Thursday, November 6, 2008 � Students covered the elections Tuesday by sending 94.3 WIWU representatives to local headquarters. The radio station aired election updates from off-campus broadcasters every 10-15 minutes until the polls closed.
The primary focuses were the local polls and how the presidential election affected Indiana, said WIWU advisor Mark Perry, Professor of Communication Arts.
A major local concern was the race between current State Rep. Tim Harris and his opponent Joe Pearson (D). Students acted as field reporters in various locations throughout Grant County, including the Democratic and Republican headquarters. The reporters then relayed their information back to the WIWU headquarters, according to student broadcaster Tim Decker (fr).
�The significance of local elections is huge,� said Decker. �Those people [who are] elected are leading this county. And for us as a station to be covering that [can hopefully] show the community how we care about what�s going on in Grant County and not just what�s going on inside the �IWU bubble.��
Political Science major Sam Blevins (jr) went to the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis to cover the gubernatorial race between Gov. Mitch Daniels and challenger Jill Long Thompson. Blevins was a part of the press team in Indianapolis among other news outlets.
Blevins hoped to not only capture the �atmosphere� of the election process, but to �help WIWU become a premier news coverage station for Marion and the Grant County area.� The purpose of WIWU�s involvement is not strictly for its viewers� satisfaction, but for personal growth.
�It is not only going to inform Grant County of the things going on as far as local elections,� said news and sports director Ben Backer (sr), �but it�s also giving students experience at covering an election.� Since this is Perry�s first year at IWU and the radio station is only a few years old, this was a learning experience for both the professors and students involved, said Perry.
�I think the biggest thing is using [WIWU] as a learning opportunity for the real world,� said Backer. �There�s no better time to use it than right now.�
According to Backer, this is especially true during such a significant election. �I think we�d be remiss if we didn�t try to cover it,� Backer said.