Quantaesha Russell (right) presenting a gift to guest presenter Trevor Johnson (right). (photo: Brian Cuff)

|O’Jay Cole

MANDEVILLE, NCU- Trevor Johnson, Deputy General Manager at Television Jamaica (TVJ) recently brought words of encouragement and wisdom to budding media practitioners at the Northern
Caribbean University (NCU).

He was speaking to the students of the Department of Communication Studies (DCS) Fall
2019 Outside Broadcast (OB) Class on Wednesday October 13.

With specific reference to the execution of an OB and how budding media practitioners
should position themselves to reap success in the field, Johnson stressed that “some people
take no as major rejection". He stressed that "no is a no at that point in time”. He implored
that rejection should not be an excuse to cease trying at an opportunity, because an
employer’s rejection is not necessarily fixed but can be changed by one’s persistence and
willingness to rise to the occasion.

He reminded the students of the importance of executing a live OB seamlessly; “There is no
second time to get right” said Johnson. He added that proper preparation is crucial to ensure
proper execution of a live OB; “The time you spend in pre-production decides how you
execute the final project; you want to ensure you cross all Ts and dot all Is.

Johnson also encouraged the budding media practitioners to work together, create good
content and pitch ideas to broadcast companies as “content is king”. He implored students to
“take creative risks, push yourself and your teammates, don’t settle for mediocrity”.

Johnson’s encouragement was timely as the Fall 2019 OB class will execute an Outside
Broadcast which is essentially the student’s final examination. It will be the ‘COME MEK
we laff’ comedy show which will be held on November 23,2019. The event was organized by
the Northern Caribbean University’s Philmelodia Club.

The event’s entire production crew will be students of the Fall 2019 Outside Broadcast Class.
This broadcast is spearheaded by the course instructor and former Supervising Senior Sports
Producer at TVJ/TVJSN Brian Cuff and student producers Leanna Duncan and Quantaesha
Russell.