Our Vision
The multimedia center will be a mass media laboratory where students will gain real life experience to prepare them for a successful future in the industry. The center can serve as an emergency operations center, a training center and a social media research facility. Our vision is a cutting edge multimedia center and broadcast studio to conduct sophisticated news gathering and strategic communications.
A Multimedia Center
The mass communication industry is experiencing quick and dramatic change. The days of only getting news from a paper in the morning or watching it at 6 and 10 p.m. are over. News is everywhere: on phones, tablets, Twitter and Facebook. Strategic communication has evolved in the same way. Consumers are engaging with social media to decide everything from what products to buy to which politicians to elect. Schools of communication must not only keep pace; they must foster creativity and produce graduates who are transformed and prepared to excel in the 21st century.
For more than 75 years, the award-winning School of Mass Communication at Loyola University New Orleans has educated students in the Jesuit tradition. Our students have applied the knowledge and skills they gained at Loyola to make their mark in the media. Our graduates work at the Washington Post, ESPN and ABC News. They are leaders in advertising and public relations firms across the country, from ICON International to Ketchum PR and the New Orleans Saints.
A Leading Facility
Loyola’s challenging curriculum continues to attract high-caliber students, many of whom win prestigious awards from entities such as the National Public Relations Student Society of America Bateman Case Study Competition, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Student American Advertising Competition. Our Bateman Team has won more national competitions than any other university in the country. Our Maroon is one of Princeton Review’s top five student papers in the country. These accomplishments have come with the help of renowned faculty and talented students who choose Loyola. Our ability to continue to attract both superior faculty and students will be strengthened by the addition of our multimedia center.
The multimedia center will include computer work stations fully equipped for digital news production, an assignment desk, and a professional interview studio that includes the functionality for live broadcasts. The center will also feature a focus group and seminar room.
Few universities have facilities that house state-of-the-art broadcast, print, online, public relations, and advertising capabilities. Loyola’s new multimedia center will establish the School of Mass Communication as the leading education facility for mass media careers in our region.
A Community Resource: Loyola and Beyond
Mobile. Interactive. Inquisitive. Loyola students are educated to thrive in a world where social media and digital technology drive mass communication. The multimedia center would bring these efforts together in one place -- allowing students to participate in local and national conversations with tools and resources superior to those in any other academic environment in the region.
The center will provide training and professional development for reputation management, brand communications and rapid and effective strategic communications training. During weather events such as hurricanes and floods, crisis communications and dissemination of information are vital to a region’s response and recovery. The skills learned in the multimedia center will prove invaluable for our graduates who will be working in the Gulf South and serve as a model for other regions suffering from man-made and other natural disasters.
As Loyola’s official communications center, the university’s messages, latest news, and even classroom lectures can be disseminated to a global audience. The studio will allow faculty members and other experts to conduct live interviews with major television networks and produce targeted webcasts.
Finally, area businesses could utilize the center through its seminar space and recording capabilities for satellite conferences, focus groups, and more, creating long-term sustainability for this project.