Media College News

Even though COVID-19 closed WVU's campus in early March, students in the Reed College of Media continued with their hands-on, project-based coursework from afar. They explored new ways to interview, report and produce stories, leading to publication for two studentsin a statewide media outlet.

Journalism students Kayla Starcher and Maxwell Shavers produced stories as part of a podcasting class with teaching associate professor Emily Corio.Students transitioned to cover the impact of coronavirus on theirhometowns for thefinal episode ofHigh Street Beat,the class’s three-part, 20-minute collaborative show.

100 Days in Appalachia, a media outlet incubated at the West Virginia University Reed College of Media’s Media Innovation Center, was the only newsroom in West Virginia selected for a grant from the Facebook Journalism Project (FJP) to support local coverage of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 global pandemic forced universities across the nation to rethink commencement ceremonies and move celebrations online. West Virginia University held its first virtual commencement ceremony, and the College of Media recognized graduates, including the first from the Sports and Adventure Media major, through social media and a new online yearbook.

On May 16, WVU held Mountaineer Graduation Day, an onlinecommencementexperienceforMay 2020 graduates. While the ceremony was unlike any in the history of the University, it still featured key elements of the traditional May ceremony. Provost Maryanne Reed congratulated graduates, President E. Gordon Gee gave a keynote address and conferred degrees, and students moved their tassels to the left before singing “Country Roads” from their homes all over the world.