On March 28, Fresno City College hosted High School Journalism Day, an event for students to learn more about the profession.

“It’s an opportunity for us to engage the next generation of college students on journalism as a profession, as a potential thing to pursue academically and professionally. And then, even for those who aren’t interested in becoming journalists, it’s an opportunity for us to teach them a little bit about how journalism works and increase their media literacy,” Kathleen Schock, the project coordinator and Rampage adviser said.

Speakers from outlets around the valley like ABC30, CBS47, FOX26, KMJ, Fresnoland, The Business Journal, The Fresno Bee, Fresno State, GV Wire and Youth Leadership Institute came to the event to share insights on what it means to be a journalist.

The day was filled with panel discussions, hands-on workshops and networking opportunities, all aimed at preparing aspiring journalists for the future of the industry. One of the sessions from the event was a workshop on creating a successful podcast, led by Philip Teresi, afternoon host on KMJ, and Blake Taylor.

The session focused on the skills needed to craft a podcast, whether to format it in video or audio. They used their presentation to show what making a podcast entails; showing students how to operate the equipment, what tool does what and how to make a good podcast.

Teresi and Taylor emphasized that in today’s media landscape, content creators must engage their audience effectively.

“My job is to avoid a person hitting the [skip] button. You’re in your car, you’re driving down Shaw Avenue or the 180—my job is to not have you click that button. I want you listening to my radio station at all times, for my podcast at all times, as much as possible,” Taylor said.

Jade Giglio, a student at Reedley Middle College High School attended the podcast session and enjoyed it and would like to get into podcasting as a hobby going forward.

“[It was] informative and interesting. I really liked the class,” Giglio said. “It was very entertaining, I think I would probably do podcasting for fun.”

Schock hopes that the event inspires some students to study journalism at FCC.

“It’s a really fun event, and it’s a great opportunity to let people know about the great work that we and other students are doing here at Fresno City College,” Schock said.