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Like many others, I developed some new viewing habits during the pandemic. In an unexpected turn of events, I’ve become a devotee of YouTube aviation channels. Through the magic of user-generated content, the aviation YouTube community has given this non-aviator an opportunity to get inside cockpits and gain insights into how pilots are trained. And, believe it or not, I see relevance to my role as director of the School of Media and Journalism (MDJ) during these Covid Times. Let me explain.

As the world’s attention turns to the Olympic Games for the second time in 12 months, ����ֱ�� State Professor Tang Tang’s research offers insight on how audience patterns of viewing major sporting events have changed over the last 12 years. Tang, Ph.D., joined ����ֱ�� State University in 2018 as the College of Communication and Information sought to hire in the area of new media technology. 

����ֱ�� State alumnus Mike Jackson, innovator and marketing communications executive, is joining ����ֱ�� State’s School of Media and Journalism as a professional-in-residence this spring. He is teaching two classes and will serve as adviser to the student organization Franklin Advertising.

When I walked into Taylor Hall as an 18-year-old freshman in 1983, I had no idea that the foundation for my professional and personal life would take place there.

While earning a bachelor’s degree in Journalism in 1987, I was a section editor at the Daily ����ֱ�� Stater — in a newsroom packed with future journalism giants whose achievements are too numerous to mention.

The School of Media and Journalism organized a project called the Collaborative NewsLab to provide students with real world work experience, while newsrooms, hit with unprecedented financial challenges, were resorting to layoffs and furloughs early in the pandemic.  

A degree from ����ֱ�� State’s School of Media and Journalism can lead to opportunities to work across fields and businesses — and all over the world. Alumna Mary Jo Spletzer, ’10, has used what she learned as a public relations major to make her mark at Atlantis Resorts in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  

The CCI course Media and Movements explores social movements of our time through storytelling, strategy and advocacy. Fall 2021's seminar, themed “Building a Better World,” required students to select a specific human rights or human dignity issue that impacts their ����ֱ�� State peers and reimagine a better future based on research.