The newsroom staff worked tirelessly to fact-check and write scripts for the various on air personalities. // Photo Courtesy of Giovanni Salsa
National broadcast associations and news outlets worked tirelessly on Tuesday, Nov. 5 to cover the 2024 Presidential Election. Such dedication to covering the election was no different from Hofstra Votes Live (HVL), a four-hour, student-run broadcast. Students across all majors took part in collecting data and ensuring that viewers stayed up to date on the election in real time. The broadcast took place at the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication at Hofstra University, and student reporters were sent out nationwide to provide minute-by-minute coverage.
Elizabeth Burke, special assistant professor of journalism, media studies and public relations, talked about her involvement with HVL as a broadcast mentor.
“I oversee several students on the social media team,” Burke said. “We have digital reporters, writers, editors, assistants, and videographers and we really branched out this campaign as opposed to two years ago, expanding our coverage online. So not only are we promoting Hofstra Votes Live, but we are also reporting on results for the races and reporting on the top issues affecting this election season.”
Burke also noted the importance of objective reporting when it comes to the election given some of the polarizing issues that have come up in the race.
According to Cameron Trotter, a senior film studies and production major, it took an immense amount of effort and research to prepare for the broadcast. Trotter was a part of the introduction team and edited the introduction video for the production.
“We had to go through four revisions, and it had to be digested two days before at least, so it was kind of a crapshoot to get that all done at the same time,” Trotter said. “Which I think is just the nature of the beast with Hofstra Votes Live. So, I think everyone is cramming at the same time doing the same things.”
Some students felt that being a part of the broadcast gave them the opportunity to enhance their careers.
“I really enjoy this project because you get super hands-on and you get to experience things that you might not have the opportunity to experience with things such as your own internships,” said Cassandra Ankener, a senior public relations major. “I know for me personally, I got a lot of experience with pitching and dealing with reporters, which is something that I haven’t been able to do with my internship and I think that that’s helped me grow in my early career.”
HVL also allowed students to connect and work with students outside of their own majors and disciplines.
“I started working at HVL because I remember learning about it a couple of years ago and was interested in getting into political public relations,” said Ella Hale, a senior marketing major. “I think it’s really beneficial to be able to work in the [school of communication] as a non-comm student to get to see what their perspective is like and getting to work across social media teams, marketing teams and public relations teams with students you don’t usually get to work with.”
River Murphy, a freshman writing for the screen major, spoke about the scale of HVL and how it has gotten so many Hofstra students to be involved in the election.
“I’m just a photographer but it’s cool to walk around and see all of it because a lot of people are just stuck in one studio or another,” Murphy said. “There’s [full] studios and there’s so many people just making this giant broadcast. It’s impressive that it’s all students. I think that’s the coolest thing for me. There’s no one telling us what to do; we’re just doing this all ourselves.”
