Under the new agreement, Ball State students working for NewsLink Indiana, the university's converged news project, and "NewsWatch," the student-managed cable news program, will be able to e-mail their news stories directly to MSNBC.

The partnership will showcase both news projects, said Nancy Carlson, chair of Ball State's telecommunications department.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for our students from both broadcasts to have their work seen by a national audience," she said. "Our students are currently sending the network ideas for possible stories, and we'll be working to push them to a national audience."

"NewsWatch" and NewsLink Indiana share production and newsroom facilities in the Ball Communications Building and collaborate with student media, including WCRD-FM, the university's student radio station, and The Daily News, the university's daily newspaper, as well as other student media outlets on news and information productions.

"MSNBC also wants to hear students' opinions, so we'll be able to feed them live interviews of what Ball State students are thinking," Carlson said. "This arrangement will allow our student journalists to showcase their work and make them more marketable when it comes time for them to find professional employment in the communication industry."

MSNBC is a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC, comprised of MSNBC TV on cable and MSNBC.com on the Internet.