To prepare students for the responsibilities of inspired leadership and service in the vibrant public discourse that is essential to the health of our nation’s democracy, from the Town Hall to our Nation’s Capital, the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication has for more than two decades provided students with unparalleled experiential and programmatic opportunities.
The Pierce Media Group (PMG) outlets offer students from majors and campuses across the University opportunities to take what they have learned in the classroom, to pull up a chair at the table with the Fitzwater Center’s professional staff and its professional partners, and to collaborate on delivering real-world content and solutions. Students can intern, take general education practicum credits or volunteer with the Fitzwater Center’s award-winning immersive learning opportunities, which keep computers booted, studio lights on, mics hot, and minds sharp year-round.
Since 2008, PoliticsFitzU, the PMG’s political reporting unit, has partnered with regional media—most recently with The Granite State News Collaborative—to cover the road to the White House, which starts in New Hampshire, home of the First-in-the-Nation Primary. Students and faculty from multiple disciplines across campus have worked in the Center, in classes and in the field as credentialed media to cover the Iowa Caucuses, the N.H. Primary, national political conventions, Dixville Notch voting, the November vote and the Presidential Inauguration. PoliticsFitzU also works with The Fitzwater Center’s polling operations and programming which have served as a resource to external constituencies for the study of the relationship between the presidency and the media and of the role of that relationship in the public discourse.
Fitzwater Productions students call the Patterson Television Suite home. Students can develop their own shows or work in master control with the Fitzwater Center staff as they record and edit New Hampshire Public Broadcasting’s “The State We’re In,” an award-winning weekly public affairs show. Or, they might produce public affairs shows, such as Tuesday Briefings, whose recent guests include Noble Laureate Lech Walesa and CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
WFPC-LP 105.3 FM offers students an opportunity to work on air or behind the scenes in the station, or in the podcast studio, producing their own shows or as part of the production crew for several regular podcasts with top-tier professional partners, including: “$100 Plus Mileage,” with Citizens Count; “New Hampshire Uncharted,” with the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute; and “The Legal Impact,” with Laura Knoy, of the Franklin Pierce Law Center.
The National Academy of Television Arts (Emmy) award-winning Ravens Sports Network livestreams every home game for 12 sports—more than 125 last year--to global audiences through FloCollege. RSN has also provided Spanish-language broadcasts for NCAA tournaments for men's and women's soccer.
The output of all these student outlets converge in the PMG’s oldest outlet, The Pierce Arrow. Today a multi-media news operation, The Pierce Arrow works closely with the Granite State News Collaborative, a nationally recognized, award-winning group of more than two dozen media and civic partners, of which the Fitzwater Center is a founding partner. It is also a long-time Community Journalism track sponsor of The Keene Sentinel’s annual Radically Rural Summit, which the Pierce Arrow covers in real time.
While the PMG works directly with Rindge-based students, we are mission-driven to reach far beyond the University. Leveraging our communications media technology, our students and our programming reach global audiences with the Fitzwater Forums; the Tuesday Briefings public affairs series; Constitution Day observances; The Fitzwater Center Honors and The Medallion Lecture; and IndieLens Pop-Up, a national civic engagement initiative sponsored by PBS and ITV.
The 12,000-square-foot comprehensive communications facility includes the Patterson Television Suite, equipped with advanced remote technologies; the Pierce Media Group Content Creation Space, a smaller high-definition studio available for student use 24/7; three high-definition mobile video production units; a radio station and podcast studio; an audio production studio and editing suite; a high-definition video production instructional laboratory, classroom and editing suites; these spaces use Adobe Premiere on a Macintosh platform, provide digital media technology for use in student’s coursework, and and include interactive journalism lab. For further information regarding The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication, contact Director, Kristen D. Nevious, Ph.D.: Fitzwater@franklinpierce.edu