In an age of an increasingly multicultural society, journalists must often include a variety of perspectives in their issue coverage. This summer, the WKU School of Journalism & Broadcasting will offer a new course designed to foster this cultural inclusiveness.

The course, titled “Ethnic Media,” will be offered online by Victoria LaPoe, an assistant professor of journalism at WKU.

According to LaPoe, the course will examine how ethnic media such as the “African-American Press, the American Indian Press, the Latin Press, or the Asian-American Press…may be covering an issue similarly or differently from the mainstream media.”

The class aspires to help students critically evaluate media sources and to better understand how to reach out to a different community when reporting.

“You don’t just want to parachute in on a community and cover a topic just for that second,” LaPoe said. “You need to be connected to the community you’re covering.”

LaPoe said including genuine accounts from featured communities is of increased importance because ethnic media are rising in popularity.

“Ethnic media are actually growing in distribution and content, both traditionally and online,” LaPoe said.

Several students have already registered to take the Ethnic Media course. The roster includes Louisville junior Dakota Sherek.

As Sherek explains, the notions of inclusiveness covered by the course will greatly supplement her education in journalism. 

“I’m hoping to learn about different cultures, and hopefully that will help me when I become a journalist to learn about different types of people and report about them in a fair and good way,” Sherek said.

The restricted online course will be primarily discussion-oriented, LaPoe said.

Students interested in signing up for the Ethnic Media course should contact LaPoe to override the restriction.