by Zachary Petroff | staff writer
March 24, 2022
An eager crowd of nearly 100 students and faculty were in attendance on Tuesday to watch the anticipated ribbon cutting ceremony of the new state-of-the-art Broadcast Center. While the new Broadcast Center has been operational since late last year, Duquesne President Ken Gormley, alongside 105.9 The X’s Abby Krizner, formally introduced the Union Broadcast Center by utilizing the facility to broadcast live in the Africa Room and on the Praxis Magazine YouTube channel.
After the ribbon cutting ceremony concluded, attendees were able to take a tour of both the main studio and control room. Director for the Center for Emerging and Innovative Media Don Maue provided insight on the technological capabilities that the newest media center can provide to the student body.
“This space is a system of multiple pieces of equipment that all work together, and so at the heart of it is the switcher known as the Tricaster Two Elite. The Tricaster Two Elite is the same piece of technology that every Major League Baseball, every National Hockey League, and every National Football League and every National Basketball association have. It is their tool that they use for their broadcast,” Maue said.
The Union Broadcast center is located on the third floor of the Union overlooking A-Walk where the clear glass gives anyone walking by a clear view of the broadcast center. The impressive space resembles that of a live news station.
The control center is equally impressive, filled with brand new equipment and technology. The small sound-proof room mirrors that of a professional production with eight monitors and two giant screens that display both broadcast centers in the Union and College Hall.
Chief studio engineer and senior, Joseph Phillipe, said the abilities that the Union Broadcast Center has is more than its technological capabilities.
“The thing that I found most valuable about college isn’t that it is about academics, it is about the connections you make and the practical experiences you get while you are here, and you get both of those things in this studio,” Phillipe said. “You get the state-of-the-art practical experience you’re not going to get anywhere else.”
Representatives of various media and communications organizations such as Duquesne Student Radio, Duquesne Student Television and the Institute for Ethics and Integrity for Journalism had tables set up in the Africa Room. The groups were there to advocate for student engagement through their various programs. The broadcast center provides an ample opportunity for the storytellers of the university to work on and distribute their craft.
“Media isn’t just broadcast. It is definitely print. It is digital. It’s any way you can tell a story,” said Tara Bradley-Steck, the directing fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Integrity for Journalism.
The station manager for Duquesne Student Radio, Jade Zalevysky, has had experience working with the Union Broadcast Center. In February, WDSR along with DSTV hosted the “Sweet Streaming” event that showcased student talent live on YouTube.
“I feel like the Broadcast Center is really great because it’s a union of the two, whereas even if you’re just doing radio and there’s no cameras on you, students are still able to walk by and see you, which is what I feel like something that WDSR never had before,” said Zalevysky.
Zalevysky is planning for WDSR to have more opportunities to utilize the Union Broadcast Center for future radio shows.
The center, along with other communication and media organizations, is open for all students regardless of their educational concentration. These resources are designed to encourage creativity and explore various avenues of technology and media.
“The most impressive piece of equipment in this space is a student’s open mind. Nothing can surpass the power of an open mind and students thinking that almost anything is possible,” Maue said. “The way you learn this is not by reading a book, you learn this by having a reason to learn it and that reason is some message that you feel so important to get out. If you have a sense of what you’re doing is important for either a sense of value or a sense of purpose, you will learn anything to get that message out.”
