Earlier this week, on Election Night 2024, the Department of Communication's student media outlets at The Appalachian, AppTV, AWN and WASU came together to pull off impressive, timely and fair coverage of the election. The team effort produced a professional package that kept the community informed and engaged throughout the night.
At The Appalachian, student coverage began when the polls opened at 6 am and continued well after midnight. Under the leadership of Politics Editor Andrew Rice, the team provided consistent updates throughout the night on the website, informing readers on the latest vote counts and called races with impressive infographics and engaging posts on social media.
At Plemmons Student Union, The Appalachian's EIC Jenna Guzman's breaking news story on long wait times to vote was picked up by The Assembly and featured on Charlotte TV station Queen City News. Elsewhere, student Ella Adams was out in the field covering watch parties and scored an interview with Virginia Foxx. And even further away from campus, student Mia Seligman was hired by The Associated Press as a stringer to report out unofficial vote counts in Caldwell County.
The coverage attracted a Charlotte TV Station, WCNC, to travel to campus and film a live shot at the student union. The reporters from the station were gracious enough to let our students test out their equipment, ask questions and see firsthand how professionals cover elections.
Appalachian Weekly News coverage was aired on AppTV - those students did three straight hours of live TV coverage with live hits from six different locations. AWN interviewed candidates and winners, had latest election results from the Appalachian, great analysis from the Young Republicans and Young Democrats organizations at App State, and well-balanced and informative election discussion from WASU. Plus, the students from AWN and AppTV worked so hard under pressure to deliver an informative show.
WASU FM provided coverage throughout the night, courtesty of their station manager, Bobby Phillips and news team, Hannah Runkle and Anna Haydel.
The work of these student journalists has never been more vital - please join our department in praising their unwavering coverage of a historic night.
Copy & photos provided by Leigh Tauss, Bob Dillner, and Susan Davis.
WASU FM news anchor providing election coverage.
WASU FM news anchor providing election coverage.