Texan News travels to The Big Apple

BY HAELEY CARPENTER / Editor-in-Chief

Every semester the Texan News Service (TNS) has the privilege of attending the College Media Association (CMA) conference where students get to hear from professionals around the United States and bring what they learned back to the newsroom in Stephenville.

This semester, Managing Editor Mackenzie Johnson, Digital Media Director Ashtyn Hansard and Art Director Lindsey Hughes and I, the Editor-in-Chief, traveled to New York City where the conference was held in Times Square.

Hansard and I actually got to attend CMA in fall 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Going last semester set us up for knowing what we were going into this time around. We were able to build off of what we learned and attend sessions that we couldn’t go to last time.

For example, a session I was looking forward to in the fall was “FBI strategies for interviewing” but it overlapped with a different session I went to. It was available this time around, too, though, and I loved hearing from Holly Johnson, an adviser from New Jersey.

Another one of my favorite sessions I went to was called “Starting a solutions journalism desk” by editors Lola Claire and Hailey Womack from St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas. Solutions journalism is something that the TNS has wanted to start implementing for a while now so I was so thankful to hear from students that started from scratch as well.

Johnson went to sessions about how to improve a newsroom from what is written to how to guide the people who write. This was her first time going to a CMA event and enjoyed the networking opportunities.

“Getting to attend CMA was definitely one of those once in a lifetime opportunities,” Johnson said. “The experience of getting to connect with other likeminded and talented journalists representing college publications across the nation allowed me to encounter invaluable knowledge I’m excited to bring back to the JTAC.”

Hansard and Hughes focused on sessions about design and inspiration. As our resident creativity specialists, their sessions reflected that.

Hughes was also a first time attendee.

“Attending CMA for the first time was such a cool experience,” Hughes said. “I would do it again in a heartbeat. Hearing all of the speakers share their skills and getting to know more about topics that I’m personally interested in was so cool.”

Hansard went to sessions about career success and her role in the TNS as the digital media director.

“CMA had so much to offer and really helped me establish what I want for both the newsroom and for my future,” Hansard said.

Outside of the conference, we were able to explore the city. There was so much to do that we didn’t know where to start. The one thing that was planned weeks in advance was to watch “Hadestown” on Broadway.

The story is about Orpheus and Euridyce: a tragic love story. 

The four of us were on the edge of our seats the entire show and as soon as it ended we wanted to watch it again. This show was Hansard's favorite part of the trip outside of the conference.

“It was heartbreakingly beautiful,” Hansard said. “ The actors were terrific and had me captured from the very first note. I’d pay any amount of money to see it for the first time again.”

Hughes brought her camera on the trip and had the best time taking pictures everywhere we explored. She enjoyed the environment since it was so different from everything she’s ever known.

“Seeing NYC was very different, it was a neat experience but was definitely a culture shock,” Hughes said. “Coming from only living in small Texas towns to one of the biggest cities in the U.S. was so weird.”

One of the best parts of the trip was the tour of the New York Times. Andrew Chavez graduated from Texas Christian University and worked at Texas Center for Community Journalism with TNS Faculty Coordinator Austin Lewter.

Hearing Chavez describe work at the Times was so interesting and we loved getting to pick his brain about how he ended up in New York.

We ate at plenty of cool restaurants and tried plenty of new foods. Hansard was the most adventurous, trying smoked duck and lamb sausage at The Alderman. I had the most amazing bagel filled with smoked salmon and capers at Zucker’s Bagels and Smoked Fish on our last day.

We ended the trip with a trip to Johns of Times Square, a New York Style traditional pizzeria because it wouldn’t be a trip to The Big Apple without a slice or two of pizza.

The biggest thing we did during the whole trip was walk. We walked all over the city from Times Square to Central Park and across the Brooklyn Bridge. While that much walking was rough, we would do it all again instead of riding the subway.

That was a scary experience but I can now say that I have concurred with the subway.

This trip was so incredibly enlightening. From the sessions we attended, to the people we met, to the cultures we experienced, New York City was enlightening and we all are so thankful to have been asked to go. We are especially thankful for the Office of the President and Tarleton Department of Communication Studies.

These trips are invaluable to our students and the programs we are a part of. We can’t wait to bring what we learned back to the newsroom.