Media Day symposium at Oaks Christian exposes kids to process of news gathering

'REPORTING LIVE FROM WESTLAKE VILLAGE'-Devin Fiscalini, aÿsixth-grader at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, displays his reporting skills in front of a mobile news van at the recent Oaks ChristianÿMedia DayÿSymposium.ÿThe van was on display courtesy ofÿTelemundo/NBC. Students experienced various forms of mass media during a hands-on day of learning.

Oaks Christian School hosted an out-of-the-books symposium entitled Media Day on Tues., March 1.

The symposium program included two breakout sessions offering discussions on the production, distribution, marketing, and business of television, radio, newspaper and the Internet.

Twenty-three speakers representing different aspects of the media came to share their expertise including keynote speaker, Manuel Abud, vice president/general manager of Telemundo/NBC, who discussed how a major network handles breaking news using Telemundo’s footage from the recent Metrolink train wreck in Glendale.

Amy Gruberg, head of Media at DreamWorks Pictures, led a film marketing discussion. John Sadler, senior vice president and general manager of ABC, described the competitive advertising world.

The media symposium concluded with a video and still photo presentation by three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist for the Los Angeles Times, Al Seib.

Headmaster, Jeff Woodcock said, "Media Day allows our entire school community—students, faculty, staff, parents and community leaders—to focus on a singular subject in-depth and examine its ramification on our lives."