Education
Oredigger Media continues century-long legacy of student storytelling
December marks the 100th anniversary of student media at Montana Tech. On December 14, 1923, nine students published the first edition of The Acropolitan, the University’s monthly student newspaper. It is the oldest form of student media archived by the University’s Digital Commons.
Over the years, the names and formats of student media at Montana Tech have changed. The student radio station KMSM-FM ran for over 45 years - from 1972 until 2020. The Amplifier, the Technocrat, and Magma were all names of the student papers where students told their stories. Sports coverage, Halloween hijinks, and swing dances appeared in nearly every iteration. Today, the students of Oredigger Media continue the tradition by sharing the student experience through digital platforms.
“We are the official media for the students and the Associated Students of Montana Tech (ASMT),” says Oredigger Media Director Marlene Zhou. “We post what is relevant for students. Some examples of content we post are athletics up close, what’s going on around campus, ASMT events, and intramural sports. One of the things I would like to do before I graduate is grow our direct communications with students on campus and make it more inclusive for students without social media.”
Zhou is a senior from Butte majoring in business. She has served as the social media manager for Oredigger Media since Fall 2022. She became director in Spring 2023. Zhou said she got involved because she loves taking photos.
“I really love doing photography because there’s so much joy in capturing moments. Getting to have those moments featured really appealed to me because students get to see themselves and others from their point of view,” Zhou said. “It’s exciting to see the students engage.”
Oredigger Media has a couple of big goals for the ’23-’24 school year.
“Our goal for the year is to kickstart an Ambassador Program and have perks for students who decide to participate and showcase campus from a student perspective,” Zhou said. “It shows potential students what our campus is like and helps different departments engage through our page.”
Oredigger Media’s main online platform is Instagram, but the team is also working to expand.
“We are working on getting a website up,” Zhou said. “We want the campus to engage with Oredigger media. There are so many moving parts – it's like being part of a real corporate workplace. If someone is interested in web design and wants experience in UX, we would love them as part of our club to get that experience.”
Zhou would also like to bring back the organization’s podcast. Previously dubbed “Coppercast,” the podcast ended in Spring 2021. It was brought back in the form of “Tech Talks, ” a shortform guest talk show, but that also ended in Fall 2022.
“From my perspective on campus, as director, it’s almost like running a media agency,” Zhou said. “We want to expand our offerings to be more accessible to people who aren’t on Instagram.”
Zhou said students who join Oredigger Media can enjoy perks like up-close access to events like home games and ASMT events behind-the-scenes. The organization is also looking for students willing to share their personal day-to-day experiences through “Takeovers” and reels.
“Having people volunteer moments of their lives that they want to show is something we would be grateful for,” Zhou said. “We really would like to do content over the holidays. If anybody wants to send in content over break of what they are up to outside of school, it would be cool to do different highlights.”
To learn more about Oredigger Media, contact Marlene Zhou at mzhou@mtech.edu or orediggermedia@mtech.edu.
