With the first week of school, the Merciad has been up and running again through the hard work of dedicated writers and editors. The fourth week of school has just started today and not only has Hurst TV not started the production of shows, but some producers have already started to cancel productions for this week and moved them to the fifth week. Somebody who is not an insider, like students who are not involved in Hurst TV, the people in the community, or President Gamble, might wonder why.
The biggest reason for such a difference is, as usual, money. While the Merciad writers get paid $10 per article (which is equivalent to a paper for class) the producers of a whole 30-minute TV show (which is equivalent to a six to 8 hour work day including all the preparations) get paid $0! Hence, working in a TV studio might be attractive, but earning money keeps you alive and happy; at least in our society.
Every year, the Communication Department staff and faculty have tried to make Hurst TV more attractive, but were denied any help from the Walker School of Business, which the Communication Department is part of. They fought for the replacement of old (and not working) technology, such as editing machines and cameras, with new technology and succeeded only through the involvement of the President of the College. However, new technology does not convince students to give up some of their free time and work on TV shows that give them nothing else than one more line in their resume.
In the past three years I have seen many good attempts for shows, but however enthusiastic, they failed in producing a continuous show because of the lack of team members. Since TV production is team work and they knew that Hurst TV has very few viewers, they decided to quit as well. Only a few people succeeded in producing shows that are somehow reoccurring, but nevertheless, the shows do not attract any new viewers yet.
Why does a school that places so much focus on the intelligence of the students (to go to Mercyhurst you have to have an SAT score of at least 1100) and so much importance on looks and prestige not care about the life and well-being of one of its departments? The Communication Department is part of the Walker School of Business (what it has to do with business remains unanswered), one of the richest schools at Mercyhurst. However, Hurst TV does not receive any funding to pay for its producers and staff; not even to buy enough tapes for its few productions.
However, the few people who fight for the survival of Hurst TV have not yet given up their fight. This week is the official first week of productions and the Hurst TV staff is trying to look at this year as a new beginning. We now have a GA who is monitoring the show productions an we have two new station managers who are responsible for TV productions. With the few that are willing to work without money and who do not mind spending their free time for the good of Hurst TV, we strive to keep Hurst TV alive and make this year a year to remember.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Wow, I completely agree with the unfortunate state of the television station at Mercyhurst. You caught my attention with your title, and reference to the Merciad. That's completely unfair that the paper is able to pay it's writers and that the station has nothing. I recently visited Penn State, which I know Mercyhurst could never compare to, but they have a several stations that everyone was watching. My friends apartment was glued to their athletics channel the whole weekend. I also agreed with your reference to the Communication Department being a part of the Walker School. I remember being so impressed by the department on my visit here 5 years ago, and now that I am a member, its not all it was raved about. Funding is always a major issue with any improvement needed but I just can't justify paying as much as we do to go to school here and having such basic accommodations as a television studio, not be up to date. The people in the department, are really trying to achieve change and growth too. Hopefully, the disparities within the college will be recognized soon and attention will be paid to the Communication Department.
I totally agree with you. I think in many aspects, the Communication department is overlooked. I think it is really unfortunate that the Walker School of Business is unwilling to support one of its own majors. Especially for all of the production majors in the department, working in the studio with updated equipment would really be beneficial. It definitely makes you wonder where all the money we pay for tuition is going. We are supposed to be receiving, in return, a quality education. It seems, in this particular situation, the business school is letting us down. I thought one of the main reasons we joined the business school was to make students more well-rounded and marketable. It seems like they are failing us though and doing exactly the opposite. I hope things look up before we graduate :)
It is so sad and true. First off i dunno how we are clumped together with the Walker School of Business, and second there are a bunch of good ideas but there really is no one out there willing to help out. We are way understaffed and definitely under appreciated. I do hope that this year like you said is a new beginning.
Thanks for all your comments! I just went to the Penn State webpage, because when you mentioned it, Heather, I decided to look at their communication program. I couldn't believe it, but I found over 200 !!! courses that are offered in the communication field. Here is the link:
http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/university_course_descriptions.cfm?letter=C&dept=COMM
Of course Mercyhurst can't be compared to such a big school, but improvements can only be made when we look at examples. I think Mercyhurst has the potential to become a better school or communication, because we have potential students and potential teachers (at least some of them), but we need to be able to step out of the shadow of the Walker School of Business and stand on our own feet.
Merciad in the title also caught my attention.
I am an editor for the paper myself and without (small) budget we have there would be no paper.
It is beyond me how Hurst TV even survives.
It is understandable that the budgets get slashed and redone due to huge leaps in construction but it seems like the Hurst is so focused on students who haven't even gotten here yet that they are overlooking those of us that came here for the niche comm. dept. that already is in place.
Let's cross our fingers, seniors, that at least students to come have the money they need to accomplish to get the quality education and support we all signed up for.
It is a sad fact that some schools and departments receive more support than others. Administrators review the interest in a certain area and base funding upon it's poularity and/or it's influence on the college. But if there is no funding to keep people interested, how can it be an accurate reflection of what the student body really wants? What I don't understand is the fact that Hurst TV is a wonderful outlet for informing the community about Mercyhurst and what is happening on the hill yet it is not used to it's full potential. This relates very much the same to the radio station that is not for the students...
I understand your frustration. I work for the Merciad, but I used to work for the MNE newspaper. We did not get paid and writers would not submit work on time or even at all. I found that if enough people care about something a change can be made, so talk to your production people and encourage them to jump on board. I am sorry for your frustrations, but coming from someone that understands the frustration of keeping people as I call it "with it," I wish you the best of luck.
Whoa.. just figured out how to leave a comment. It took 2 days and Amanda telling me before I could make it happen. Geez... anyways......
Totally with you on this one. Funding to many different areas of the communication department is haphazard and nonexistent in many places.
So here's my major issue with the comm department... I apologize, Brian, ahead of time...
The fact that the communication department does not require students with production concentrations to work for Hurst TV or journalism students to write for the Merciad is absurd. I have an editor on my staff right now who is a senior journalism student and has never written for the Merciad, or any other publication, until this year. That means she has gone through three years of textbook journalism education without ever writing an article for any publication. And we all know textbooks teach us little in terms of this career field. I know the same to be true for many production students.
It’s my belief that the problem with Hurst TV, the radio station and the Merciad is not just funding. The fact is we have (relatively) free labor right at our finger tips. If the comm department would begin requiring more from its students in terms of participation it’s a guarantee things would improve.
Post a Comment