PHOTO BY TAMARA RICE
A PUBLICATION OF THE SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND JOURNALISM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
Waves of social, economic and political change are rippling across Cuba. Now, all that is certain about the nation's future is who will determine it: the youth. During UNC's 2017 spring break, 23 students traveled to Havana, Cuba, to create a multimedia documentary website — Cuba's New Wave — that explores the unique youth culture in Cuba. The trip was led by faculty members Pat Davison, Paul Cuadros and Tamara Rice.
M J.U N C . E D U/CA R O L I N ACO M MU N I CATO R
SUMMER 2017
DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI AFFAIRS Inaugural NC Media and Journalism Hall of Fame inductions recognize today’s luminaries, past honorees
MJ-school alumnus and benefactor Roy H. Park Jr. honored with top award from NC governor
The N.C. Halls of Fame in Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations were reconstituted in April 2017 as the N.C. Media and Journalism Hall of Fame with an inaugural gala fundraiser for the school in which all members of the former Halls were honored along with the five 2017 honorees:
In a surprise ceremony before the 2017 Park Lecture, MJ-school Dean Susan King and UNC Chancellor Carol Folt presented the school’s alumnus and great benefactor Roy H. Park Jr. ’61 with The Order of the Long Leaf Pine award — among the most prestigious awards conferred by the governor of North Carolina. The award is presented to individuals who have a record of exemplary service to their communities and to the state.
MJAA launches year-long mentorship program in Fall 2017 After a successful pilot semester with 10 mentor/mentee pairs in Spring 2017, the Media and Journalism Alumni Association will run a year-long mentorship program in 2017-18 with 30 mentor/ mentee pairs from across all disciplines. The goal of the initiative is to support the educational and professional growth of student participants — and for alumni professionals to play a key role in the development of UNC’s next generation of media and journalism industry leaders. The program will begin in early September 2017 and run through late April 2018. mj.unc.edu/MJAA
Lisa Church
President of eMarketer
Peter Grauer Chairman of Bloomberg LP
David Oakley
President and Creative Director of BooneOakley
Orage Quarles III
Retired President and Publisher of The News & Observer
Job placement success for May 2016 graduates
Graduates employed or enrolled in further education
46.2%
Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
Publisher of The New York Times, Chairman of The New York Times Company mj.unc.edu/NCHoF2017
93.4%
Source: University Career Services (83.6% response rate)
Graduates with jobs in North Carolina ( followed by New York metro area, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta)
To our alumni, donors and friends Today’s media and journalism organizations have been thrust squarely into the national spotlight and are scrutinized, questioned, challenged and debated more than at any time I can recall going back to my career as a journalist covering politics and public affairs.
SUSAN KING @susking
As the dean of one of the world’s greatest schools of media and journalism, I embrace the opportunity to reaffirm the critical role that our students, faculty and graduates play in our democratic society. Our school has grown from a single course in journalism more than 100 years ago into one the largest and most diverse majors at Carolina, with courses and expertise that span the communications landscape and its many disciplines. Through growth and evolution, the school maintains deeply rooted core values that do not waver amid change, disruption, chaos or controversy.
OUR ALUMNI ARE A POWERFUL PRESENCE THROUGHOUT THE STATE, COUNTRY AND WORLD. Interested in sharing your own experiences? Submit a photo or video testimonial via the Start Here / Never Stop site’s submission form. starthereneverstop.mj.unc.edu
Our values are to seek the facts, tell the truth effectively and understand the effects of media on society — all in order to reach the public with important, accurate information that allows them to make wellinformed decisions. Journalism is at the core of all we do. It is the foundational idea that animates all of our students, no matter their area of study. We prepare each graduate to understand the role of journalism in democracy, the fundamental right of the First Amendment and the responsibility to seek the truth and protect freedoms.
Our journalism students know that being impartial and objective is the critical value of their profession. Impartiality means delivering the news honestly, fairly, objectively and without personal opinion. Credibility is the greatest asset of any news medium, and impartiality is the greatest source of credibility. The values of our public relations and advertising students are based on principled advocacy in which the importance of credibility and ethics are paramount. The skills of storytelling can persuade audiences, but truth must be the starting point. Disinformation, bias or falsehood compromises credibility and destroys an organization’s mission and brand. Our scholars’ values are centered on research built around facts, evidence and theories that are tested and rigorously reviewed with the imperative of producing new knowledge. We believe scholarship is consequential. We pursue our research with purpose so that what we learn can impact ideas, programs and policies and improve society. We are committed to advancing understanding of the political, social, legal, health and economic issues of our time. As a school, our promise is to graduate leaders who are committed to an informed citizenry, to ethical and responsible communications, to excellence, to the importance of public service and to the production of new knowledge. That commitment will ensure that democracy, freedom of expression and equality under the law endure.
