Mars newspaper and journalism students attended Newsapalooza at Point Park University on Nov. 21.
Newsapalooza is an annual event hosted by the Point Park Media Innovation team for Pittsburgh-area students interested in media-related careers. The Globe is the student-run newspaper at Point Park. “The Globe is the paper people read when they want to know what is going on locally in Pittsburgh,” said Dr. Andrew Conte, founding director of Media Innovation.
The event was designed to support school and local newspapers, including The Globe.
The day began in the Pittsburgh Playhouse, where a breakfast spread was laid out for students and teachers. Later, in the auditorium, “Newsie Nick,” digital correspondent for WQED and contributor for QBurgh, welcomed attendees and introduced the Media Innovation programs offered at Point Park.
Following his remarks, keynote speaker Natalie Daher of the national news outlet Axios was interviewed on stage by Conte and local media personality Alexus Metayer. Their conversation focused on journalism, emerging industry trends, and audience engagement.
“The whole purpose of the event is to get students thinking about local news and to see the importance of it,” Conte said.
Students then broke into workshops based on the sessions they selected ahead of time. These sessions covered topics such as pitching stories and how AI is impacting the journalism industry.
Mars junior and newspaper student Taylor Volaski said she left feeling inspired. “In my group we talked about things I had never considered, and I’m really happy I went,” she said.