We are assaulted daily by thousands of messages. Some are good and delivered well and some we ignore. It depends on the quality of the communication. In life, those who communicate best usually achieve more. Fortunately, communications skills can be taught. That’s what we do best.

Students pursuing a degree in Communication polish speaking, writing and multimedia skills through experiences in and out of the classroom. Innovative courses prepare students for hundreds of jobs that require a foundation of communication skills. TV anchors, radio show hosts, bloggers, photojournalists, graphic designers, social media managers, speech writers, public relations specialists, reporters and scores of others all rise according to their communications skills.

Faculty members with professional experience lead students in class and student media activities. In addition, our internships prepare students for the workforce as they apply skills learned on campus in work settings.

Earning a bachelor’s degree in Communication at NSU puts you in the inside lane on the race track for your tomorrow. Ask us about the exciting opportunities awaiting you in a Communication major or minor. Available concentrations include Strategic Communication, Journalism, Broadcast, and Digital Media Production and Sports Media.

Strategic Communication: Encompassing organizational communication and public relations, this concentration offers a course of study for students to learn how individuals and organizations use communication and media to deliver messages to targeted audiences. Courses will focus on how organizations and media influence opinions and the behavior of key publics. The curriculum will emphasize an ethical approach and will analyze societal effects of strategic communication practices.

Journalism, Broadcast, and Digital Media Production: Students become expert storytellers, employing digital tools to create, produce, and disseminate content that informs audiences with original, accurate and well-produced and well-written stories. Students become proficient in all forms of journalistic storytelling – combining text with images –video, sounds – to deliver content to digital platforms. This concentration prepares students for next-generation careers in online and traditional news media.

Sports Media: Students receive hands-on training and skills to enter the booming field of sports media as sports journalists, sports communications professionals or other roles with media companies, teams, leagues, conferences, athlete agencies and more.  The concentration emphasizes cutting-edge forms of storytelling and content creation, live streaming, marketing strategies and sports audience analysis. Students become effective sports communicators, writing, editing, brand-managing, creating video, podcasting and posting to social media platforms. Courses feature professional work experiences with the NSU sports teams and athletic department.

Department of New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts
239 Kyser Hall
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, Louisiana 71497
Phone: (318) 357-5360
Email: newmedia@nsula.edu

Current Sauce: 357-5456
Potpourri: 357-4636
KNWD Radio Station: 357-5693

All students are encouraged to consult with a departmental adviser prior to enrolling each semester. The department will assign a faculty or staff member for each student. Students will find their adviser’s name on NSU’s DegreeWorks. For questions or assistance with advising, please, contact newmedia@nsula.edu or call 318-357-5360.

For general planning purposes, please, see the Major Requirement Checklist below. The University Catalog provides course descriptions and other academic requirements. Please, see page 76 for the Department of New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts.

• University Catalog
• Major Requirements Checklist
• Minors offered at NSU

JaM DAY (formerly J-Day): Friday, November 1, 2019, from 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Registration is now open at www.nsulajday.com

About JaM Day: Journalism and Media Day (JaM) Day is an annual half-day event that provides high school students with the opportunity to meet industry professionals and participate in competitions that test skills in new media, journalism, and communication. Future media professionals hear from the experts, including faculty, alumni, and visiting communication professionals about careers in the new media, journalism, and communication fields. They also meet current students and will tour the campus to see our media labs, TV studio, and equipment.

Past J-Day events:

• https://www.nsulajday.com/competition-results (2018)
• http://news.nsula.edu/home/students-explore-communications-field-at-j-day/ (2017)
• https://natchitochesparishjournal.com/2017/10/10/nsu-will-host-journalism-day-for-high-school-students-register-by-oct-25/comment-page-1/ (2017)
• https://nsulastudentmedia.com/2017/09/06/capa-showcases-student-faculty-professional-talent/ (2017)
• http://news.nsula.edu/home/j-day-provides-glimpse-of-communications-careers (2016)

NEW MEDIA STUDENT SHOWCASE: TBA

The New Media Student Showcase is an annual gallery exhibition featuring photography from students, faculty, and alumni of the Department of New Media, Journalism, and Communication Arts.
For more information:  www.nsulastudentshowcase.com

Past NMSS events:

• http://news.nsula.edu/home/new-media-will-host-gallery-exhibition
• http://news.nsula.edu/home/new-media-showcase-features-student-work/
• https://currentsauce.com/2018/03/21/student-showcase-honors-late-robert-crew/

Internships are a vital part of a Communication Degree at Northwestern State University. Students are required to complete at least one professional internship before graduation.

Requirements for enrolling in COMM 4910 Communication Internship are:

• Junior or senior standing
• Overall minimum 2.0 GPA
• Permission of instructor at an approved internship site
• Maximum of 9 hours of concurrent enrollment

Denise Lewis Patrick

Denise is a Louisiana native transplanted to New Jersey. She received an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Northwestern State University of Louisiana, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans. Her published work of over 30 titles includes fiction and non-fiction for all ages, short stories, and poetry. Among recent works are: middle grade novel Finding Someplace (Holt, 2015), the Y/A short story collection A Matter of Souls (Carolrhoda Lab, 2014), and historical fiction novels No Ordinary Sound and Never Stop Singing (American Girl, 2016). Her adult short story, “Mr. Bird,” was published in University of New Orleans anthology, Monday Night Lights (2016). She is a contributor to the anthology We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices (Crown, 2018), and is an adjunct professor at Montclair State University.

Lane Luckie

Lane is the anchor of Good Morning East Texas, the top-rated morning newscast in East Texas. He joined KLTV, the ABC affiliate in Tyler, Texas in 2012.

Lane previously served as evening anchor and executive producer at KTRE-TV in Lufkin and Nacogdoches. He came to East Texas from KTAL-TV in Shreveport, where he was a general assignments reporter. Lane also spent four years working for the Natchitoches, Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau.

A native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Lane earned a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Northwestern State University. Read More.

Cindy Chapman

I am a 1988 NSU Graduate, with a Journalism major/German minor. I’ve spent the last 31 years in the tv news business at stations in Columbus, Ohio, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Green Bay, Wisconsin and most notably Minneapolis/St. Paul. I’m in my 25th year at KARE 11 TV, currently the Senior Executive Producer but I’ve produced every newscast, been on the air, started a mom’s website and helped create one of the most innovative shows in the “news” space called Breaking the News. Awards include national Murrows, Emmy’s and a Cronkite.

My passion: teaching young journalists how to become powerhouse producers!