WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., May 14, 2021 — West Liberty University’s student newspaper, The Trumpet, celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2021 and recently a student produced a documentary that looked at its history in a personal way.
Produced as a senior project by recent graduate Branson Sawinski of Moundsville, W.Va., the documentary includes interviews with alumni and is now archived on Topper Station, WLU’s streaming service. His professor was Moonjung Kang, who teaches Visual Communication Design.
“Brandon interviewed students and alumni who previously worked on the Trumpet to create this video. Many now work in the field of journalism and editing,” explained Dr. Mehlman-Brightwell, who serves as the Trumpet’s faculty advisor and teaches the class Writing for Radio and TV. Sawinski managed the production as creative director and executive producer.
Students from Mehlman-Brightwell’s class worked under Sawinski as writers. These students interviewed former Trumpet staff alumni: Gabrielle Blanchard ’20, Jalyn Bolyard ’18, Maureen Golick ’05 and Chana Diehl-Baker ’00.
Sawinski also interviewed alumni: Ronald Reynolds ’94, Yijing Shen ’19 graduate and Dr. David Hanna ’93. The documentary also includes stories from current Trumpet staff: Annalise Murphy (editor-in-chief), Creed Kidney (online editor), Anna Johnston (sports editor) and Haley Blakemore (opinion editor).
Other students assisting in the production include Aaron Jeffries, voiceover, and Heather Hale editor. Christian Lee, associate professor of communications oversaw editing.
“I am grateful that Branson was able to document a significant time in the Trumpet’s history while amid a pandemic,” said Mehlman-Brightwell.
To further celebrate its 100-year anniversary, The Trumpet has a new website and domain name, new app – College News Source ( Apple app store or Google Play), new page layout, and new branding created by WLU students (read the branding story here).
To view the digitally archived versions of the student newspaper, the secure digital publishing platform, visit https://issuu.com/thetrumpetwlu.