The Voice, the student-run media outlet of GMUK, is stepping forward to great advancement.
Photo Credit: The Voice of GMUK
The extensive changes started in August 2021 when new members were assigned to the executive board positions. After those changes, The Voice of GMUK has been through a great re-formation, promoting more accessible information for the Mason Korea patriots. It is time to examine how the re-formation has worked and how they are picturing the future.
“We are always here for people. And we do carry a huge responsibility of working with the school,” said the Editor-in-Chief of The Voice of GMUK, Dawn Oh (GMUK, Economics, ‘24).
The Voice is the official student-run media outlet of George Mason University Korea (GMUK), which has the longest history of a registered student body on campus since it was founded on March 23, 2015. It consists of 38 members from five departments: News Division Department, Card News Division Department, Social Media Department, Design Department, and Business Department. In addition, The Voice of GMUK uses various platforms, such as the official website on Wix, Instagram, Facebook, KakaoTalk, and Youtube, to deliver a further broader spectrum of different kinds of news.
Since the executive board was reorganized, each department has made many changes by examining existing problems to become a better media outlet for the Mason Korea students body and faculty. Thus, the Editorial Department, including News Division (ND) Department and Card News Division (CND) Department, newly implemented two systems. They have always taken notice of the quality publication with accuracy by ensuring to go through a process of commenting, editing, revising, and reviewing. However, ND figured out that the monthly system is not proper for a school newspaper as those processes took an extremely long time. For this reason, ND has adopted and developed a weekly system since the 2022 Winter Edition. So they do regularly publish articles online through the official website of The Voice and offline in a newspaper format once or twice a semester. Besides, CND created the system for breaking card news to transmit important issues timely. So now they publish one regular card news and one breaking card news a week on The Voice of GMUK’s Instagram account.
The Social Media Department, established for video content, had to start from scratch. At first, most of the members were novices and not skilled; however, thankfully, their collaborative and passionate efforts resulted in quality videos and a high number of views. Now, they are focusing on providing helpful information to future students as well as all Mason students. The Design Department is involved in every publication of The Voice, focusing on ‘how to convey a message in a visually effective way.’ Each designer is in charge of one department to make Youtube thumbnails, card news, newspaper layouts, and posters for online news articles and events hosted by the Business Department. They aspire to create their own uniqueness of design, keeping the identity as The Voice, an official media outlet. The Business Department is in charge of various tasks, such as promoting, marketing, personnel, and finance. They manage the official Instagram account to encourage publications and to hold multiple events so that students can be engaged in The Voice of GMUK. This semester, they have been aiming to expand their influence, and they created “Freshmen Kit” on Linktree, where students can find helpful information about the university and The Voice. Their intense passion is expected to make an outstanding performance in the near future.
The most significant change of The Voice of GMUK is providing an official certificate signed by Campus Dean, Robert Matz and Associate Dean for University Life, Yorgun Marcel, officially recognized by the university. Moreover, there are several benefits to being engaged in The Voice. Students can enroll in the field experience course called COMM 249, which grants them one credit for being active in The Voice. Most importantly, The Voice of GMUK encourages the members to have personal networks and provides various opportunities to build up personal portfolios for their future careers as well. Moreover, a Random Matching program, newly introduced, has promoted team spirit by socializing between the members of The Voice. The Editor-in-Chief, Dawn Oh, mentioned that the executive board members have been through many experiments and challenges after they were appointed, and they are happy with what they have done and where they are now.
The vision of The Voice is to inform students, faculty, and alumni about what is happening in the Incheon Global Campus (IGC) and the global society in the most professional manner of campus journalism. Keeping in mind that it is the only official media outlet at Mason Korea, they are doing their best to improve the quality of a publication and keep the Mason Korea community connected. They are preparing for another re-formation in Fall 2022, recruiting new members and repositioning existing members. The Voice of GMUK is looking for students who are willing to contribute to the Mason Korea community with them.
Dawn Oh delivered the last message for potential members of The Voice of GMUK, “I just hope that people know that The Voice of GMUK is simply more than just a newspaper. And we hope that students are not afraid to try out. We’re not looking for a specific skill set. We hope you gain that skillset from being in The Voice with passion and dedication.”
Written by Yoonhye Cho | Staff Writer
Revised by Yu Bin Kwon | Managing Editor
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