Despite alternating patches of rain and shine, beginning and advanced journalism classes toured Portland’s lead broadcasting and print organizations, KGW and The Oregonian, last Friday, Dec. 13. Students met with Cathy Marshall, KGW reporter, and editors at the state’s leading newspaper.

“Being able to see the film set of the news I watch every night was very interesting ,” Ben Jacobs, senior and Amplifier co-editor-in-chief, said.

Marshall led students on a tour of the newsroom and control center sharing stories about her career at CNN and KGW. She stressed that curiosity and the ability to listen, to read, to write and to work well with others was essential in the business.

After the KGW visit, beginning students dined at a restaurant of their group’s choosing. They were required to take notes on the restaurant and the food, as well as to take photos for a restaurant review they would write upon returning to class.

“We had a lot of fun, the service was kind of iffy but the food was pretty good,” Shannon Badnin, freshman, said. “ I really liked how much time we had at the restaurant.”

Advanced journalism students headed to the food carts for a quick lunch before walking to The Oregonian to meet with editors in the breaking news and social media departments. John Killian, Breaking News editor, shared a perspective on how the journalism industry has changed and how to balance breaking the news with accuracy.

Alexandra Manzano, Social Media editor, shared The Oregonian’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook sites as well as strategies and tools for using them.

“I try to post on our different social media sites every 20 minutes,” Manzano said.  Whenever something controversial is posted, I monitor comments on our web pages.”

The Amplifier took Manzano’s ideas head-on and created its own Instagram account. The newly-created page, which already has 50 followers, will be posting images of what West Linn High School students are doing in their daily  lives. Follow The Amplifier at their Twitter account @WLHSAmplifier, which the update frequently, and a Facebook account to further connect with students at West Linn High School.  https://www.facebook.com/westlinn.amplifier

“It’s extremely enlightening to see what professional journalists do in their everyday lives, compared to us amateur journalists,” Jacobs said.