UNC Curtis Media Center Opens as Newest Campus Addition in Years

The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media dedicated its new building this week. The Curtis Media Center is a flexible learning space including a broadcast studio, podcast studio, makerspace and classrooms.

The new building comes from a $10 million gift from the Curtis Foundation to UNC in 2018. The media center, named after North Carolina media mogul Don Curtis, has been under construction since before the coronavirus pandemic. It’s the first new building near Polk Place in more than a decade.

In the former site of what was the old Phillips Annex building, stands the three story and nearly 13,000 square foot Curtis Media Center with large glass windows.

Glass windows display the media center’s first floor broadcast studio. (Ava Pukatch / Chapelboro.com)

Broadcast studio in the Curtis Media Center. (Ava Pukatch / Chapelboro.com)

The Hussman student broadcasts, Carolina Week and Sports Xtra, will utilize the new broadcast studio. (Ava Pukatch / Chapelboro.com)

The control room for the broadcast studio. (Ava Pukatch / Chapelboro.com)

Through the first-floor windows the new broadcast studio, supporting the school productions Carolina Week and Sports Xtra, is visible. A 16-by-9-foot LED screen broadcasts a replay of Carolina basketball’s win over Duke as passersby stop and peer through the windows to watch.

Charlie Tuggle, associate dean of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, said the glass windowed wall plays to the openness and transparency of journalism. The previous broadcast studio is tucked away in Carroll Hall.

“This is the main throughfare, Carolina Way, to go from campus up to Franklin Street,” Tuggle said. “Thousands of students will come by here. They’ll pause and watch the big screen. It’s like ‘Hey, I didn’t know we did that here.’ We’re already the second largest major on campus – not that we’re pushing to be number one – but I think this will add to the allure of our school.”

The second floor of the building is home of a new glass-walled podcast studio. The ground floor will be home to a makerspace for students in experimental marketing classes.

Several classroom and lecture spaces are also located on the second and third floors. These can be expanded to one 50-person classroom or separated into two 25-person classrooms – each equipped to be a high flex space with multiple monitors and microphones.

Classroom space is flexible – divisible to two 25 person classrooms or one larger 50 person classroom. (Ava Pukatch / Chapelboro.com)

Not only will journalism students be able to use those resources, but university programming will also be able to use the media center for larger events. Tuggle said the building is also wired by fiber to the rest of campus including athletic venues and Memorial Hall.

“So [if] any big-time entertainers should come in, we’re setting up to do greenroom interviews with them prior to their performance,” Tuggle said. “We can broadcast the performance. Anything that happens on this campus we can now broadcast live anywhere without one of the big production trucks having to come up. So, this frees up a lot of possibilities for the entire university.”

The view looking out the third floor windows of the media center. (Ava Pukatch / Chapelboro.com)

While the center is suited up with new technology to support student programming, its also a green building with solar panels on the roof.

“The student group that decides how student fees are used wanted to support that,” Tuggle said. “Students paid for the solar panels on the roof and we will generate enough electricity back into the grid that we offset our usage in this building. That’s the first building on campus that is neutral in that way.”

Tuggle said the school aims to have a few classes held in the Curtis Media Center during the second summer semester with full-use during the fall.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.

‹

2 UNC Hussman School Educators Named Journalism Committee Presidents

A pair of figures within the UNC Hussman School for Journalism and Media were each named presidents of journalism committees this week. Raul Reis, the school’s new dean, was named the president of the Association of Schools of Journalism & Mass Communication. Professor Deb Aikat was named the president of the Association for Education in […]

Hussman School Aims To Enter 'New Chapter' 1 Year After Tenure Controversy

One year ago, the saga surrounding the UNC Board of Trustees’ delay in granting prospective journalism professor Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure seemed to come to a close. But continued ripple effects were felt throughout the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

UNC Journalism School Acknowledges Diversity Shortcomings Amid Review

The UNC Hussman School of Journalism acknowledged it “has not met its own ideals for creating an environment of diversity and inclusion” on Tuesday, in an email statement from interim dean Heidi Hennink-Kaminski. The statement is a response to the school being downgraded to provisional accreditation status by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism […]

UNC Journalism School Holds Official Naming Ceremony

As Walter Hussman Jr. addressed the crowd at UNC’s journalism school naming ceremony on Friday, he shared his initial reservations when first approached with the idea of naming the school after him. He said he couldn’t help comparing himself and his family to other people with named journalism schools in the country. “I thought [about] […]

UNC's Journalism School Renamed After Record Gift

UNC’s journalism school announced the largest single gift in its history on Tuesday. A $25 million donation has led to the rebranding of the school and a reinforcement of the lessons its teaching students. The gift from newspaper publisher Walter Hussman Jr. and his wife Ben led to a name-change from the UNC School of […]

On Air Today: Lee Jeffries on the Paris Olympics' Closing Stages

UNC journalism student Lee Jeffries speaks with 97.9 The Hill's Brighton McConnell from the Paris Olympics on Thursday, August 8.

UNC Grad's New Job Leads to Going Viral, Hanging With Simone Biles' Husband

Jasmine Baker, a recent alumna of the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, found her big break in an unexpected way at the Olympics.

UNC Researcher Details Pulitzer Prize Nomination, Story Revealing Blast Overpressure in Military

Daniel Johnson, who is at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, published a story on brain injuries suffered by artillery crews.

On Air Today: Park Fellow at UNC's Hussman School of Journalism and Media, Daniel Johnson

UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media Parks Fellow Daniel Johnson spoke with 97.9 The Hill's Andrew Stuckey on Wednesday, May 15. Johnson's work on a New York Times article overpressure blasting and the health effects for U.S. soldiers was recently named a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Johnson outlined his path to UNC's Hussman School, and how he ended up reporting on overpressure blasting. He also discussed plans for his upcoming work, and more.

In the Fight for Democracy, UNC Professor Enlists Local Media

Against a rise of anti-democratic behavior, UNC's Shannon McGregor calls for "democracy-framed election coverage" by journalists.

›