Media student creates video on the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum

By Julie Pawlikowski, second year graduate assistant in the Media Management program

American football coach Vincent Lombardi once quipped that practice itself doesn’t make perfect but rather that perfect practice makes perfect. The Duquesne Media department has a similar philosophy. Anybody can shoot and edit video, produce an advertising campaign, or write an article. It’s the students who are taught the theories and principles who still produce videos, campaigns and articles, but to a higher caliber.

The harmony between the Magazine Journalism and Media Lab courses are a perfect example of this blend of theory and practice. Magazine Journalism is a writing-intensive course in which students learn how to produce nonfiction articles such as profiles, trend stories and columns for both print and online magazine. The lectures focus on sourcing, interviewing and narrative style as well as on the diverse roles and functions of magazines. The class produces an edition of Off the Bluff magazine which started in the fall of 2005. The most recent edition explored the Oakland neighborhood. Students went into the Oakland neighborhood and found interesting people or places to profile as well as exploring the community’s history. They produced their own articles, shot their own photography and videos, and created their own graphs. They also had help from the students in the Media Lab course.

Media Lab is a team-based integration course that serves as a nexus for the production and dissemination of projects in a wide variety of Media courses, including those in multiplatform journalism, public relations, advertising and sports media. Students learn how to work with clients in project assessment, planning and production. Students like alumnus and Digital Media Arts major Lance Turturice also explored the Oakland neighborhood and created additional content for Off the Bluff magazine. He produced a video on one of the most notable buildings in Oakland: the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum.