Courses in broadcast journalism and propaganda are designed and taught by Jennifer Sparks. Jennifer is an independent journalist and a homeschooling mother. She is also the founder of JCherry Foundation INC a 501c3 established in 2018.
Jennifer earned her degree in broadcast communications at Middlesex Community College in 1996. Since then she has produced a local radio show on WESU 88.1FM from 2010 till 2020, she has worked as a freelance writer for The Middletown Press, and New Britain Herald. After COVID, Jennifer began producing Below The Surface, a live stream news and commentary show featuring controversial topics that the mainstream censors, and live in-depth interviews.
Classes will begin Tuesday September 20, 2022 and run for 10 weeks. Fees for the classes must be paid in full for the session. We take bitcoin, payment in silver, and dollars. We are open to barter. As a former homeschool mom, my children are all grown now. One child wanted to go to high school to play sports, he graduates next year. I know families are on a tight budget. We strive to keep the fees affordable yet sustainable for our organization.
There is a waiting area for parents and younger siblings with comfy seating, and a kitchen dining area. There is also great hiking right from our backyard to the airline trail.
Fees for the production classes are $30 per class equalling $300 for the full 10 week course. The fee is higher for this class as we use our equipment and our studio.
Fees for the propaganda class are $12 per class equalling $120 for the full 10 week course. For more information call. 860.266.3711
Homeschool Course For 12+
Intro To Broadcast Journalism
Thursdays 10 – 12:30 pm and field hours TBD
class size: 5 students
All students must have own transportation to in the field classes. There will be two.
Electronic news gathering is an important part of reporting the news. In broadcasting we call this ENG. Today’s advanced technology has made ENG equipment lighter to transport and much easier to capture video in real time. Even cell phones can become a news camera!
In this course we will look at the a history of broadcast news and the technology used to produce it. Students will be taught how to get an ENG, to edit it and make the video ready for broadcast, in our case streaming. By the end of the course the students will produce a live stream broadcast.
Week One
The History of Broadcast Journalism
Week Two
The equipment then and now
Week Three
Using the equipment
Week Four
What is journalism? How do we cover a story?
Week Five
ENG in the field
Week Six
ENG in the field
Week Seven
Post Production, video logging and editing
Week Eight
Post Production, video logging and editing
Week Nine
The Streaming Studio
Learning OBS open source software for live streaming and NDI Tools, Network Device Interface.
Week Ten
Live stream our news show!
Homeschool Course for 12+
Propaganda and Genocide
Tuesdays 10-11:30 am
class size 8-10 students
In this course we will read two historical books, The Diary of Anne Frank and Propaganda by Edward L. Bernays.
Each week we will have a creative writing assignment based on our readings. We will meet for 90 minutes once a week to discuss the readings and share our thoughts, writings, and ideas.
How could a society accept genocide? What role did the media play? What is “public relations”? How do we discern what propaganda is? How did the Nazis use propaganda to push their diabolical agenda? Do you see propaganda in the media today? How do you identify it?
What was Anne’s Frank’s life like in Amsterdam during World War II? When did Anne’s family realize that their lives were in danger? How were the Nazis able to do this to millions of people? Could this happen again in our own time?
Who was Edward Louis Bernays? What role did his book, Propaganda, play in the rise of Nazi Germany? How has Bernays’ ideas and theories shaped the world we live in today?