As Always, All Good Things Must Come To An End

As I write this particular post a week after the fact, the memory remains fresh in my mind. The sights and sounds, the hustle and bustle, every aspect of our short albeit busy stay in our nation's capital is still vivid in my mind. I have no doubt that I will be returning there someday.

Dr. Lee wrote in an earlier post of the emerging unity of the small group of Demons (for the uninitiated, the Demon is our school mascot) that went to this conference. There is no doubt in my mind that convergence in the journalism department is possible; the way that we came together in the duration of this conference shows that the same can be accomplished on campus. However, it's up to the students to make this dream a reality. I'm currently involved with three sectors of this department: I'm the Music Director for KNWD, I write for the Sauce, and I'm on the NSU-22 Tuesday and Thursday crew.

But enough about me...I'll end this thought by saying that the department's goal of convergence is easily possible.

Redirecting my train of thought to the D.C. trip: Needless to say, it was an educational experience that extended far beyond the sessions. I was able to observe how Washingtonites live day to day; their hurried lifestyle closely mirrors the lifestyle I saw in the people I sat in traffic with every day this past summer back home in Dallas. This is relevant because journalism has to adapt to this increasingly rushed world we inhabit.

Unfortunately it appears as though in a hundred years (or even earlier than that) we may not be obtaining our news from a printed source. I take it back -- it's not a question of "if" but one of "when." As the next generation of journalists prepare to enter the battlefield, we must be armed with the technological prowess to keep the constant flow of information readily available for our time-deprived public.

For now,
Richelle Stephens

Summit Talks.

One of the greatest hopes (and fears) that I had going into this conference was whether the students going to D.C. would actually get along. Are we all one big happy student media family or actually disparate, discrete groups doing our own thing without much thought about the others?

In faculty meetings, we often speak of convergence and cross-media platforms. However, many of our journalism majors only work for one student media group and have no inclination to contribute to another, unless made to do so via a practicum.

So, the reality is that newspaper people are over here, yearbook people over there, Argus people down the hall or upstairs (see, even I don’t know enough), and radio people downstairs. Even NSU 22, which is technically not student media but instead a student laboratory, does its own thing in its own television production suite. Lauren Sciba, a senior news/editorial journalism major, is the sports editor of the yearbook, the PSA director of the radio station and a staff reporter for the paper. But student media multi-hyphenates like Lauren tend to be few and far between.

Well, don’t give up on convergence just yet. Several of the people on this D.C. trip have said that one of the best things about this experience has been the chance to get to know their fellow student media leaders better.


Watching them interact these past few days, I see that they are creating alliances and striking deals across formerly rigid party lines. Jim of the Sauce promises to write more for Potpourri. Brittany from yearbook is considering writing for the newspaper's sport section. Richelle from KNWD is writing reviews for the Sauce. Chris, Sauce opinions editor, will continue to work with KNWD's political talk show. Andi just might be able to persuade Mary to submit some of her photography to Argus.

Because we are a small department, we must rely on few to make media for many. I can say with confidence that when all of the forces of NSU student media band together, great things can happen. This blog is Exhibit A.

Dr. Lee