Broadcasters teach trade to UA students

By Yvonne Condes

Arizona Daily Wildcat

One of the reasons that

Gina Frank is taking re-

porter Sandy Rathbun's Professional Media Interviewing class is because she wants to learn techniques from a professional journalist working out in the field.

"I think that it was a really great opportunity to take a class with a reporter that's credible," said Frank, a media arts senior.

Anchorwoman Patty Weiss and Rathbun, both of KVOA-TV (Ch. 4) and University of Arizona graduates, are teaching for the first time.

Rathbun wanted to teach this class because learning to talk to people and ask questions is a "basic life skill," she said.

One way she teaches interviewing is by having her class, M AR 350, watch television broadcasts of other journalists and then discussing the good and bad points. Last night, the class watched a taped interview Diane Sawyer did with Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley. During a lively discussion, the class of about 20 voiced opinions on the effectiveness of the interview.

Rathbun has seen the interview twice before, but it is "fun for me to watch through their eyes," she said.

Weiss' seminar class, Study of the News in the Journalism Department, is for graduate students.

"I feel like I've died and gone to heaven. ... They bring as much to the table as I can," Weiss said.

The class, JOUR 505, compares the similarities and differences in coverage of issues by broadcast news and the print media. Weiss has been a broadcast journalist for more than 20 years.

"I think I have a lot to offer because over 24 years you learn a lot. It's the right time in my life to give back," she said.

Having a broadcast jour

nalist teaching in the

Journalism Department is new, but "one way to move forward is to acknowledge that a lot of people get news from broadcast," Weiss said.

Learning about both print and broadcast is important for students.

"I want them to realize there are many different options," she said.

Rathbun wants her students to know how valuable practical experience is.

"I think," Rathbun said, "that is one of the most important things people can learn."

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