Sitting in class today, our teacher pulls up a Youtube page with “offline” blown up on the screen. Expecting another overly repeated awareness video or the prom announcement for the 50th time, I was somewhat surprised to see a quickly put-together Tiger News Network copy up on the screen calling themselves ASBNN.
“I feel that the name itself, ASBNN, connotates a mockery and a caricature of TNN, a program that I, along with the other anchors and crew, took much pride in,” said TNN anchor, senior Josh Dorman. Now, each day at the start of second period, two of the most well-known students pop up and proceed to repeat exactly what the announcement over the loud speaker would have said, but just laughing their way through it in front of the camera trying to get a reaction from those watching.
“I think we already see enough of ASB [Associated Student Body]’s leaders and it was a breath of fresh air to see less visible and more neutral presenters,” said TNN anchor, senior Dana Culpepper. It made me sad to think that ASB could attempt to copy the program and turn it into a spoof of the TNN class, which had worked hard to make the bulletin as professional as possible. Not to mention that the newscasters had to audition for the position and practice for the bulletin. “I was disappointed [ASB] hadn’t contacted the TNN crew to ask if it was okay or get our involvement,” said Culpepper. While TNN was running, the school got to see people that may not be as well-known become comfortable in front of the whole school presenting the news each morning.
“I appreciate ASB’s attempt to fill the gap TNN left. It’s definitely better than reading [the daily bulletin] on the loudspeaker. However, I can’t help but be disappointed that ASB has taken over a job we had [previously] trained for and enjoyed,” said Culpepper. Although news for our school is important and crucial, especially to our graduating seniors, it should have been taken into consideration that there were people that were overlooked in this transition. “I took pride in good broadcasts and miss it!” said Culpepper. TNN is currently not working because an important technical component that allows the program to broadcast broke, making TNN unable to continue their daily bulletins for this school year.
“We had been looking for a solution to the technical problem TNN has, and instead of sharing their solution, it appears that ASB has taken over the program completely without our consent,” said Dorman. TNN will be back up and running next year, but for the seniors who had worked on and took pride in the program, they will never get this chance again. “Since TNN’s creation two years ago, both the anchors and the crew have worked tirelessly to give SLO High what we have deemed to be a professional production. ASB has clearly overstepped their boundaries and created a conflict where people are hurt and [other senior’s] legacies are completely glossed over,” said Dorman.
TNN gave students outside of ASB a chance to be seen and heard by the entire campus, making it important that they take over, or at least be included in ASBNN until the end of the school year. The TNN crew would probably make the broadcasts a more involved and professional production, unlike the students running the program now.