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NBC News launched a 'Meet the Press' video series with college journalists acting as the press — here's what it covers and how to watch

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NBC News has launched a new limited series called "Meet the Press: College Roundtable" that brings college journalists from across the country on-air to interview public figures about the issues directly impacting their lives, communities, and the future of education. 

Like all Meet the Press roundtables, the segment is moderated by Chuck Todd, NBC News' political director and former NBC Chief White House correspondent. Each episode will feature different student journalists interviewing college presidents, politicians, experts, and thought leaders on a specific topic. 

The limited series, which will run every Friday (you can find the first episode here) will be available every Friday on NBC News' digital platforms, including NBC News' YouTube channel, NBC News' "Stay Tuned" on Snapchat, and on Peacock, NBCUniversal's new streaming service. 

NBC recruited the student press from across the country and whittled the applicants down to a handful. Ideally, Todd told Business Insider, these students will bring a wider lens of socioeconomic and regional perspectives to the conversation of education. The students bring lived experiences while NBC brings access to decision-makers. 

Why it may work

John Reiss, the show's executive producer, watches presidential news conferences at home and plays a game to see if he can correctly anticipate the replies. He says he's noticed something great about civilian, or non-career journalists, questions in his 26-year tenure at NBC.

"Every time I see a civilian — and by civilian I mean a non-career journalist — ask a question of a politician, I'm impressed with the question. Public figures know how journalists think. [And] we know how they think. We ask them a question, and they're ready. I wouldn't be surprised if [these student journalists] asked the kind of smart, probing questions that college presidents hadn't thought of — and that would force the interviewees to rethink their responses."

If that's true, watchers may find that lawmakers are forced to respond more conversationally and perhaps break from the kind of script that Reiss has memorized after two decades in news.

For Todd, part of the success and gratification of "Meet the Press: College Roundtable" is also about its ability to elevate students from more diverse regions and backgrounds than the journalism industry often surfaces.

"This is about the opportunity to get different life experiences behind the people who ask the questions," Todd explained. Both because college students can ask more insightful questions about college life than journalists 30-years out from graduation can, and because the industry has allowed a narrowing of opportunity for journalists across the board.

Todd sees this narrowing problem stemming from two distinct issues: a lack of diverse recruitment and local news coverage drying up. He hopes the new roundtable could help address both issues.

"We have just not recruited enough. We've not seen enough journalists sprout up from different walks of life with different perspectives," Todd said. "We've always had good relationships with a lot of journalism schools, but this series is going to be a great way for us to help surface the next generation of journalists — and from different geographic locations."

In terms of helping grow local coverage, he adds, "We stopped forcing people to realize that the pipeline should be throughout the country. You don't have the experience of covering local neighborhoods before you come to Washington and cover congress. One of my motivations for this project is that I have a sneaking suspicion the college news organization is going to become more important to people locally than they realize because they're going to be the only game in town. It's at least going to be the temporary stop."

The first episode: College students ask university presidents 'Will we be safe?'

The first episode's issue was one that's top of mind for just about everyone right now: safety. With the spread of coronavirus and college classes having to suddenly move online, students are wondering if they'll be safe when they return to campus.

The student press consisted of student journalists Gabe Fleisher, an incoming freshman at Georgetown University; Aiyana Ishmael, a rising senior at Florida A&M University; and Sami Sparber, a rising senior at the University of Texas at Austin. The students interviewed two experts in higher education and healthcare, Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, president of Howard University, and Dr. Robert Robbins, president of the University of Arizona, both of whom are medical doctors.

As Todd emphasized, the student journalists were chosen to represent diverse regions and experiences of campus life, and the experts each represent different versions of current safety concerns. Howard University, located in Washington, DC, has the complicated issue of being in a dense urban center, while the University of Arizona is a sprawling university with students filtering in from all across the country. 

True to Todd's prediction, the students were able to bring up insightful, often overlooked issues based on their experiences. For example, student journalist Sami Sparber pushed doctors to think about more than just on-campus life when considering safety, as many college students spend as much as 80% of their time off-campus. 

Educating student journalists as remote learning and mass unemployment pose challenges

The coronavirus pandemic has sent more than 40 million people into unemployment and newsrooms have been particularly hard hit. Amid news of layoffs and pay cuts at Vox, Quartz, GQ, Buzzfeed, Bustle, and Wired, journalism internships have suffered, too. 

But the industry is quickly trying to adapt. NBC isn't the only company offering new opportunities, training programs, and resources to involve college-aged journalists. For instance, a handful of editors are providing a free, four-week virtual "summer school" for any young person looking to pursue a career in journalism. The DIY masterclass includes Politico editor Carrie Budoff Brown, New York Times media columnist and former Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith, and Business Insider's own global editor-in-chief, Nicholas Carlson. The class covers vital topics related to getting a job in the industry, as well as how to perform that job well. Students can sign up for free here. 

In a tweet announcing the summer program, Jessica Lessin, editor-in-chief of The Information, said, "Our industry won't survive if young people don't find career paths. We need their passion right now."

"I am both nervous and excited for college student newspapers and college student news organizations," Todd said.  "I fear that in some communities it's going to be the only local news you get. The good news is that there are young up-and-coming journalists who are going to be trying to find out what's happening in their community, but it's because there's no more professional journalism within it."

"There's a big opportunity for college newspapers and college news programs," he continued. "It's a way to improve on and fill in the gaps of local news deserts. So let's showcase it, and invest in it."

You can watch the first Meet the Press: College Roundtable here on Youtube