Mass Comm students learn about feature writing in Italy

This past summer, four students from The News Argus staff and a recent Winston-Salem State alum took advantage of an opportunity and embarked on a journey to Urbino, Italy.     

Their purpose was to participate in a magazine feature writing class through the Institute for Education in International Media.

Since 2002, ieiMedia has provided study abroad opportunities to hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students.

This was the first time that WSSU par­ticipated in the pro­gram, becoming the second Historically Black College and University to participate.

Additionally, it was the first time that mass communication majors participated in a media study abroad program.

The WSSU students, along with students from other colleges and universities, developed a magazine, Urbino Now.

Susan West of WestGold Editorial is a pro­fessional journalists and the lead instructor of the magazine feature writing course.

Her husband, Michael Gold, also of WestGold Editorial, and Lona D. Cobb, a professor in the Mass Communications Department, co-instructed.

"This was my first time working with college stu­dents," West said.

West noticed some of the difficulty students had with transitioning from newspaper writing to magazine writing.

 She says she thinks the project was not a way for the students to learn how to write features, but a way for the students to practice writing features.

"Some had more difficulty than others, but as profession­als we were there to help them make the leap into something they were not used to."

The other course of the Urbino 2011 program was an online multimedia project.

In that course, students were required to cre­ate a video, take photos and write a story to accompany their videos and photos.

 Program Director Dennis Chamberlin said he found it interest­ing that some students had minimal experience with mul­timedia.

"When you have a group of 40 students, you are going to have a lot of variance in skills," Chamberlin said.

"In the first week, I saw a lot of hesitation and uncertainty among the group. After stories started to come together over the next two weeks, a sense of accomplishment helped the students relax."

 Chamberlin said it is important for the students working in magazine and multimedia to take time to work on their skills in differ­ent areas of media.

 Employers expect new grad­uates to come to the job with a broad set of skills.

Jordan Holloway, a senior mass communications major from Durham, said he enjoyed the experience and would rec­ommend that other students take the same opportunity next summer.

"I would advise other WSSU students to consider studying abroad, whether it is in their field or just for the enjoy­ment."

Victoria Staples, a senior mass communications major from Martinsville, Va., said she learned a lot from the magazine project.

"My experience was rewarding, and I plan to do the program again this summer," Staples said.