The lighting is set. The cameras are rolling. The anchors are behind the desk, ready to deliver the evening’s news. While this scene may be fairly common across the nation, for North Greenville University students, it marked a new milestone for an expanding program.
On Oct. 31, the NGU television station, Channel 48 The Vision, aired its first-ever weekly news broadcast, which was available on the campus cable system. “Other than a few minor technical difficulties, the taping went well,” said Jacob Via, of Troutville, Va., the station manager. “We have been working on the news program since the fall of 2004. We held auditions for our news anchors, and they have been training ever since.”
News Anchors – Stephen McMahan of Black Mountain, N.C., and Callie Holden of Canton, Ga., delivered the news for Vision News Channel 48, the student-run campus television station at North Greenville University, for its first news program.The campus history was made possible through new facilities that have energized the already-growing NGU mass communication program. The new George E. Bomar Department of Mass Communication suite sits in the recently completed Tingle Student Life Center, the new epicenter of campus activity. Along with a television studio complete with production room and a green wall, the suite houses faculty offices, a student lounge area, a student publications office and a radio studio with a window into the student life center.
Everyone involved with North Greenville mass communication is excited about the possibilities presented by the new facilities and the increased visibility of the new suite.
While the improvements have been dramatic, the students are seeking ways to improve and grow even more. The Bomar suite is not entirely finished, so when all work is completed, the department will be looking to continue the expansion. “We plan to continue broadcasting every Monday night for the remainder of this semester,” said Via. “By next semester, we hope to broadcast our news program live.”
Linwood Hagin, mass communication department chair, views much of the current success as a result of NGU alumni. “I’m grateful for the vision of our former students whose passion and desire laid the foundation for this new area,” he said.
He credits former Miss South Carolina and current NGU associate director of alumni affairs Kelly McCorkle with beginning the process that ended with the broadcast Monday night. “When she was a student here, Kelly mentioned having a campus news program,” said Hagin. “I told her I would work on it. Five years later, here we are.”