On Friday, Dakota News Now set up a live broadcast on the campus of South Dakota State University (SDSU) as part of the beloved Hobo Day celebration. The on‑site program connected the station’s anchors—Hannah Ekwall, Lexie Merley and Annie Witt—with students, faculty and community members throughout the morning.
Students Gain Real‑World Insight
Director of the SDSU School of Communication and Journalism, Joshua Westwick, praised the experience, saying, “Having the live broadcast here on campus is a great experience for our students. To be able to visibly see local journalism, local storytelling, to see the value of that happening right here in their campus, at their home, is a really great opportunity.”
For students already involved in campus media, watching a professional newscast offered a concrete view of industry standards. Senior journalism major and assistant broadcast director for Collegian Media, Kennedy Foster, explained that the experience is timely for her upcoming job search. “To watch the live broadcast this morning was so interesting because come spring, I’ll be looking for that job. I’m hopefully becoming like a beat reporter type deal,” she said.
Industry Standards on Display
Andrew Lewno, a student who produces a newscast each Friday, noted the value of seeing how professionals operate. “Since we make our own newscast every Friday, it’s really, really good to see kind of the industry standard, how professionals are doing it,” he remarked.
The live segment also featured interviews with members of the campus community, exploring what Hobo Day means to them and how the tradition shapes student life. By integrating local news coverage with a historic campus event, Dakota News Now helped bring the SDSU community together both on‑screen and off‑screen.
Supporting Local Journalism
Beyond the immediate educational benefits, the broadcast underscored the importance of local storytelling in a media landscape often dominated by national outlets. Westwick emphasized that exposing students to a functioning newsroom on their own campus reinforces the role of local journalism in informing and uniting communities.
As Hobo Day continues to evolve, partnerships like this one between Dakota News Now and SDSU demonstrate how local media can serve as a training ground for the next generation of reporters while enriching community events with professional coverage.
Original reporting: Dakota News Now KSFY Sioux Falls (local) — read the source article.
