Completed Event: Men's Soccer at Liberty on September 13, 2025 , Tie , 0, to, 0
MSOC
Final
James Madison
0
at Liberty
0
James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Bourne Dialogue - Media Exposure
6/2/2017 9:30:00 AM | Administration
JMU Nation,
Â
Our athletic successes of the last two years have garnered a fair amount of media attention for James Madison University. In fact, JMU Athletics accounts for half of all media mentions of the university. While events like a national championship or College Gameday are natural opportunities to gain exposure, I'm often asked why JMU can't get more attention at other times throughout the year from outlets in Washington, D.C., Richmond, and Tidewater, to name a few.
Â
JMU is a respected name with a large alumni base. Consider there are 41,000 JMU alumni within 75 miles of Washington, D.C. There are 17,000 within 60 miles of Richmond, 8,500 in Tidewater, 5,000 around Philadelphia and 6,500 around New York City. Certainly those numbers indicate relevance, especially in the key markets around the Commonwealth.
Â
I have personally met with several key outlets in recent years, including the Washington Post. Our communications staff sends results for all 18 of our sports to outlets across the local area, state, region and nation. They have healthy relationships with media entities in all key areas and work hard to gain attention for our student-athletes.
Â
Despite that hard work, ultimately we don't control whether an outlet decides to run a story or whether they report on JMU with a positive or negative tone. Those are business decisions made by each media outlet. We understand that our opportunities are going to come in strategic windows. It is also important to note that many media outlets, particularly print media, have undergone dramatic changes in recent years in staffing and strategy as part of the overall evolution of digital media.
Â
At JMU, we find ourselves in a saturated marketplace for sports in the mid-Atlantic. There are 14 Division I institutions across Virginia. Additionally, there are more programs in Washington, D.C. and Maryland as well as other programs in the ACC, Big 10, Big 12 and others within the region worthy of attention. Washington is home to pro sports teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and WNBA. Add the NFL and MLB in Baltimore, multiple NASCAR race tracks and multiple lower tiered professional sport teams and there's plenty of competition for sports coverage.
Â
With all of that said, working with our communications staff, we have placed increased emphasis on ourselves and using the tools available to us to self-promote the accomplishments of JMU student-athletes. Our first thought with every piece of breaking news or every sporting event is how we plan to share the story of that event using our internal tools such as JMUSports.com, social media, email, MadiZONE and more.
Â
We don't control the business decisions made by media organizations, but thanks to these tools, and in particular social media, we have the means to deliver news straight to our constituents. The numbers are indicative of the strength of JMU as we rank among the top 20 in the nation for Twitter and Facebook followers among institutions outside of the autonomous five conferences (commonly referred to as the Power 5). Those numbers saw substantial growth amid our postseason football run. This focus on how we internally communicate has garnered nice recognition for our staff in the social and video realm.
Â
Make no mistake, exposure by outside media is critical and will remain an important piece of the overall strategy of our communications team. However, we firmly believe that we can deliver more relevant news straight to our dedicated fans by placing an emphasis on our direct lines of communication.
Â
Pep Band Transition
Â
News came out in recent weeks regarding the JMU school of music's transition in leadership for the pep band. Athletics has worked cohesively with the music program over the years as this group has blossomed into an exemplary unit. The band is critical to the gameday environment at our basketball events. Our head coaches have abundantly praised their impact on recruiting and on achieving success on the court while opposing teams have acknowledged the difficulty of playing in the Convocation Center thanks to their presence.
Â
None of that would be possible without the tremendous growth achieved by Chad Reep in his role with the pep band within the school of music. Thanks to Chad's efforts, JMU is home to the best pep band in the CAA and one of the best in the country. Each time our men's and women's basketball programs have competed in the postseason in recent seasons, often against major conference schools, the opposing teams have raved about our band. Chad's personal touch is evident and his impact on that group will be lasting.
Â
As we welcome Amy Birdsong to the role and look forward to working with her, I want to personally thank Chad for his unwavering support of the Dukes. I'm confident that a good thing will keep going and keep growing under Amy's leadership.
