SDSU Student Media Follows Larger Journalism Trends
When a prospective student or concerned parent asks if journalism is dying, Joshua Westwick '01/M.S. '03 has an answer.
“The need to disseminate accurate, fair information is more necessary now than it probably ever has been,” the director of South Dakota State University’s School of Communication and Journalism said. “But, like every other industry, journalism and media are changing and evolving.”
Jim Helland '86 /M.S. '12, assistant professor of practice, got his bachelor’s and master’s from SDSU. When he left, he said he knew how to write stories and shoot photos.
“Today, I teach a class called multimedia journalism where we cover long-form stories, voiceover, radio, graphics, podcasting, social media and more. So many things that didn’t exist when I graduated,” he said.
Now in the digital and multimedia age, the journalism curriculum at SDSU has evolved with the times — and so has student media.
Two years of changes
Five years ago, The Collegian came under the School of Communication and Journalism’s umbrella in an advisory capacity, meaning it kept its independence.
At the time, student media consisted of the newspaper, website and the KSDJ radio station. One of the first big student-led changes to The Collegian came a few years later.
Professor Rocky Dailey '94 would have his students write, record and edit a weekly news broadcast as part of a class. Since the class was only offered in the spring, the broadcast was dormant most of the year.
“Every time I taught it, the students in class would ask, ‘Why aren’t we doing this all the time?’ And I said we can, but we need student engagement. This has to be student-driven,” Dailey said.
When the curriculum switched to a multimedia focus, the need for a newscast could no longer be ignored. In 2024, student media answered the call.
The Collegian Report was originally a short broadcast put on by a small team of three students. One of their recent internships helped get it off the ground.
Emily Attrill '26 interned at KTIV in Sioux City over the summer of 2024, learning to direct newscasts. She was the inaugural broadcast director. Annie Witt and Ella Stiefvater anchored and produced The Collegian Report.
Dailey helped advise the broadcasters.
“Those first newscasts were two to five minutes at most, and a lot of them were what we call readers,” he said. “It’s just the anchor on set who shortened a story and read it on camera.”
By the end of spring 2026, the newscasts grew to 10 to 15 minutes long and started including interviews, videos and graphics.
Attrill brought something else special to the table: She was an advertising student with a strong relationship with The Collegian’s top-notch advertising team. They introduced sponsored segments, ad breaks and a professional wardrobe from Trendz in downtown Brookings.
Emily DeCock was editor-in-chief during The Collegian Report’s second year. She said she did every role possible with the newscast, filling in as needed as anchor, weather reporter, coach for new students, camera operator, audio engineer and more.
My goal was to have a bird’s-eye view. Getting all those different experiences is good for any young journalist, which is what The Collegian does. It gives students the opportunity to learn a variety of skills.
— Emily DeCock
Other growth opportunities
There were other notable changes in 2024, starting with a rebrand from The Collegian to Collegian Media.
“The year I was editor, we went to a weekly newscast and a weekly newspaper printing,” DeCock said. “I think we became more focused on multimedia, same with the news landscape today. We changed with the times.”
The weekly Collegian Report grew longer. The Collegian’s website was updated more regularly. And students started an e-newsletter that arrived in students’ inboxes every week.
In August 2025, The Brookings Register stopped publishing for more than a week as operations shut down without notice and a new owner was sought. DeCock and her staff made the decision to cover more community news to provide local news to everyone living in and around Brookings.
DeCock credits a lot of the growth to the rest of the Collegian Media team.
“We all showed up for each other and didn’t quit. I was so proud. I felt like a mother hen,” she said.
The team effort massively paid off in 2026 when Collegian Media won eight media awards at the Midwest Journalism Conference.
Students were recognized in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Region 6 Mark of Excellence Awards and the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association’s Eric Sevareid Awards. They also earned finalist nominations at the Upper Midwest Emmy Foundation’s Student Production Awards.
Several individual students won recognition, including:
- Emily Attrill
- Faren Bebeau
- Brooke Burnette '26
- Brayden Byers '26
- Izzy Cox
- Ryann Davis
- Emily DeCock
- Willem Lim
- Annie Witt
“We give a voice to the students. I think a lot of students don’t know we’re here for them and here for free. We’re fully independent from the university,” DeCock said.
Open to All
When student media joined the journalism school, the organization not only gained access to expert advisers but also to more journalism students.
The School of Communication and Journalism started requiring its students to fulfill two credits of practicum, which can be filled through participation in Collegian Media.
Helland is excited about that change.
“I always tell students that I wish I could tell you I'm the greatest teacher ever and after 15 weeks in my newswriting and reporting class, you're going to be a great reporter. But we all know that's not going to happen. They need to practice, and they need to get experience. That's what student media allows them to do,” he said.
Student media is open to all students, not just journalism or communications majors. They’ve had students pursuing degrees in aviation, construction, nursing, pre-veterinary science and sport management.
They can all benefit from the experience, developing professional skills in interviewing, data analysis, research, writing skills, critical thinking and storytelling.
More changes ahead
Ryann Davis was news director under DeCock. She estimates the editorial team worked 20 to 30 hours a week on the newspaper alone, including late nights every Tuesday before they had to send the paper out for publication.
Davis is editor-in-chief this year.
“I think that this year and last year were transition years, especially with forming Collegian Media,” she said. “Now, we all have a better idea of how to work together under one team in this Collegian Media bubble.”
Her goals for the future include doing a live Collegian Report, rebranding KSDJ as Collegian Radio and increasing Collegian Media’s social media presence.
Headed into the new school year, she most looked forward to holding the first Collegian printed this fall.
“Once that first issue printed, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we did this.’ I felt really proud of all of us,” Davis said.
Attrill graduated from SDSU in 2026. She’s now a technical media producer at KTIV, where she had an internship. She will continue following along.
“We left behind a great group of people who I know are going to do an amazing job,” Attrill said. “I’m excited to see where they’re going to go.”
DeCock graduated last spring and is now a reporter with South Dakota News Watch. She’s looking forward to more changes.
“It’s interesting, because if you ask someone on the street, 75% of people would say journalism is a dying field, but we’ve continued to grow,” DeCock said. “Collegian Media is a beacon of hope.”
Written by Ellen Koester, University Marketing & Communications
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