VCU Student Media Center Annual Report
About the Student Media Center
The VCU Student Media Center, part of the Division of Student Affairs, supports eight student-run media outlets serving the VCU community and keeping them informed, engaged and entertained. Student media organizations active in the 2023-2024 academic year were:
• The Commonwealth Times student newspaper and student news website
• WVCW online radio
• Ink Magazine, a general interest, arts and culture magazine
• Amendment, a literary magazine focused on social progress
• Pwatem, an undergraduate literary magazine
• Emanata, a student comics journal
• River City Fashion, a student-led online fashion publication
• Annum Arcanum, a fiction journal and our newest student media publication
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I can’t stress enough how the Student Media Center has MADE my education. There is no better outlet on campus for expressing yourself creatively. Truly, there is something for everyone at the SMC.
Involvement
• 678 students published and on the air — a 29% increase from last year
• 889 students attending SMC or student media org workshops and events
• 182 students interviewed for The Commonwealth Times
Publications and programming
• 16 issues of the Commonwealth Times in print, plus 60 additional online articles by more than 140 students (plus photos and illustrations to go with them).
• Two print issues of Ink Magazine plus 27 online articles by more than 140 student contributors and editors.
• The Pacemaker Award-winning Amendment magazine, with 30 students’ fiction, non-fiction, poetry and art included.
• The SPJ Award-winning Emanata comics journal, with 66 students’ work included (25% are not Communication Arts students).
• The College Media Association Apple Award-winning Pwatem literary and art journal, and its fall chap book Rabble, featuring poetry, prose and art from 54 students.
• More than 1,775 hours of live radio hosted by 173 student hosts, plus 12 live basketball games (including live coverage from the A-10 tournament).
• The inaugural issues of the Annum Arcanum fiction journal and the River City Fashion lookbook.
• Nine Chalkboard Sessions and 15 video interviews by WVCW (including musicians from Gwar and The Violent Femmes).
• Nine workshops including zine-making, flash fiction and more.
Advertising and community service
Total advertising sales this year: $29,288.12
National clients: $8,235.79 (Amazon, Uber Eats, NextGen, Wall Street Journal, etc.)
Large display racks on campus: $3,800.00
Local clients: $4,021.45 (Sweet Spot, Nate’s Bagels, Peak Experiences, Byrd Theatre, The James, etc.)
Nonprofit clients: $2,015.27 (Poe Museum, Virginia Museum of History and Culture, American Hiking Society, etc.)
VCU departments and divisions: $10,757.36 (Libraries, School of Business, da Vinci Center, RecWell, Counseling, Wilder School, etc.)
Student organizations: $358.25 (NABA, Pace Center, Crew, etc.)
Discounts given in service to VCU community: $14,029.67
It’s a great way to get your voice heard as a student. It is also a great way to create portfolio work and gain professional/industry skills that you may otherwise not be taught in classes. It’s a great place to meet long-time like-minded friends. “ ”
It’s a great place to get real world experience under your belt way ahead of the game. There’s room for growth, failure is OK, and everyone seems to want each other to exceed and do great things. “ ”
Awards
• Student Media Center organizations earned 59 awards this year (a 55% increase over last year), including an Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker award for Amendment and:
• Four Associated Collegiate Press Best-of-Show awards and five ACP individual awards.
— Comics, photography, magazine covers, illustration and more
• Five Associated Collegiate Press Clips and Clicks awards
— Newspaper and magazine page design, photography and more
• Ten College Media Association Pinnacle awards
— Ad design, lit mag, page design, comic strips, magazine website and more
• Five College Media Association Apple awards
— First places in magazine and opinion column
• 12 Virginia Press Association awards
— Eight first places — Editorial writing, sports writing, illustration, breaking news photography, page design — one Best in Show
• Nine Society of Professional Journalists regional awards
— First places for magazine, cultural criticism, illustration and a category sweep for Campus Reporting
• Five College Media Business and Advertising awards
• Three Society for News Design awards
It’s a great place to get real world experience under your belt way ahead of the game. There’s room for growth, failure is OK, and everyone seems to want each other to exceed and do great things.
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Feedback on reporting quality for The Commonwealth Times
This year, we implemented a small assessment project for improving reporting quality and accuracy. Every VCU student interviewed for The Commonwealth Times was contacted via email for a follow-up survey for the entire academic year, usually within the week the article was published. We started a separate survey for faculty and staff interviewed in spring 2024.
Overwhelmingly, responses have indicated that student reporters are doing an excellent job. Among students interviewed by CT reporters, 100% of respondents agreed that the reporters were “respectful and conscientious” and that the interviewees’ quotation and characterization in the article were accurate. Among staff and faculty interviewed, 100% of respondents agreed that reporters met both goals.
Alumni careers
SMC alumni are working all over the country, including at: the L.A. Times, USA Today, Axios, Louisville Courier Journal, Virginia Living Magazine, Richmond Times Dispatch, Virginia Public Media, Meta, Richmond Magazine, Spotify, The Virginian-Pilot, WRIC ABC News 8, CNN and more.
and assessment highlights
of students involved agree or strongly agree that their work with student media requires them to think critically.
of students involved agree or strongly agree that they feel a sense of belonging being involved with student media.
of students involved agree or strongly agree that student media organizations at VCU are student-driven, student-led and student-run.
of students involved in SMC programs are underrepresented minorities, which closely aligns with the university student population percentage of underrepresented minority students of 34%.
of students involved in SMC programs are transfer students, which closely aligns with the university student population percentage of transfer students of 7%.
It’s a great way for students just starting to get involved. As an upperclassman who has had a bit more professional experience, it’s very fun to do ‘on the side,’ continue growing my skills, get productive peer feedback and find new connections. ”
