A Pop-Up Experience: Interacting with the CSULB Community

Recently, I participated in a pop-up newsroom assignment. The goal was to create a pop-up newsroom on campus and interact with students to learn about the issues, opinions, and ideas that matter to them. I worked with a team of three classmates: Dante, Brianna and Ethan and overall, it ended p being one of the most enjoyable assignments I've done in college.

Before we even set up the newsroom during the planning out phase, I had stopped by Michaels after work to grab supplies. I only had about 30 minutes before the store closed, so I quickly picked up things that could help us. I bought a foam board that worked like a whiteboard, markers and removable poster letter. My original idea was to use a box where students could write down their truth on a piece of paper and drop it inside. I couldn't find a box, so I decided to use a barrel instead. I made the poster have stuff like "Speak Your Truth" and "What's Grinding Your Gears."

Once we started setting up, our group decided to make things more interactive by using one of our plain boards to have Truth in the middle and letting students write directly on the whiteboard. this ended up working better because it was expressive and the students wanted to participate more.

One of the most interesting parts of the experience was seeing what students chose to write. Some responses were serious, like people expressing their opinions against ICE or complaining about the construction on campus. Others wanted to see more coverage of their interests, like the art students asking for more attention on art exhibits and their department. At the same time, some students left funny or random hot takes, stating things like "Canes is mid" or "Heated Rivalry is mid."

The assignment also pushed us a little outside our comfort zone. Talking to random students can feel awkward at first, but we've all had experience interviewing people before, so it became easier as it went along.

Seeing the other groups present their pop-up newsrooms was also cool. Some groups used incentives like candy or asked more relatable questions like how students felt about the rain that day. The rain was actually the only downside of our experience. Only because it probably kept some people from stopping by and interacting with us.

Overall, this was one of my favorite assignments. It showed how we as journalists can connect with community and that good reporting starts by listening to people and understanding what they care about.

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