Producing a video for the 4-H Network News online videoblog are (from left) Tyrus Wilcox, Megan Gordon and Travis Sharpe. The 4-H Network News is recognized on a national level and by Washington State University. – Photos by Kelly Joines
Members of 4-H Network News Club include (from left, back row) Tyrus Wilcox, Megan Gordon, Sophie Gilbert, Freeman Luoma, Souhil Alazani, Travis Sharpe, William Bennett and (front) instructor Jack Olmsted, Barbara Svetich and instructor Pamela Roberts.
Some of the first to take blogging, iPods and cell phones into Jefferson County's media news realm haven't yet graduated from high school.
These students are known as the 4-H Network News crew. Their mission: gathering news with attitude for the youth-run 4-H Network News, recognized at the national 4-H level and by Washington State University as a trend-setter for web communication and marketing.
"We are a national model," said Pamela Roberts, Jefferson County 4-H coordinator. "We are showcasing what people can do in small communities and have an effect on a national level."
4-H is the largest youth organization in the nation, with seven million members and 60 million alumni. 4-H Network News Club is one of the first to install a program in Jefferson County to teach young people the necessary skills to attain jobs relating to the digital and online world.
"Kids are always on the edge of technological change because they are natural risk-takers and they are always eager to try something new," Roberts said. "Adults just want to do it the way they have always done it; that's why it's fun to position youths to take leadership in this area."
The 4-H Network News name might look familiar, as its videos and audio clips are featured on ptleader.com, the website of The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader, to complement some online articles.
Background
Since its start in February 2006, 4-H Network News has posted a "menu of multimedia" on its online blog, Roberts said, including more than 100 podcasts, photos and text. About 50 percent of the postings are videos, and about 100 of them can be viewed on Youtube (www.youtube.com), a website designed for the public to post videos viewable to anyone with Internet access.
Videos on Youtube generate hundreds of hits each day.
"It's a teenage network," said Jack Olmsted, youth leader for the local group. "Kids are telling their friends, and the next thing you know 500 people have looked at your video in one day."
In one week, Roberts said, some 400 viewers watched a lip-sync video created by two members of the 4-H Network News Club.
"We are challenging people at the state and national level to keep up with the communication and marketing potential that this 4-H program holds," said Roberts.
4-H Network News was inspired by contemporary news videoblogs such as Europe's MubuzzTV and Rocketboom, based in New York City.
The goal for 4-H Network News is to produce news geared at involving youths in events that are happening now.
How it works
On-camera editing, technical manipulation and video production skills are taught by Roberts and Olmsted.
"We help the kids who desire to make a career out of film but don't know where to start," Olmstead said. "We want to show people they can make a living on these skills. That is what the learning center is about: teaching people new skills that will generate money to make a living."
Olmsted and Roberts have histories in digital multimedia and education, respectively.
Olmsted is versed in the film industry, as he worked in independent films, community-access television and video reporting for magazines covering trade shows in California, France and Germany.
In May 2006, he worked for E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Hollywood, filming a video game show. He also teaches at Peninsula College.
Roberts' forté is in education. She worked as a Seattle School District administrator for seven years before coming to Jefferson County to serve as principal at Quilcene School.
Learning process
Students as young as 7 are involved with the 4-H Network News Club. Participants acquire their skill by learning on professional equipment and software such as Final Cut Pro.
"It's what the biggies use," Roberts noted.
Inside the learning center are 10 Apple computers on which students learn to create their own blogs, make websites, create online portfolios and make their own music videos using a program called "Garage Band."
Besides implementing these computer skills, they also learn about podcasting, how to update a blog by cell phone, and how to use a "green screen" like those used by television weather reporters to show a moving weather map.
"Teens love technology," Roberts said. "It's a huge hook."
Roberts said she has been loaning out three video cameras over the past three years while starting up the 4-H multimedia project, and not one has been broken, lost or stolen. More than 90 kids have used them for their assignments.
The learning center is open to the public. Roberts and Olmstead help people establish and maintain websites and blogs at no charge.
Upcoming projects
4-H Network News will broadcast at the Jefferson County Fair, Aug. 11-13, at a booth inside the 4-H Building.
Olmsted hopes to have the 4-H news crew shoot "how-to" videos such as "how to prepare your rabbit for a 4-H show," "how to tie up your horse," and "how to wash your cat," said Olmstead.
The network has already created a "how to skateboard" video filmed at the skate park in Port Townsend.
Another goal is to format the videos so they can be downloaded to video iPods and cell phones so 4-H participants can watch them anytime, anywhere.
"This way they can watch the video while they're in the stables working with their horses," Olmsted said.
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