IN THE SPOTLIGHT: JOURNALISM PROGRAM
Welcome to Viking News’ In the Spotlight, a Q&A series highlighting how Del Mar College departments, programs, and offices are using technology and innovation to enhance services, strengthen partnerships, and improve student success.
Each post “spotlights” a different author sharing – in their own words – how these advancements shape their work and benefit our Viking community.
PROGRAM REPRESENTATIVE:
ROBERT MUILENBURG
Professor of Journalism
Department of Communications, Languages & Reading
Q: How are advancements in technology and platforms changing how your area delivers services or instruction?
A: During the years I have been involved with the Journalism Program, the biggest change has been the distribution process. The program still uses a traditional paper for instruction, but the focus is on immediacy. Students can distribute work as soon as it is completed. Proper usage of social media and online distribution drastically helps readership and allows students to add to content as stories evolve.
Q: What is the most impactful innovation you’ve implemented, and what problem did it solve?
A: It is the ability to collaborate with students at any time.
Q: How has this innovation improved student success?
A: It helps when faculty can see students’ works in progress and not just at the end. All work improves with feedback and revisions.
Q: How has technology helped you build or strengthen partnerships with employers, schools, or other organizations, and how do these connections support the region’s workforce and economic growth?
A: When the Journalism Program sends students into the workforce, they enter the fie3ld with a fundamental understanding of how to use the most effective software and equipment used in the industry today. However, we don’t only send them with a strong technical understanding but also with a strong ethical understanding of how to appropriately use all tools that are available to them today.
Q: Looking ahead, what advancements do you foresee impacting your area, and what new skills will DMC graduates need?
A: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) appropriately is very important. Students should never use AI to create content; however, the technology is an invaluable tool for condensing and organizing large amounts of data. For example, if I make a Freedom Of Information request for emails and am given thousands of email correspondence, AI can help me find the information I am looking for in minutes instead of my spending days reviewing the emails for what I need. AI can also make suggestions for additional data related to the information users are looking for and where to find it.
Q: If talking to a prospective student, what are the top benefits or opportunities you’d highlight about your program or service?
A: As part of the Journalism Program’s curriculum, students learn content creation and collaboration as well as how to utilize all the content needed to work in the media field.
Award Winners
Visit the Foghorn News web page to read about students’ latest “wins” at the 2026 Spring Texas Intercollegiate Press Association’s conference held in Denton in March: www.foghornnews.com/2026/04/foghorn-students-expand-journalism-knowledge-and-bring-home-wins-at-annual-tipa-conference/
In the Journalism Program Newsroom and Content Creation Lab
Additional information
Program Location: Room 101, General Academic and Music Building II (GAMBII), Building D, DMC Heritage Campus, 101 Baldwin Blvd., Corpus Christi, TX 78404
Web link: delmar.edu/degrees/journalism/index.html
Student Publication (Fognorn): foghornnews.com
Phone: 361-249-6701
Email: rmuilenburg@delmar.edu
Del Mar College empowers students to achieve their dreams. We offer quality programs, individual attention, outstanding instruction through faculty with real-world experience and affordable costs to credit and noncredit students in Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend area. Nationally recognized while locally focused, we’re ranked in the top two percent of community colleges in the country granting associate degrees to Hispanic students (Community College Week). Del Mar College focuses on offering our students programs that match current or emerging career opportunities. Whether students are interested in the fine arts, sciences, business, occupational or technical areas, students get the education they need for the future they want at Del Mar College.
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