Whether it’s scrambling to find last minute information for a print story or adjusting for technical difficulties during a newscast, presenting news to the public can be a stressful and laborious task.
Columbia, Missouri has been handling this task for over a century.
Two of the area’s most prestigious newsrooms are the Columbia Missourian and KOMU. While there are quite a few similarities and differences between the two- one is a print publication and one is a television broadcast station- ultimately they both serve the same fundamental purpose: delivering the news.
One aspect of news that these institutions have recently adjusted to is the rise of social media in society. Both newsrooms have developed social media profiles and accounts to keep their readers and viewers as up-to-date as possible.
The Columbia Missourian, which publishes a morning newspaper and a weekly magazine, might be mistaken for “old fashioned” because of its longevity.
“The Missourian is over 100 years old,” managing editor Jeanne Abbott said. “It’s been here since the beginning.”
The MU School of Journalism, which was the world’s first journalism school, has been running the Missourian since the first day of classes on Sept. 14, 1908.
One of the reasons the Missourian has been in operation for such a long time is their ability to innovate and adapt in an ever-changing news environment.
“Part of the fun, and part of the challenge, is coming up with new ways of telling a story,” Abbott said.
The “Ice Desk” at the Missourian is where stories go after the editor reads over them. It’s also where the most recent news and stories are posted on the newsroom’s social media accounts.
Similarly, at KOMU, there is a station in the middle of the newsroom called “The Desk” where social media accounts are frequently updated.
While KOMU isn’t quite as historic as the Missourian, for a TV station, it has been around for quite awhile. It first aired on December 21, 1953, and has been airing daily news ever since.
Stress is a common issue for all newsrooms, but it seems to run especially high at KOMU, because more can go wrong when presenting the news live instead of the next day in print.
“Often people are actually running around, because something breaks and the show is about to start,” said Jeremy Truitt, a KOMU reporter.
Another reason for extra stress might be the cost of operating a facility as advanced as KOMU. Aside from the high-tech cameras and editing equipment, Truitt said that the station recently developed a backpack that could take the place of a news van for a live shot. He said the backpacks cost around $32,000 each.
A final common theme between the Missourian and KOMU was the motivation and drive of their journalists. Multiple reporters, including Peter Terpstra of KOMU, stressed the importance of being proactive in order to succeed in the news business.
“Don’t just wait for somebody to give you a job,” Terpstra said. “You have to go out and do it.”
Both of these news organizations have been keeping the people of Columbia and mid-Missouri informed for decades, and have served as a crucial component of the historic and renowned MU School of Journalism, giving future journalists, editors, broadcasters, and producers the real-world experience necessary to perform their duties at a professional level.
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