STUDENT MEDIA Experiential learning outside of the classroom

By Paul O’Neill

What headline will make someone click on this story?

Are we allowed to cover this story?

Who could we interview for this story?

Can we tell this story across platforms?

These are some of the questions asked during The Colonnade’s pitch meetings. During the semester, at 5 p.m. on on most Thursdays, nearly 50 reporters, photographers and editors gather in Terrell 310 of Georgia College & State University’s Terrell Hall and discuss upcoming stories for publication.

The Colonnade is one of several student media organizations housed in Terrell Hall. Under the guidance of the Department of Communication faculty and staff, students engage in experiential learning through student-run media organizations, including a podcasting club, a radio station and a film club. Through these organizations, students learn real-world skills like time management and technology to prepare them for their future careers.

Like most other media organizations, the department has slowly transitioned to contemporary media production practices, including thinking about shared media resources as well as being “digital first.” Today, followers of GCSU’s student media have a one-stop shop for their favorite programming – www.bobcatmultimedia.com.

Bobcat Multimedia

Bobcat Multimedia is a relatively new student organization designed to build more collaboration and unity between GC360, The Colonnade and WGUR 95.3 FM. The organization offers an online, unified forum for communication majors and other media volunteers to showcase their creative and journalistic works.

Lecturer and advisor to The Colonnade and Bobcat Multimedia Bill Burke said despite today’s relatively easy flow in the organization, the birth of Bobcat Multimedia was not an easy task

“In the beginning, (department faculty and staff) met resistance from the students, obviously, because some of them felt we were talking the individuality away from the student organizations, which is not the case, “said Burke, the department’s newly named director of student media.

Burke added, the ultimate goal of student media organizations is to prepare students for their careers.

“With Bobcat Multimedia, we are trying to create a space where students can practice multimedia journalism because that is where the industry is going. If (the student news organizations) were to stay the way they were, then we were not doing justice for students and preparing them for the real world,” said Burke.

Katie Futch, editor-in-chief of The Colonnade and General Manager of Bobcat Multimedia, said the organization is designed to create synergy between media organizations.

“Bobcat Multimedia serves as an umbrella organization. So, basically, all the student media organizations should be working together to cover as many aspects of news in Milledgeville and on Georgia College’s campus as possible,” she said.

WGUR 95.3

This semester, GC’s student-run radio station, WGUR 95.3, will enter its 48th year of radio. Additionally, students also hosted the music festival “Sounds of the South” as well as Couch Concerts.

“Whether (musicians) are from Milledgeville, Athens, Madison or whatever, if they’re willing to come to Milled- geville, we get them into the basement (for the Couch Concert). We set them up and then we record them. After that, we put (the concert) on YouTube and on-air,” said Eva Galova-lossifov, WGUR advisor.

“Sounds of the South,” held in early March, featured 18 different bands from Georgia performing in Milledgeville’s downtown restaurants. This is the first year since 2012 the festival has been held.

“(The festival) was thrown into the trash, and we decided it was too good to let go. So, we revived it, and we took care of it,” said Galova-Iossifov. “It is part of what we do even though it has its own branding and name; however, nobody except us does anything with it.”

Davis Forney, videographer for WGUR, is thankful for his time with WGUR. Running a student organization isn’t easy, he said, especially when managing everyone’s conflicting schedules. To Davis, the chaos prepares students for the real world.

“Sure, you get some of this training in a classroom but most of it comes from actually being on air or behind the camera. But that’s what jobs like this are for – to teach us and prepare us for the real world,” said Forney.

To listen to WGUR 95.3, visit gcsuradio.com.

The Colonnade

Over the last year, The Colon nade has transitioned to having a stronger online presence to generate a broader audience. The ultimate goal of this transition, said Futch, is to better prepare students for the communication industry’s digital era.

In fall 2022, Colonnade executives opted to halt the newspaper’s print product, which was available on campus and in downtown Milledgeville. Futch said the removal of the print product has allowed staff members to focus more energy on recruiting more staff and amping up the digital projects.

“We’re definitely growing as an editorial board; we have 15 people this year (on the editorial board). Also, I mean, our first pitch meeting, we had around 35 people there, which is huge,” said Futch.

The transition to digital-first, Futch added, has been a group effort.

“This year, our board has been purposeful in building relationships with each other, which is awesome because when you work with your friends it’s more fun. We hang out outside of work, the board took a trip to Washington D.C. in the fall semester and we’re going to New York City this semester,” she said.

To read more about The Colonnade, visit https://bobcatmultimedia.com/the-colonnade-page/.

Other media

In addition to Bobcat Multimedia, WGUR and The Colonnade, the department also offers students volunteer and practicum credit with the following student organizations:

• GC360, advisor Professor Bill Burke

• The Podcasting Club, advisor Professor Chad Whittle

• Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), advisor Professor Mikkel Christensen

• Bobcat Media Productions, advisor Professor Mike Crews

• Lambda Pi Eta Communications Honors Society, advisor Professor Jamie Downing Jaylon Brooks, anchor for GC360, said he plans to use the skills he acquired during his time with the TV news organization.

“If you want to go into videography, movies or news, this is the organization you need to be with. That’s why I’m in it, its practice for what I actually want to do: reporting,” said Brooks. What’s next for GCSU’s student media?

Despite the continuous work to maintain student media, there are constant discussions about the organizations’ futures. Galova-Iossifov, WGUR advisor, said because of COVID-19’s impact on higher education, specifically financial impacts, student media organizations have experienced budget cuts.

She said despite the help the organizations receive from the university, the student media organizations could always use more money to expand services.

If you would like to financially contribute to student media efforts, contact Michael Dreher, department chair, at michael.dreher@gcsu.edu or 478-445-8261.