Students to assist in live election night coverage

Western Washington University students are taking part in live coverage of election night in Whatcom County on Nov. 8, 2011.

At 7:15 p.m., Election Night Live will broadcast up-to-date news and information about the general election on the Ustream channel http://www.ustream.tv/channel/new-media-live. Viewers will be able to watch live election coverage from multiple locations around the county as well as analysis and commentary by former Bellingham Herald reporter Sam Taylor, who will be interviewing a series of local guests.

Election Night Live is produced without a budget but is sponsored by a few community-minded businesses. It's a collaborative effort between Western Washington University New Media Production Internship Program, the Whatcom Community College Media Production Internship Program, the Northwest Community College Initiative and dozens of community volunteers. All of this is being coordinated by the Center for New Media, is a 501(c)3 focused on creating vibrant local programming and telling local and regional stories, according to a recent press release from the center.

"Local elections are so important--and there hasn't been a local, live video broadcast of election night in years," said Suzanne Blais, Executive Director for the Center for New Media. "Since our focus is teaching and training in new media, as well as research and experimentation, it seemed like a fun and exciting opportunity to share the excitement around Whatcom County utilizing the internet and with the help of new technology and student interns from WWU and WCC."

For the broadcast, student teams will pair with professionals from a variety of media fields. Each of these professionals is donating their time and experience to help create community programming. Approximately 40 individuals will be involved in the broadcast. Host Sam Taylor is the former Government & Politics reporter for The Bellingham Herald, where he spent nearly five years covering Whatcom County's local, state and federal politicians.