After several years of teaching Ball State University students about telecommunications, Phil Bremen is currently refreshing his broadcast journalism skills as a member of KETV in Omaha, Neb.

Bremen, a Ball State telecommunications instructor, is working at the station during June as part of a program sponsored by the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation. Each summer the program places university-level broadcast educators in radio and television newsrooms for four weeks to refresh their skills and master new technologies.

The project is designed to improve the flow of information between journalists and educators necessary for sustained, high-quality journalism education, said Bremen, who is making his first visit to Nebraska.

"So far, though, I'm mainly observing," said Bremen, who was an NBC News foreign correspondent and local television news anchor before joining Ball State. "I've tagged along with various people, given a hand where I could and tried to absorb a lot of new names and procedures.

"I've worked for several local TV news organizations around the country as well as a national network, but every shop does things a bit differently," he said. "News gets on television through many interrelated — and sometimes conflicting — human interactions and physical processes, and some of the least conspicuous may be hugely important to the outcome."

Omaha's KETV, an ABC affiliate, began broadcasting in 1957 and has the most watched television news programs in the market, which is ranked 76th in the nation with 396,460 television households.  

"In competing with three other stations, KETV delivers a high-quality news product, has high morale and rapport, attracts and keeps smart, conscientious employees, and garners the highest ratings among the most sought-after viewers," Bremen said. "So, I'm especially interested in trying to figure out how the folks here accomplish all that."

Nancy Carlson, chair of Ball State's telecommunications department, believes the time spent by Bremen on the front lines of television will be beneficial when he returns to the classroom in the fall.

"He'll bring fresh perspectives to his students after living and working in Omaha," she said. "He'll have a renewed confidence that what he has been teaching his students is both accurate and appropriate, and he'll be able to give fresh examples of why."

(Note to editors: For more information, contact Bremen at pbremen@bsu.edu. For more stories, visit the Ball State University News Center at www.bsu.edu/news.)