COMMUNICATION (ELECTRONIC MEDIA)
Bachelor's Degree Program
How we access information and experience entertainment has evolved over the years. While our screens have gotten smaller and devices have become more portable, one thing is certain: multimedia storytelling and quality audio, video and design skills are still in demand.
A Communication degree with an emphasis in Electronic Media will prepare you to work in a variety of roles in media, entertainment, marketing, advertising and other industries that rely on creating content and telling stories.
CAN WE BRAG A LITTLE?
“Reel”-world experience
From client productions to mini-documentaries and creative videos, senior capstones allow students to showcase their skills and talent.
Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.
98% of UW-Whitewater Communication majors were employed in their field within one year of graduation. (2018-2019)
Hawk Talk
This signature, live sports talk program is simulcast on TV and radio Monday through Thursday at 5 p.m.
Why study Electronic Media at UW-Whitewater?
UW-Whitewater’s Electronic Media program offers extensive hands-on training to equip students for successful careers in today’s technologically advanced and globally focused world. Here are a few reasons our program stands out:
- You’ll get hands-on experience from your first year; at UW-Whitewater, you don’t need to complete two years of gen-eds before getting your media feet wet!
- We train students on multiple industry-leading production software programs, while other colleges might focus on a single platform.
- While some media programs focus primarily on news, at UW-Whitewater you’ll work on a variety of audio and video content, including talk shows, documentaries, music production, public affairs programs and commercials.
- You’ll gain a global and socio-economic perspective of media issues throughout the program, which will prepare you for careers in our diverse society.
Choose a minor or second major to supplement your education and expand your communication career opportunities.
What our Electronic Media students do
Produce television and radio programming
Work on music productions and podcasts
Develop, create and distribute multimedia content
Campus media and agency opportunities
As a Communication major at UW-Whitewater, you can take part in many hands-on learning opportunities, including creator, production and leadership roles at campus media outlets:
- The Royal Purple– award-winning weekly campus print and online newspaper
- UWW-TV– campus cable television station, located in Conover Studio in Andersen Hall
- WSUW-FM: 91.7 “The Edge”– campus radio station broadcasting throughout the region from a tower atop Hyer Hall
You can also lend your Electronic Media skills to client projects at one of our on-campus media agencies:
- UW-Whitewater Advertising Association – participate in real-world projects, make industry connections, attend events, tour agencies and more.
- Video One Media Services – as an agency intern, create promotional, instructional, educational or other video and audio pieces for clients.
In addition to gaining career experience, you have the opportunity to earn practicum credit for participation in these media outlets and agencies.
Internships and international experiences
One of the best ways to gain experience and prepare for your career is to learn while doing. Electronic Media majors can do this in several ways:
Intern
Learn from media professionals while building your portfolio — and your competence and confidence. An internship, especially one in which you’ll work on a variety of productions or live events, is valuable because you’ll gain experience in many aspects, from writing, directing and talent management to production, design and editing.
Learn more about communication internships
Go on a travel study
You’ll have the chance to take a class which culminates with a related, short-term international trip. Locations, topics and faculty members alternate. For example, Brian Lucas, our director of radio, took students to Ireland following an intercultural communication course.
What our graduates do
News anchors, reporters, producers, video and production editors
Radio, web and TV hosts
Owners of production companies
Electronic Media jobs: Career success
The tangible skills you’ll learn in an Electronic Media program — from shooting and editing video, creating visual graphics, recording audio, and distributing and promoting content — are incredibly valuable, even essential, to organizations beyond the media. This means that, after graduation, our students can lead communication careers at businesses of all kinds, near and far.
Here are just a few places our recent Communication graduates found careers:
- Chicago Sun Times
- The CW (Madison)
- Discover Mediaworks (Madison)
- Divine Design & Marketing (Rolling Meadows, Illinois)
- Drury Design (Glen Ellyn, Illinois)
- Green Clock Films (Madison)
- Jellyvision (Chicago)
- MarketBuzz Promotions (Chicago)
- NBC 2 (Fort Myers, Florida)
- Nei-Turner Media Group (Lake Geneva)
- Raw Media Co (West Covina, California)
- Third Wheel Entertainment (Chicago)
- WMTV NBC 15 (Madison)
Statewide honor for electronic media alum
Kyle Wallace, who graduated in 2012, was recognized for his work as a content director for a Milwaukee radio station. As a student, the support he received from UW-Whitewater faculty helped him learn and grow as a young aspiring broadcaster.
What our grads say
“It was during TV News Reporting and Production class that (faculty member) Amal Ibrahim first taught me how to put together a news package, which is now something I do every day in my job as a multimedia journalist at WEAU-13 News in Eau Claire.” — Sarah Winkelman, Class of 2017
Hired Before Graduation
Freddie Nelson, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earned a B.A. in communication and film studies and was hired as a broadcast engineer with NBC15 in Madison, Wisconsin.
“I am most proud of being the vice president of the Black Student Union (2021-2022), serving as secretary of the Zeta Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity INC, and the projects that I helped produce at UWW-TV. I’d like to thank Aaron Broadwater for being a great mentor throughout my years on this campus."
Our Electronic Media faculty
On our Electronic Media faculty — part of the Department of Communication — you’ll find award-winning journalists, former broadcasting professionals, writers and others who bring a wide range of career and life experience.
Jim Mead
In WHY I TEACH, Jim Mead, the director of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s television station, talks about teaching and mentoring visual storytellers. Mead puts students behind cameras, in front of cameras, in the control room and into the community to bring back stories to broadcast.
Forensics Advisor and Lecturer Brian Schanen
Brian is a corporate video producer and strategist. He has worked with numerous small businesses and non-profit organizations to produce and integrate video into their marketing and business processes. With nearly two decades of forensics experience, Brian is the Co-Director of the university’s nationally competitive forensics team.
Want to learn more about earning an Electronic Media degree?
262-472-1034 | uwwcomm@uww.edu
The Communication major offers the following options for Electronic Media:
- Bachelor of Arts — Communication, Electronic Media emphasis | 4-year plan
- Bachelor of Science — Communication, Electronic Media emphasis | 4-year plan
- Minor in Electronic Media
- Minor in General Communication
In addition to UW-Whitewater’s general education requirements, your emphasis in Electronic Media will require a set of core courses, including:
- Video Production I: Foundations of Video
- Audio Production I: Foundations of Audio
- Video Production II: Media Storytelling
- Audio Production II: Advance Audio Techniques
- Media Ethics
- Media-related writing course (such as Writing for News Media, Screenwriting or Electronic Media Copywriting)
- Senior Capstone Project
With the help of your advisor and based on your career goals, you’ll also select electives from a variety of other courses across the communication curriculum.
To apply, you’ll complete the UW-Whitewater application for admission and indicate your interest in the Communication major, Electronic Media emphasis.
