A National Student Advertising Competition student works on a visual for the "Reject Regular" campaign for Meta Quest 2 while the rest of the team discusses.

Media Arts and Production Concentration

Creative Communication

Media Arts and Production is a new concentration in the J-School that focuses on concept development, audience understanding and multi-faceted creative ideas and skills to produce great work. Media Arts puts discovery, excitement and passion at the forefront of learning.


The Intersection of Research and Creativity

The William Allen White School Of Journalism and Mass Communications Media Arts concentration is for thinkers and doers who want to merge creativity, technology and ideas. The concentration will empower students to explore and develop as creative media producers and storytellers, media and audience researchers, critical thinkers, and enterprise leaders in an ever-evolving media environment.

Our curriculum is designed to get students to think multi-dimensionally, see the big picture and connect with various audiences through multiple media outlets.

Graduates will be able to bridge the creative process with business needs, resulting in powerful, emotional experiences that resonate.

 

Student writing on a whiteboard

Curriculum

You’ll have plenty of options to learn the skills to take you on your creative journey:

Journalism core courses

JMC 101: Media and Society
JMC 104: Words at Work: Writing Essentials
JMC 300: Visual Storytelling
JMC 302: Information Exploration
JMC 304: Media Writing for Audiences
JMC 309: Data Storytelling
JMC 408: Media Law and Ethics
JMC Tech Tool 1
JMC Tech Tool 2
JMC diversity course
JMC Electives (5 hours) 

Media Arts & Production Journalism Concentration

Required courses

JMC 260: Agency Introduction
JMC 340: Creative Concepting
JMC 345: Audience Experience
JMC 645: Media Arts Capstone

Advanced Elective (Choose one – 3 hours)

JMC 440: Creative Video Producing/Directing
JMC 445: Creative Audio Production and Podcasting

Advanced Electives (3 hours)

JMC 341: Applied Video Editing
JMC 342: Applied Graphic Design
JMC 440: Creative Video Producing/Directing
JMC 445: Creative Audio Production and Podcasting
JMC 450: Project Management
JMC 545: Magazine Publishing
JMC 570: Content Creation & Website Management
JMC 595: Gamification
JMC 610: Advanced Visual Media
JMC 612: Visual Design and Production
JMC 625: Digital Media Tools
JMC 636: Documentary
JMC 670: Intellectual Property in Practice
JMC 695: Critical Issues in Emerging Media

Quick Resources

Media Artists in Demand

The creator economy is experiencing explosive growth and shows no sign of slowing down. Media Arts was developed to fill a need for a new generation of tech-savvy creators needed to fill the surge in jobs in the new world of emerging media.
computer on desk with wireless keyboard and mouse with colorful shapes popping out of the screen

Potential Job Outlook

Media creators are in high demand due to growth in podcasts, videos and blogs. In 2015, fewer than 28,000 job titles included “creator.” As of September 2021, over 123,000 LinkedIn members had “creator” in their job titles. In the first 11 months of 2021, nearly 147,000 premium job postings on LinkedIn carried “creator” in the title. In November, those job posts were up 220 percent. These are just a few of the jobs that are part of the boom:

• Creative copywriter or director

• Social media content creator

• Creative video producer/director

• Digital content creator/strategist

• Audience & brand experience team

• Digital magazine editor and producer

• Influencer/blogger

• Gamification specialist

• Podcast & audio producer/director

• Website & digital content producer

And many more!

A new generation of tech-savvy creators are needed to fill the surge in jobs in the emerging media industry.

Job TitleAvg. Annual SalaryJob Growth Outlook
Art Director$97,27011% (faster than average)

Web Developers and Digital Designers

$77,200

13% (faster than average)

Producers and Directors$76,40024% (much faster than average)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021

 

 


Outside the Classroom

Students in Media Arts can further flex their creativity by joining one of our student media organizations or by participating in JSchool Tech workshops to learn Adobe programs.
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