The excitement and buzz of the new school year students feel when walking down Wisconsin Avenue for the first time since spring radiates even in the basement of Johnston Hall, where the Marquette Wire staff begins both the first week of classes and the first week of production. This academic year is an important and exciting time for student media. The Tribune will celebrate 100 years and MUTV turns 40. At the same time, the Wire is in just its fourth year of existence, and no, that’s not a riddle or confusing math problem.
The Wire this year exists, as it has since 2013, as the source of all student media. Four campus entities — the newspaper and television station, plus MU Radio and Journal — have come together to create one news organization that serves Marquette students in the most efficient, entertaining and innovative ways.
Because the Tribune, Journal, MUTV and MU Radio are all rich in their own traditions and identities, collaborating them into one force has brought challenges. But with the changes being made this year and certain areas we are working to improve, this is sure to be the Wire’s strongest year yet.
Our new logo is a simple change we’ve made to clarify our identity and purpose. Under the larger umbrella of the Wire are the newspaper, magazine, TV and radio stations. Our reporters not only write stories, they record podcasts and shoot video. Editors and managers work to incorporate multimedia into every piece and a wide variety of skills goes into what you’ll see on our website. It’s a revolutionary idea even by professional standards.
We will also push for a stronger social media presence this year to showcase our content in ways most convenient and useful for our readers and make our name known to every member of the Marquette community.
Adding Mark Zoromski to the team as director of student media is our biggest change this year. He will be the first faculty member to assist in running the organization and he’ll help us expand our bounds as student activists on campus. His extensive, decades-long journalism background — including producing TV news throughout Wisconsin and teaching broadcast classes at UW-Milwaukee — reflects the Wire’s mission of becoming multimedia-focused, yet keeping with the tradition of each platform. Zoromski’s experience and dedication to students will help the Wire reach the high level of creativity and success that we have been working toward the past four years.
A focus on creativity is something that has not changed since student media began at Marquette over 100 years ago. And with the Wire in full force, this academic year will be the best time for students in journalism to be creative. The biggest benefit of combining radio, TV, newspaper and magazine staffs has been an exponential increase in ideas and opportunities. We have so much technology and equipment at our disposal and we are always exploring new ways to produce the best content for the Marquette community.
The Wire is a place where students of all majors take the first steps in pursuing their different interests. We are an organization of students that exists to keep the Marquette community informed. We will cover Marquette better than any other media outlet, and we will do so in an honest, unbiased way while serving as a watchdog working to expose wrongdoing. University administration respects and trusts us as the authority on campus news, and we take this responsibility seriously.
It’s been years in the making, but the Marquette Wire is poised for its best year yet. We appreciate your readership and hope you stick with us throughout the year to see what groundbreaking content we will produce next.
