news team are left wondering when they’ll be able to return to the traditional newsroom. For months, we’ve been left in the dark about if or when the news will return to being live-streamed. So, what’s the real reason we haven’t seen the news since last spring? There are a few reasons why it's been stuck on the PA.
With the new arrival of computers––for teachers––the news can’t be streamed the way it previously was.
“From what I understand, some teachers received new MacBooks, so we cannot stream the broadcast the way we have in the past,” said Mrs. Chastity Edlefson, news team advisor. Mrs. Edlefson also added, “There was also a concern of having students together in the newsroom due to COVID[-19] guidelines.”
Since COVID-19 has rampaged its way through the Berrien County community, many guidelines have been put in place to limit contact with people, to help contain the spread of this disease. With these Coronavirus parameters set, the team isn’t allowed to have its typical number of people in the newsroom. As of now, the number of students allowed is also unknown.
The vacant newsroom is filled with announcements from the spring–before the school’s COVID shut down in March. photo by Lea Douglas
With a mist of uncertainty, the news team isn’t indifferent about being over the PA.
“I don’t like doing it [the announcements] over the PA. I miss doing the regular broadcast,” said news team member Isabelle Gaver, 11.
In a survey sent to SJHS news team members, 100 percent of respondents said they prefer the news being live-streamed rather than over the PA. In addition to the news team survey, SJHS students were asked their opinion on the news’ shift to PA and which way they preferred the news. 69 percent said they like the news being live-streamed, while 31 percent said they like the news over the PA.
While Mrs. Edlefson and the news team were hopeful that the news would be up and running within the next few weeks, a new delay has been issued. With the arrival of new Chromebooks, the IT department has been focused on getting the devices set up so they’ll be ready for distribution. Since the department is focused on setting up the new computers, the news team is unable to arrange a new streaming service, which hinders the news’s return to live-stream.