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  A Monthly Publication of the Communication Department
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March 4-14 
 
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Nicole Koester
Senior
 
Major: Broadcasting
 
What are your goals for the future?: God has led me in the direction of the Christian music industry and Christian broadcasting in some pretty undeniable ways. I really want to come alongside someone who is passionate about sharing Christ's love; through their music and their life. That might be through artist management, working at a label, or maybe coming up with something unconventional that will combine several of my interests and gifts. Since attending Northwestern, I have come to love radio and want that to somehow be part of my career as well.
 
What interesting things have you done while at NWC?: While at Northwestern, I've been able to be a freshman orientation leader, a Ministry Partner in my hall, work at NWC athletic events, play intramural sports and be part of two mission trips. Last spring I interned at KTIS as a volunteer coordinator for the Joyful Noise Family Fest. This summer I did a couple internships in Nashville, with Provident Label Group and Creative Trust, Inc. (a Christian artist management company). This fall I began interning with David & Pam on the Morning Show at KTIS. I highly recommend doing as many internships as you can. They have given me some incredible experiences and God has taught me a lot through them. This year I'm on staff as Program and Music director for WVOE and the Remnant (KTIS HD-2 station).
 
What is your favorite thing about NWC?: My time at Northwestern has been a huge blessing. My time and involvement in the broadcasting department has been especially rewarding. The thing I most appreciate though about Northwestern, is that we are able to have an education that solidifies and encourages our faith in Christ, no matter what the subject. I have been challenged a lot here and I've grown so much. I will definitely miss the atmosphere here.
Featured
Alumnus
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Micaela Vedder
May 2009
 
Degree: Comm Studies
 
What have you been doing since graduation? Two days after graduation I started a four-month internship with the Saint Paul Saints Baseball Club. I was their Marketing intern, which meant that I assisted in their overall marketing efforts of the club, designed print, online and radio advertisments that appeared in publications throughout the Twin Cities, planned and executed Saints special events as well as learning the overall aspects of the ins and outs of the sports industry. After interning with the Saints, I started an internship with the Minneapolis Downtown Council as their Events and Marketing intern. The Minneapolis Downtown Council is the organization who plans and executes the Target Holidazzle Parade in downtown Minneapolis. I worked in planning, recruiting volunteers and sponsors and the overall logistics and costuming of the parade.
 
What advice do you have for current students?: Make the most of your time at Northwestern, academically, socially and spiritually. Take the opportunity to get to know your professors and really pick their brains. Utilize the knowledge of the wonderful people in Career Development who are there to help you find that internship or job that future employers will be intrigued by. Get involved in workshops, clubs and groups on campus that will help you experience a wide variety of opportunities. Most importantly, truly dwell in the time that the Lord has given you at Northwestern; before you know it, it will be just a beautiful memory.
 
NWC takes home 25 of 46 awards from the iNRB
 
The Intercollegiate National Religious Broadcasters recently awarded Northwestern students with over half of all the possible awards in its student competition, including first-place awards in 10 categories.
 
Professor Mark Seignious said, "We are humbled and stunned. We get the joy and God gets the glory." 
 
Professor Ann Sorenson said, "This was a very exciting year for the video students; they look home a remarkable eight awards... Our students' learning curve is quite steep. The quality of work increases dramatically each year, because not only are they learning in class, they are learning from each other, and that is evident in their final productions."
 
A special congratulations to these students, who won first-place awards:
 
     Daniel Bernstrom
     Tim Ingold
     Nicole Koester
     Brice LaBelle
     Micah Murray
     Ben Paulson
     Adam Rozanas
     Daniel Stewart
     Daniel Sullivan
     David Youso
     John Weirick

Each first-place winner will receive a $150 cash prize and a $300 travel stipend to attend the convention, which is taking place February 26 through March 2.
 
Click here for a full list of award recipients.

Mass Media students attend March for Life
 
capitol.jpgStudents in Professor Doug Trouten's Mass Media and Society class recently took a field trip to the State Capitol to attend the annual March for Life. Their goal was to observe the pro-life rally and compare their own experiences with the media's portrayal of the event.
 
The students who went were most impressed with the turnout for the rally, expressing surprised at how far some attendees drove to be there. Broadcasting major Grace Reif commented, "I had never been to a rally of any kind before, so the scale of this one really surprised me! It was moving to see thousands of people gathering for this cause."
 
Communication minor Leigh Windorski was very moved by the event, calling the trip to the capitol "amazing" and saying, "I did not expect to learn so much about the pro-life campaign." Broadcasting major Trevor Lind explained, "The trip was super eye-opening. All of the signs, from 'Protect women' to 'I regret my abortion,' really affected me."
 
Most students agreed that the news coverage of the event had been fairly accurate, with a few discrepancies in crowd count and other details. Public Relations major Kelsey Ploeger shared, "It was interesting to sit through an hour-long rally and then watch the news to see what bits and pieces the local news shared. From word choice to camera angles, the event was portrayed slightly differently from how I experienced it."
 
Journalism major Hannah Davis called the trip a good learning experience for her and her peers: "Watching and reading the coverage reiterated the importance of wording as to not obscure the truth."

