College campuses are oftentimes catalysts of social change. With many young adults focused in one area, colleges are much more likely to embrace change before the rest of the population. For example, many of the protests against Nelson Mandela’s arrest occurred on college campuses, as did protests in the Civil Rights era. As a result, college campuses, like DU often signal coming social change. When it comes to changes in media, DU demonstrates that media, while ever-evolving, remains an important institution to students and society.
There are many types of on-campus media at DU, from social media to printed publications to radio. These media are ever-increasing.
KXDU, DU’s student radio station, underwent a revival last year and has expanded to include regular video news updates, online streaming and even DJs at on-campus events.
Student newspapers include The Clarion and the Pioneer Business Review to accommodate a wide student audience.
Foothills, which has been a DU publication since 1948, continues to publish visual, textual and now audio art to the DU population.
What has changed the most about these publications is their respective methods of access. Each of these mediums has an active online presence to distribute their official publications. The Clarion, for instance, regularly posts published articles in addition to relevant campus updates for the DU population. We are also re-designing our website to ensure that our platform is up-to-date.
Clearly, the increase in social media and publication presentation represents a change in how students receive communication.
In addition to changes in official publications, there has also been an influx of non-official (unpublished) media. Yik Yak, Facebook groups and individual DU-relevant Twitter accounts increasingly provide information to students. Oftentimes, these give specific updates on information and events relevant to individual interests.
For instance, the Men’s Basketball social media provides updates on games while the Korbel School social media provides information about its academic programs and events.
Despite changes in distribution and the increase in social media outlets, official media is still very relevant. Traditional newspapers and radio provide more in-depth coverage of student events and issues that may not be available through social media. The deeper discussion of on-campus events and issues allow us to become informed and engaged students. This carries through into our professional lives, as we become engaged citizens.
The continuing existence of traditional newspapers and radio not only demonstrates a continued necessity to be thoroughly engaged with our community, but also represents the continued reliance on traditional media to provide the opportunity for this interaction.
These trends, like other college social trends, represent greater change amid the national population. Clearly, media is an evolving institution, as it always has been. However, this does not mean that official, in-depth coverage no longer holds value in our society.
Traditional institutions will continue to exist to provide individuals with in-depth information about events relevant to their perspective. They may change how they present this information, but our society still needs to use this information to be engaged citizens.
