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Student Publications | Student Broadcasting
The staffs of the Northwest Missourian newspaper, the Tower yearbook and Heartland View online magazine have their offices in the basement of Wells Hall. The area is complete with a Macintosh computer lab, multimedia and web work stations, traditional darkroom space, digital darkroom, light tables and a student lounge. Northwest is the only university in the nation with three All-American publications.
This is a weekly citywide newspaper covering both the city of Maryville and the Northwest campus. Students work on the Missourian in the areas of writing, photography, editing, advertising and design. The Associated Collegiate Press has ranked the Missourian in the top 1 percent of all college newspapers in the country. The paper also won a National Pacemaker Award in 1997. The newspaper also offers a daily online version.
View Northwest Missourian's site
The yearbook of Northwest, Tower has received an All-American rating from the Associated Collegiate Press for 15 straight years. The yearbook was honored by the Associated Collegiate Press in 1994 by being inducted into its Hall of Fame. This 300-page publication gives students the opportunity to plan the theme, write, edit, take photographs and design. In 1996, Tower broke new ground by introducing a CD-ROM edition as a supplement to the yearbook. Northwest became the first public university in the country to produce a DVD edition.
Heartland View is an online full-color magazine about travel and leisure attractions in the four-state region of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. The magazine captures the spirit and style of the Midwest. Staff members are involved in traveling around the area to sell advertising and cover stories. Heartland View also provides designers and photographers with great opportunities to shoot and design color work.
In 2003, the Tower yearbook was the first public university in the nation to introduce an interactive DVD component to its annual publication. The DVD, a cooperative effort between the print and broadcasting segments of the department, features video clips and audio messages from students as well as stories and photos. The DVD yearbook offers mass communication students the opportunity to learn valuable production and software skills necessary for the exciting new jobs in the media industry.
Internet publishing skills are also part of the experience students can gain in the department. The Northwest Missourian and Heartland View magazine have moved into cyberspace. You can find their pages through Northwest's web page. In addition, the faculty and department are exploring ways to use the Internet to augment class experiences and to allow potential students a chance to see what the department has to offer.
You can always find broadcasting students at work on the second floor of Wells Hall. Usually, students are involved in several projects at once. A typical student might have a shift on KZLX, produce a show for KXCV and edit videotape for KNWT-TV.
KZLX is a campus and community radio station operated for and by students. Getting on the air requires only an introductory class, so you can easily be working on KZLX by the second semester of your first year. Opportunities at KZLX include on-air talent, promotions, news, sales and sports. Students also compete for paid positions on the station's executive board, the management team. KZLX has consistently won high honors for it's programming and was ranked the best college radio station in the nation in 1992.
After gaining experience at KZLX, students have the opportunity to work at National Public Radio affiliate KXCV/KRNW. The station broadcasts in a 100-mile radius of Maryville. Because KXCV/KRNW has a classical/jazz format, a strong news emphasis and a different audience, students who work at both stations graduate with a broad range of experience.
Northwest also has a cable television station that gives students the opportunity to produce weekly newscasts, sports shows, music video shows and game shows. Other special broadcasts and documentaries are also student produced. The programs are aired throughout the entire community of Maryville, as well as the campus.
Students find another opportunity in this semi-independent production company housed in the Department of Mass Communication. The company handles video project requests from a variety of corporations, which have included Heartland Hospital systems in St. Joseph, Kawasaki Manufacturing and the Red Cross. Students gain intensive hands-on experience in audio and video production, camera work and graphics production through paid positions, contracted work and internships. Most recently, Bearcat Productions has moved into the digital realm with a new editing system.