in WC.C. r.AMPTIS voice - DECEMBER 6. 2000
Students travel to learn about newspai
Students in JOU 110 pose at the entrance of the Post
plant in College Park, MD, prior to their visit to the
Newseum in Arlington, VA.
ESHUSa
By MELISSA LANE
On October 29 at 6:00 a.m., 5
Journalism 110 students and 3
adults loaded up a WCC van and
headed north for College Park,
Maryland and Arlington, Virginia.
Students Amber Beard, Drake
Frasure, Jennifer Benfield, Kristin
Davis, and Melissa Lane were
accompanied by Liz Meador,
journalism instructor; Tara
Humphries, Public Information
Officer for WCC; and Matt Shaw,
her husband, reporter and editor
for the newspaper of the County
Commissioners Association.
Their destination was The
Washington Post Plant and the
Newseum.
The Washington Post holds a
"Reader's Day" 2-4 times a year.
The plant opens its doors and
allows readers to get a first-hand
look of how newspapers are
made.
The tour of the plant started at
approximately 12:00. Public
Relations officials for The Post
greeted visitors and gave them
press passes for identification.
. Visitors were led on a tour
through the Reel Room, the Press
Room, and the Distribution
Center, where Public Relations
staff explained basic operations
and answered questions.
The Reel Room allowed visitors
to see the enormous rolls of paper
needed to produce The Post each
day. Each roll is a whopping
2,005 pounds that can produce
28,000 pages of print, equal to
292 papers.
Students were also amazed by
the 8 presses housed in the Press
Room that printed 7,000 papers
per hour. The 160-feet presses
weigh more than 750 tons each
and soar up to 50 feet in some
areas.
Public Relations staff member Nakeisha Mason
explains how plates are made at the Post Press Room.
Visitors saw how the Post used
conveyors to transport the newly
printed-papers to the Distribution
Center. There, papers are
automatically counted, bundled,
and dispatched for distribution to
readers all around the world.
The tour ended in a reception
area where visitors were given
lemonade, cookies, and a bag of
goodies including a key chain and
paper cutter.
During refreshments, visitors
were able to ask questions and
speak with actual Post reporters.
Students met Ron Shaffer, aka
Dr. Gridlock, who writes a traffic
column 4 days a week for The
Post. They also chatted with the
editor of the Kids Post, a feature
page for children much like the
News-Argus Mini-Page.
After the completion of the tour,
the students traveled to Arlington,
Virginia to visit the Newseum, the
only interactive museum of news.
In the Newseum, visitors get a
behind-the-scenes look to see and
experience how and why news is
made.
Ilf f n M*. ■
Journalism students discuss with Dr. Gridlock the Post traffic column that appears
Monday through Thursday under his byline:, (L to R): Drake Frasure, Dr. Gridlock,
Kristin Davis, Melissa Lane, Jennifer Benfield, and Amber Beard.
At the Freedom Forum adja^^*i
visitors can see a glass sculp^U:
journalists who died in the