Lights, camera, action! Innovative PoE Lighting for a Professional Newsroom Experience at Mizzou’s Famous School of Journalism

SUMMARY

Lights, camera, action! It’s a familiar phrase, but take a moment to consider the first of those three words. Lighting is integral to a great broadcast experience and the prestigious school of journalism at the University of Missouri has achieved professional-quality lighting that not only looks great on camera but is also unobtrusive, flexible and simple to use.

Plus, the lighting system was installed quickly and efficiently in less than a day, without needing a building code permit or electrician. This was made possible by the newsroom’s designer discovering Ikan’s ground-breaking PoE++ lighting, supported by a NETGEAR M4250 network switch, part of its Pro AV line.

THE BACKGROUND

Located in Columbia, the school of journalism at the University of Missouri (also known as ‘Mizzou’) is renowned for the ‘Missouri Method’ of teaching students in both the classroom and through real-world experience. For instance, the school’s Missouri News Network encompasses the Missouri School of Journalism’s professional news organizations: KBIA-FM, KOMU-TV, The Columbia Missourian, Vox Magazine, Missouri Business Alert and coverage from the School’s Statehouse Reporting Program.

The school’s various newsrooms were separate, until its Dean, David Kurpius, had the vision of bringing them all into one space, enabling shared access to facilities and creating a more collaborative environment for students. The decision was made to base the new combined newsroom in an existing location large enough to accommodate the needs of approximately 100 students and staff, with areas for video, radio, and groups of desks for reporters.

To turn this plan into reality, the Dean turned to Mark Johnson, KBIA’s Chief of Broadcast Operations, to design and manage the implementation of the technical side. With over a decade’s experience in IT, network technology and AV, Mark was the ideal candidate to address some of the project’s challenges, including lighting.

THE CHALLENGE

At the far West end of the space, there is a small broadcast studio equipped with three cameras, one trained on the presenter, with an impressive view of the busy newsroom behind. The studio must be easy for students to walk in and use with minimal expertise and also be of professional quality, requirements that extend to lighting.

However, there was little space or flexibility to install lighting within the dropped ceiling, which would have required a building code permit and the services of a professional electrician, all of which can take time and be expensive. The other option was to insert a lighting ‘pipe grid’ below the ceiling, but this would lower the level even more, risking the lights being visible on camera. Another solution was to have lights on casters, but they would take up room and need students to understand lighting positioning.

THE ANSWER

Fortunately, around the time Mark was considering how to deal with the lighting challenge, he had a conversation with James Cartner, Lighting Designer/Project Manager at FX Design Group, a broadcast set and lighting design company whose lighting services the university had previously used. James was telling Mark about an extremely innovative new range of Power over Ethernet (PoE) lights from Ikan, when as Mark recalls. “I said: hold up, I think these are our answer.”

James Cartner explains why: “The Ikan lights can provide the necessary level of light within a lightweight, slim fixture and — by running over PoE++ — there is no need for additional cables or an electrician or a permit. Instead, the lighting system can be both powered and controlled via a single Ethernet cable, which can be above the drop ceiling for a cleaner design, connected to a NETGEAR PoE-enabled network switch. I also like that Ikan provides a high level of support and offers a product at a price point that brings it within range of many users.”

The use of NETGEAR PoE switch technology is an integral part of Ikan’s strategy, as its CEO, James Tian, explains: “We want to emphasize the importance of working with NETGEAR. From day one, we wanted to partner with a tier-one network vendor to ensure we had technology that would perform reliably for our customers. This is why NETGEAR was an absolute no-brainer.”

THE INSTALLATION

The installation of 10 Ikan PoE lights and the NETGEAR M4250-26G4F-PoE++ network switch was carried out by just Mark and James Cartner and was finished in a day during the 2023 Thanksgiving holiday period. Although this was his first time working with these innovative new lights, James Cartner was already familiar with professional video equipment and services company Ikan and had complete confidence. However, as it was his first experience installing NETGEAR, he double-checked some details with its technical team, but there was no need to contact NETGEAR support for troubleshooting during the installation.

Says James Cartner, “The software that NETGEAR provides and how the switch works is straightforward: it is very easy to connect.” Mark agrees, adding: “We could handle the installation ourselves, even though we were working with new equipment and processes. Getting to understand the NETGEAR architecture was a breeze.”

THE RESULTS

So, when students returned after the holiday, they were presented with a state-of-the-art lighting system for their broadcast newsroom, housed within a small form factor, which was important as Mark explains. “The switch is in a rack about a third the size of a standard one so it fits very neatly into a tight space. We would not have been able to fit in one of the big switches we have previously used. Thanks to its flexible mounting, cables are hidden at the back. Also, the amount of noise from the switch is minimal.”

Flexibility and compactness aside, the user experience matters too. “The NETGEAR switch’s user interface is very simple to use, so it is easy for our students to operate. I feel this switch has been very well designed, and it has held up exceptionally well,” says Mark.

As the school heads towards the presidential election, the newsroom’s students and staff will be able to report on developments knowing that, even when it is an all-hands-on-deck situation, they can rely on a superior, easy-to-use lighting system that enhances the broadcast experience. Mark concludes, “We would not have been able to do this project without the Ikan PoE lights and the NETGEAR switch: we now have a system that is extremely elegant and customizable.”