Posted by SMAD October 7, 2007
Story by KELSEY PACE

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Every SMAD major must take a 400 level class specific to their concentration. The Broadcast Journalism concentration takes 406, Electronic News Gathering and Producing. This class is made up of eleven students and a professor and is designed to give students a sense of what it takes to put on a news program. Students practice reporting, producing, packaging stories, anchoring and technical positions; everything that would go into a daily newscast. The class is centered on the student run news show “JMU Today”.

If you tune in to "JMU Today" you will see and hear national and local stories written by the students. You will also view feature stories on events and activities happening at JMU and in the Harrisonburg area. These stories are developed and reported by the students in the class.

A new set is in the process of being put together which will add to the authenticity of the newscast. This new set should be built by the end of October or the beginning of November, but it won’t be ready in time for the first show.

Students can use the packages and on-air-time they get with "JMU Today" to build up the resume tapes they will be using to find jobs once they graduate. The show airs to all buildings on campus. In the past JMU Today was aired all over Harrisonburg, and there is a hope to have it air in Harrisonburg again, but getting a slot on a channel is difficult.

JMU Today is an all-curricular program, and only the students in 406 participate in the newscast. However, Media and Design students can propose ideas about other things that could air over the channel and they would be considered if there was supervision and conviction for the idea.

Professor Marilou Johnson teaches SMAD 406. She has had much experience with broadcasting and is well qualified to run JMU Today. She strives to make the class as professional as it can be. She hopes that people watching the show will see the evolution in writing and technique that show the improvements in the students as they practice and bring a better newscast each week to JMU.

She brings her love for live TV to the class, and tries to impart the fun of it to her students. She hopes that her students will develop the appreciation for all roles in a newscast and realize that everyone must work together to achieve a successful broadcast.

"JMU Today" is as close to an actual news broadcast that students can get without being at an actual station. The main difference from regular news stations is that JMU Today focuses on feature stories and not on spot news. This is because the show only airs once a week. Starting Wednesday, October 10th the first show of the semester will air around 4:15-4:30.