Broadcasting courses, student internships added through WKAR

By Rebecca Ryan | Originally Published: 01/30/12 8:40pm |Modified: 02/01/12 12:15am | No comments

When junior Mallory Londeck first got involved with MSU’s student radio program Impact (89FM) as a freshman, she never expected it would lead her into a future in broadcast journalism.

But after gaining experience in the field, Londeck decided to major both in journalism and media arts and technology, and she has not looked back, she said.

Londeck became involved with WKAR-TV and radio, part of MSU Broadcasting Services, which joined the College of Communication Arts and Sciences in July 2011, and has held positions as an associate producer on the show “BackStage Pass” last summer and worked on online analytical programs last fall.

“It gave me a lot of real-life experiences and observations,” Londeck said. “It was very beneficial for me.”

Since WKAR-TV and radio merged with the college, 10 courses have been added to the College of Communication Arts and Sciences this year.

The courses range in topics from sports radio to sales communication, and many of the new classes provide students with more internship opportunities and jobs through WKAR-TV and radio, journalism professor Bob Gould said.

“(WKAR) is in need of content, and they have the opportunity to train students through real-world scenarios,” Gould said.

According to Michigan Association of Broadcasters President and CEO Karole White, real-world experience can be beneficial to student journalists and makes them more likely to get a job when they graduate.

But the merge last November might not give the broadcast program at MSU a particular advantage over other schools, White said, because other colleges also have merged with television and radio broadcasting programs.

“MSU is sort of the standard bearer for broadcast telecommunications in the state,” White said.

The College of Communication Arts and Sciences has been looking for ways to get students involved with broadcast journalism earlier in their degree, Gould said.

Londeck said through her jobs at WKAR, she not only got experience in broadcast journalism, but also worked to understand the company through a marketing perspective, which she found educational.

“I got to understand the inner-workings of (WKAR-TV and radio) and how everything functions together,” Londeck said. “I think it is important to be well-versed in areas inside your major and outside your major.”