College of Southern Maryland students interested in communication careers got a behind-the-scenes look at several major news outlets Nov. 7, even bumping into CBS’s Bob Schieffer, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show “Face the Nation.”

The day began with a tour of Al Jazeera America’s studio for
“America Tonight,” the channel’s daily prime time news/current
affairs magazine program, hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Joie
Chen. The Al Jazeera studio is located in the Newseum, which students
visited after their media tours.

Freelance field cameraman and editor John Bullard showed the students
around the “America Tonight” set and also provided a private tour of
the Newseum’s video editing rooms and its state-of-the-art Knight
Studio where many media outlets produce news and information programs.

A short distance away, the students met with Toni Hoover, a long-time
television technician at CBS’s Washington bureau, whose daughter,
Amanda Bowen, is a CSM student.

Just before entering the CBS building, the students ran into Schieffer
who was on his way to interview President Obama at the White House. He
stopped to have a few photos taken with the CSM group.

The trip was part of the CSM communication department’s efforts to
engage students with real-world experiences.

“Obviously, many of our students haven’t had the opportunity to
learn about communication work in a real-world way, so we have begun
planning trips to show students the types of places they could be
working someday,” said Michelle Brosco Christian, assistant professor
of communication at CSM. Christian, along with Professor Alan Lifton,
coordinator of the college’s Digital Media Production program, planned
the trip.

“The trip did impact my views about being in the media field, in a
very good way, such as wanting to be in the control room learning how it
works, editing, being the first one on the scene to capture a great news
story, and making the hard, quick decisions,” said CSM student Venice
Miller, a St. Mary’s County resident.

CSM offers associate’s degrees in Communication, Media Studies and
Digital Media Production. To learn more, visit www.csmd.edu.