E.W. Scripps School of Journalism

The WOUB Center for Public Media (WOUB) is a non-academic unit of the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. In 2005, its name was changed from the Ohio University Telecommunications Center. WOUB is a full-service media facility which operates two public television stations, a public radio network, a cable station and other advanced telecommunications technologies such as distance learning and videoconferencing services.

The Department of Journalism in the College of Liberal Arts was established at Ohio University (OU) in 1924. In 1936, OU President Herman G. James reorganized the university, creating the School of Journalism, placing it in the College of Commerce. The school became accredited in 1952. In 1968, the school was under the purview of the newly created College of Communication. In 1982, the school is re-named E.W. Scripps School of Journalism to honor E.W. Scripps, an Ohioan newspaper pioneer whose foundation donated money to remodel and expand Carnegie Hall into E.W. Scripps Hall. The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism offers six undergraduate sequences in advertising, broadcast news, magazine journalism, news writing and editing, online journalism and public relations. It also offers masters and doctoral degree programs. Magazine journalism students at E.W. Scripps School of Journalism publish the Southeast Ohio Magazine. It is an award-winning magazine that covers the 20-county region of southeastern Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. The publication is the only student-run regional magazine in the United States. The origin of Southeast Ohio lies in a one-time publication created by students in winter 1970 called Appalachia 70, which was followed by Reach Out, another one-shot created in spring 1970. Following the publishing and academic success of these magazines, the Scripps School created Athens Magazine, which focused on the Athens, Ohio community and which ran from 1971 until 1988. In 1988, the magazine's focus was expanded to 20 counties in southeastern Ohio, and the publication was retitled to reflect the change. In 2001, Ursula and Gilbert Farfel established a $500,000 endowment to support the Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize for Excellence in Investigative Reporting.