On Nov. 5, the U.S. presidential election will be held and 100 colleges across the country will participate in a Marshall launched program called Student News Live. 

Student News Live is a 24-hour multimedia news coverage event in which student journalists write, edit and publish their own content based around the election. Beginning this year, Student News Live has gained 100 colleges participation and more than 10 national sponsors. The event intends to provide students with a platform to let their voices be known in what is many students’ first election cycle. 

Robert Quicke, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall, worked in tandem with Nicholas Hirshon of William Patterson University to establish the event. Since its inception, Student News Live has earned partnerships with many large organizations,  including PBS News, NBCU Academy and iHeartRadio. 

The initial concept of the event sprung from Quicke questioning why students in the younger generations are not being listened to as much as other groups when it comes to the election cycle. 

“Why shouldn’t we hear from the students in that generation about what they feel about what’s going on in this country?” he said.

The event allows students to submit their stories through many mediums including TV news, newspapers, radio, podcast and blogs. Both live and prerecorded stories are welcome to be submitted to the website for publication.

“They have a very different perspective on many of the important things that go on in this country,” Quicke said in reference to college-aged students. “I felt it was an opportunity for them to have their voices heard and to bring the pulse of America’s youth to an audience.”

Aside from gaining massive partnerships, Quicke has also received the opportunity to take two Marshall students to the White House on election day to cover the event. 

“This is an unprecedented moment, and there is a lot to do, but I think we are more than capable of doing it,” Quicke said. 

What started as just an idea Quicke had, he described Student News Live as the biggest student media coalition in the nation covering the presidential election. The event starts on Nov. 4 and will run until the end of the night Nov. 5.

This project is housed at Marshall’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications. As a result, many members of the Parthenon staff are involved in this project.