The Becton Journalism I and II students visited Rutgers University in New Brunswick for the Garden State Scholastic Press Association’s Fall Student Press Day on October 24.

GSSPA, which offers resources and support for high school journalism students and advisers, scheduled numerous informational sessions to help strengthen students’ understanding of journalism. Guest speakers arrived from various news stations, newspapers and other colleges to speak to young peers interested in a career that would involve writing and reporting the news.

Angela Hill, an investigative journalist from ABC News, conducted a lecture discussing the aspects of being an investigative journalist and what experiences she has come across. At her event titled The Power and Excitement of Investigative Journalism, she discussed how ‘down and dirty’ the whole job is by describing previous cases she had taken part in such as the scandal of mistreating chickens on farms along with the theft performed by Bernie Madoff. For these cases, Hill informed her audience that she had to undergo stake-outs, which she described as “boring but worth it at times when they eventually gather intel on the case”.

Besides her cases involving the stake-outs, Hill also informed the class that she enjoys her job even though it may be a lot of hustle and bustle with her always on the move. Though it may be a lot of effort and work, Hill mentioned that it pays off with her winning two Emmy awards and being nominated for six awards since 2011, due to her excellence in contributing to cases for ABC News.

Senior Sarah Tawfeek described the presentation as “very interesting and descriptive.”

“The presentation was quite informative, and I like how it involved real-life experiences,” added Senior Ryan Strauss.

Another interesting program offered at the conference was You Got This: Stories Matter, which was presented by Mike Simmons. As president of the Columbus Scholastic Press Association, Simmons had quite some interesting knowledge involving the topic of scholastic journalism.

“Our job as journalists is to make authentic stories that matter. You have no greater responsibility than telling the truth,” he said.

Simmons placed much emphasis on writing the truth in stories since he stressed that it is the main component in any form of journalism. The speaker also emphasized the use of certain skills involved in scholastic journalism such as problem-solving, researching and communicating with others fluently and effectively.