Media Changes Begin in College - Sara Nahrwold - MediaBizBloggers

Welcome Sara Nahrwold our newest MediaBizBlogger

I am a freshman journalism major on the news-editorial track at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. But with new changes in the curriculum, you could say that I am a journalism AND telecommunications major. I am essentially getting two majors for the price of one. I will discuss this more later.

The media world has been changing drastically in the last few years and continues to change today. As a current college student, it's likely that it will change further by the time of my graduation. As a student who is experiencing firsthand these changes in the classroom curriculum and student media, it's important to take my view into consideration. I, along with my peers, are the future of journalism and we are learning and experiencing the changes that are taking place right now.

"Our faculty and students understand and embrace this change," says Roger Lavery, Dean of the College of Communication, Information, and Media. "They understand that to be marketable, our students— tomorrow's journalists— must be able to meet the future demands of the industry by having the skills to tell stories across many platforms. They should play a key role in defining the future of news."

As previously mentioned, Ball State is revamping its journalism and telecommunication programs to provide the necessary skills to work in the media on many different platforms. At many colleges across the country, underclassmen are required to take journalism classes and the university core classes for either one or two years before they can even think about setting foot in the student media rooms. Ball State on the other hand takes a different approach. (One that I personally prefer and I'm sure a lot of other underclassmen do too).

For instance, Emerging Media Journalismis one new program that is allowing students to take their news classes from the moment they step onto campus. The biggest advantage that this program has over other media programs throughout the country is that if you come to Ball State to be a writer someday, you're not just going to learn to write better. You're going to learn how to shoot video to post online; you're going to learn audio skills to upload a Podcast; you're going to learn how to take quality photos and use different types of cameras for a slideshow component; and you're going to learn graphics to add a bit of spice to your story. Believe it or not, I already have had classes in all of those areas I'm not even done with my freshman year.

In my graphics class, I was introduced to the basics of Photoshop and InDesign. Although I had used InDesign in high school when putting together the newspaper, it was a nice refresher course and taught me even more. In photo class, I was able to create a basic photo slideshow, a skill that I also used when I did multimedia for Ball Bearings online. The video class was probably the most challenging out of all of them for me, because I had never really worked with video before. It was a five-week class, but through my assignments and learning to use Final Cut Pro, I got better at shooting and editing video, although I'm no expert yet. But even learning the basics, I'm confident enough that I could go out and shoot video for a news assignment. Finally, in the audio class, I learned how to use Sound Studio and have sharpened my skills in those short five weeks. For example, for my final project I talked to a Starbucks employee about her experiences working there, and a Ball State student who drinks a lot of Starbucks. I made a wrap of the story with natural sound, reporter narration, and actualities, skills I may someday be using in the field.

A few weeks into my freshman year, I went to a call out meeting for the Daily News, the campus newspaper. Soon, I was attending weekly meetings for the features section and picking up stories. Don't get me wrong, I can and will learn a lot in the classroom, but nothing beats hands on experience. Since that day, I have written for the features of the newspaper, I have done an audio slideshow for Ball Bearings online which uses multimedia to tell stories about Ball State and the Muncie community, contributed to the Ball Bearings Magazine, and since the start of my second semester as a freshman, I have had my own weekly column for the newspaper, entitled "Nahrwords." (Catchy, I know.)

The fact that I am learning how to tell a story across so many different mediums so soon in my college career is astounding to me. Because Ball State allows me to contribute to student media from day one, I will be more prepared, more skilled, and more trained for a future in journalism than those who have to wait a year or two to get their feet wet.

For now, I'm just going day-by-day, thankful for all the opportunities I have gotten thus far. Next time, I will elaborate on the emerging media track as well as talk about some of my other journalism classes.

Throughout my postings, you will learn about Ball State, the emerging media track, the curriculum at Ball State and my journalism experiences in and out of the classroom that will all prepare me for a future in the changing media world.

Until next time, carpe diem.

Sara Nahrwold is a freshman journalism major at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She is from Ossian, Indiana, close to Fort Wayne. She has written for theBall State Daily News, the campus newspaper for the features section. She also has a weekly column for the paper entitled “Nahrwords.” Sara can be reached at snnahrwold@bsugmail.net.