Колледж Эдварда Р. Мерроу в Вайоминге запускает два новых второстепенных направления в спортивной журналистике

The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication is expanding its program by offering two new secondary sports media majors. As the focus on sports media has grown in Murrow, the college elected to expand those programs. The new degrees are sports promotion and sports media, focused respectively on strategic communication and journalism and media production. The Murrow staff found that there is a general increase in the number of students coming to WSU for careers in sports media. The response was to propose two additional majors to give students more opportunities to stand out in their careers. Since the majors are a path to a highly competitive job field, they will serve only as secondary majors. To pursue one of these degrees, students must also major in a different strategic communication or journalism and media production program. The Murrow staff mapped out the courses so students would have the best opportunity to gain thorough and complete knowledge in the sports media industry. “Our goal is to give students the foundational competencies through primary natures. The sports industry is very competitive, but by having those extra skill sets [it] can set apart candidates for careers in sports,” said Lily Niemi, a Murrow College undergraduate advisor. Murrow leadership, with the help of Sara Stout, assistant dean of student affairs in the college, created proposals for each major to show the new programs’ benefits. The sports promotion major follows the trend of more than 90 strategic communication students who are interested in pursuing careers related to the major. “It opens doors for interdisciplinary collaboration, real-world partnerships, and experiential learning opportunities with athletic programs, sports organizations, and media outlets,” the proposal for the sports promotion major states. “It’s a powerful enrollment driver, a brand differentiator, and a direct pipeline to a thriving global industry.” The journalism and media production side of communication saw over 250 students in the college’s “Sports and the Media” course in recent years. The value of the sports media secondary major, per its proposal, is that it partners with WSU Athletics, professional media outlets and regional sports organizations to create “experiential learning opportunities.” It is also supposed to serve as an “enrollment catalyst” and pipeline into the sports media industry. Student numbers for the sports communication minor increased consistently in recent years. The Murrow College staff is working to help students achieve their career goals and gain as much out of this college as possible during their time here at WSU. These additional double majors were the natural next step in the eyes of the Murrow faculty.