I’m writing this on the Monday after December commencement and to no one’s surprise, the campus is a ghost town. Where just last week scores of students criss-crossed campus, some on their way to final exams others taking graduation photos on the University Hall steps or near the university seal, now the Bowen-Thompson quad sits quiet.
It’s a good time to reflect and, in turn, look forward.
Incremental progress can be lost in the hectic hum of day-to-day activity so it’s important to acknowledge that we’ve had quite a semester for ourselves.
Of course our students crafted a dozen editions of the BG News (led by Editor In Chief Makenna Flores) and 10 BG24 newscasts (led by Executive Producer Kerrigan Stark and Director Olivia Ross) but they also did so with ever-increasing quality (a testament also to our News Content Director Blake Pierce). Our BG News staff embraced a new structure for the paper and not only improved the quality of the content but teamwork with the design team led to some of the most dramatic covers in recent memory. Our BG24 team handled some breaking news with effortless grace and afforded several students the opportunity to anchor newscasts.
This semester marked our first pass at a reimagined alumni mentorship program where alumni connected with students to work on specific stories including pieces about the Spiderman conference on campus (Makenna and alum Jared Wadley) and the impact of prescription shortages on students (Zane Hardison and alum Alissa Widman Neese). Alum Mary Beth Eastman helped Emily Manuel get started on one of our most far-flung enterprise pieces about a drunk driving incident and yours truly worked with Emily to bring it to production (if you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor and click this link). Teamwork!
Speaking of alumni, we caught up with Nancy Nussbaum who shared her journey to leadership at the Associated Press and Kurt Sima who turned his passion for beer, travel, and fun into a second career. We were also treated to travelogues from two alumni who trekked to Italy together and another pair who had a sequel to a 30-year-old roadtrip.
The newly rebranded Falcon Media Sports Network (led by Sports Content Director Steve Iwanek) continued its tradition of broadcasting more live sporting events than any other student-led organization in the country, including the introduction of ambitious freshman Ben Cork as the lead hockey play-by-play announcer. We continue to be the lone radio voice for volleyball, women’s basketball, hockey, and softball. We started a partnership with the athletics department in the spring – which would have been unheard of with previous administrations – where we create and share content across social media platforms. This Fall saw that partnership elevate to another level in terms of quality, quantity, and communication. Sports is all about numbers, so here are some for the team’s Fall performance: More than 300 pieces of content created, including 202 articles for the BG News and website, more than 90 videos (including social media), and about a dozen athlete features. All this on top of more than 50 live events (and the implementation of recording events for rebroadcast, a tip of the hat to Sports Production Director Lucas Kleimeyer) and the first paid sponsorships during live broadcasts.
This is only our third semester with a formal social media team (led by Heidi Gasser) yet the results continue to impress. The numbers from just this semester alone are mind-boggling, including a 900% (yes, you read that correctly, 900%) increase in our Facebook reach and a 475% increase in our Instagram reach.
In the shadow of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Falcon Radio had maybe five or so live student shows. Fast forward to this Fall and most weeks saw the studio schedule boasting 40 live student shows, the result of a coordinated promotion effort (thanks to Operations Manager Jack Ging).
And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. Did we mention we swept the Touchstone Awards at the Press Club of Toledo?
So when we say we’re on Winter Break, we mean it. The students have planned to make sure content keeps flowing over the next few weeks and have sketched out content plans for the Spring, but for the most part, they are enjoying a well-deserved rest.
What’s next?
Well, Spring 2024 promises to be another exciting semester. We will see a number of our student leaders graduate in April, which creates a void but also opportunity. We’re looking forward to the next generation of leadership.
In the meantime, we are gearing up for the annual BGSU One Day giving event so we can replenish the Falcon Media fund that allows us to continue rebuilding student media. We’re also looking forward to April 12 when the School of Media & Communication will hold its first post-pandemic in-person journalism awards program. We are hoping to see our alumni there, so plan ahead.
BG News Alumni Society board members have already volunteered to continue our mentorship program and the students remain eager for the guidance.
On the news front, our sports team is gearing up to cover the 40th anniversary of the hockey team’s national title and the news team is working on plans to cover the April 8 total solar eclipse, whose path of totality runs right through Bowling Green (the university has already canceled classes for the day). Of course, we know that breaking news and other unexpected event will pop up and we’re looking forward to the challenges.
And we couldn’t do it and can’t do it without your support. So on behalf of Falcon Media students, thank you for your support!