![\"Prior](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/RNN-09242026-4361a.jpg\")
Steven Jackson, left, an assistant lecturer in the Department of Communication and Media, checks in with Devon Jucutan and Audrey Pearsall, communication seniors who served as co-anchors for the inaugural broadcast of Rocket News Now (RNN). RNN builds on the legacy of its 2005 predecessor, UT:10, as a student-produced campus news broadcast.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m feeling more prepared now,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cI was a little nervous at first because I\u2019ve never done anything like this before. But everyone seems really excited, so that\u2019s helping me feel excited to be the backbone of this production.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rocket News Now (RNN) is produced by students enrolled in Multimedia Journalism, a hands-on course that brings together the classroom, newsroom and control room to offer students immersive experience in every aspect of news production. Students develop professional skills in reporting, writing, editing, anchoring, producing, directing and operating studio and field equipment while working in a deadline-driven newsroom environment that mirrors the expectations of today\u2019s media industry.<\/p>\n
RNN builds on the legacy of its predecessor in UT:10, which the Judith Herb College of Arts, Social Sciences and Education\u2019s Department of Communication and Media introduced as a student-produced campus news broadcast in 2005.<\/p>\n
With its new brand comes an enhanced curriculum that prepares the next generation of journalists for careers in a rapidly evolving media landscape. In addition to developing fundamental skills needed to work both in front of and behind the camera, students are now challenged to supplement their coverage through affiliated digital platforms and explore applications for artificial intelligence tools.<\/p>\n
Steven Jackson, who brought more than a decade of experience as a reporter and anchor for WTOL 11<\/a> when he joined the Department of Communication and Media as an assistant lecturer in 2025, can attest to the power of this approach that extends learning beyond lectures by sending students and cameras across campus.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a journalist, your office is the world,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cYou\u2019re out there seeing things, doing things, experiencing things. It\u2019s invaluable for our students to get that same hands-on experience in a learning environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Building on a Strength in Experience-Based Learning<\/strong><\/p>\n Rocket News Now reflects a priority on experience-based learning at UToledo, which this year introduced an initiative to ensure that all incoming undergraduate students, regardless of major, will engage in a co-op, internship, clinical rotation, research opportunity or similar experience before they earn their degree in line with the UToledo Advantage<\/a>.<\/p>\n Experience-based learning has long been championed within the Department of Communication and Media, where students develop the industry experience that\u2019s all but a prerequisite to launching their careers \u2014 not only in off-campus internships, but also in courses that challenge them to apply their developing skills.<\/p>\n In addition to Multimedia Journalism, which produces RNN, these experience-based courses include Live Sports Production, which trains students as camera operators, audio technicians, graphics operators, video replay operators and production assistants in the course of live broadcasts of Rocket Athletics for ESPN+<\/a>.<\/p>\n Campus news outlets, including an online newspaper, The Collegian, and a radio station, WXUT, offer yet another avenue to develop industry experience.<\/p>\n Kruszka, a communication senior, can attest: He\u2019s the station manager for WXUT, where he hosts a radio show, Toledo Sports Hour, that the Press Club of Toledo recently recognized with a Touchstone Award.<\/p>\n Applying Lectures in Live Broadcasts <\/strong><\/p>\n As the clock ticked down inside the fully equipped television studio inside Rocket Hall, Audrey Pearsall, a third communication senior, was reviewing her script and adjusting the collar of the sweater she\u2019d selected for her on-camera role.<\/p>\n She would be co-anchoring the inaugural broadcast with Devon Jucutan.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just reminding myself that this is a learning experience,\u201d Pearsall said. \u201cI haven\u2019t been doing this for years. So I\u2019m just hoping to do my best and get good feedback on some ways that I can improve.\u201d<\/p>\n The Multimedia Journalism course that produces RNN is structured around biweekly broadcasts that are livestreamed and later archived on the RNN website<\/a>. But the classes that fall between the high-energy broadcasts are just as important.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when the studio doubles as a lecture hall, with Jackson personally relaying broadcast fundamentals to his students and tapping his professional network for guest lectures led by journalists, including his former colleagues at WTOL 11.<\/p>\n Jackson also explained the responsibilities of on- and off-camera roles in a broadcast news operation, challenging his students to act as anchors, producers and beat reporters covering campus and community news in both live reports and pre-recorded packages. This rotation is designed to introduce students to a variety of careers, allowing them to develop their practical skills as well as preferences they\u2019ll bring to their job search.<\/p>\n Each element came together in the inaugural broadcast, which saw Pearsall and Jucutan deftly relaying updates on campus construction, a new coach for the track and field team and a ribbon-cutting at the new Dorothy and Georgianna Saloff Welcome Center.<\/p>\n As soon as anchors signed off, Jackson rounded up the crew for debrief.<\/p>\n \u201cI noticed a few things I could have done better, but it\u2019s a learning experience,\u201d Jucutan said, reflecting on his first broadcast shortly afterward. \u201cIt feels good to have done it.\u201d<\/p>\n Pearsall agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt good.\u201d<\/p>\n RNN’s next livestream broadcast is slated for 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. The community is invited to follow their coverage <\/em>online<\/em><\/a> and via social media at by following <\/em>@utoledornn. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The hands-on course brings together the classroom, newsroom and control room to offer students immersive experience in every aspect of news production. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":908,"featured_media":101494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,581,498,1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101491"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101491"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101508,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101491\/revisions\/101508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Prior](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/RNN-09242026-4361a-150x150.jpg\")
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