SMC Annual Report Fall 2025

About the Student Media Center

The VCU Student Media Center, part of the Division of Student Affairs, supports eight student-run media outlets serving the VCU community and keeping students, faculty, staff, alumni and fans informed, engaged and entertained. Student media organizations active in the 2024-2025 academic year were:

Amendment, a literary magazine focused on social progress

Annum Arcanum, a fiction journal and our newest student media publication

The Commonwealth Times student newspaper and student news website

Emanata, a student comics journal

Ink Magazine, a general interest, arts and culture magazine

Pwatem, an undergraduate literary magazine

River City Fashion, a student-led fashion publication

WVCW Radio online radio

“ Getting involved with the Student Media programs at VCU has been an integral part of my VCU experience that has fundamentally altered my academic and professional goals for the better. Getting involved with the VCU been integral of VCU has altered academic and “

Involvement

• 709 students published and on the air

• 171 additional students attending SMC or student media org workshops and events

• 232 students interviewed for The Commonwealth Times

• 2,231 students in one or more of the SMC RamsConnect groups

Publications and programming

17 issues of the CT in print, plus weekly online updates, including 884 articles, infographics, illustrations, comics and photos by student contributors and editors. Print issues had a 91% average pickup rate.

Two print issues of Ink Magazine plus 17 online articles featuring the work of 61 student contributors and editors.

The Pacemaker Award-winning Amendment magazine, with rr students’ fiction, non-fiction, poetry and art included.

The SPJ Award-winning Emanata comics journal, with 66 students’ work included (a 30% increase from students published last year).

The College Media Association Apple Award-winning Pwatem literary and art journal, and its fall chapbook Rabble, featuring poetry, prose and art from 66 students.

More than 1,200 hours of live radio hosted by 132 student DJs and guests, plus 16 live basketball games (including live coverage from the A-10 and NCAA men’s basketball tournaments) and a seven-episode podcast.

Seven video interviews (including Geese, Wheatus and Saxsquatch), two Home Invasion performances and one Nails on a Chalkboard performance for WVCW’s YouTube page.

The second issue of the Associated Collegiate Press award-winning Annum Arcanum fiction journal featuring the work of nine students.

The second issue of the annual River City Fashion lookbook featuring the work of 37 students.

The extremely popular Bagel Wednesday and Pizza Friday events, workshops and collaborations with student organizations and academic departments

Advertising and community service

Advertising sales this year: $21,076.80

National clients: $2,031.40 (Amtrak, Publix, ASM Global, Warby Parker)

Plus large display racks on campus: $2,800.00

Local clients: $3,572.45 (Byrd Theatre, Sweet Spot, Buffalo Exchange, Altria, Virginia Museum of History and Culture)

Local trade-in-kind value $3,260.00 (Nate’s Bagels, Mellow Mushroom)

On-campus clients

VCU departments and divisions: $10,500.66 (Libraries, School of Business, daVinci Center, RecWell, Counseling, Wilder School, etc.)

Student organizations: $424.00 (Hillel, Pace Center, Cru, etc.)

Discounts given in service to VCU community: $12,138.74

Awards

Student Media Center organizations earned 59 awards this year including:

The first-place Associated Collegiate Press award for Best Comic Strip (for The Fib Show by Dylan Hostetter, featured in The Commonwealth Times)

The SMC provides unique and more handson opportunities for interests that aren’t commonly given in our college classes and job experiences. We get the chance to explore an organization that provides various roles, events and general happenings to then build a community with people with a mutual drive.

One each for Emanata, Ink and The Commonwealth Times 10 14 5 12 8 6 3

Six Associated Collegiate Press Best-of-Show awards

Including Best Literary/Art magazine Second Place for Annum Arcanum (their debut issue), Third Place for Amendment and Fourth Place for Pwatem

Eight Associated Collegiate Press Clips and Clicks awards

Newspaper and magazine page design and cover design for Ink and The Commonwealth Times

Twelve College Media Association Pinnacle awards

Including First Place in Periodic Newspaper of the Year for The Commonwealth Times, and First Place for Best Comic Strip (again for The Fib Show), plus recognition for design, photography and diversity coverage for Amendment, Emanata and The Commonwealth Times

Five College Media Association Apple awards

Including Second Place for Best Newspaper for The Commonwealth Times

14 Virginia Press Association awards

Including seven First Place honors — Sports Column, photography and design categories — and one Best in Show for Illustration for The Commonwealth Times

Ten Society of Professional Journalists regional awards

Including seven category winners that will move on to the national competition for Amendment and The Commonwealth Times

Three Best of News Design Creative Competition awards

“ Feedback on reporting quality for The Commonwealth Times

Every VCU student, faculty and staff member interviewed for The Commonwealth Times was contacted via email to take an anonymous follow-up survey, usually within the week the article was published, to assess reporters on accuracy and conscientiousness with the interviewee. The response rate for students was about 16%, and the response rate for faculty and staff was about 30%. Reporters and editors followed up with the interviewees who said their quotations or characterization were inaccurate (if the responder chose to include their email address) and were able to make corrections in the online versions of the stories when appropriate.

A few comments from students who responded:

I really enjoyed being interviewed by [Reporter], it was not stressful at all and I felt very comfortable to share my opinions. In addition, it was very professional and organized.

Among faculty and staff, 100% agreed that the reporter they spoke with was “respectful and conscientious,” and 89.5% agreed that their quotations and characterizations were accurate.

A few comments from students who responded:

I really enjoyed being interviewed by [Reporter], it was not stressful at all and I felt very comfortable to share my opinions. In addition, it was very professional and organized.

It was nice getting my voice heard.

I think [Reporter] did a great job capturing what I shared with him. Not only me but the other two people that were interviewed.

A few comments from faculty and staff who responded:

Among students, 97.4% agreed that the reporter they spoke with was “respectful and conscientious,” and 92.3% agreed that their quotations and characterizations were accurate.

97.4% and and and characterizations were accurate.

“ “ “ “

[Reporter] was an excellent and well-informed interviewer. His questions were thoughtful, and they provoked detailed, carefully considered answers. Thank you!

Happy to see the various voices included!

I enjoyed the opportunity to share my ideas and support journalism on this topic. Feel free to reach out with other education-related topics.

I always enjoy getting questions from Commonwealth Times journalists. There have been several journalists who have asked me about student housing issues over the last couple of years and so I wonder if there’s an opportunity for some larger piece to be written.

KPIs and assessment highlights

of students involved agree or strongly agree that student media organizations at VCU are student-driven, student-led and student-run. of students involved agree or strongly agree that working on student media projects requires them to integrate skills they learned elsewhere (in class, at jobs/internships, etc.) with skills they learned through work at the SMC. 95% 99% 92%

of students involved agree or strongly agree that they feel a sense of belonging being involved with student media.

Alumni careers

SMC alumni are working all over the country, including at: USA Today, Axios, The Martin Agency, Mother Jones magazine, NASA, National Public Radio, Virginia Living Magazine, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia Public Media, Meta, Richmond Magazine, SiriusXM, The L.A. Times, The Virginian-Pilot, WGN-TV Chicago, CNN, WRIC-TV and WTVR-TV in Richmond, and more.