Students edit their creative visions

By Nikki Bordokas
Staff Writer

Mira Costa’s Mustang Morning News staff is looking at news through a different lens. Members of the broadcast journalism program have recently been working on mini-documentaries, expanding their usual 90-second news pieces.

Groups of three MMN staff members each picked their own subjects to base their four-minute documentaries on, focusing on topics that are usually not covered on the show because of their complex subject matters.

“These documentaries are like something you would see on ‘60 Minutes,’” MMN advisor Michael Hernandez said. “They do not follow our usual format and are more focused on things outside of our school and community.”

Subjects for the documentaries range from rehabilitation for former gang members to government support of the mentally disabled, with each taking an objective look at an issue or cause.

“I was inspired by my history and government classes to look at a somewhat forgotten demographic of our society: adults with special needs,” news director and senior Allie Campbell said.

Hernandez introduced the project in order to challenge his students and make them expand upon their current skills and develop new ones as broadcast journalists, such as how to interview people outside of the community and how to put together and effectively format longer news stories.

“The idea was that as the staff members get even more talented, their jobs become easier. I wanted to give them that next challenge,” Hernandez said.

Junior staff member Kjahna O chose to focus her documentary on food trucks and the culture they have developed in the South Bay. O feels that she has tremendously benefited from the creative liberties she gets to take with her project.

“The best part is getting a beautiful shot, one that you weren’t expecting,” O said.
With complex subjects that deal with abstract issues, MMN staff members have faced some challenges in developing their documentaries.

“Many of these people live very different lives than we can imagine, and, therefore, it’s challenging to put ourselves in their shoes,” junior Matt Stern said.

Despite the challenges of a new format and more nuanced subject matters, staff members agree that their documentaries are worth the effort.

“We are all proud of how the documentaries are coming along,” Campbell said. “We all can’t wait to finish and finally air them on the news show later this year.”