By: Derek Hottenstein
It’s safe to say that there’s always a lot going on at St. Norbert College. And sometimes it’s pretty hard to keep track of it all. Between MySNC events, posters around campus, YikYak posts, emails, newsletters, and plain old word of mouth, there’s a lot to unpack when it comes to everything this place has to offer. And this semester, some students brought the idea of a weekly news broadcast to life.
Creating an entire news program from scratch isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world, but it’s tackling these sorts of innovative challenges that are what the Honors Program and the college at large are all about. After acquiring the necessary equipment and filming location, the next step was to start putting together a team. Madeline Diefenthaler (‘2027, Communications) founded Knight News and is now filling the role of President.
When asked why they decided to put this club together, Diefenthaler stated that since she wishes to pursue a career in the news broadcasting field, she looked around and noticed it was something that SNC was missing. She says that “the idea of Knight News is to help provide a different hands-on experience to students who are interested in pursuing a career more in news or a certain area like camera work, on camera experience, graphic design, and more.” Sam LoCoco, Vice President of the club, agrees, affirming that “improving their physical and technical skills in an incredible outlet that is student run allows for so much self improvement and professional growth.”
But it’s not just about those of us who are on the team; the light that Knight News shines covers all of campus. Diefenthaler shares that “while this club benefits its members and their futures, it also positively highlights St. Norbert and promotes the school through our hard work.” It’s safe to say that a weekly dose of positivity and recognizing the accomplishments of the student body goes a long way. This is even applicable to sections such as the weather, where the news is almost as gloomy as Wisconsin’s famous frozen springs, but still shared with a positive light. And positive news is exactly what Knight News offers. Honors sophomore Nathan Gill is the official Knight News Cameraman who records the club segments, and he notes that “filming all these segments of how different organizations operate is a pretty awesome thing.”
Whether it’s sports recaps, weather forecasts, student interviews, or just general announcements, Knight News has a lot to give. LoCoco shares that the Knight News team is “an amazing team that works together to share the news that campus needs to hear.” Each broadcast is an eye-opening look into the wide variety of things that happen here, both official events and moments in the lives of St. Norbert students. Honors sophomore Dominick Azzolina represents Knight News as its official field reporter and indicated that “it gives an up close and personal view of the interesting individual lives that we all live on campus.” In short, students watch each broadcast and get a greater grasp of the home that we all share here at St. Norbert College.
