This year, the school’s news production, “Perry Prime Time,” is being recaptured by a new and lively team of reporters.  Now known as “Puma Nation Live”, the role of “PNL” is being molded by both the students and those producing it.  But why the need for change?

Junior Isaiah Patterson, a returning TV Productions student, felt that the newscast needed to “recover from what the kids did last last year.”

During the first five years of the program, “Perry Prime Time” strictly revolved around the news.  Yet it slowly went downhill when the class completely transformed it into a parody news broadcast this past year.

Patterson continues to talk about how “last year they started off really good but then slowly declined and went a direction that wasn’t very appropriate.”

In result, there were many who loved the program but some who held a large distaste for it.

“I don’t believe that they ever crossed the line but there were some times that we had to talk to the group,” states principal Dan Serrano. “It’s a new program so boundaries weren’t set, now we are setting boundaries.”

Although, recovering from last year doesn’t appear to be too much of a worry for this newscast.

“Last year maybe it felt like a really exclusive thing [but] we are trying to open it up to the student population,” stated Senior Cole Merrell, a first time TV Productions student.

The main reason that this production appeared to be so “exclusive” was due to its small, close-knit group of reporters and their frequently interviewed friends.

“It’s not just six core guys but 30 people that [now] split responsibilities,” TV Productions teacher Brian Bernier said.

Bernier hopes that this year’s performance will be “more inclusive of all of the kids on campus instead of just [the previous crew’s] buddies–showing off a more diverse group of kids.”  With the inclusion of a wider variety of students, this production will truly be able to represent the school and hopefully what it stands for.

The struggle then turns towards how to structure “PNL”’s layout.  Merrell shares that the group is “trying to strike a balance to where everything is news related and has some sort of information but that is is also entertaining.”

Only the progression of the year will tell where Perry’s news production will go–from what has been seen so far, it is extremely promising.