Student run TV program is back on at NEO campus - KOAM TV 7

Students at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in Miami are taking it upon themselves to liven up the schools public access channel with a new weekly broadcast of campus life.

"It's entirely student run," says Delayna Fitzgerald, the President of NEO 13.  "We perform every job and it's very difficult, but we know how to do it."

Fitzgerald says she had an epiphany last fall to turn the college public access station from PowerPoint shows of school events to a revamped tongue-in-cheek news show.

But she says it wasn't easy to turn the dream into reality.

"We had people who were essentially against us and everything we were trying to do, and told us we couldn't do it and we basically said 'well watch, we can do it with no money and with our own resources,'" says Fitzgerald.

Though they do receive a small stipend from the campus for club activities the students use their own free time, computers, software and even microphones to make the weekly 30 minute show happen.

"One segment that's 'A Word With Our President' with our president Dr. Hale, but it's literally a word so we kind of took the David Lettermen approach," says Charlie McQuigg, the Vice President of NEO 13.

It's that comic relief to campus life that staff sponsor Katie Dewey says helps keep students interested and informed on campus life.

"There is a fine line between not being too cheesy but also not being too serious and I think they are walking that line well," says Dewey.  "They are professional, yet it's entertaining."

It's not just broadcasting skills that these kids are learning.  They also now know the importance of cross-promotion and social media.

"We started the Facebook page to raise awareness about everything that we were doing," says Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald says the club is also putting broadcasts on the stations YouTube channel for those students without access to a TV.

And while the students say they are having fun they are also serious about educating the NEO community.

Currently NEO only has one sports broadcasting class available to students but thanks to peaked interest in the revamped NEO 13 the school says it is considering adding more options for students.