The Reynolds School of Journalism officially celebrated the opening of the Al Stavitsky Newsroom this spring, marking the completion of a multi-year renovation project that transformed the school's broadcast studio into a flexible multimedia learning environment designed for the next generation of journalists. 

Named in honor of former Dean Al Stavitsky, who led the Reynolds School from 2012 to 2024, the broadcast studio represents both a lasting legacy and a renewed investment in hands-on education.  

Although the broadcast studio was renovated as part of the building's major remodel in 2012, rapid changes across the media industry soon revealed the need for a different kind of space. 

"We realized the facility really wasn't serving our students anymore as the field was changing and with all the new classes that the curriculum had added," Stavitsky said. "We launched a process to renovate the studio and really create a facility that matched what we were teaching and the vision for the school." 

That vision took shape over several years through planning sessions with faculty, staff, students, and industry professionals. Listening sessions helped identify how the existing studio was being used and what students would need as journalism, broadcasting and digital media continued to evolve. 

"We reached out to our alumni and friends and donors and industry and started a fundraising campaign to raise the funds to enable us to really do this right," Stavitsky said. 

Once fundraising was underway, Richard Bednarski, IT systems manager for the Reynolds School, began researching and designing what the renovated newsroom could become. 

"I started doing a bunch of research on broadcast studios. I looked at other ones online and started putting together pieces of the puzzle to fit what we would do," Bednarski said. 

Rather than simply updating equipment, the project focused on reimagining how students would use the space. The former studio served primarily as a classroom and traditional broadcast set. Today, it features multiple production environments, including an informal interview set, a professional anchor desk, a green screen weather studio and a modern control room equipped with industry-standard production tools. 

"Before, it was a classroom and a broadcast studio, and that was it. Now it's three different sets, potentially four, depending on what you do or your layout. I wanted to make the most use of the space," Bednarski said. 

The renovation also introduced new LED lighting, upgraded production equipment, and a redesigned control room capable of supporting live broadcasts, weather segments, podcasts, streaming productions and multimedia storytelling. 

"I wanted to create a teaching environment that faculty would be able to use to teach students that was either similar or identical to what the students would expect when they leave the college and go out into the field," Bednarski said.  

The result is a newsroom designed not only for broadcast journalism but for sports media, filmmaking, podcasting, weather reporting and collaborative multimedia production. 

"Students pretty much have a blank canvas and the tools to create whatever they want to create," Bednarski said. "That's what media production is… troubleshooting and trying to make your vision come to life. I wanted to create that kind of simulated learning environment." 

For Stavitsky, seeing the completed space and having it represented by his name symbolizes more than the end of a renovation project. 

"Having the newsroom named in my honor was hugely meaningful and a great honor for me and for my family… as someone who came out of the news side, to have the newsroom recognize my time and my role here is just really meaningful,” he said. “We wanted to lead the media industries. Not necessarily to have a curriculum that reflected the state of the art, but to have a curriculum that was leading where we thought the field needed to go," Stavitsky said. 

He believes the renovated newsroom gives students exactly that opportunity. 

"I think future leaders in media fields will learn and innovate in that space and will carry what they've learned and what they've developed into leadership roles in the profession." 

Now in use during classes and for journalism majors to reserve, the Al Stavitsky Newsroom will serve as a hub for hands-on learning, collaboration, and innovation for years to come. More than a renovated studio, the space reflects the Reynolds School's continued commitment to preparing students with the experience, technology, and creative freedom needed to shape the future of media.