OLLU students part of Emmy-nominated project

OLLU student Sarai Bejarano reporting for KWEX-TV

How cool is that? Meet Sarai Bejarano, a student journalist at Our Lady of the Lake University who became a reporter, videographer and editor last spring for a ground-breaking project at Spanish-language KWEX-TV.

The project, “Proyecto U,” was a news collaboration between college journalists and professional journalists at KWEX-TV. Together they produced an unusual collection of newscasts, which earned a Lone Star Emmy Award nomination for community service.

“I am ecstatic,” says Bejarano, a 22-year-old Communications Arts major. “When I found out, I was in shock.”

Bejarano and Yadira Chavez, an OLLU graduate student last spring, joined peers from the University of the Incarnate Word, St. Mary’s and Texas A&M-San Antonio to produce four Saturday afternoon newscasts. Three 15-minute segments were pre-recorded. A fourth segment aired live from the studio in April.

“Our newscast,” Bejarano says, “was entirely run by the students.”

Student journalists and one professor who  worked on "Proyecto U"

Students worked the teleprompter for student anchors. They reported stories, edited video and added graphics. They cued up video and operated TV cameras. Bejarano worked behind the camera — running video of news reports — and in front of the camera. She reported on a growing college trend called “drunkorexia” — students who avoid eating to accelerate inebriation.

“My director really liked the story,” she says.

Proyecto U comprises part of Univision’s national education campaign called, “Es el momento” (The Moment is Now), which aims to improve academic achievement among U.S. Hispanics.

Proyecto U allows aspiring journalists to report on student-related issues for local newscasts, and provides them with access to professional reporters, anchors and directors. Univision hopes Proyecto U becomes a national model.

Though it’s not easy to break into the broadcasting business, Bejarano boasts a range of door-opening skill sets. She reported for The Lake Front newspaper and web site and served as editor-in-chief. She’s the current executive producer of Lake Front TV. And she spent the spring working on a series of newscasts that earned KWEX-TV an Emmy nomination.

Bejarano says she will apply at TV stations across Texas. “Directors will be able to see I have experience in the field,” she says. “I know how to report. I wrote my own scripts. I know the elements of putting a live broadcast together. Working on Proyecto U was the experience of a lifetime.”