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Bstudents TV: Online Rather than On Air

, by Davide Ripamonti, translated by Alex Foti
Born in February, the Bocconi students' web TV station has produced its first featured videos, in order to present its mission and introduce its editorial style. In September, regular programming will start, covering news and entertainment. Students and faculty alike will be involved in this media project

A student is sitting on a bench fiddling with his cell phone, suddenly a TV set crashes down from above. Surprised students gather around the site of the impact. Shot in piazza Sraffa, this is the first video produced for Bstudents TV, the Bocconi TV channel established and manned by Bocconi students.

"We want to produce and distribute stories that reinterpret life at Bocconi, by providing and younger and more outgoing image of the University", says Neri Bastiancich, second-year student of the Master of Science in Economics and Managements of Arts, Culture, Media and Entertainment. Bastianich is the editorial coordinator of the new channel, which aims to "overturn the traditional canons of TV production, thanks to the Web and online videos. Our presentation video symbolizes the destruction of traditional television broadcasting."

Bstudents TV was officially born on February 21, but regular programming will start in September 2010. Thirty students are actively involved in the project. "We intend to build an editorial team producing videos and programs dealing with cultural and economic issues that grab the attention of Bocconi students, and not only them," Neri goes on to say.

The first news program will be on Corporate Social Responsibility. "It is already being produced," says Silvia Ferrari, who is charge of the news division of the TV webcaster, "thanks to the contribution of Francesca Calò, who did a thesis on this topic". Another program will be titled 'In your shoes', and will feature a Bocconian trying to cope with the everyday demands of a low-wage job (as baker, cashier etc).

Crowdsourcing is at the basis of the project. Whoever has a creative idea, can compile the format on the YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/bstudentstv. The Bstudents editorial team will then assess its feasibility. Giacomo Salvatori and Alessandro Valbonese are in charge of video direction and editing, "but cannot do everything by themselves; so we are seeking additional students having the same set of skills," Neri remarks.

On the Web there are many video outlets, so the ability to attract users is a major priority: "Clips must be short, 5-8 minutes, tops," says Vittorio Calabrese, who heads the fiction and entertainment dibision: "They must capture the viewer's attention and convey interest in a second." Quality, in addition to brevity, is the other guiding light: "Economists and social thinkers that muster complex political and economic analyses, as well as brilliant students, are all resources that we can rely on."

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