Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Southeast leases new building for mass media

Friday, January 30, 2015 ~ Updated 11:13 PM
Southeast President Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins announced Friday at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner that the university will add a Center for Excellence in Mass Media on Broadway. Photo by Zarah Laurence

The university announced Friday that it will establish the Center for Excellence in Mass Media on Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

Southeast Missouri State University President Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins announced during the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner that the university has partnered with Rust Communications and KFVS12 to create a learning laboratory for students in the Department of Mass Media.

"Our Center for Excellence in Mass Media, or as I like to call it 'media row,' will provide accessibility for the sharing of innovative ideas, content and especially resources, giving our students a huge advantage over their counterparts at other universities and colleges," Dobbins said.

Dobbins said that the university has entered a long-term lease with Rust Communications to occupy two floors of the former First Federal Bank building at 325 Broadway. The building will house television production space as well as the Arrow newsroom.

"The location is ideal, because it's right next to the Southeast Missourian, who is our partner for the Arrow, the student newspaper at Southeast," Dr. Karie Hollerbach, chair of the Department of Mass Media, said. "It is across the street from our other professional partner, Raycom Media [which produces] KFVS and the CW, which we signed an agreement with last year to provide opportunities for our multimedia journalism, television and advertising students. So we will be right there in the middle of 'media row' with all of them."

The university has been in partnership with Rust Communications since 2011, when the Southeast Missourian took over management of the student-run newspaper, the Arrow. The Department of Mass Media has also partnered with KFVS12 last year to have Southeast student-produced programming air on their CW affiliate, WQWQ.

"It's opening up more space for everyone to work, and it will be a workplace for everyone to come and be together and collaborate," Arrow Editor Logan Young said. "Having all of the mass media groups placed together at the same building on the same two floors will very much help the dynamic between the different groups. In our current position, all of the different options within the department are separated, and I think this move will help unite the department and help us work together to create a more multimedia-friendly news source for students at Southeast."

The former First Federal Bank Building at 325 Broadway St. will be used for the Center for Excellence in Mass Media. Photo by Jay Forness

The decision was a part of ongoing plans to renovate Grauel to better house the accredited mass media and communication disorders departments.

The Department of Mass Media has received accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and Dobbins added that the new center will be "the envy of colleges and universities across our country."

"This is a tremendous step forward for our department because it is going to establish the creation of an experiential learning laboratory for students across all four of our options: advertising, multimedia journalism, public relations and television/film," Hollerbach said. "And it's in a very visible location. We are [currently] located in the basement floor of Grauel Building on the Southeast campus. While we fill the entire floor because we have 440 [students majoring in the department] and 10 faculty, this will give us a real visible presence in the community and a real visible presence within the Southeast campus community as well."

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