Facebook isn't really grasping the risk that they face.” 

When I wanted to know more about the three most actively evolving aspects of Communication: Social Media, Journalism and Photography and how that is evolving at SOU, I went to  Associate Professor Erik Palmer. Originally  from Texas, he earned multiple degrees,with significant professional experience to build on. He has twice been honored with Tow-Knight Fellowships in Disruptive Journalism Education and convened with cohorts of Disruptive Fellows at the Online News Association’s 2017 and 2018 conferences in Washington, DC, and Austin, Texas.

We began with his trip to Ghana as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar. During that time he was teaching classes as well as  conducting research relating to the practice of professional photojournalism. Almost as a sidebar, he connected with a self proclaimed group of “comic nerds''.   Yes, all of the American franchises transfer culturally. But there is also a strong community developing an interest in African generated stories. The result is a bump in local publishing and creators, with superheroes that speak to today’s African cultural audience. This is  is a big market and a lot of economic opportunity, as well as a creative opportunity for media with an authentic African voice 

We moved back to SOU and began with the changes in journalism. We discussed the political landscape, business models and changing economic picture.  The career landscape is changing from the old model, in which entry-level reporters often started out by writing obituaries, to a new opportunity to go directly to the key areas of your interest. Today, when you hit the right formula, people care about it and it can be very rewarding.  I was very happy to hear that even a smaller school like SOU  can be at the cutting edge of what's happening in Journalism .

We discussed the pervasive feeling that  there's a toxic or at least unrewarding environment in Social Media. Some people are  dropping out, turning off.  Yet Erik was more optimistic than pessimistic.  He says that Facebook is resistant to changes because Facebook isn't really grasping the risk that they face. Like it or not, social media is not going away. Can Social Media  remain relevant and create a viable business model?

Discussing photography brought up the old-school film cameras versus the new digital and electronic units today. Does equipment drive the content or are we better because of technological advances? SOU had a great tradition of photojournalism.  Erik has redesigned and reinvented several classes. The goal is to motivate students to think of Photography as a craft, not just pushing the  shutter, to develop stories, higher-order skills.

In looking ahead he pointed out that the  “The three primary disciplines in the Comm Program play way above  their weight class”. Our facilities here are excellent, with the Digital Media Center (DMC) as a prime example. The goal is to use the sense of small school innovation in higher education. Get students working together and collaborating in ways that will simulate what they will experience in the real world.

We finished up discussing the challenges in the areas of enrollment  and funding. We are fortunate to  have an exciting group of  younger faculty who have the capacity to embrace the upcoming changes. That means  SOU is nimble enough  to come up with new courses and new programs 

Please feel free to visit his website to see examples of his work.