The Unique Partnership between University and Media

What is our purpose? Why are we here?

These are big questions that we all must answer at some point in our lives. But they don’t just apply to our individual identities—they also apply to our organization as a whole. And in the midst of our cultural climate today, it’s even more important to clearly articulate who we are and what we want to accomplish as University of Northwestern – St. Paul and Northwestern Media.

And the ultimate question we must ask ourselves, as President Corbin Hoornbeek posed, is this: “What difference does this organization make in the world?”

His response? “If we can’t answer this question, we don’t have a right to exist.” As Northwestern moves into the future, dedicated to advancing the Gospel, we seek to deepen our foundation on Christ and emphasize what makes Northwestern unique. One of those unique attributes is the partnership between University and Media.

Northwestern Media is a network of radio stations spanning across the Midwest and beyond. The first station, 98.5 KTIS out of the Twin Cities, began in 1949 under the leadership of Billy Graham, Northwestern’s second president. Now, the network has expanded to include 15 radio stations, each with its own staff and on-air personalities, listenership, and role in their communities, but all operating under the same mission: “to lead people to Christ and nurture believers in their spiritual growth through Christ-centered media.”

This unique relationship between University and Media means capitalizing on the strength of this partnership and the unique opportunities we have as a result. Just one of these areas is in student worker positions and internships. Current students at Northwestern can work as interns or student workers for stations like 98.5 KTIS, Faith Radio, or even for the network as a whole in a variety of areas such as on-air production, listener engagement, marketing, and more. In each role, students get to learn about and practice their field of work in an encouraging yet challenging environment. For some students, these roles even result in full-time positions at Northwestern Media or one of the stations in the network.

But even before full-time opportunities appear on the horizon, Northwestern Media can help students discover what they wanted to do with their careers after college.

For Keegan Goldfarb, Morning Show Producer at 98.5 KTIS, his internship at 98.5 KTIS changed the trajectory of his college major—and his career. After starting at the University, he changed his major several times, trying to figure out what his passions were. But it was his experience at his internship that caused him to pursue a degree and career in the radio industry. He stated, “I never knew I was going to go into radio until I had my internship with 98.5 KTIS.”

Marissa Biancardi, Marketing Operations Manager at Northwestern Media, has a similar story. She discovered Northwestern Media when one of her professors invited employees from 98.5 KTIS and Northwestern Media to speak in one of her classes. From those class sessions, she discovered her passion for media and turned that passion into student worker positions in a variety of roles, including voice tracking at Life 96.5 in Sioux Falls, listener engagement at 98.5 KTIS, and marketing at Northwestern Media before beginning her full-time role on the Northwestern Media marketing team after graduating from Northwestern. She shared:

“Coming into college, I had no idea what I wanted to do; I just knew that I was passionate about ministry … and so I followed that into a ministry degree. And then I tried to find an outlet … beyond just serving in the church. So when I found out about [Northwestern] Media, that’s ministry on the air or behind the scenes … that was where I could take my passion for ministry and then combine it with my skillset.”

There are countless more stories just like these, and all of them are possible because of the special relationship between both parts of Northwestern and their unique influence on the lives and careers of students. Through the support of professors, mentorship from employees at Northwestern Media, and real-world experience in the field, students gain not only practical knowledge but also encouragement in their life and in their faith walk.

As Professor Mark Seignious, chair of the Communications Department at Northwestern, put it, the University is the beginning of a student’s path to articulating how they will use their gifts to contribute to society and spread the Gospel, and Media is one avenue for them to do that. He said, “The University is about input and intake and preparing, and then Northwestern Media is the outpouring of all that you’ve learned.”

And at Northwestern Media, student workers get to do more than check email and get coffee. At the University, students are discovering more about their possible career path, and at Northwestern Media, they actually get real experience in their field doing some of the same tasks they would do in a full-time job. As a result, students are better equipped to enter the workplace, and as Matt Deane, 98.5 KTIS Station Manager, stated, student workers provide a “fresh perspective” on their areas of work, inspiring outside-the-box thinking and leadership in the station as a whole. As he said, “it’s a win-win situation” for the students and 98.5 KTIS.

The mission of the University is “to provide Christ-centered higher education equipping students to grow intellectually and spiritually, to serve effectively in their professions, and to give God-honoring leadership in the home, church, community, and world.” And working at Northwestern “can be a fulfillment of that in a unique way,” as Dave St. John, Senior Director, Media Markets at Northwestern Media, articulated.

So of course, what University and Media do is not the same, but both pursue the same higher calling, and that calling unifies us and draws us closer together as a college, a media organization, and as a community.

St. John stated, “Northwestern’s opportunity as a media organization [is] to be able to bring the good news of Jesus to our city, our state, our country, and our world. A key part of that is … providing opportunities for the next generation to do it and to live out their faith, and I believe Northwestern is a unique place to do that.”

But the journey doesn’t end with getting a full-time job. In fact, it’s the gateway into even more growth, both vocationally and spiritually. Because learning isn’t just restricted to college classes and final projects; it’s trying new things, stretching yourself further than you ever thought you could go, asking for advice, and learning as you go—even when it’s difficult.

Aaron Trost, aka Toast, Creative Services Director and Morning Show Host at 107.1 KSLT in Rapid City, has experienced that firsthand. After getting this job and moving to Rapid City after graduating from Northwestern, he found himself immersed in a culture that celebrates that growth.

“I wanted my first job out of college to be a place I could continue to learn and grow, fail, try again, and keep honing my craft as I continue growing closer to Jesus,” he shared. “107.1 KSLT is definitely a place where I am challenged to grow but am free to try new things!”

This partnership between University and Media is just one example of what sets us apart as a unified Northwestern. When we capitalize on our strengths, we are better able to serve our students and communities as a whole. As Deane shared, this partnership really does mean we are “better together.”

And at the end of the day, it’s about sharing the Gospel with everyone we come in contact with. As Raeann Goetz, Creative Services Director at Life 96.5 in Sioux Falls, said, “It’s not just the students whose lives are being changed. It’s thousands of people.”

And that’s the mission that God has embedded into our organization, into everything we do. It is our goal to remain UNWavering as we gratefully and excitedly anticipate what God is going to do next.