Media Studies Merger
Daxton Comba | Associate Media Editor
01.04.26| News | Vol. 57, No. 3 | Video
The Nav’s Videographer Daxton Comba turns the lens towards VIU this month, examining the recent changes to the Media Studies program regarding the merge of DIGI and MEDI course codes within the program. To learn about the Media Studies Merger, Daxton spoke with department chair Joy Gugeler about evaluating the program, and with professors Karen Skardzius and Robin Davies about the changes occurring as result of the Merger, as well as other alterations to the curriculum happening across the university. He also met with Media studies students Shaye Netzel, Laiken Wild, and Liam Prendergast to hear how students first learned changes were coming to their program, and what that meant for them.

Daxton Comba
Daxtonis a fourth-year Creative Writing student at VIU, a Graphic Designer, physical media hoarder, and filmmaker. He served as Script Editor and Audio/Visual intern forPortal2025, and moved to Acquisitions Editor forPortal2026 while working as videographer forThe Nav. His writing has been published in bothPortalandGOOEYmagazines, and he received the Meadowlarks Award for Fiction in 2025.
A short stage play of his was produced for VIU’s 2025 One-Act Festival, and over the summer he wrote and directed a stage play titled Funeral Cake for the 2026 Nanaimo Fringe Fest. He is now the Associate Media Manager for Vol. 58 atThe Navigator, and insists that he has overcome his fear of ghosts.

