Contact CU Independent General Assignment Editor Andrew Haubner at andrew.haubner@colorado.edu.
With only hours until the GOP debate at the University of Colorado begins, students got a very rare opportunity to find out about how broadcasts of these events work behind the scenes.
Carl Quintanilla, anchor of CNBC’s SquawkBox and a moderator of Oct. 28th’s “Your Money, Your Vote” debate, paid a visit to one of CU’s political science classes Tuesday morning. Two hours later, Scott Matthews, vice president of specials for CNBC, and Andy Barsh, senior director of creative production for CNBC, spoke to three different classes of journalism students about what it takes to pull off an event like this.
It was a small but noticeable consolation prize for students who wouldn’t be able to witness the debate in person. Quintanilla fielded questions ranging from his preparation for the debate, the topic of student debt and the media’s influence in elections. When asked about an issue he’d like to see discussed Wednesday night, the CU-Boulder graduate responded that marijuana, a big economic issue in Colorado, would be a good topic to have candidates speak on. That answer was met with thunderous applause and laughter from the class.
Matthews and Barsh described to students the logistics of the debate from a production standpoint, and how to be creative with the show while sticking to a plan. Bailey Walker, a junior in the College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI) was one of the students who talked to Matthews and Barsch in the ATLAS studio, and it’s an experience that she overall enjoyed.
“I liked when they answered my question,” joked Walker before her TV production class began. “It was great when they talked about being creative, even with a production like this, because I know that it was something I was interested when I came into news.”
Matthews, who has been with CNBC for four years, similarly enjoys his time with students, and doesn’t understate the importance of students getting the opportunity to hear from network-level employees.
“It’s actually one of the things that attracts us to the college campuses,” Matthews said. “We like to come in and share the experience with the journalism and production classes. It’s great to give back a little bit but also to see what you guys are up to and what you’re interested in.”
Stephen Jones, assistant dean of the CMCI, helped bring Barsh and Matthews to the studio, with some help from the Department of Strategic Relations. While this event was a good PR opportunity for the school and for CNBC, Jones believes that a real-life perspective from outside of the classroom is incredibly beneficial for kids who haven’t gotten the experience yet.
“One of the things we try to do is that when we have anybody that’s coming here to do special kinds of productions, we try to get them in and talk to the students,” says Jones. “They can talk about what it is they’re doing for that particular project, which is a little different.”
Matthews, Barsh and Quintanilla will all be integral parts of the debate, which kicks off at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday with the undercard candidate debate, and then hits its stride at 6 p.m. with the main debate. While students may not be in the hall listening to Quintanilla’s voice over the Coors Events Center speakers, they will know some key aspects in how he, and the production staff, will be broadcasting the debate all over the world.
