The Axle: My weekly story is about how the no-mask policies at Beaver Stadium and other Penn State sporting events are impacting COVID-19 cases in Centre County. There are lots of COVID-19 statistics available about students who are not fully vaccinated, because they are required to take COVID-19 tests every week. These statistics will also provide insight to college parties and how they are affecting the spread of COVID-19 at Penn State. By analyzing the statistics through the first 4 home games and the away games, we could see if home football games (and wins) lead to higher COVID-19 cases because of parties afterwards.
The Riders: I think any citizen that lives in Centre County is a target for this story. COVID is always in the news, and the return of students to campus is definitely a concern for new cases of the Delta variant. Although Centre County residents would be the primary audience, parents from out of state who have kids at Penn State might also take interest to the story. Reaching out to an out of state parent for an interview could be an interesting angle as well.
The Spokes: An interview with a Penn State employee or professor who is tasked with managing COVID-19 or COVID-19 testing would be ideal. Hearing from someone who works directly for one of the greatest research institutions in the country is amazing information. Hearing what local residents, business owners, student and parents think would also work for this story. Getting people’s opinions on students going to sporting events and then partying all without masks would be interesting. Despite University Park having a vaccination rate that is over 80%, is COVID-19 still spreading here? If so, how quickly? I would include footage of the Pegula/White Building testing centers. I would try and record people who are waiting in line for testing and get a possible interview.
The Rim:
Beginning – I would start with statistics about Penn State and Centre County’s COVID-19 infections. I would explain that students who are not fully vaccinated must test weekly at Penn State. Including the footage of the testing centers at the beginning. An interview with a local resident giving a personal opinion would also be included (either someone in line or someone who has lived in Centre County since pre-COVID days.)
The Middle – I would show footage of Beaver Stadium packed with 110,000 people, and explain the angle of the story. Are these sporting events, and celebrations afterwards in private residences and bars, contributing to the spread of COVID-19 in Centre County. If I could acquire the testing data from Penn State, I would provide it in this part of the story. B-Roll of packed restaurants, bar lines down the block and parties on front porches would show the viewers just how much human interaction is occurring.
The End – I would end the story by showing footage of people leaving State College after a home-game weekend. I would provide statistics about how many people are in State College and Centre County for a big home game (sometimes more than 300,000). I would have a stand up of me outside of the testing centers we showed earlier.