Parente/King's Fund for Media Excellence Announced

By: Eric Steltzer

The Parente-King’s Fund for Media Excellence was announced prior to the live broadcast of WVIA’s The State of PA that students and faculty attended. Pictured above are host Bill Kelly, Bill O’Boyle of the Times Leader, Borys Krawczeniuk of the Scranton Times, Coulter Jones of the Citizen’s Voice and Steve Corbett of WILK Radio.

 

The mass communications department announced a one-of-a-kind partnership in the Spring. This initiative, the Parente-King’s Media Fund for Excellence, offers students the opportunity to work and train at WVIA. The Parente family asked WVIA to construct a unique program in collaboration with King’s College that will enrich the experience of its students and improve the mass communications program. WVIA responded to the challenge with great enthusiasm.

The result is a hands-on experience that will allow top students to work with media executives from a number of disciplines. Students will have the opportunity to be mentored by a variety of people from entry level positions to station president.
The fund is comprised of a number of opportunities. Two students will be selected per semester for mentorship with senior executives at WVIA.

Aspiring filmmakers will also get the chance to work hand-in-hand with WVIA’s Creative Director Greg Matkosky for a semester-long “filmmaker-in residence” program. According to WVIA, this will emphasize “cinematic concepts and craft components for both narrative and documentary film.” Separately, Matkosky will teach approximately 100 students in a one-day intensive workshop in WVIA’s high definition theater.

Students interested in radio will have the chance to apply for a two-semester, radio host internship. In the fall, the intern will be exposed to all aspects of radio. In the spring, the intern will become an on-air producer/host. It begins as a non-paid internship in the fall and a paid internship in the spring.

WVIA is also offering King’s students access to the only high definition studios in Northeast Pennsylvania. This will give King’s students access to some of the most up-to-date technology available.

The HD studio will be used to create a digital media workshop. The workshop will teach students the fundamentals of television and radio programming, as well as promotional content. Kevin Jones, WVIA creative promotions director, will supervise the workshop.
Another milestone to come out of the partnership is a single funded WVIA-King’s paid internship. This internship will focus on the area of mass communications that the student wants to pursue. It will be much more challenging than a normal internship and promises a lot of experience as an end result.

King’s students will also get the chance to develop a semester-long promotional campaign for WVIA. Students will work in groups to design an multi-platform campaign that will run several weeks. The promotional campaign will provide an invaluable experience to marketing enthusiasts in the mass communications field. In order to be considered to study under WVIA, King’s students should participate in extracurricular activities, attend all classes and maintain a good grade point average. The qualifications are more strict than the intern process and it will be similar to interviewing for a real job when applying.