Chelsea Fuller (BSJ, 2011) was twelve years old when she met civil rights icon
John Lewis at Paschal’s restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, the unofficial headquarters
of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Fuller had been traveling with her mother,
Marjorie, and a group of students from Knox College to landmarks throughout the
south to learn about and celebrate Black history in America.
“Representative Lewis spoke individually to every person in the room,” Fuller said.
“I was a budding writer who loved my people, my history and my culture. He told
me ‘there's nothing more powerful than telling stories and there's nothing more
powerful than loving and being committed to your people.’”
A new fully online bachelor’s degree program at
West Virginia University will give students complementary business and communications
skills suitable for careers in the marketing, advertising and public relations
fields.
West Virginia University Reed College of Media students are gaining valuable, hands-on
experience reporting, producing podcasts and creating marketing and promotional
materials from home this summer, thanks to a new partnership with local businesses
and generous sponsorships from College alumni and friends.
The Coronavirus pandemic forced many companies to rescind in-person summer internship
opportunities for College of Media students. In response, the College was able
to offer a limited number of virtual internships to returning seniors.
West Virginia University Reed College of Media students and faculty won five Telly
Awards this year in categories that included storytelling in online commercials,
non-broadcast social issues, social media video, and immersive and mixed reality.
Telly Awards are the international, premier honor for outstanding local, regional
and cable productions. The 2020 competition had more than 13,000 entries, which
were judged by hundreds of industry experts. Now in its 41st year, the Telly Awards
recently added categories in immersive and mixed reality, diversity and inclusion,
and social impact. Silver and Bronze Telly Awards, respectively, are the most prestigious
honors given.
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.
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.
Five journalists from across the country were awarded
NewStart fellowships to study Media Solutions and Innovation at the
West Virginia UniversityReed College of Media. NewStart and the new one-year online master’s program
were created in partnership with the
West Virginia Press Association (WVPA) to train the next generation of community
media owners and publishers.
Funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation supports the five fellowships,
and although the fellowships are no longer available, applications for the master’s
degree program are still being accepted.
Stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures are in place all over the United
States in an effort to protect the physical health of millions of Americans, but
the COVID-19 pandemic is also taking its toll on mental health.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in five Americans
live with a mental health condition, and with the current global crisis, they face
additional challenges, making communicating about mental health more important
than ever.