SUMMER 2018
A PUBLICATION OF THE SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND JOURNALISM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
For 15 years, the UNC School of Media and Journalism has documented North Carolina’s people and culture in every corner of the state through the Carolina Photojournalism Workshop. Dre Rhinehart (pictured right), a senior at Hickory High School on his way to Guilford College, is featured in the 2018 edition of the annual storytelling workshop that has taken MJ-school students, faculty and professional advisers on location in communities from Little Switzerland to Ocean Isle. Thanks to direct funding in the 2018-19 state budget, the tradition will continue into the future along with a new website to host and archive the N.C. cultural resource the workshops have created. mj.unc.edu/CatawbaCalling
Photo by Grace Turner ’18, Carolina Photojournalism Workshop
M J.U N C . E D U/CA R O L I N ACO M MU N I CATO R
TO OUR ALUMNI, DONORS AND FRIENDS: As we enter the Fall 2018 semester at the UNC School of Media and Journalism, we are in the midst of a critically important schoolwide strategic planning process led by Academic Dean Francesca Dillman Carpentier, our Horace Carter Distinguished Professor. Our previous strategic plan, A Path Forward, emerged in 2013 soon after my arrival as dean. It has served us well, kept us fresh and led to significant innovations. It helped us realize that our name didn’t reveal the dynamism of our faculty, the commitment of our staff and the power of our students to innovate, invent and imagine the future. Our new name has shouted loudly that we are no longer your father’s journalism school. We updated our curriculum, integrated our faculty and programs and sent students off well-prepared for the changing demands of the world of journalism, public relations and advertising.
SUSAN KING @susking
And now it is time to reset our strategy for the next five years. Constant change is the new normal in our world, and we must be ready for it. As dean, it is my job to make room for an influx of new faculty talent and to find the resources necessary to keep our school on the cutting edge of tomorrow. I see private universities with more resources. I see other states responding to the need for data scientists, communicators, media leaders and innovation. I am pleased that Carolina is in a $4.25 billion campaign to build for tomorrow. University leadership is working with us at the highest levels to make sure the traditions and values we are known for — journalism that serves the public, a commitment to the First Amendment and ethical public relations and advertising — is at the center of UNC‘s campus priorities. I am energized to work with our alumni, friends, outside foundations and corporations to keep our school at the top of international higher education in media and journalism world. If we stand still, if we don’t grow our endowment and programs, we will slide backward. That is simply not acceptable. The support that we receive from you helps us make the kind of impact that converts classroom spaces into media centers, maximize the student experience and extend the campus and industry networks that make us vital. It fosters a nimble, entrepreneurial mindset throughout the campus and community, and it revitalizes our curriculum to reflect and interpret the world around us.
PODCAST with Dean Susan King
This podcast highlights the meaning behind the school's Start Here / Never Stop tagline through conversations with influential alumni.
mj.unc.edu/shnspodcast
The school will raise $75 million by 2022. It will not be easy, but it will allow us to move forward at the tempo required to train and inspire the next generation of communicators in a fast-moving media world. We are fortunate to have a history of private giving by generous donors with strong ties to the school. Look no further than the Triad Foundation — which under the guidance of Roy H. Park’s son, Roy Park Jr., and his children Trip Park and Elizabeth Park Fowler — has been a steadfast supporter. For 20 years the Park family has kept us the envy of national graduate programs and launched more than 450 careers. How do you envision the MJ-school’s brightest future? We need your help, and we hope you will join us!
UNC School of Media and Journalism Office of Development and Alumni Affairs | 311 Carroll Hall, CB 3365 | Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3365
PRIVATE GIVING
TOUCHES ALL
Donors make an impact on nearly every student and faculty member at the school. The following stories illustrate some of the different ways how.
‘Best dissertation in the field’ recognition for the ninth MJ-school scholar The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication presented Park Fellow and doctoral alumnus Brooks Fuller ’06, ’17 (Ph.D.) with its 2018 NafzigerWhite-Salwen Dissertation Award, recognizing the best dissertation in the field of mass communication research. Fuller is ninth in a long line of MJ-school graduate students who have received the celebrated award, the most wins in the nation for any university. Fuller, now at Louisiana State University, won with “Words, Wounds, and Relationships: A Mixed-Media Study of Free Speech and Harm in High-Conflict Environments.” Fuller's study used ethnographic fieldwork and analysis of First Amendment case law to compare the ways federal courts analyze allegedly harmful speech to the ways protest participants interpret threats or calls for violence. mj.unc.edu/BrooksFuller Brooks Fuller
Lookout Fellows land dream internships The first group of Lookout Fellows entered the workforce this summer, interning at the PGA Tour in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and in three corporate offices in Manhattan: at Oscar de la Renta headquarters on 42nd Street; at Burson-Marsteller on Park Avenue; and with media conglomerate Viacom on Broadway. The Lookout Fellows Program was established by Carolina graduates Lee and Sunny Burrows to enable MJ-school students to pursue dream internships by lifting the financial barrier that often limits student access to the ideal internship experience. mj.unc.edu/lookout
Ariana Wiggins ’19 and Briana Martin ’19
MJ-school students, faculty, alumni draw a bounty of honors The Spring 2018 semester ended with numerous awards and honors for students, faculty and alumni alike. Walter E. Hussman Visiting Lecturer in Business Journalism Carol Wolf won an Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Award from the University. Doni Holloway ’18 — a scholarship and award recipient — was named Student Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists. The school’s student-run radio broadcast, Carolina Connection, won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Audio Newscast. Former scholarship winner alumna Jacquie Charles ’94 won the Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award given for coverage of the Americas — for her work with the Miami Herald.
