Journalism Students Launch Multi-Media Story Sharing Project

As a project of the Division of Television and Digital Media at the School of Communication and Media, students of Prof. Thomas Franklin’s Multimedia Production class present Montclair State You: One Campus, Many Perspectives.

Presented in the form of video interviews accompanied with an extensive image gallery on the self-titled website montclairstateyou.com, the project provides and inside look into the divergent perspectives from a cross-section of students on campus. Inspired by the Humans of New York project, these first-person stories offer a unique and honest insight into student life, from working mothers to campus athletes. 

Each student featured in this presentation has shared anecdotes based on the challenges and opportunities they face as student: dealing with complex issues of gender identity, racial & ethnic disharmony, commuter stress, managing a busy workload while working to financially support the cost of their educations. Their personal stories are meant to inspire peers who may face similar issues and to share their experiences with the campus community and beyond. 

“The project was birthed out of a meeting where my classmates and I voted on issues that we most wanted to cover on one final project,” says student and editor-in-chief Jared Greenhouse who worked closely with the project’s team of students to equally represent all students on campus on the all-inclusive site. “I’m very proud of my classmates’ collective effort in the creation of this project,” stated Greenhouse who explained that this project gave him and his fellow students the opportunity to and responsibility to create a true and powerful storytelling project.

"My favorite part of this project was being able to successfully tell the students’ stories and gain insight on their experiences at Montclair State. The Montclair State You site showcases the diverse Montclair State community and what the university really means to them as a student. Hopefully more students and faculty come across and interact with the site and add their own unique experiences they’ve had at the university as well," says web editor of the project Melissa Negron whose work was integral to the site, choosing the template and format content of the website, in addition to creating video content. Negron and her classmates worked diligently to present this project both as a learning experience and opportunity to connect with all members of campus and beyond. 

The project uses various mediums students learned during the semester, such as photography, video shooting, editing, info graphics, web design, and social media. "It was a team effort where students took on specific roles, and I think the final result is an excellent example of multimedia storytelling, an interesting cross-sampling of the Montclair State experience from student perspectives," says professor Thomas Franklin who taught and supervised the students on the semester-long project.

Visit Montclair State You to watch videos and photo galleries of students at Montclair State, and interact with the project with the following social media sites:

Twitter hashtag: #Montclair State You and tweet at: @MSYou441
Instagram: montclairstateyou
Facebook: Montclair State You: One Campus, Many Perspectives