Maybe you’ve seen it as you waited in line at Einstein Bros. Bagel for your breakfast before your rush to class. You might have seen it while walking into Sykes to pick up your books for the semester. Perhaps you caught a glimpse of it as you cross through Merion.
The Quad Weather Minute flashes across the screen with today’s weather and a look into the forecast for tomorrow. Although it may seem like the Weather Minute has always been around, the reality is that it’s a fairly new addition to Quad journalism. In fact, it wasn’t all that long ago that Quad Mobile Journalism began at West Chester University. Two years ago the only Quad mobile segment to be found was weather short. According to Quad Mobile Journalism talent and third-year student Lauren Alexander, the Weekend Weather Update segment was originally filmed on a tiny portable green screen in the Quad office. In today’s mobile technology driven world, it seems surprising that mobile journalism would be so new. What isn’t as surprising, however, is how much mobile journalism on campus has grown.
According to communication professor and Quad advisor Dr. Philp Thompsen, Quad Mobile Journalism began filming its first segment, Weekend Weather Update, after receiving a mobile journalism tech fee grant in late 2014. Although initially a small branch of The Quad, mobile journalism steadily grew after moving its filming location to the Digital Media Center in Brandywine Hall last spring. With upgraded technology and a full green screen, the Weekend Weather Update, hosted by Lauren Alexander, began to expand into a 3-day segment simply called Weather Outlook.
Fast forward to last fall and the mobile journalism branch of The Quad had expanded its reach even further. Under the guidance of Dr. Thompsen and new mobile journalism producer Jared Montano, the Weather Outlook expanded into a daily segment known as the Daily Weather Outlook. With a new cast of mobile journalism talent for each day of the week, including Devon Mondillo, Syeda Abbas, and Lauren Alexander, the Daily Weather Outlook sought to keep students around campus as up to date as possible.
In an effort to connect with even more students, Quad Mobile Journalism also began to explore other aspects of student life last semester. The first step taken to help increase the reach of Quad Mobile Journalism came in the form of a weekly sports segment, known as the Quad Sports Minute. Hosted by Jerome Ambrose, the Quad Sports Minute follows WCU sports in a rundown of scores and upcoming games in less than a minute.
Soon after, the Quad Mobile Journalism office sought to provide students with a better way to stay up to date with events happening on campus, even while on the go. With the addition of the Quad News Minute, hosted by Jared Montano, a weekly update was given each Tuesday outlining WCU related news and events in under a minute.
With the expansion of the Quad Mobile Journalism office, the future is looking bright.
With the addition of the Quad Diversity Minute this semester, Quad Mobile Journalism now features four “Minute” segments, including an updated weather segment.
As we move toward a mobile technology-based future, Quad Mobile Journalism shows no signs of slowing down and continues to grow rapidly.
A far cry from the early days of using a tiny green screen and a portable camera, Quad Mobile Journalism seeks to give students quick and reliable access to what is happening on their campus each day.
As technology expands, it should be very exciting to see what the future has in store for Quad Mobile Journalism.
One thing is for sure though, Quad Mobile Journalism is here to stay.
Jared Montano is a student who can be reached at JM782625@wcupa.edu.