University of Colorado Jounralism depatment Visits Adams State

Toni Steffens
The Paw Print

Adams State College students participated in a workshop on Nov. 3 organized by the University of Colorado (UC) School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC).
SJMC Outreach Director Alan Kirkpatrick and broadcast production journalism instructor Paul Daugherty are a part of the outreach program that was established to help empower journalists and to share tips for researching on the “invisible web.” Kirkpatrick describes the “invisible web” as the 99 percent of the web that Google does not search.
During the workshop participants were assigned groups and each group checked out a Flip camera.  Daugherty explained how to use the cameras and gave students some basic tips on how and what to shoot. Daugherty has worked as a producer at Rocky Mountain PBS and on many documentaries as a producer, editor, director and photographer.
After receiving their instructions the groups went out on the campus to record a short news story based loosely around an article that had recently been published in the Paw Print student newspaper. Once they had finished filming the groups returned to the Haynie Center to download their footage and edit their stories.
The stories varied in length and focus, but all involved the recent Title IV grant that was awarded to the college. Students who participated in the workshop were able to learn skills first hand that they may not have been able to without the workshop.
Kirkpatrick said that anyone interested in Mass Communications should take advantage of communications opportunities available through the college. He also suggests blogging and taking classes as ways to gain experience in communications.
For anyone wondering what a person can do with a degree in Mass Communications he explains that “this is the information age and has been for 50 years; there are jobs in it and always will be.” Unlike many other disciplines Kirkpatrick says that students rarely go straight from classes to work. He recommends beginning a career pathway while still in college.
Opportunities available to Mass Communication students include broadcasting, advertising, public relations, spokespeople and more traditional journalism careers. In his position as the Internship Director for the SJMC at CU, Kirkpatrick said that there are more internships available in broadcasting and public relations listed than students to fill them. He told the students that the “best one-stop shopping” for job and internship opportunities was at the Colorado Press Association annual job fair that will be held on the last Friday of November.
While addressing the students, Kirkpatrick said that communications graduates are going into communication programs in public and private companies. He said that programs generally teach communication through news because “news is the highest standard we can teach to.”
Kirkpatrick said that they have been doing workshops for several years and have wanted to come to Adams State for a while. The Mass Communication program at ASC prepares students for careers in newspapers, online journalism and radio journalism and other communication positions. Students can gain communications experience through the student newspaper, the Paw Print or through the student radio station KASF.