By Kemar Noel
Staff Writer
Cameron University is on a roll this year with all of the amazing additions being made to help further the aggie experience. Journalism and Media Production Majors will be very happy with the new tech being added to their department this semester.
In the Academic Commons there have been upgrades to all the TV studio equipment. The new upgrades include the addition of new robotic cameras, a new video switcher and a brand new video server that can make for more modern productions.
People who major and minor in Journalism and Media productions will have the option to take classes in the television studio where they can learn the ins and outs of the equipment.
The new equipment will also help new students when trying to get a feel for how a studio will run outside of the university.
These new additions also help improve the overall quality of the Cameron University news and shows made by the media production students.
Movie Director and Journalism and Media Productions Professor Mattison Jenkins spoke about the advantages the new equipment will provide to students and the university.
“The new equipment will provide the students the opportunity to work with the latest in cutting-edge technology in order to produce TV programs,” Jenkins said. “It will greatly increase our live field experiences and offer the opportunity to stream live shows to the Internet. We will be be able to operate the studio with few crew members.”
Having so many improvements to the television studio can help both in the classroom and with outside projects.
Jenkins gave us insight about plans for further upgrades to be made later this semester.
“My plan is to create more intricate television programs, expand our offerings of TV shows, utilize the streaming aspect of it, and provide students more production opportunities,” said Jenkins.”
There are many shows directed by the students for J.R.M.P majors to gain more experience in a real studio environment. The new equipment will help add to students’ understanding of how modern studios would look like and operate.
Junior in Journalism and Media productions major Alec Santos has a first-hand on handling the new equipment for productions and spoke about this exciting experience.
“With the new addition with the equipment coming into the studio it will make production go so much smoother,” said Santos. “We don’t have to worry about formatting a video a certain way or take thirty minutes to set-up; it’s just point and shoot.”
Santos advised that the new additions will make great improvements in the quality of media production and offer new options that were not previously available.
“The best thing about it is that it is the same equipment that is used by professionals so it will allow us to do livestreams and live field interviews,” said Santos. “I think having updated equipment is amazing and gives us a hands-on first person view for how it is out in the field and give us real world experience for journalism students.”
The students enrolled in these classes will be some of the first to learn and experience the equipment but students who sign up and enroll in the upcoming classes will have an opportunity to have hands on experience as well.
J.R.M.P students should thank the administration, president McArthur, vice president Vanderslice, vice president of academic affairs, Scott Schneider, vice president for business and finance, Kelly McClure, director of instructional technology for their contributions to the media and journalism department
By giving students access to more modern ways to report and create using advanced digital media, this offers Cameron students a great advantage for more advanced technical opportunities in the field of communications.
The media and digital space is a few decades old, however it is still relatively new with the integration it has had on society.
The Journalism and Media Productions Department looks even better for new and returning students now and in the future.
