Thunder 91 - The College Media Collaborative
Published: March 19, 2025 | Author: Abbie Cochrane | Read Time: 3 minutes
Cedar City, UTAH–
Southern Utah University’s on-campus radio station, Thunder 91, is pleased to announce its partnership with The Utah College Media Collaborative (UCMC) for the UCMC’s annual cross-campus research efforts. Founded in 2023 by PBS Utah, UCMC strives to amplify the voices of student journalists by allowing them to tackle pertinent issues within the ever-evolving media landscape. This is the first year SUU has participated in the collaborative, and the research topic is centered around GenZ’s relationship with social media, and how it both benefits and harms their mental health. To present their findings, Thunder 91 plans to do a five-episode podcast with each episode dedicated to a different segment of research.
Professor Ryan Steineckert, who’s serving as the supervisor for the podcast, said, “Radio and podcasts play a lot into people’s imagination, but they also allow the creators of the material to share their lives and stories. That level of creative freedom and the potential for vulnerability is what draws so many people–listeners and creators alike–to audio production projects like the one we’re doing.”
Working with Steineckert are three SUU Communication students who are heading the research efforts: Nathaniel Buck, Gabe Small, and Brynn Smith. Buck will be focusing on the benefits of GenZ’s use of social media, while Small’s research will center on the detriments, and Smith is set to study developing positive relationships with social media and technology use.
“My experience working on the Utah College Media Collaborative has been eye-opening in several ways,” said Small. “It’s been so interesting to go through the process of researching and interviewing subjects to then put their stories and experiences into the podcast. It has been great to hear the stories of GenZ SUU students and their experiences with social media. I think that alone has to be the most important part of this whole project for me. Our research could help students with the challenges they face on social media and I think that it could be incredibly beneficial.”
The podcast series will start with an overview of how GenZ uses social media and technology as a whole, the second episode will highlight the benefits while the following two episodes will detail a deep dive into the downside of GenZ’s use of technology and social media, and the fourth episode will review how social media and technology affects the mental health of GenZ and developing positive relationships with social media and technology use. The final episode is set to cover the laws–both existing and in development–surrounding technology and social media, as well as how GenZ can use these resources to gain from the good and avoid the bad.
The podcast is set to release March 17, 2025 and will be accessible through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, KSUU and any other podcast platform.
“Although we are making this podcast for the collaboration, our audience is truly GenZ. They know the ins and outs of social media, but the mental health element is something we definitely want to make them more aware of,” Steineckert said.
UCMC is dedicated to providing up-and-coming student journalists with real-world opportunities to tell stories that matter and prepare them for their future in the communication world. SUU offers its gratitude to UCMC and PBS Utah for the opportunity to participate in this collaborative.
Tune into Thunder 91 radio on KSUU 91.1 for all the latest music, sports, and various talk shows. SUU News also hosts various shows and segments through the Communication department, all of which can be accessed through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever podcasts are available.Tags: College of Humanities and Social Sciences Communication CurStu T-Bird Stories Academic
Contact Information:
Brooke Heath
brookeheath1@suu.edu