UNC School of Media and Journalism Office of Development and Alumni Affairs | 311 Carroll Hall, CB 3365 | Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3365
Contributed by Jeff Merron ‘92 (Ph.D.)
Crisis communication with Lucinda Austin In a health crisis, communication is key, and social media give public officials, health care providers and NGOs powerful weapons to use in battling a variety of threats. Whether it’s Ebola, the Zika virus or the challenge of the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, many people get the most current information they need through various social media platforms. The topic is ripe for research, and UNC assistant professor Lucinda Austin is an important theorist emerging as one of the field’s top researchers. Austin primarily focuses her research on the use of social media in health and crisis communications. This work centers on the Social-Mediated Crisis Communication (SMCC) model, which she began developing with colleagues around 2010. Her work is grounded on established theory and focused on current, widely-adopted new media — and it has immediate practical applications. Communicators facing a crisis may use the SMCC model in crafting an emergency response plan. The Health Communication Capacity Collaborative, based out of Johns Hopkins, for example, includes the model in its social and behavior change communication emergency preparedness implementation toolkit, which is aimed at national and international leaders.
“ Social media gives publics more power and more voice and more interactive potential with organizations,” Austin says. “ In PR theory and in the field, for a long time we’ve been saying ‘ we need more dialogue between organizations and publics, we need more two-way communication.’ Now we have greater potential for that.” Austin’s research helps create new knowledge that unlocks that potential to create more effective crisis communication to serve public health.
Local media center partners with NC media for digital business model transformation The MJ-school’s Center for Innovation & Sustainability in Local Media is partnering with eight North Carolina news organizations to advance digital transformation to achieve sustainable business models and close the print and digital divide. The partnership is part of a national initiative supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
A year of
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS The past academic year produced unprecedented accolades for MJ-school students across programs and disciplines, headlined by: News design international champions The school nearly swept the international Society for News Design competition with more than 30 top awards — continuing years of domination in news design awards. First place wins include: • Standalone Media — Lisa Dzera '16 • Magazine Cover — Victoria Price '17 • Sports Page Design — Jiabing Song '17
Public relations national champions The school won its first–ever public relations national championship with a victory in the prestigious PRSSA Bateman Competition.
GLOBAL IMPACT From covering the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro to being invited to Super Bowl Media Week in Houston, students traveled to 19 cities across four different continents in 2016–17, reporting on local news, learning about international media markets and networking with alumni. The MJ-school is proud to provide these opportunities to help students become global leaders in their chosen fields. International locations: Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, England, France and Puerto Rico
Journalism national champions The school won its third consecutive journalism national championship in the Hearst Journalism Awards that includes writing, radio/TV, photo/video and multimedia journalism. It is the school's seventh championship all-time.
Domestic locations: California, D.C., Illinois, New York, North Carolina and Texas
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the university of north carolina at chapel hill campus box 3365, carroll hall chapel hill, nc 27599-3365
mj.unc.edu/events Sept. 8
MJ-school Internship Fair
Sept. 8
MJAA Mentorship Program Kickoff
Sept. 26
First Amendment Day
Sept. 29
Jane Brown Lecture ft. Jeff Niederdeppe
Oct. 1
Graduate Certificate in Technology and Communication application deadline
Oct. 19
MJ Day — New York City
Oct. 27
Homecoming alumni reception
Nov. 2
MJ Day — Washington, D.C.
Nov. 3
Next World Media Workshop
Dec. 5
Ph.D. in Mass Communication application deadline
Dec. 12
M.A. in Mass Communication application deadline
The Washington Post collaborated with the MJ-school to produce a 360-degree video experience of the Galapagos Islands, focusing on the species and tourists that inhabit the islands. go.unc.edu/Galapagos PHOTO BY STEVEN KING, JAY HEINZ & PATRICK DAVISON
ADDRESS CORRECTIONS
Robin Jackson Director of Alumni Affairs and Donor Relations (919) 843-2026 | rhjackson@unc.edu