Students from all over Los Angeles high schools took part in the first year of The Los Angeles Times High School Insider conference at University of Southern California on Feb. 28.

High School Insider is a new website by the L.A. Times featuring stories written by teens from various high schools throughout the Los Angeles area. Students at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School are among the students submitting stories to this website.

Students woke up on that Saturday morning earlier than usual so that they could participate in the event which included activities like having a Q & A with L.A. Times reporters. The conference was opened by Professor Laura Castañeda, Ed.D, who shared tips on writing effective hard news stories.

However, media journalism was one of the main focuses during the conference, as much of journalism is refocusing towards the digital. A seminar on new media tools was held and it was meant to share different ways to effectively use visuals in video production.

To conclude the conference, Bill Plaschke, a sports columnist for the L.A. Times and  commentator on the show, “Around The Horn,” made a special appearance. Plaschke had a makeshift “Around The Horn,” with pre-selected students, including Daniel Pearl Magnet High School’s own senior Brandon Gilden.

All participants took a group picture and were treated to a tour of USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism’s media center. Different green screens and control rooms were explored, along with state of art technology used for broadcasting only found at USC Annenberg.