Journalism and Digital Media
Department of Journalism and Digital Media
The College of Arts and Sciences
Chair
David McCoy, Associate Professor of Journalism & Digital Media
Faculty
David McCoy, Associate Professor of Journalist & Digital Media, Faculty Advisor AU-Live and AUTV 20
Kelly Meyer, Professional Instructor of Journalism & Digital Media, Collegian Faculty Advisor
Derek Wood, Professional Instructor of Journalism & Digital Media, Faculty Advisor WRDL Radio
Director, Broadcasting & Operations
John Skrada, Director of Broadcasting & Operations
Degrees Offered
Bachelor of Arts
Mission Statement
The Journalism and Digital Media program educates students to become ethical, creative, informed media scholars and practitioners. Students will develop their ideas into relevant stories that are built on a foundation of good writing and told using emerging technology. Our faculty encourages a broad-based learning environment balancing theory and practical experience for students to gain a better understanding of the role and current practices of today's media. The department provides a liberal arts education with individualized instruction and hands-on learning enabling students to receive a college degree designed to prepare them for success in today's converging media industry.
Student Learning Outcomes
The Journalism and Digital Media student will:
Identify and interpret an understanding of the history, theory, and practice of journalism and digital media;
Practice written and verbal storytelling;
Apply technical proficiency using industry standard practices;
Apply ethical principles in the analysis and production of journalism and media projects;
Formulate and apply critical thinking skills to written verbal and visual storytelling to journalism and digital media projects.
Laboratory Opportunities
As a part of the Journalism and Digital Media program, students will produce content for print, web, and broadcast. The program publishes The Collegian, a regional award- winning bi-weekly newspaper and the AU-Live on-line site from its digital campus newsroom. Our national award-winning university radio station WRDL broadcasts http://www.ashlandcollegian.com daily student-produced programming on our 3kw FM (88.9) radio station serving Ashland and surrounding counties. Television programming is broadcast to campus and to the Ashland Community via Armstrong Cable on the national award-winning AUTV-20 and JDM-created sports broadcast programming is telecast on Sports Time Ohio. Television content is produced from the High Definition digital television studio and post-production facility in the Center for the Arts. The Journalism and Digital Media program offers a variety of unique, practical, and converged media experiences for future storytellers. Students are encouraged to get involved as freshmen and continue through their senior year. Program alumni have worked at a number of media outlets and organizations locally, regionally, and nationally, including NBC New York, Fox Sports Ohio, Sports Time Ohio, the Cleveland Indians, WJW-TV Cleveland, HLN, Sirius Satellite Radio, Sinclair Broadcasting, the Columbus Dispatch, the Toledo Blade, and ESPN.
Student Honorary
Journalism and Digital Media majors and minors are eligible to join The Society for Collegiate Journalists, which is the national honor society for collegiate journalists and digital media students. Student must have at least a 3.0 GPA and completed 12 hours of JDM courses to qualify for membership.
Description of Majors
Digital Media Production
Production students will be prepared for positions in broadcast and production facilities in the areas of radio production, television production, professional video, media management, and related fields. A range of laboratory experiences in the campus radio station, television station, and video production facility are open to qualified students regardless of class rank. This program instills in students an understanding of the power and influence of the media as well as the social and ethical responsibility it places upon media professionals and consumers.
Digital Media Journalism
Journalism students learn how to gather and create news content for multiple platforms including print, broadcast, and the web. AU is the only small college in Ohio to offer this type of fully converged journalism degree. Students learn a core curriculum of writing, reporting, shooting, and editing through classroom and laboratory experiences. Digital Media Journalism students are prepared for news reporting, sports reporting, editing, and producing jobs at newspapers, websites, television stations, and radio outlets.
Degree Requirements
Assessment – Majors in the department will be expected to participate in programmatic assessment during the process of completing their degree requirements. This process includes, but is not limited to, the submission of writing samples, speeches, and video/audio projects. Faculty will inform the students in their major classes as to which projects will be collected for assessment.
JDM Courses and Descriptions