The West Georgian and WUTV Merge to Form One News Platform Focused on Multi-Platform Journalism

The University of West Georgia’s School of Communication, Film, and Media has afforded students the opportunity to learn through industry standard work in award winning collegiate media programs in broadcast journalism, radio, public relations and filmmaking. The university refers to these programs as experimental learning labs; focused on the application of SCFM’s curriculum. Out of the labs offered, the oldest running are The West Georgian newspaper first published in 1934, and WUTV which opened its studio in 1971. The two have maintained the goal of creating industry ready employable students through hands-on learning experiences. 

With the role of print journalism and broadcast news changing to meet the ever-evolving demand for technology, SCFM chose to merge both The West Georgian and WUTV into one lab to better prepare students who aspire to work in the current industry. 

“We have been thinking about this step forward, quite frankly, for several years because in the industry, journalism industry broadly, there have been, it’s an older word that’s been used, convergence of. And really [standard journalism] becomes multi-platform journalism,” said SCFM Dean, Dr. Bradford Yates. 

Both programs have been evolving on their own in the past few years to reflect changes in the professional world. Pew Research analyzes the steady decline in print journalism sales since 2000. As a response to that, The West Georgian ended their partnership with Carrollton’s Times-Georgian that provided their print newspaper copies in 2019. WUTV has worked the same way, publishing YouTube content along with their 24/7 channel. The programs’ willingness to evolve to meet their audience has allowed students a more diverse way to report stories across several different outlets. 

“The West Georgian having transitioned to fully online several years ago, it’s kind of laid the groundwork in the foundation to move forward toward the different platforms. We can now do video, we can do audio only if we want, obviously, you can still use pictures, graphics. And it just was one of things where it takes some time in academics to move things forward,” said Yates. 

Coincidentally, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Atlanta’s most popular newspaper, announced in late August 2025 that their last print edition would be on Dec. 31. According to Yates, ith the SCFM journalism merger having been decided just months before that, it was like a sign that this was the right decision.  

“One of the interesting things that has gone on is the AJC announced about 3 weeks to a month ago that they’re not gonna do their print edition after December 31st,” said Yates. “And so I actually sent Miss Barnes a note and said, it looks like we, SCFM, WUTV, The West Georgian, are mirroring the industry, even if we have been slightly delayed. So, with that I felt good, she felt good about this transition to step forward. 

“So. . . stars aligning, you know, silly comments like that, but it seemed like the right time,” continued Yates. 

As a part of the merger, Dr. John Sewell has stepped down from his position as The West Georgian advisor, a title that he held for 13 years. Instead, Sonya Barnes, the General Manager of WUTV has stepped up to manage both labs, fully taking The West Georgian under her wing. 

“Miss Sonya Barnes has background in student newspaper oversight at her previous institution, and of course, she’s been at WUTV for 12, 13 years herself,” said Yates. “She actually really was a catalyst and I had talked about it with her, and the next thing I know, she was proposing this come together, this connection between the two platforms.

“It worked out, and we finally said, rip the band-aid, let’s go. And it’s going well, even though we’re very early in the process I’m very pleased,” continued Yates. “Miss Barnes and I have met several times to talk through it, and every time the two of us leave the meeting we were just even more excited because we see the opportunities that we can provide students, and we can see how we can grow.”  

The next steps for the merger will be a rebranding of both labs, including a name change to fully morph the programs into one. Students will also be able to learn more aspects of multimedia journalism to make well rounded employees ready for all a wide array of industry opportunities. This will involve training in aspects of both broadcast and print journalism to match the wide array of possibilities digital content creation can offer.

“[Digital content creation] has a huge umbrella. . . that has a journalism focus, because there’s also the digital content creation where it’s your Instagram reels, your TikTok, and the more entertaining pieces,” said Yates.

Like most programs, SCFM constantly has to evolve to meet industry standards and concepts. While the academic side is extremely important, the most beneficial form of teaching is through SCFM’s experimental learning labs that have given the school an award winning and ACEJMC accredited education program. 

“So essentially in our courses and then in the experimental learning labs, we make the best effort that we can, we give the best effort that we can, to provide the training that will help students get jobs in the field,” said Yates. “One of the phrases that my colleague and [The West Georgian’s] former supervisor, Dr. John Sewell, he said, your career starts here. And your career really does start here.” 

SCFM provides education from qualified instructors who not only have studied mass media, but also worked as professionals in the industry, that know first-hand what it’s like to write, film, report, edit and all the other ins and outs of media production.

“Our courses teach you about the inverted pyramid, teach you about ethical reporting, teaches you about who the audience is and how you need write to that audience. . .There’s lots and lots of examples of how the experiential learning that happens, which is connected to the classroom, is affected and it is mirroring and supporting what is happening in the industry,” said Yates. “So, lots and lots of student success that’s happening because we have the curriculum that is connected to the experiential learning labs that all students have an opportunity to be a part of.” 

As a response to the changing industry, and as a part of the merger, SCFM has changed The West Georgian office into the Digital Journalism Innovation lab. Its new purpose is not only to be contained to The West Georgian, but to work as a space for students to learn evolving forms of journalism that combine with more digital content. 

 “We talked about the digital age, but there’s that innovation piece, and that’s the part where [we’re] bringing the two entities together,” said Yates regarding the Digital Journalism Innovation Lab. “We’re trying to find what’s the next step, what’s the way to cover news that people are going to actually consume the news in on a regular basis.”

For students preparing for a job in the industry, it can be considerably worrying to see the demand for digital content rise at the rate it is. According to a study from Pew Research Center, less than 10% of adults consume their news through print media, and more than 65% say they most often consume their news through digital devices. With the decline in print, many people are continuing to lose their jobs and it can be a scary thing to step into an industry that appears to be in active decline. SCFM’s goal is to change and adapt their own curriculums in order to create students who have skills in all aspects of the industry so they are prepared for any change that may happen.

“They used to call a triple threat for someone who could sing, dance and act in theatrical world. And I think in many ways, we’re creating those folks that have triple threats, audio, video and online print,” said Yates. “So, my true belief is that we are providing the knowledge and skills that students need because we see success from our alumni.”