At Northwestern State University, the Department of New Media, Journalism and Communication Arts is one of the largest departments on campus. This department plays a crucial role at NSU and often intertwines with other departments and organizations on campus.
Jim Mustian is the wise endowed chair for the department as well as a professor of journalism at NSU. He also works as an investigative reporter for the Associated Press based in New York. Mustian believes that NSU’s communication department “punches above its weight” when compared to departments at other universities.
“The only way I can explain it is just spirit, grit and determination. I think these things are kind of cultural. It’s what attracted me to attend NSU,” Mustian said. “I think it’s kind of intangible, and that intangible is the passion that people here have for journalism, and it goes back many generations.”
Communication departments are important in many ways, including producing journalists and other media writers who can go on to find crucial jobs within the industry. “Journalism is in a crisis. It’s a scary time to be a journalist because there are fewer people telling stories, but the flip side of that is that the demand has not decreased. In fact, there’s more demand now than ever,” Mustian said.
“In an era of disinformation and misinformation, it’s never been more important to have the facts and to have real journalism. It’s a super important job at a time when there’s fake news, rumors and innuendo,” Mustian said. “We need storytellers to provide these facts, so that’s what I think makes communication super important. I think it’s an opportunity to change the world for the better and to change people’s lives by providing them information that they can make informed decisions with.”
Communication is not only vital within journalism and the arts, but also in various other departments, including those of allied health. Jessica Zhang, department head for New Media, Journalism and Communication Arts, recalls meeting once with a professional within the hospital who wanted to acquire NSU’s Certificate of Strategic Communication.
“She told me that, because of her poor interpersonal communication skills, she was at risk of being fired from her job,” Zhang said. “That’s why I feel communication is very important. We all can talk, we can speak, but we all don’t necessarily understand how to communicate better or how to communicate with each other in the real world.”
Recently, the Department of New Media, Journalism and Communication Arts has welcomed some new additions. Jennifer Johnson is the department’s newest professor. Johnson started in the middle of the fall semester and, in the spring, taught five different courses within the department, ranging from the required communication core course, such as mass media and society, to required concentration courses, such as video production.
“Jennifer is specialized in video production and social media marketing. She will be versatile, and I think she will teach students in many different areas,” Zhang said.
The department also introduced a new course focused on investigative reporting, taught by Mustian. The class was first offered last spring and will continue to be offered each spring as long as students continue to show interest in it.
Haley Wiggins is a senior communication major who took Mustian’s investigative reporting class last spring. “It was the time of my life. I feel like I gained so much knowledge,” Wiggins said. “Investigative reporting is exactly what I want to do after I graduate. I love investigative reporting. It was an amazing class and it stole my heart.”
Wiggins is also the editor-in-chief of The Potpourri, NSU’s student yearbook and one of the many student media organizations on campus. Student media helps to give organizations, other departments and individuals a platform to be seen. “We organize interviews, we speak with people from different organizations like the fraternities, sororities, SGA, UPC and all the other organizations that might not get recognized,” Wiggins said. “We shine light on them.”
One of the department’s largest events is Journalism and Media Day, often referred to as JAM Day. The event is designed to bring prospective high school students to NSU’s campus to get an inside look into what NSU’s communication department does, in hopes of inspiring students to pursue journalism and communication. With 17 different schools attending and approximately 350 high school students on campus, JAM Day was record-breaking this year.
Whether pursuing a degree in journalism, looking to enhance communication skills or wanting to partake in student media, the Department of New Media, Journalism and Communication Arts has it all. “They took me in whenever I came here as a freshman and have helped me progress and work towards my goals as a journalist,” Wiggins said. “They’ve really nurtured me and helped me grow. The communication department is amazing and I really don’t know where I’d be without it.”
