SCM News Lab Students Focus on 2024 Election

Students in the School of Communication and Media’s News Lab are engaged in multiple projects that will culminate in two News Lab special productions focusing on Gen Z and the 2024 presidential election. Titled “#Focus: Democracy Our Election: The 2024 Vote,” the specials will air on the School’s student-run streaming service, Hawk Plus (hawkplus.tv) in November.

Foregoing conventional election night returns coverage, the first of the two #Focus productions will be a preview of the election, with a special emphasis on Gen Z, and will air on Hawk Plus on the night before the election: Monday, November 4 at 8 p.m. The second will be an all-new production airing two weeks after the election with post-election, follow-up coverage.

About #Focus: Democracy Our Election: The 2024 Vote

Produced by News Lab students in collaboration with other campus groups, students from Michigan State University, and partners at WNBC and Telemundo 47, #Focus: Democracy Our Election is an in-depth, Gen Z-centered exploration of the election, as well as a hands-on learning experience in putting together a news program.

“This is an exceptional opportunity for our students to create a professional news production,” says News Lab Coordinator Mark Effron. “Since the summer, our students have been meeting to plot out the show and our partnerships. We have between 50 to 75 students touching this wide-reaching production – leading, producing, anchoring and reporting, videography, streaming, control room and more.”

Among the scheduled highlights of the November 4 special are:

• Discussion of a poll conducted this fall by the students about Gen Z and the election.
• Live focus groups with Montclair Political Science majors throughout the program.
• Segments on what Gen Z could expect from a Harris 1.0 or a Trump 2.0 presidency.
• Commentary from NBC News and MSNBC National Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki.
• A live student report from Michigan State University along with a piece about students on the East Lansing campus.
• An interview with news presenter Allan Villafaña, who anchors the Telemundo 47 weekly public affairs show. The interview will be in both English and Spanish.
• Live reports from Isabella Alvarez, a News Lab student who is spending the semester at Bournemouth University in England. She will look at what it’s like to be an American student abroad during one of the most consequential elections of the last 50 years.
• Coverage and interviews from a special social media unit.

Two weeks after the election, there will be an all-new #Focus with post-election coverage.

“One of the hallmarks of our school – soon to be college – is that our students work in professional settings, and leave Montclair ready to tackle the real world,” says Effron. “These #Focus productions provide that experience.”

This project is part of a series of #Focus initiatives that SCM students work on each semester. The project topic, which changes each semester, incorporates students’ skills in journalism, content creation, and social media and PR strategies throughout the news gathering and production process. Topics in previous semesters have included #FocusDemocracy, #FocusDisruption, #FocusImmigration, #FocusClimateChange and #FocusRacialJustice. For the last four years, students have won FOLIO Awards for their work on these projects.

I’m a ____, tell me more:

Prospective Student / Parent: Learn more about the School of Communication and Media, visit the News Lab website or Apply to Montclair State University.

Journalist: Contact the Media Relations team for assets or to schedule an interview with Professor Effron about this topic. See more Faculty Experts and hi-res media assets available for download.