Spreading the News : Huntington Beach Students Get Shot at Real Broadcasting in TV Class

Inside the TV control room, the 16-year-old program director, Paul Lear, spoke into his headset.

“OK, quiet on the set. Coming up on Camera 1, then cut to 2.”

In the adjoining TV studio, the camera crew and on-camera talent tried not to show fatigue or irritation. The slate man held up a card that read: “Take No. 17.” A young woman quickly glanced at her cue card. The red light on Camera 1 flashed on. The young woman smiled and recited her lines--one more time.

Unlike the the new CBS-TV network series, “TV 101,” about fictional high school news broadcasters, this is the real thing. Huntington Beach High School has been doing it for more than 10 years.

Not Like on TV Show

Louis Polley watched from the hall outside Huntington High’s TV newsroom. “It’s not at all like they show it on that new program, ‘TV 101,’ ” he said. “In that show, it seems like they get a take done in 3 or 4 minutes. It often takes me 3 or 4 hours just to do a 3-minute segment.”

Polley, 16, a junior at Huntington Beach High, is among the on-camera performers used in the school’s weekly TV news-magazine show, “1905 Main.”

“1905 Main St. is the address of our high school,” TV teacher Don Messerschmitt said. “We used to call the program ‘Campus Update.’ This year we changed the format. It’s now more about things in the community, outside the high school, and it’s a little more sophisticated. So we’ve changed the name, and we have a new set.”

Huntington Beach High is among the few schools in Southern California with an on-campus TV studio.

‘Our Kids Often Go on to Major in This’

“We got our equipment about 10 years ago with a federal grant,” Messerschmitt said. “Our school wanted to teach kids about the television business and give them hands-on experience even before they get to college. It’s a very popular class, and our kids often go on to major in this in college.”

At Huntington Beach High, the weekly 15-minute news program is taped for broadcast on Fridays to all classrooms in the school. Each week’s tape is also given to county cable outlets; it is broadcast on Channel 30 at 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“It’s amazing how many people see the (cable) broadcast and tell me about it,” said Jenny Casey, 16, a junior and one of the on-camera anchors.

The Huntington Beach High news program is written, directed and produced by students. Messerschmitt and another instructor, John Colby, stand by on the set to give advice and pointers. But the students operate cameras, write scripts, compose original theme music, build props and voice all speaking roles.

Segment on Abortion Issue

The inaugural show of the new format included a segment on the national debate about whether the right to legal abortion should be overturned in the United States. The segment gave background about the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic abortion ruling, Roe vs. Wade. There were film clips of President Bush and Vice President Quayle and their comments opposing abortion during the 1988 presidential campaign. Interspersed were a balanced number of anti-abortion and pro-choice comments by Huntington Beach students.

“Some of the kids in the high school said they didn’t like the first show,” Messerschmitt said. “They said it was too heavy. But the faculty loved it.”

The second “1905 Main” program, taped last week, had a segment about forthcoming changes in a national fast-food franchise popular with students. There were also segments on the history of Valentine’s Day and awards won by the rock band Guns and Roses.

Messerschmitt noted that the show always has campus news too, such as sports updates.

During Thursday’s taping, anchor Kristin Moyer, 18, a senior, went through take after take on the rock-band segment until Lear, the young director, was satisfied.

“Yeah, it’s a pressure job,” said Lear, a sophomore, during a break. “But it’s fun, and I like to be in command, as everybody in this classroom knows. You have to watch your temper, though.”

Anchorwoman Moyer said she accepts the long hours of taping as part of the learning and enjoys the class. “This is what I really like to do,” she said. “I’m going to take this in college. Then I think it’d be fun to come back to a high school and teach a class like this.”

One of the student studio technicians, Allen MacDonald, 16, said: “It’s great to be able to work with real equipment and get the experience.”

Studio floor manager Tina Haines, 18, a senior, added: “Having experience like this will help me in college. I’m going to major in this.”

Messerschmitt said few high schools can afford to buy the TV equipment that Huntington Beach High obtained a decade ago.

“Since many students at other high schools in Orange County want to take this class, we allow transfers to come to Huntington so they can get this experience,” he said.

Up to 20 Hours a Week

But he added that the course involves a lot of work. Students often devote up to 20 hours a week in their part of the news show.

“They’re very dedicated,” he said.

Thursday’s taping was a case in point. News anchor Jenny Casey had been sick with flu but showed up for the TV class nonetheless.

“This, to me, is like a job,” Casey said. “It’s like a duty. So, yes, I’m still sick, but I wasn’t about to miss this class.”