Behind the Big Screen: The Inner Workings of IUSTV
Joanna Clohessy
Regan Stookey
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (April 3, 2025): If you’ve ever walked into the grand building that is Franklin Hall and been lucky enough to sit down in a chair facing the humongous screen mounted in the main hall, you’ve definitely seen IUSTV playing. But not many people know what IUSTV is, exactly.
As a student-run organization founded in 2002, Indiana University Student Television is completely student-created, providing news in a high quality format to the campus community while also creating opportunities for those involved to become comfortable and acquainted with the inner workings of the television industry.
Its headquarters are located in Franklin Hall, where one will find the members using state of the art technology in the filming room and control room alike. With segments on weather, health, entertainment, current events, and more, the broadcast covers all types of news that would be typically covered on any major network.
The people behind this student organization have nothing but passion when it comes to what they are a part of. “It feels like a job,” said junior Carson Johnson, “but with the friendships and bonds I’ve made with the people here, it’s a really fun job.” As a member of the executive board, he spends a lot of his time on camera as well as writing and producing for the entertainment segment of the news show, ‘What’s Up Weekly.’ After graduation, Johnson hopes to work in Chicago while pursuing a career in public relations, and he expressed that the experience he’s gained at IUSTV has taught him a lot about what it means to be a professional in this industry.
But the motive behind their joining is different from person to person- some want to gain experience in front of the camera, while others want to gain experience behind the scenes- whether as a teleprompter operator, camera operator, photographer, writer, or any other of the multitudes of jobs created by this station. And the experience they gain truly matters. “It helped me become an intern for the Arnoldt Center for Investigative Journalism,” said Johnson.
For Dylan Dreiman, a junior studying Sports Media, IUSTV has been influential in his college career. As a lifelong sports lover who had transferred from Indiana State, he explored opportunities on campus and had wanted to become a part of IUSTV. “I wanted to get involved, but I didn’t know where or how,” he said. After contacting a member of the organization, he showed up to a meeting, and the rest was history. “I came to a pitch meeting and they were so kind, and so accepting, and so friendly.”
Following the formation of IUSTV in 2002, many hoops have been jumped, struggles overcome, and problems solved in terms of gaining both traction and credentials in order to report on more. For example, the Media school and its state of the art technology was introduced to IU’s campus only in 2015. For the decade prior to that, everything was spread apart rather than cohesively in one place. However, thanks to the consolidation of the Media School, the well-oiled machine that is IUSTV is now capable of operating exactly as intended- as a full fledged television station.
Even with all the incredible accomplishments of IUSTV, their professionalism, their quality content, and furthering of careers, to Dreiman, the most important quality the organization possessed was the inclusivity. “It felt like a family,” he said, a sentiment clearly shared by all involved.
“When you realize you’ve created something that took hard work to do, that’s where the enjoyment comes from.” Dreiman said. To see the filming of the segments is a wonder to behold. Constant movement, constant direction, pictures being taken- to say it’s overwhelming is an understatement. But within the movement and work and professionalism, jokes are being cracked left and right. The organization is a tightly bonded family with a shared goal: produce high quality content, and have fun while doing so. And they do both.
Delve deep into the inner workings of IUSTV through an in depth viewing of the day-to-day tasks of the individuals that make up this organization.
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