| Background.
In the early 1950s the Board of Curators decided to create a
commercial television station as a laboratory for students in
the School of Journalism. KOMU-TV was the first TV station in
this part of the state, beginning operation in 1954. It has enjoyed
a worldwide reputation for combining a good news service and a
practical training program for students. In 1994, the Radio TV
News Directors Association (RTNDA) honored the station as the
best small-market TV news operation in the nation. This month,
an article in the RTNDA magazine referred to Missouri as the epitome
of broadcast journalism training.
On a personal level, I have known of the station from its first
days. I watched the tower go up in the early 1950s as a youth
in Columbia. I served as the sports anchor of the station in 1959.
I returned as assignments editor in the late 1970s and serve again
in this decade as a faculty editor. I also serve as chair of the
broadcast department.
The station is expected to generate its own revenue from advertising
sales. This money provides the basic television service -- tower,
transmitter, salaries for the core staff, studio equipment, etc.
The School of Journalism provides additional support for salaries
of faculty editors and the laboratory equipment we use to get
students ready to work at the station. This money comes from the
state appropriation, student fees and gifts from alumni and friends.
Education program at KOMU-TV
Students enrolled in the broadcast program at the School of
Journalism spend three or four semesters in the KOMU-TV newsroom
in their junior and senior years. We expect all to work as reporters
and photographers and we encourage them to develop special interests.
Some work as assistants to the station's sports staff. Others
work as photographers and news producers. Others work on the KOMU-TV
web site.
All this experience is set in the context of a liberal education.
At least two-thirds of a journalism students' coursework must
be taken outside the School of Journalism--primarily in the arts
and sciences. About 40 percent of our students have a minor in
a foreign language. We feel that a news-person must know about
the world that she or he plans to report on.
Faculty members and the professional staff of the station serve
as the editors and advisors for the students. When I am working
at the station, one can not tell whether I am editing the news
or teaching students --the tasks are identical and simultaneous.
You mentioned what fun it is to watch the beginners get better
in their broadcasting during their two years at KOMU-TV. We faculty
have the same joy.
Future priorities
The core elements of the journalism program have not changed
from the first day the school opened in 1908--provide students
realistic experience doing real journalism while they finish their
liberal arts education. That core purpose is not likely to change
in the future.
What does change is how we accomplish that purpose. New technologies
give us new opportunities. The school began with a newspaper and
has added radio and television and recently computer-based news
services.
Immediately ahead of KOMU-TV is the requirement to begin digital
broadcast service. The Federal Communications Commission is requiring
all of the TV stations in the nation to make this change over
the next decade beginning this year.
The change requires a huge new investment--a different transmitter
and broadcast equipment. Perhaps a new tower, etc. You probably
recall the shift from black and white TV to color in the 1960s
and early 70s. This change is similar but more expensive and dramatic.
When done, it will enable KOMU-TV (and other stations) to broadcast
more than one signal at a time. It will enable the audience to
have two-way communication with the station.
The forerunner of this two-way communication is now available
with the World Wide Web, connecting the station to its audience
via computer. The Web permits the audience to select what it wants
to see at a particular time and to respond directly to the station
by e-mail and electronic bulletin boards, etc.
The development of video conferencing and picture telephones
is also a part of this movement toward more two-way communications
between station and viewer.
It is a wonderfully exciting time for our students to begin
their careers.
This conversion is the most important and expensive immediate priority
for the station. The management has been saving its revenue for
sometime to make this change.
At the same time, we must continue to educate the students who
want the Missouri TV experience. We have an increasing number
of students from many parts of the United States and the world
that want to work here. One of the ways we could expand our facilities
for them would be providing a KOMU-TV cable news channel. Major
stations in many cities do that to give viewers more news than
the regular over-the-air programs provide. KOMU-TV alumni lead
these operations in Dallas and San Francisco, for example.
The key issue
KOMU-TV has done a splendid job over the 45 years of its operation
to provide a quality news service and good education experience
from the commercial revenue it generates. It has satellite and
microwave transmission equipment to permit live broadcasts from
any part of our coverage area. It has state-of-the-art digital
cameras and editors for students to use. But there has always
been a tension regarding how much commercial revenue can support
in duplicating equipment for the large numbers of students who
want to work. For a small market station, KOMU-TV has extraordinary
resources. It also has a news staff of more than 100--a number
that exceeds many at stations in big cities. The staff size is
related directly to the number of students who want the KOMU-TV
experience.
We are now limiting the number of students we admit to the program.
That is unfortunate for those who are left out. We also should
provide the TV experience for students in other parts of the school.
As the digital media develop, more print reporters will be expected
to shoot video, conduct on-camera interviews, etc. As we are able
to expand our physical resources, we should provide this educational
experience for these students, too.
Our priorities for the future include a substantial expansion
of the newsroom operation and the news and sports broadcasting
that we provide.
How you might help?
Your financial support can help us solve our primary dilemma--how
does one accommodate a big-city-size news and sports operation on
small market revenue.
Here are some projects you could support from an endowment.
As you may know from your other university projects, the minimum
to create an endowment that provides perpetual support is $10,000.
1) An endowment for student and faculty travel to news or sports
events outside the immediate broadcast area. KOMU-TV's budget
provides the travel for one or two reporters to major events;
however, there are many other students who would benefit from
the same experience.
The sports department's annual spring training trip is an example.
Our faculty member takes several of his students to the Cardinals
camp in Florida for a few days to do a series of stories.
Other examples are trips to Washington, to political conventions,
to away football games of the Tigers, etc.
2) An equipment fund to help buy those duplicate sets of equipment
beyond those purchased from station revenue.
3) A fund to support coverage of particular news or sports topics.
You will hear this reference on KBIA. Some of the contributors
to National Public Radio give funds to help that news organization
cover specific topics. These gifts usually designate a broad topic
--education, children's health, Eastern Europe.
The donors do not direct what is covered or how it is reported,
rather the gift ensures the topic will be addressed.
4) A fund to support the work of media assistants in the newsroom.
We often hire our best students for a few hours work each week
as seniors to help the incoming students learn the ropes.
5) A professional development fund to support the work of faculty
editors. It is important that we faculty keep up-to-date. One
of the best ways to do that is regularly to visit and/or to work
in other newsrooms around the country and world. These visits
can be a day or two or a week or month or more. The fund could
provide travel funds or contribute to hiring replacement faculty
during the leave period.
6) A fund to support visiting professionals. Faculty and students
gain a lot from having other journalists in our newsroom for short
periods to coach reporters and edit stories. The professionals
are often willing to give their time; however, we should pay their
travel expenses and offer a small honorarium. The fund would help
finance this project.
When the time is right for you, we would value an opportunity
to discuss how you might help with our large-scale priority. It
involves expanding the space and equipment in our newsroom to
enable us to expand the services KOMU-TV provides and to accommodate
the greater numbers of students that want and need the experience.
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