Story/Article 2 final draft
Josh Meredith
Fundamentals of Journalism for Print and Web
Story/Article #2
10/6/2011
MCTV
After just one semester at Morningside College, one can easily realize one of the problems with MCTV is that few students outside of the department even know it exists. It needs more exposure outside of the students in the department but, it is up to the students to get it that exposure. Dave Madsen, head of the Mass Comm department is keeping MCTV alive, but there will come a time when the students of Morningside College will either make it thrive or make it a thought of the past.
The Morningside College mass communications department offers the opportunity for all students at Morningside to experience and experiment with all types of media outlets including writing for the Collegian Reporter (The Morningside College newspaper), having your own radio show on KMSC Fusion 93 (the student voice of Morningside College), and working at the Morningside College TV station, MCTV.
Many students participate in the radio station, KMSC. For one reason, it is a class requirement to have a radio show and be on the air for at least one hour in the Audio Production classes taught by Doctor Mark Heisted. It is common to hear students on the air as early as seven in the morning and as late as well past midnight. Doc Heisted said, “Though being on the air at first can be a nervous adventure, many students find out they truly enjoy working at KMSC.” There is a plethora of different reasons for this. Michelle Kuester, a sophomore at Morningside College, said, “My favorite part of being a radio DJ at Fusion 93 is having the freedom to play whatever I want. I am able to give my show an identity that is unlike any radio show in the Sioux City area.”
Unfortunately, MCTV does not share the same success. Mr. Madsen, in a class interview, said there are several reasons for this: “My goal for MCTV is to produce a weekly news cast is our studio, but right now we just don’t have enough students interested in that.” What Mr. Madsen means is that creating a news cast is different from KMSC where one person can go into a room and talk into a microphone and their voice is over the air and that is it. For a weekly news cast, there would need to be more than a few people to volunteer a couple of hours a week to fill the roles of a news anchor, sports anchor, weather anchor, a director, someone to run the audio, someone to run the teleprompter, and a couple of cameramen.
Mr. Madsen also said, “It is not up to me to make MCTV run, it is up to the students.” Every media outlet in the Morningside College Mass Communications department is student run. Though students get experience in the Morningside TV studio with classes like audio production and the audio production practicum, outside of these classes, students are almost never seen in the station.
When asking Andrew Nase, sophomore at Morningside College, what he thought about MCTV and if he would be willing to get involved, after several seconds of thought he responded, “I don’t know much about it. I’ve only heard about it in the Intro to Mass Comm class, but I don’t even know where it is at. And no, I don’t think I want to get involved.”
MCTV has not always been on life support. Professor Ross Fulgsang commented to me that when he first arrived at Morningside College, there was a weekly news cast run in the college studio. Karen Johnson, a librarian at Morningside College, said, “It was easier to get students involved with MCTV becuase they were paid like a work study job.”
Nowadays, students are not paid to work in the TV station. They have to commit their own time with no compensation for a TV newscast to be possible.
on October 6th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
I liked that you included the part about Andrew not knowing about the station because that really shows how students see the radio station. Not many know about it except for those in Mass Communication. If it weren’t for requirements in classes the station would really struggle. Great story.
on October 6th, 2011 at 7:09 pm
I would switch around the order of how you introduce MCTV and KMSC. Tell people about the TV station and the lack of participation, then contrast it with the radio shows and why students like it more, then use the explanation of student’s having to invest more time. It’s a really cool idea though, and one I doubt many people know about.
on October 6th, 2011 at 7:10 pm
I liked this article… mostly because I’m a camera operator for MCTV once basketball season comes around.
Did you use the quotes from Dave from Tuesday in class? Nice… work smarter, not harder! Wish I would have thought of that. (:
I would suggest changing the title from MCTV to something about how radio and the paper are doing very well, but the TV is struggling. Since you interviewed Michelle, it seems like the article is half-and-half divided between MCTV and KMSC. I don’t know. Just a suggestion.
Good work for sure, though. I really like the conclusion. It’s sad but true…
on October 6th, 2011 at 7:10 pm
Good work. Nice quotes. Might want to check the spelling on Heistad. Other than that, its well written.
on October 6th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
The paper looks good and flows nicely.
I would agree, not much is known about the radio station and MCTV outside of the mass comm majors. What is nice though, is that a lot of students take some mass comm classes to fill the Creative Expression flag requirement and get some kind of exposure to both KMSC and MCTV. I’m actually kind of surprised that there aren’t more students interested in helping out with MCTV. Maybe if credits were given? Even just 1.
on October 6th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
I thought the opening paragraph was very well stated. It informed the readers of the media opportunities here on campus. One suggestion would be to capitalize ‘mass communications department’.
I liked the quote from Dave Madsen. Good work in incorporating two assignments into one.
Good transition from the paragraph about the radio station to the paragraph about the televisions station.
Although the quote from Andrew Nase was very blunt, it gives the reader a sense of reality as to how severe the publicity of the station is to students here on campus.
I like the conclusion. It definitely gives the reader the sense that people on campus just don’t know about the television station, and it is not just up to Dave to get the word out. One thought may be to give one way or social networking suggestion that the word could be spread to Morningside students.
on October 6th, 2011 at 7:27 pm
I agree with Claire, that I like this article especially because I’ve been involved with MCTV. I liked how you got several perspectives – a mass comm major, a professor, and an outsider.
One little nit-picky grammar thing is in the third paragraph, “produce a weekly news cast is our studio” I’m sure you meant “in” our studio. Otherwise, I like the content and the way it’s organized. Also, the last line leaves an impact on the reader. Makes me want to get involved so the program doesn’t go away!
on October 6th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
I also caught onto the fact you used Dave’s quote from class. Attaboy!
Gosh, did claire really have to comment before me because I was going to note how strong your conclusion was. I guess that just means don’t change it. Your lead however could have drawn the audience in better. What you have now does not seem like a lead especially since it is just a run on sentace. I’m not sure of the use of parenthesis in a news story. I’ve usually seen a coma explaining it behind the word instead. This would help break up the first sentance/paragraph as well. The story is very easy to follow and was a quick read. I never felt like I had to re-read a sentance because it didn’t make sense. Nice Job.
on October 6th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
I agree with Claire on the smarter not harder! ! One thing though, maybe interview a couple other students to have a diverse group speaking through your paper. I mean not all students just do the radio station because they have too. I know quite a few who do it several times a week. As for the tv station it is true not many even know what the tv station does or is about.
on October 10th, 2011 at 1:52 am
Focus, Josh. This isn’t (I don’t think) a story on the department. It’s about MCTV. Focus on that. Maybe the last graf, or something similar, should be your lead: MCTV needs an infusion of student interest.
You need to talk to Dave specifically about this. He’ll be cool with it. He will probably agree with you.
Also, Chris Levine. I might even be able to give you historical perspective if you want.