Photo by Regina Cassell
Senior Kara Protasio created KSWU news as part of Advanced Media Lab. The spring 2015 class included (back) Trevin Edelman,
Jake Wingo, Ryan Ogle, Brian Cervantez, Israel Sanchez, Jeremy Finnestad, (front) Jennifer Funk, Farai Herrald, Sarah Seuell, Carly
Willis and Kara Protasio.
Student creates KSwu news team
By Jennifer Funk
Washburn senior Kara Protasio
is the producer and an anchor on
KSWU News. She transferred from
the University of North Dakota.
While majoring in mass media with
a contemporary journalism emphasis,
Protasio felt as though the mass media
department was missing something.
For years, she had dreamt
about being part of a newscast.
Since Washburn doesn’t have any
broadcasting classes at this time,
Protasio decided to create “KSWU
News” as her senior project in
Advanced Media Lab.
This process was far from easy.
There were many hurdles she had to
go through in order to make this dream
come true.
After coming up with the idea,
Protasio had to contact Dale Rusche,
production coordinator. He is the one
responsible for video and multimedia
production for Washburn University
faculty and staff.
Lyall Ford, production assistant
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has also been there to assist every step
of the way. He creates multi-media
and video productions for Washburn
University faculty.
After making sure she could use
the studio, Protasio had to recruit
students who were willing to help with
the show. In order to help with this
process Regina Cassell, professor and
director of Student Media, created an
independent study class students could
enroll in to receive credit for helping
with the show.
Protasio said, “I really couldn’t
have done this without Regina
Cassell. She has been a great
cheerleader for our show.”
“Dale Rusche is very helpful
in all this. He’s taught us how
to use the equipment and he’s
dedicated some of his time
outside of work just to help us
with the show,” said Protasio.
From a previous internship at the
University of North Dakota, Protasio
decided to pick a similar format for
her show. She likes the fact the KSWU
News has news, sports, packages and
interviews. The stories featured in
the show contain national, local and
Washburn news.
Although the students are
encouraged to come up with their own
washburn.edu/massmedia