The Mass Communication department introduced a new class this semester about sports media production.

The class was created to develop more opportunities for students to be involved with sports media and for those students who are already involved in sports media to gain a school credit.

The class provides students an introduction to the principles and practices of program preparation, content production and distribution of sports media through electronic channels, according to the class syllabus.

“I joined the class because I wanted to know what it is like to work on sports media” sophomore Taylor Cole said.

The sports media practices class is the brain child of associate professor Michael Huntsberger. He said the class will complement the sports management minor to give students in that field experience with media.

Students in the sports management minor will learn what it means from the media to cover teams. Athletes have a lot contact with the media from questions being asked to social media.

There are countless incidents on social media involving athletes from Laremy Tunsil, a NFL player, getting caught smoking weed from Twitter posts of an Ohio State University’s third-string quarterback, Cardale Jones. Tunsil tweeted his thoughts about a class and later was suspended for a game and had his account deleted.

Huntsberger said transitioning from athlete to journalist will help students understand the complex relationship athletes have with journalists and the media.

“Anytime turning the roles around and standing in their shoes is an interesting experience,” Huntsberger said.

The class is also designed for mass communication majors that would like to build on their production experience. Students in the class will work closely with the Sports Information Office within the athletic department to call play-by-plays and produce game recaps.

The class’ first group features five students who are all mass communication majors. But Huntsberger said he is hoping to attract more students that are not within the major.

Huntsberger said he hopes students will have enjoyable learning experiences from this course and knowledge of how fast the world of sports media works in addition to the importance of storytelling in sports.