MJ-school students claim national championships in Hearst Journalism Awards Rob Gourley ’18, who is entering the school’s Environment and Science Communication dualdegree program, won the national multimedia championship in the Hearst Journalism Awards and was recognized for the best multimedia story of the year for his short video “Don’t Think Twice.” Jay Siebold ’18 won the radio broadcast news national Rob Gourley championship along with recognition for the best use of radio for news coverage. Anne Marie Hagerty ’18 placed second in the television broadcast news division and was recognized with the best use of television for news coverage award. Overall, the MJ-school placed second in the Hearst Journalism Awards after a “three-peat” in overall national championships from 2015-17. Danielle Chemtob
mj.unc.edu/HearstChamps
MJ-school dual-degree program comes to life The Environment and Science Communication dual-degree program is a unique partnership between the MJ-school and the Curriculum for Environment and Ecology designed to be completed in a fast-paced “four plus one” five years with opportunities to partner with industry leaders for meaningful internships along the way. The first graduate of the program, Rachel McMahan ’17 (M.A.), said the degree was right for her because she could pursue her interest in complex topics such as sustainability and renewable energy, but also gain the storytelling, communications and strategic skills that allow her to make science accessible and understandable to a broader audience. McMahan is currently a fellow with SolarCorps in the San Francisco Bay Area. Listen to Dean King’s interview with McMahan at mj.unc.edu/SHNSPodcast.
For an overview of how many MJ-school students are impacted by scholarships and awards, go to mj.unc.edu/scholarships2018.
Data-driven, real-world reporting garners “Best in Business” award Rising senior Danielle Chemtob ’19, an MJ-school Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation Scholarship recipient, was recognized for student journalism in the international Society of American Business Editors and Writers’ Best in Business awards for 2017 work. The piece she wrote about student debt at historically black colleges and universities for the Triangle Business Journal won in the stories written for professional publication category. Judges wrote, “Though the story included a lot of hard data on rising tuition costs and flat wages, she kept it interesting and personal by speaking to students and school leaders.” The Cole Campbell Professional Development Fund allowed Chemtob to travel to Washington, D.C., to receive the award. She went on to land a Dow Jones News Fund summer 2018 internship, one of five MJ-school students to be awarded the prestigious internship opportunity this year. mj.unc.edu/chemtob
DEVELOPMENT
ALUMNI AFFAIRS
Two MJ-school graduates appointed to UNC Board of Visitors The UNC Board of Trustees appointed Frank Andrews ’90 (left) of Bethesda, Maryland, and Whitney (Willingham) Cohen ’90 of St. Petersburg, Florida, to the Board of Visitors, where they will serve four-year terms. Board of Visitors members serve as ambassadors between their communities and the University. mj.unc.edu/andrews
The Bridge Builders: Chuck Stone and Nikole Hannah-Jones A new University-wide naming program for existing need-based scholarships and grants, The Bridge Builders, named awards after Walter Spearman Professor Emeritus Chuck Stone and Park Fellow alumna Nikole Hannah-Jones ’03 (M.A.). The program seeks to honor those who have brought the Carolina community closer together through their work, advocacy and example.
Jim Goodmon received honorary degree at UNC’s 2018 Commencement Visionary corporate and community leader James Fletcher “Jim” Goodmon — long a generous MJ-school benefactor and advocate for ethical and responsible communications — was recognized by UNC with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the University’s 2018 Commencement. mj.unc.edu/goodmon
mj.unc.edu/bridgebuilders
Media and Journalism Alumni Association (MJAA) connects you with fellow graduates from the hallowed halls of Howell and Carroll. Catch up with Peter Millar’s digital brand manager Danielle Passingham ’14 (M.A.) (above top) and UVA’s Meredith Clark ’14 (Ph.D.) (above bottom), profiled recently in mj.unc.edu/news. Or learn about Emmy Award-winning SNL producer Lindsay Shookus ’02 and Patient Power founder Andrew Schorr ’71 at mj.unc.edu/SHNSPodcast. mj.unc.edu/mjaa
Recoding the Boys’ Club: Women vs. the Political Tech Ceiling A research project unveiled at a Washington, D.C., event by a team of MJ-school undergraduate researchers is the first-ever in-depth look at women’s experiences working in political technology at the presidential campaign level. The report was shared by Axios and noted in Poynter’s “what we are reading” list. An anonymous donor to the MJ-school helped to make the event a reality. recodingtheboysclub.com
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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus Box 3365, Carroll Hall Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3365
CALENDAR September 14 MJAA Mentorship Program Kickoff
October 4-5 Networking trip to Washington, D.C.
September 21 Mary Junck Research Colloquium with Russell Clayton
October 11 Foundation Board meeting
September 25 First Amendment Day September 27 Jane Brown Health Communication Lecture with Robin Nabi October 1 Spring 2019 application deadline for online Certificate in Digital Communication program October 2 Public lecture by CNN Senior White House Correspondent Pamela Brown
October 11 Celebrating Milestones: Donor/Student Scholarship Recipient Dinner October 12 University Day October 12 Board of Advisers meeting October 16-18 Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative October 17-19 Washington Experience Program October 18-19 Fall Break networking trip to New York City
mj.unc.edu/events
November 3 UNC Homecoming November 8-9 Networking trip to Atlanta November 14 Mary Junck Research Colloquium with Berkley Hudson
Student international designer
November 16 Next World Media Symposium
José Valle ’18
December 4 Fall 2019 application deadline for Ph.D. in Media and Communication program December 11 Fall 2019 application deadline for M.A. in Media and Communication program December 16 UNC Winter Commencement
OF THE YEAR
José Valle ’18 won first place in the Student Designer of the Year category of the Michigan State University Society of News Design (MSUND) contest, competing against entries from across the globe. Here, Valle is in New York City in a shirt he sewed made of fabric he designed featuring some of his layout design work for The Daily Tar Heel and others.