Students and staff take mission trip to Belize
 
belize.jpgWhile thermometers in Minnesota read -10, a group of Electronic Media Communication majors was boarding a plane for the tropical nation of Belize. But while the students looked forward to an increase in sunshine, they didn't have vacation in mind.
 
The students, accompanied by employees of KTIS and the Communication Department, spent the last week of their Christmas break touring the Central American country of Belize, visiting local radio stations and getting to know the people. The main purpose of the trip, though, was to put on a three-day media seminar for Belizean Christian radio and television personnel.
 
Junior Ben Wilson shared, "The Belize mission trip was a unique and exciting experience, because we didn't go and just do stereotypical mission work.  We were able to use our own knowledge in our areas of expertise and apply those to the trip."
 
The seminar was a great success, with nearly 50 in attendance, including representatives from six radio stations and two TV stations. While the professors and KTIS staff spoke on Christian media, the NWC students put their skills to work assisting the seminar's attendees in creating promos and commercials to air on their stations.
 
While the students undoubtedly ministered to the people of Belize while they were there, the students themselves were inspired by the Belizeans' desire to learn. Senior Kayla Schaeffer explained, "It was amazing to see how eager people were to learn and how excited they were to have accomplished what they did." Senior Dan Bernstrom called their enthusiasm for learning "infectious" and added, "Their love for the broadcast arts, coupled with their desire to learn, made see how much I had taken my schooling for granted."
 
Senior Nicole Koester shared how the trip as a whole impacted her. "It was really amazing to be part of the history that KTIS and Northwestern College have in helping put Christian radio on air in Belize. The team was really blessed by unity and blessed by all of the people of Belize."
 
View photos from the trip at the Communication Department Facebook page.
 
Kaiser explores ministry opportunities in India
 
kaiser.jpgDr. Kent Kaiser spent his final week of winter break in the states of Kerala and Tamila Nuda in southern India.
 
As chairman of the board of directors for the Lutheran Association of Ministries and Pilots, he met with the principal of Lutheran Theological Seminary to pitch a new ministry idea. Kaiser discussed with the principal the possible opportunity of creating a new mission trip next winter for Northwestern students to help conduct a Spoken English Workshop in India.
 
Kaiser said, "I also visited with the principal and a board member of a Christian orphanage/school for girls regarding a Spoken English Workshop there as well. Both principals were enthusiastic about the prospect; therefore, I am planning to propose that we establish a program from Northwestern to fulfill this mission."
 
In addition to his meetings, Kaiser did a lot of sightseeing in India and had the opportunity to see a mongoose and many monkeys. He also did some mountain climbing with some friends, travelled through most of Kerala and said he "rode a random elephant that a guy had parked in front of his house."
 
Notable Notes 
 
PR major Mandi Cherico is interning at Minnesota Public Radio / American Public Media working on public relations for Fitzgerald Theatre and radio programs, doing media research and assisting with events.
 
Comm Studies major Christina Earl is the on-air host for KTIS FM on Sunday mornings at 12-3 a.m.
 
Journalism major Keri Fickau recently began an intership at Minnesota Monthly magazine.
 
Comm Studies major Ashlee Jordan is an intern with freelance writer and author Christa Banister. She has been learning about book proposals, book promotion and querying for magazine articles.
 
Dr. Kent Kaiser recently had an article regarding a new mining plan in Minnesota published in the Star Tribune. Click here to read the article online.
 
PR major Emily Stofferahn is a Promotions and Events Intern for Clear Channel Communications, helping to promote concerts, movie screenings and sporting events with whom the stations are parterning.
 
PR major Kendall Young is a Promotions and Events Intern at Clear Channel Communications, contributing to event preparation and execution, contest details, listener interaction and increasing radio station awareness.
 
 
 
Note From the Chair
 
Last month, thousands of Minnesotans gathered at the State Capitol Jan. 22 for the March for Life, an annual demonstration of opposition to abortion and arguably the largest annual political event in the state. The event attracted thousands of people, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Sen. Norm Coleman, Rep. Michelle Bachman, Rep. Erik Paulsen... and a tiny bit of media coverage.
 
Students in my "Mass Media and Society" class attended the event, watching and doing their own crowd estimates. Then, the next time the class met, we looked through local coverage of the event and compared the media version of the event with what we saw with our own eyes.
 
We saw a wide range of approaches to covering the event. The Star Tribune did a very thorough job, with a significant story and solid photo coverage. By contrast, the Pioneer Press ignored this huge pro-life gathering completely. Some local TV stations covered the march briefly, but others ignored it, choosing instead to devote valuable airtime to a pond hockey tournament or to a woman who has opened a catering business featuring curry.
 
We've done this exercise in past years, and there's often an interesting contrast between what we see and what gets reported. For instance, we've had years where local TV stations saw "hundreds" of protesters, while we counted thousands. Seeing this kind of discrepancy first-hand really drives home an important lesson: What we see in the media isn't always an accurate reflection of reality.
 
Because the Northwestern College Communication Department includes a lot of media-focused programs (such as radio, TV, film and print journalism), students leave our department prepared to recognize media bias. Better still, many are equipped to take media jobs, which is a great way to counteract media bias. Understanding and recognizing unfair coverage is important, but moving into positions of responsibility in the media is the ultimate solution.
 
Doug Trouten
Chair, Communication Department