Madeline Owens
Lantern Staff
Former Butler graduate Matt Jacobs has accepted and begun his new responsibility as the director and station manager for Butler’s TV station, BCTV20 airing on Cox Communications, channel 20.
Jacobs has been a part of the administration for the athletic department since June 2004.
Before being part of the Butler faculty, he was a student at Butler while also being the editor for the Lantern newspaper.
Jacobs recalls his former Lantern adviser, Gene George, as being someone who helped him get to where he is now in his career.
Jacobs also makes a point to give credit to Steve Cless, former TV station manager, for being someone to look up to.
Jacobs’s best advice to any aspiring mass communications student is to be a great storyteller while being accurate in telling the complete story.
Although Jacobs has had previous experience with mass communications courses at Butler, he suggests that the learning process never ends.
“I’ve been in (as TV director) for three weeks now, and the learning curve is incredible,” Jacobs said. “I have a journalism background and a sports background, but I don’t have a whole lot of the technical background that this job takes, so just trying to learn all of that has been awesome.”
Over the summer, the TV station made some updates to the way they will be conducting their broadcasts.
“The station has had a lot of things changing,” sophomore Zach Schwarzenberger said. “One is that our video editing lab has completely changed. It looks the same, but we’ve changed what software we use and how we edit videos. The radio station now has a giant trophy case, and we have a ton of new students who have joined the program.”
Jacobs teaches Introduction to Sports Management [HP 231] as well as running the TV station. He has a strong interest and background in sports programs on campus.
“With my old job, I was responsible for all media relations for athletics,” Jacobs said. “I did a lot with day to day operations and a little bit with fundraising.”
Combining both his love for mass communications and his sports management background, a job alongside media relations was a good fit.
“I think Matt Jacobs is [going to] be a great addition to the station,” Schwarzenberger said. “It’s only been a few days, but I’ve seen him running around everywhere making sure everything is set up and just being on top of things.”
The flexibility and different career options that Jacobs has encourages his learning opportunities.
Jacobs describes “Lifelong learning” to be the best part of the job.
