April 10, 2024

Representatives from WRBL-TV joined university leaders on April 9 to cut the ribbon on the station’s new Uptown Bureau. The space represents a continuing academic partnership between the CBS-affiliated Nexstar Media Group Inc. television station and the Department of Communication.

“This is top-30 market [space], and your students should know that. They’re getting the best we have to offer,” said Joe McGuire, WRBL’s vice president and general manager. “This space allows us to do everything we need to [to provide students with a multimedia news organization experience].”

The bureau relocated from the department’s former Carpenters Hall location—where the bureau first opened in 2018—to its new RiverPark Campus location in Yancey Center at One Arsenal Place. Because it is adjacent to communication classrooms and the department’s student-run WCUG-FM 88.5 radio station, the bureau’s new location will better allow students to observe news production and reporting by seasoned professionals in real-time. It also provides them with deeper access to internships with and mentoring by WRBL reporters assigned to the bureau.

Dr. Danna Gibson, chair of the department, credited WRBL with opening up jobs, internships and practicum experiences for communication students of all concentrations. Speaking to the station’s executives, anchors, news reporters and meteorologists present for the ribbon-cutting, she said: “You help train [our students] and you’ve hired them—that’s a great combination here at Columbus State University.”

President Stuart Rayfield lauded the opportunity students will have to watch news being produced and reported live next to their classrooms.

“To see that happen every single day—you can’t buy that type of experience,” she said. “What you see today is a deeper commitment to influencing the next generation of [professionals] who will be working in communications.”

“With this news bureau, we are literally in [the students’] backyard—we are steps away from the classroom,” WRBL News Director Connor Hackling added. “Here, students can interact with us, and we can interact with them.”

Cutting the official ribbon for the new WRBL Uptown Bureau were (left to right) College of the Arts Dean Wanda Ebright, Columbus State President Stuart Rayfield, Department of Communication Chair Danna Gibson, WRBL Vice President & General Manager Joe McGuire, and WRBL News Director Connor Hackling.

The bureau is just a part of WRBL’s comprehensive partnership with the Department of Communication. This has included awarding nearly $25,000 in scholarships to communication students and grants to fund departmental equipment and software. The station’s news professionals serve as internship and practicum mentors as well as frequent guest lecturers and instructors. The station has hosted on-campus political debates at various levels of government, with faculty and students serving as panelists.

STUDYING IN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION

Based in the university's College of the Arts, the Department of Communication offers associate-, undergraduate-, graduate-, nexus- and certificate-level studies and minors in concentrations and specialties that include communication studies, creative services management, film production, integrated media and public relations. Its bachelor’s track in communication studies and master’s track in strategic communication management are both offered online.

Media contact: 
Michael Tullier, APR, Executive Director of Strategic Communication + Marketing, 706.507.8729, mtullier@columbusstate.edu 

Related news coverage:
Cutting the ribbon at CSU’s brand-new WRBL Uptown Bureau (April 9, 2024, WRBL-TV)