Â
Go Dukes,
Â
Jeff Bourne (@BourneJeff)
JMU Director of Athletics
Â
Â
Â
Â
Our athletic successes of the last two years have garnered a fair amount of media attention for James Madison University. In fact, JMU Athletics accounts for half of all media mentions of the university. While events like a national championship or College Gameday are natural opportunities to gain exposure, I'm often asked why JMU can't get more attention at other times throughout the year from outlets in Washington, D.C., Richmond, and Tidewater, to name a few.
Â
JMU is a respected name with a large alumni base. Consider there are 41,000 JMU alumni within 75 miles of Washington, D.C. There are 17,000 within 60 miles of Richmond, 8,500 in Tidewater, 5,000 around Philadelphia and 6,500 around New York City. Certainly those numbers indicate relevance, especially in the key markets around the Commonwealth.
Â
I have personally met with several key outlets in recent years, including the Washington Post. Our communications staff sends results for all 18 of our sports to outlets across the local area, state, region and nation. They have healthy relationships with media entities in all key areas and work hard to gain attention for our student-athletes.
Â
Despite that hard work, ultimately we don't control whether an outlet decides to run a story or whether they report on JMU with a positive or negative tone. Those are business decisions made by each media outlet. We understand that our opportunities are going to come in strategic windows. It is also important to note that many media outlets, particularly print media, have undergone dramatic changes in recent years in staffing and strategy as part of the overall evolution of digital media.
Â
At JMU, we find ourselves in a saturated marketplace for sports in the mid-Atlantic. There are 14 Division I institutions across Virginia. Additionally, there are more programs in Washington, D.C. and Maryland as well as other programs in the ACC, Big 10, Big 12 and others within the region worthy of attention. Washington is home to pro sports teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and WNBA. Add the NFL and MLB in Baltimore, multiple NASCAR race tracks and multiple lower tiered professional sport teams and there's plenty of competition for sports coverage.
Â
With all of that said, working with our communications staff, we have placed increased emphasis on ourselves and using the tools available to us to self-promote the accomplishments of JMU student-athletes. Our first thought with every piece of breaking news or every sporting event is how we plan to share the story of that event using our internal tools such as JMUSports.com, social media, email, MadiZONE and more.
Â
We don't control the business decisions made by media organizations, but thanks to these tools, and in particular social media, we have the means to deliver news straight to our constituents. The numbers are indicative of the strength of JMU as we rank among the top 20 in the nation for Twitter and Facebook followers among institutions outside of the autonomous five conferences (commonly referred to as the Power 5). Those numbers saw substantial growth amid our postseason football run. This focus on how we internally communicate has garnered nice recognition for our staff in the social and video realm.
Â
Make no mistake, exposure by outside media is critical and will remain an important piece of the overall strategy of our communications team. However, we firmly believe that we can deliver more relevant news straight to our dedicated fans by placing an emphasis on our direct lines of communication.
Â
Pep Band Transition
Â
News came out in recent weeks regarding the JMU school of music's transition in leadership for the pep band. Athletics has worked cohesively with the music program over the years as this group has blossomed into an exemplary unit. The band is critical to the gameday environment at our basketball events. Our head coaches have abundantly praised their impact on recruiting and on achieving success on the court while opposing teams have acknowledged the difficulty of playing in the Convocation Center thanks to their presence.
Â
None of that would be possible without the tremendous growth achieved by Chad Reep in his role with the pep band within the school of music. Thanks to Chad's efforts, JMU is home to the best pep band in the CAA and one of the best in the country. Each time our men's and women's basketball programs have competed in the postseason in recent seasons, often against major conference schools, the opposing teams have raved about our band. Chad's personal touch is evident and his impact on that group will be lasting.
Â
As we welcome Amy Birdsong to the role and look forward to working with her, I want to personally thank Chad for his unwavering support of the Dukes. I'm confident that a good thing will keep going and keep growing under Amy's leadership.
Â
Go Dukes,
 Jeff Bourne (@BourneJeff)
JMU Director of Athletics
Â
Â
Â
JMU Football | Win this game.
Thursday, September 04
JMU Football | All Eyes Back on Bridgeforth
Monday, September 01
JMU Football | Enough talk, let's ball.
Friday, August 29
Area Code Shoutouts
Thursday, August 07
