Media College News

This month, the Broadcast Education Association awarded “WVU News” first place in the Television Newscast (airing three days per week or less) category in the 2017 Festival of Media Arts competition. “WVU News” won the top honor out of more than 1,500 entries.

The winning entry, “Special Edition Heroin and Opioids: When Addiction Hits Home,” was produced by students at the West Virginia University Reed College of Media and focuses on the Mountain State’s rising heroin and opioid addiction.

Rita Colistra, professor of public relations in the Reed College of Media, has been named the recipient of the 2016 James and Karen Caveney Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award.

The AP Broadcast Scholarship awards $1,000 through the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters.

Applications will be accepted through Feb. 28, 2017. The student must be enrolled in a broadcast journalism program at a Virginia or West Virginia college or university. The scholarship winner will be recognized at the 2017 Virginias AP Broadcasters Awards Luncheon on Sat., April 1, at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center in Roanoke, Va. They are invited and encouraged to attend this event, 12pm-3:30pm! The VAPB is a professional organization whose members include working broadcast journalists representing all types of jobs in the field—from news directors to sportscasters to videographers to web managers and general managers. 

Join us for a Multimedia Journalism: Networking and Careers Info Session on Friday February 17 from 1-2:30 in the Media Innovation Center. WVU graduate RJ Jewell has more than a decade of experience in the web, film and television business – as a Webmaster, Production Assistant, Director of Photography, Producer and Editor. In his current role as a Video Producer for Bloomberg, RJ works with the various news desks to identify important topics and breaking events that will be covered through multimedia.

Fake news is nothing new, but the anonymity of the social web has allowed it to spread faster and farther than ever before.

At the same time, people are seeking and sharing information that reinforces their political views, aided by algorithms that target stories directly to them. The end result is a public that is finding it harder to discern fabrication from fiction, and a nation further divided.

This spring, students in a strategic communications capstone course at the West Virginia University Reed College of Media are using virtual reality and 360° video to create empathy for flood victims and inspire action to help them.

The project is being led by the College of Media’s first Harrison/Omnicom Innovator-in-Residence, Ben Roffee. Roffee is digital director at RYOT, an immersive storytelling affiliate of The Huffington Post.

The program is inspired by Looking at Appalachia, a juried collection of images by amateur and professional photographers, currently on display at the DCL as part of the WVU Libraries’ Art in the Libraries series. West Virginia native Roger May directs the ongoing Looking at Appalachia project that chronicles life in the 13-state region more than 50 years after President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty.

“This forum is a great opportunity to use the Looking at Appalachia exhibit to spark conversations about how images in the media can affect a range of issues facing the region,” said Alyssa Wright, chair of the Art in the Libraries Committee.

View a full list of anchors, reporters and producers here .

“WVU News” won a platinum and gold award from the 2016 AVA Digital Awards. The “WVU News’” Go Green episode won a platinum award, and “The Many Dimensions of Diversity” episode won a gold award.

The WVU Reed College of Media offers an accelerated Master of Science in Journalism (MSJ) degree program for its top-performing students. Students enter the program during their undergraduate senior year, taking graduate-level courses. During their fifth year, they are immersed in their graduate plan of study, which culminates in a graduate-level thesis or professional project.

The College will be hosting an information session on February 17 at noon in Martin Hall Room 103. For more information see the attached flyer.