Texas Student Media Teams Up With Texas A&M Student Media to Grow Reach

AUSTIN, Texas — Experiential learning is expanding at The University of the Texas at Austin after Texas Student Media launched two new partnerships in which the organization will serve in an agency capacity.

Texas Student Media will now provide support with a focus on developing new streams of advertising and underwriting to Texas A&M Student Media and The Drag, an audio production house in the Moody College of Communication at UT Austin.

“We are excited about these new relationships and the impact they will have for our student experience, with new funding sources invested back into three exceptional programs,” said Gerald Johnson, director of Texas Student Media. “We have long been the leader in delivering the university audience in the Austin area and on the web. Now, through our work with A&M and The Drag, we’ll be able to help businesses significantly extend their marketing reach with ads and events throughout the Lone Star State.”

Johnson said students will benefit from increased funds that will allow programming and opportunities to grow, as well as the ability to experiment and innovate in the rapidly evolving media environment. Clients will benefit from a more robust portfolio and an efficient path to reach highly desirable audiences.

Students who participate in the program at the two schools will gain hands-on, real-world experience producing content as editors, reporters, photographers, DJs, TV and radio producers, podcasters, on-air talent, publicists and more. Both programs are open to all students and are not limited to any course of study or classification.

“I’m excited and thankful to partner with Texas Student Media, as we look for new ways to support the valuable work being done by our students,” said Douglas Pils, general manager of Texas A&M Student Media. “I’m hopeful that this is the start of something big that can become a model for others.”

The Drag’s shows are written, reported and hosted by Moody College of Communication students and available for free on all major listening platforms. The long-form podcasts guide listeners through complex, investigative, interview-style and unscripted audio stories. Each highly produced episode is presented with journalistic integrity and sensitivity, engaging the audience throughout the series.

“Podcasting is an important medium for our students to learn, and we want to help make Moody College the school to attend to become an audio or podcasting professional,” said Katey Psencik Outka, associate director of The Drag and adjunct lecturer at the School of Journalism and Media. “This partnership with Texas Student Media will help us involve more students and continue our growth. It’s a natural move for us to partner with this great organization that shares so many of our values.”

For more information, visit texasstudentmedia.com, studentlife.tamu.edu/studentmedia or thedragaudio.com. To support these programs and advertise your business, email advertise@texasstudentmedia.com.