Media College eNews

The West Virginia University Reed College of Media would like to invite you to join us Thursday, September 5th from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. at the WVU Media Innovation Center, 4th Floor of Evansdale Crossing, for a photo exhibit and reception celebrating a collection of photos by Elaine McMillion Sheldon. 

The exhibit titled “Be Still” is to bear witness to both the beauty and pain before you, and accept them both as reality.   

Elaine McMillion Sheldon will be in attendance at the photo exhibit on September 5th to meet with attendees and answer questions about her collection of photographs.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Chris Martin, former dean of the West Virginia University P.I. Reed School of Journalism (now the Reed College of Media) and former vice president of WVU University Relations, died on Wednesday, August 7, at the age of 67.

In Martin’s 23 years at WVU, she became known for her love of journalism and innovative approach to both media education and branding at the university. She joined the journalism faculty in 1990 and served as the director of the school’s undergraduate writing program, news editorial sequence chair and dean from 1997-2003.

100 Days in Appalachia, a media outlet incubated at the West Virginia University Reed College of Media’s  Media Innovation Center, continues to expand with two new grants that will have a big impact on how the program educates both students and the nation’s media. The digital publication is a collaboration with  West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) and  The Daily Yonder, of the Center for Rural Strategies.

100 Days has garnered a national reputation as a go-to source for real stories coming out of Appalachia, told by the journalists and community members living and working there. What started as a way to combat stereotypes in the first 100 days of the Trump administration has turned into an ongoing, evolving project that is not only changing the way our country perceives the region but is also experimenting with new digital storytelling and community engagement techniques.

Two West Virginia University Reed College of Media students are dedicating their classtime to learn about how to generate positive social change through their respective undergraduate programs. The Advocacy and Public Interest Communication program merges various academic fields’ science-based insights about strategic communication for sustained behavioral change into one degree.

Maura Flynn and Julia Hillman took their first APIC course together, working toward criminal justice reform in West Virginia under the leadership of assistant professor Geah Pressgrove. While Flynn and Hillman are passionate about different social issues and have different undergraduate backgrounds – Flynn studying journalism and leadership, Hillman studying public relations and political science – the two found their niche in the advocacy class.

With more than 15,000 miles traveled in just two weeks, College of Media and John Chambers College of Business and Economics students immersed themselves in the cultures, media industries and technologies of Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, South Korea.

The 14-day trip, led by Associate Professor Sammy Lee and Teaching Assistant Professor David Smith, focused on individual content-creation specific to students’ interests while exploring their future career fields throughout different parts of the world.

West Virginia University’s renowned Integrated Marketing Communications master’s degree program has implemented significant changes for the 2019-2020 academic year, including reduced tuition, fewer required courses and seven new areas of emphasis.

The tuition and course requirement changes affect both IMC and the relatively new online M.S. in Data Marketing Communications. Tuition for both programs will decrease by 16 percent, lowering the overall program cost to $24,600. And, graduation requirements will be decreased by one course, allowing students to complete their degree with ten courses in as few as one and a half years. This is in response to an increasingly competitive market.

“Our online IMC program was the first of its kind, and we’re always looking for ways to keep our programs innovative and accessible,” said Chad Mezera, assistant dean of online programs. “WVU IMC is among the best online master’s degrees in the country and the DMC program is the first of its kind, developed specifically to address a known talent gap in today’s industry and graduate highly-sought data-minded marketing communicators. We don’t want tuition to be a deterrent from pursuing a world-class graduate education.”

West Virginia University Reed College of Media faculty members and students received several honors at this year’s Public Relations Society of America West Virginia Chapter Awards Gala.

Associate Professor Rita Colistra, Ph.D., was named the 2019 PRSA-WV Practitioner of the Year, and Associate Professor Geah Pressgrove, Ph.D., was named the 2019 PRSA-WV Public Relations Educator of the Year. Additionally, the WVU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America was named the Chapter of the Year for the third consecutive time.

Four high schoolers experienced life as West Virginia University Reed College of Media students thanks to a generous sponsorship from Douglas Widmeyer.

Widmeyer, who lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia, made the donation to send students in the Eastern Panhandle to one of the three-day summer camps offered by the College of Media. Isabella Cameron of Martinsburg and Morgan Sherwood of Hedgesville attended traditional Media Camp, where they captured video and photos of incoming students at WVU New Student Orientation to create promotional pieces that reflect the excitement and anticipation of starting college.

     

Cyrus Murray and Nathaniel Wright, both of Martinsburg, attended Sports and Adventure Media Camp, which included a trip to the WVU Challenge Course where they used GoPro cameras to record first-hand accounts of ziplining through the hills of West Virginia.

The West Virginia University Reed College of Media’s “Marketing Communications Today” podcast is airing weekly beginning on May 9, 2019, entering its third successful season.

The syndicated show highlights emerging or current trends impacting marketers today and airs live on Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. Key topics include how data impacts the creative process, data-driven marketing strategy, telling a story with data and emerging social trends. Past episodes can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, YouTube and Podbean. 

Cyndi Greenglass, an inaugural faculty member of the Data Marketing Communication’s master’s degree at WVU and host of the program, helped start the podcast in February of 2018.

Barbara Sayre Casey, a 1959 journalism graduate, received one of the highest honors awarded to West Virginia University graduates when she was inducted into the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni on May 17.

Casey  has distinguished herself as a leader in public relations, branding and professional advancement for women. While a journalism student at West Virginia University, Casey was also a reporter for the Parkersburg News and a contributor at a local radio station before moving to Los Angeles to pursue what would become a lifelong journey in public relations.

“Barbara is incredibly deserving of this honor,” said Maryanne Reed, dean of the WVU Reed College of Media. “She has not only evolved with the PR discipline but has led the way. Her effective leadership and innovative spirit was evident when she was a student in the “J-School” and has been a driving force in her career ever since.”