NEWPORT BEACH : C-SPAN Touring Bus Gives Students a Look at the News

More than 100 local high school students got a look at how the news is produced Tuesday when the C-SPAN Bus rolled into Newport Beach on its national educational tour.

The 45-foot motor coach functions as a mobile television studio, classroom and promotion for the government affairs cable channel. It has been touring the country for a year, visiting campuses nationwide to spark student interest in news and in government.

About 60 students at each Newport Beach campus boarded the bus in small groups and saw how technology makes news coverage more immediate and accessible.

C-SPAN spokeswoman Maura Pierce guided each group through a sort of video flash card presentation of international newsmakers, amplifying some images with clips to show the breadth of coverage.

Students seemed more interested in the bus itself than the news it helps deliver. “Do you guys stop for takeout?” one student queried. (Yes, they do.)

Teachers and administrators took the opportunity to introduce students to other informational resources with presentations about other educational channels, the city library system and school career centers.

‘It’s a neat opportunity for our kids to see how the news is covered as it’s happening,” said Corona del Mar High Principal Don Martin. “The broader item is to get kids tuned in to the fact that there is television beyond MTV.”

After a presentation, Corona del Mar seniors Carter Wells and Courtney Robinson, both 17, said that it helped them learn what is available but that it probably will not change their viewing habits.

Robinson said she would tune in to C-SPAN “if there was an issue or something.” Wells said the presentation made it more likely that he would tune in, but not a certainty.

“More likely, yes,” he said, “But I’m not saying I’m going home to do it right now.”