HCSO Personnel Participate with WDEF News Channel 12 in Student Media Event at Central High School

Hamilton County, TN – Earlier this afternoon, members of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Public Relations Division and SRO Unit met with students in the Central Digest Club at Central High School to discuss their new Friday morning news segment they are producing for their fellow students.

WDEF News Channel 12’s Chip Chapman and Andy Santoro also participated in today’s event and offered useful information about setting up the student’s in-house newsroom, tips for interviewing people, and other journalism based information. HCSO Public Relations Manager Matt Lea discussed the importance of releasing accurate information, selecting news worthy stories for production, and the importance of internal campus communication. Students also participated in interviews that will be featured tonight on WDEF News Channel 12.

The Central Digest Club is comprised of students who are interested in pursuing careers in media, journalism, and public relations.

“It’s really exciting to see these young people work together to produce a quality news worthy production each Friday that will help keep their fellow students informed about their campus related activities,” stated HCSO Public Relations Manager J. Matt Lea. “I look forward to our continued partnership and hope today’s discussions were meaningful and will help them not only expand their news production, but encourage them to pursue a career in public relations, journalism, or broadcast media,” he further noted.

The Central High School Weekly News segment began as part of Logan Stegmaier’s senior project. Each Thursday, Central Digest members script, video, and produce a news segment that will air across the school each Friday morning for students featuring school news, interviews, and relative campus events.

Events like today help to create positive relationships with our community’s youth by incorporating mentoring opportunities with their Sheriff’s Office and local media.

Special thanks to HCSO SRO Marcus Dotson for working with Central High School administrators to coordinate this unique opportunity and to WDEF News Channel 12 for participating in today’s discussions.