Eyewitness News

Category:EWN
Disclaimer: While place descriptions and news events may coincide with the real world, all characters and the plot are fictional. 
== Background ==
Eyewitness News is a student-run news broadcasting station located at Portland State University. It consists of a public access television broadcast, a weekly print edition (Folio) each Thursday, a 24/7 radio station, the Portland Review literary magazine published 3 times a year, and linked website and Twitter accounts. It is the fourth largest media outlet in Portland, OR.
EWN has had two FCC violations. The first occurred when a former editor (not Ryan) had screamed "don't fuck with me" while the cameras were rolling. The second was at the start of Spring Term 2019 when Ryan Matthews celebrated his promotion to editor-in-chief in the Green Room. When he and his partner realized the broadcast had been about to start, his partner made a run for it, and made it. Ryan stayed behind to dispose of a condom, and the audience was treated to a partially clothed editor streaking. EWN got away with warning, not a fine 
=== Charter ===
The charter for EWN provides that editorial control resides with the editor-in-chief, and that the university cannon interfere in editorial content decisions. Nor can editorial content be used as a factor in awarding student fees. It cites court cases that underline that doing so would be a First Amendment violation. In addition, this limits liability for the university in the case of a law suit, as they have no control over content. 
EWN's mission is to provide coverage of interest to the campus and community, and to provide a learning opportunity for students wanting to pursue media as careers. 
=== Finances ===
The majority of funding for EWN comes from advertising. Some comes from PSU student fees, which are considered to be in lieu of subscriptions. Their financial year ends on June 30. 
In 2010, after an advertising windfall, Kevin Tighe convinces the director of university budgeting that EWN needs their own funds for equipment replacement, and a "rainy-day" formula, separate from PSA accounts. The EWN annual report to PSU is "the finest work of creative fiction on campus." They are the only PSU cost-center that projects revenue as well as expenses. So EWN monitors their advertising revenue - if income reduces, they cut back costs; if income increases more than they can spend, it goes into the rainy-day (sinking) fund. A student fee proposal is presented to the Student Fee committee by the EWN advertising manager in mid-January each year for funds to be spent in the following financial year. 
EWN Alumni donate to a Foundation account, rather than to the Alumni Association. 
== Interactions between EWN and PSU Administration ==
==== Book 1: Stories We Tell ====
* Ryan's recollection: In about 2010, the Student Fee committee decided to put the Portland Review out of business, and cut $7k from the Student Media budget. However the Review isn't funded by Student Fees, but by a subsidy from the English department, grants and sales. EWN appealed all the way to the PSU President, but while he agreed it was an error, he told Kevin Tighe, then EIC, to live with it. Before Kevin was done, he had completely revamped how EWN did it's budgets, and had the relocation to the EWN building underway - and the university had a new president.
*March 2020 - When the governor of Oregon issues a stay-at-home order for COVID-19, and PSU announced spring term would be offered online, EWN leadership decided that EWN should be viewed as an essential service. They convinced the PSU Cabinet that they should be allowed to stay in operation. 
*Thursday May 28, 2020 - EWN is summoned to a Cabinet meeting in the PSU President's conference room at 8am on the morning after broadcast of the first BLM protest in downtown Portland. Ryan, Emily and Cage attend as representatives of EWNs leadership team, and Will as a reporter covering the meeting. Ryan asks Cage take his story from Memorial Day, on the virtual remembrance. PSU Cabinet members at the meeting are President Kenton Byrd, Provost Andrew McShane, and VP of Student Services Benjamin Davis, but EWN's Faculty Adviser and Media Board chair have not been invited. President Byrd apologises for their absence, but says that Dr Davis didn't think the matter could wait. Dr Davis asserts that EWN has gone beyond the campus in their coverage, and that must stop. Ryan presents Cage's story from the Vietnam Memorial, and tells Dr Davis that the proper avenue for complaints is through the Media Board. He cites the Charter about the university being expressly prevented from editorial content decisions, or from using them as a funding criteria. There is also case law upholding First Amendment provisions. McShane asks if they intend to continue to cover the downtown protests, and Ryan responds that they always have. There have been no previous complaints about EWN's coverage area.
Until the end of Spring Term 2020, EWN only broadcast during the 210 days of the academic year, with only enough staff working in summer to keep their website current, run the radio station, and to produce Folio weekly. In Book1: Stories We Tell, the editors decide to permanently increase broadcasting hours to throughout the whole calendar year.
== Routine ==
Editor's meetings are held daily at 4pm. Since the start of COVID, these may be joined in person, or via Zoom.
There is a nightly TV news broadcast from 10pm to 11pm.
== News 101 ==
News 101 is a 1-credit orientation to the newsroom, and to being a reporter, run each term by the news editor and editor-in-chief. The class can be repeated. 
The News 101 class was cancelled for Spring Term 2020, when all PSU classes were moved entirely online due to COVID precautions. 
=== Book2: Choose ===
* Monday October 12, 2020 - PM: Emily mentions that McShane's granddaughter Rochelle, and her best friend who is the PSU president's goddaughter, are both in the News 101 class.
* Tuesday October 13, 2020 - 3pm: Sarah is shocked that there are 30-40 in the News 101 class, including J.J., Rochelle, and her friend.
During the COVID surge in Fall 2020, Blair teaches the News 101 students to interview by doing contact tracing for EWN. As a final project they are assigned to a profile of someone, to see how their interview skills have grown.
At the start of Winter 2021, there are 40 students enrolled:
* 9 are repeats from 2020, and are assigned as a group to continue work with Blair;
* those interested in only print are assigned to Will;
* 1 had worked at a community college TV station and is mainly interested in technology, and is assiged to Ben;
* 2 others like video and are assigned to Miguel, along with 4 others interested in sports;
* those with no high school journalism experience are assigned to Emily;
* the remainder are split evenly between Ryan and Cage. One student tries to move from Cage's group to Ryan's - when Ryan asks why he thinks he can choose this team leader, the student swears and walks out. The student is a member of the Blue Lives Matter student club.
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Category:Location
Category:PSU