NIU’s television station, TV-8, will be presenting a special newscast on Monday celebrating their 15th anniversary with excerpts from the past including old black-and-white newscasts and “bloopers.”

Robert LaConto, news director and faculty adviser, said TV-8 is the NIU television station, but it is not campus news oriented.

LaConto said, “Before we started broadcasting, DeKalb didn’t have any TV news at all.”

LaConto said the programs are broadcast at 10 p.m. Monday through Friday on two cable systems, NIU’s access channel and Warner Amex Cable.

LaConto said journalism majors report the news and do the actual broadcasting, meteorology majors present the weather forecasts, and communications majors manage the technical aspects of the programs.

Jon Morgan, assistant news director, said on Monday he will have a set of TV-8’s past broadcasts compiled that will be inserted along with the regular newscast.

Morgan said, “I am going through the black-and-white archives for outstanding and embarrassing moments. They should include old newscasts, bloopers and interviews with those who have ‘aged’ over the years.”

Laura Ries, the program’s producer, said the students are aiming to present as much news as possible during the anniversary broadcast, and they may have to run longer than the usual half-hour to get ample local coverage.

Ries said, “The anniversary special should be entertaining to those who watch the program regularly and maybe gain a second look from those who aren’t aware of the station and what it is all about.

“(The anniversary show) will give us the opportunity to show how much we have changed and improved, not just in technology but in the look, from sets to film to video,” Ries said.

She said it also will help to lessen the criticism they receive from NIU students in the residence halls.

“The students in the dorms have a common misconception about the TV station since most are used to the professional Chicago newscasts and they almost forget it’s students doing the broadcast,” she said.

LaConto said the newsroom is a laboratory for the students since those majoring in broadcast news are required to participate.