By Josh Buntin
Student media has continued to evolve at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay. The university has been connecting students with media opportunities for decades. From opportunities in writing news to radio broadcasting, UWGB is giving its students the experience they need to be ready for their careers. The Fourth Estate spoke with UWGB Communication professors about the history of student media at the university and the opportunities available for students.
Student-produced media has long been a desire of the university. Early examples of student-produced media include the original campus radio station, numerous video productions, and the Fourth Estate. In the past, these were only available to students on campus through the student cable. The student radio station had ceased operation but is making a return in the form of streaming, where it will be available worldwide and not just on campus. Dr. Byran Carr, an associate professor in the Communication program and the professor in charge of the new student radio, said student media at UWGB is becoming more intertwined with mass media and journalism as the university continues to develop its educational offerings.
The new media center in the Instructional Services building at UWGB presents new opportunities for students going forward, and the faculty in the Communication program are excited about it. The media center houses the new campus radio station and a TV studio with the equipment of a professional studio. “This will allow us a state-of-the-art location to facilitate students’ creative and practical work across multiple forms of media and allow for in-depth collaborative efforts across video, audio, and print,” Carr said. Carr went on to say students would have a “significantly greater voice to tell their own stories and make this institution their own.” Dr. Phillip Clampitt, the chair of the Communication department, said the media center took “years of planning and decades of lobbying and securing donors.” UWGB is now competitive with other schools in digital and video content production, Clampitt explained.
Carr said he has primarily been an outsider observer of the opportunities in student media on campus. His first direct involvement is the new student radio station, which will be run by students just as it was in the past and broadcast from the new media center. Carr went on to say student media and student involvement in it are important to building their future careers. He said employers in the media look at “who you know and what you know.” If a student had internships during their time in school and gained experience in working in the field they wanted to go into, they would become more desirable to employers and give them ‘a leg up’ on other applicants for a particular job. Carr said, “Not only do you develop practical experience, but you also get to build a portfolio, demo reel, and an overall body of work that demonstrates your creative and practical potential.”
Additionally, Carr believes that media has become easier to produce through “prosumer” equipment and software. Once what was expensive equipment becomes easily affordable, more people can access and use the equipment. Open-source software like OBS allows anyone to live-stream and produce professional-quality broadcasts. YouTube and TikTok make media distribution easier than it has ever been. “However,” Carr said, “just because you have the ability to make media doesn’t always mean you can do it well or professionally – if you are serious and passionate, you owe it to yourself to expand your knowledge and repertoire and seek professional feedback.”
Mike Schmitt, IT manager at UWGB, has worked for UWGB since the 1990s and has overseen the previous radio station and various video productions on campus. Schmitt said that while more outlets are available, not much has changed in the way media is produced. Principles which were true decades ago are still true today. There is “an ebb and flow” to student media on campus, Schmitt said. Like Carr, Schmitt said that when it comes to how it is easier to produce and distribute content, you need to have the skills and equipment to make a superior product. It is important for students to learn these skills and to use modern equipment, which Schmitt believes is why the new media center is a strong opportunity for students. Student media provides an alternative to the mainstream and allows “students to be local.”
Regarding how media at UWGB will continue to evolve, Clampitt believed, “Our Media related emphases should significantly grow in terms of enrollment and outreach to the community. And I think it will enhance the educational experiences for students in all other emphases such as Organizational Communication, Public Relations, Health Communication, and Sports Communication.”
Former students at UWGB who were involved with student media have since moved into the local broadcast industry. In addition to faculty, Kyle Malzhan and Matt Knoke, both Communication program alumni and producers of local news, spoke about their experiences with student media at UWGB and how it impacted their career path.
Malzhan, a sports producer, and reporter at WFRV-TV CBS Local 5, said student media was very influential and beneficial to his career. He learned valuable skills while a student and gained experience through internships. “My classroom experience helped me prepare for those internships, so when I got those opportunities, I applied my classroom knowledge to my everyday life to perform at my best,” Malzhan said. Malzhan went on to say that he saw media change during his time at school through outlets like YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok, which allowed students to create more content on their own.
Malzhan said having a student-operated news department would have been a great resource and opportunity for students. “It would have given students a chance to see what a ‘day in the life’ of a news reporter, anchor, or producer was like. You can only learn so much through the textbook and projects. Until you do it, it is a whole different ball game. My professors set me up for success to where I am now, and I gained a lot of knowledge through my extensive internships to get that feeling of working in the news industry,” Malzhan said.
Knoke, a news producer at WLUK-TV FOX 11, explained that options for him to be involved with media during his time at the university were limited. He also experienced the height of the COVID-19 pandemic during his education, which helped influence his career path. It was “a different way of writing and telling stories.” While a student, Knoke became involved with the Public Relations Student Society of America. During his time with PRSSA, Knoke started a PRSSA podcast, which had not been done before. The podcast became a means of continuing engagement during the onset of the pandemic. Regular content is important. Otherwise, you lose your audience, Knoke explained. He was also the editor of the COMM VOICE, the Communication department’s student newspaper.
During the pandemic, Knoke saw that students were not engaged anymore, especially with media opportunities. Knoke adapted his podcast to continue to be able to produce content, but he had to do it on his own. There was not a strong student resource to stay engaged. There also was not a reliable resource to learn the skills necessary for his career, with Knoke saying he had to “draw everything out on his own” when it came to news and learn things on the job when he began his career in news. This was because there were not as many media options available during his time as there are now. Knoke said it is important for students to engage in media, saying, “you’re going to be involved for the rest of your life if you want to be part of society.”
