Triangle Sports Editor reviews an old issue of the Triangle in the Mac Lab in Rankin. Triangle Photo by Editor-in-chief Allison McLean
by Britney Weber
Senior Staff Writer
As curricula are updated, new professors hired, classes and majors added and new apartments built in preparation for the completion of “Vision 20/20”, the Communication Studies Department has begun to look towards improving its journalism option.
“We are beginning to see convergence at all levels of journalism. Newspapers not only have print editions, but websites, audio feeds, broadcast, video. There is a growing need for students to possess a variety of skills,” said Student Publications Adviser John Carpenter.
One of the changes to the program includes Carpenter’s hopes to join the Communication Department as full-time faculty next fall. He will continue to advise the Triangle and Commoner, as wel as teach additional journalism courses and take on the responsibilities of advising communication majors.
Carpenter has proposed adding COMM 141: Intro to Journalism to the course-offering list next fall. This class would be a three-credit foundational course, covering the history of journalism, journalism theories and print, broadcast and online reporting methods.
The Communication Department has also proposed separating Triangle production from the other news reporting classes. This would allow students who simply want to learn about news reporting to do so without also being required to be on Triangle staff. However, journalism option students must still take four to six hours of COMM160 Newspaper Production.
Similarly, students who are involved with Triangle production can do so while still attending other news reporting classes. Previously, editors have had to miss part of their class to perform editing duties. Holding classes during the day while keeping Triangle production in the evening will eliminate this problem.
The Newspaper Production class will involve story assignments, peer editing, video editing and design and critiques.
The proposed classes will cover the techniques of news reporting and journalism skills necessary for students to create well-crafted stories.
“We want to provide students with a strong, well-rounded journalism experience,” said Carpenter.
Also spurring this change was the donation of a sum of money to the journalism program by an anonymous faculty member from a bequest to the college.
“That was a tremendous blessing, and I was truly honored. The donor could have used the money for his own department, but he chose to bless us instead,” said Carpenter.
The department plans to use the donation to complete the Mac Lab in Rankin and to create an endowment to fund improvements in the journalism program in the future. These additions will aid students in the production of the Triangle print edition as well as provide the opportunity for students to learn skills such as online production and video editing.
Tags: Communications Department, donation, John Carpenter, Journalism, Mac Lab, Triangle
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