470 MIXED MEDIA
OutTake
SuperDesk
Many high school and college media
centers across the nation are adapt-
ing a new work method known as the
“SuperDesk.” Modeled along the lines
of Florida’s Tampa Tribune multimedia
newsroom, SuperDesk is a communi-
cation system that brings together the
leaders of the campus television station,
radio station, student news Web site and
weekly student newspaper for a weekly
planning and assignment meeting. Also
in attendance are the beat directors who
are each responsible for stories in differ-
ent areas of campus life such as sports,
fine arts, cultural events, student activi-
ties and administration and academics.
Members of the SuperDesk team
are expected to circulate story ideas
in advance of the weekly planning and
assignment meeting. Story ideas and
angles are discussed before being
assigned to beat directors who pass
them along to reporters, photographers
and page designers. Beat directors
maintain regular contact with report-
ers and SuperDesk members about
the status of each story in process.
Open and continuous interaction
among SuperDesk members enables
them to act quickly in the case of abreaking news story, to be prepared
to gather and share information
quickly, and move among platforms to
give their community the fastest and
most reliable coverage possible.
SuperDesk functions success-
fully because at its base is a core
of staffers continually being trained
as cross-platform journalists through
introductory courses in news writing,
audio, video, and new media, includ-
ing the Web. A student often preparesnews on the same topic in more than
one medium. By the time media pro-
duction students are sophomores and
juniors, they are able to produce news
stories for any of the student media.
This cross-training, along with the
requirement to specialize in one or two
forms of media, prepares graduates who
are versatile and able to move seam-
lessly into positions in multimedia news-
rooms. They may be expected to work
in all formats from day one on the job.The SuperDesk method encourages reporters to be able to produce for print,
radio, television, Web and other media.