Carolina Communicator — Winter 2019

WINTER 2019

A PUBLICATION OF THE SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND JOURNALISM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL

It takes curious minds — and the resources of many committed donors — to cover the globe like MJ-school students will this spring and summer. This semester, MJ-school students are in Australia, Spain, England and Hong Kong. This summer, others will participate in a whirlwind global immersion in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong; and document an archaeology dig in Israel. mj.unc.edu/global Public relations student Taylor Doggett ’20, on the runway of Siem Reap International Airport on a visit to Cambodia before starting classes at the University of Hong Kong.

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: 2019 promises to again be a year of change and disruption.

As a school and a university, we have learned to be nimble and seize the opportunity to lead through change, just as we train our students to do to as they prepare for their careers.

As the University undergoes leadership changes — with former UNC College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kevin Guskiewicz named interim chancellor in the wake of Carol Folt’s departure at the end of January — we remain focused on the great strides the school is making on many fronts.

SUSAN KING @susking

Start Here / Never Stop

PODCAST with Dean Susan King

This podcast series highlights the meaning behind the school’s Start Here / Never Stop tagline through conversations with influential alumni.

Our innovative online M.A. in Digital Communication for working professionals was named the nation’s number one program of its kind. MJ-school senior Alex Kormann was named the White House News Photographers Association student photographer of the year. Our partnership with Bloomberg News to increase diversity in the profession grew to include programs in both New York and San Francisco last year, and we are expanding internationally this summer with the addition of a London program.

The school has raised more than $40 million towards our $75 million Campaign for Carolina goal. We have the Curtis Family Foundation — led by Don Curtis ’63, Barbara Curtis and Donna Curtis ’93 — to thank for pushing us over the halfway mark with the largest single gift ever made to the MJ-school. The Curtises — like the Park family and their Triad Foundation — create a supportive framework that enables life-changing opportunities for our students. The Curtis Media Center, to be situated along a busy campus corridor, will put the school center stage and highlights our innovative work to the UNC community and campus visitors.

In the often-polarized political environment surrounding media and journalism, the MJ-school is committed to accuracy and fairness and fostering productive dialogue and debate around major issues to students and to the public conversation. We believe in the importance of engagement and respectful consideration of a wide range of perspectives — and we work to bring those diverse voices to campus.

“The combination of streaming and subscription will make how you consume games … fundamentally different in the next few years.”

Just this semester, students had the opportunity to interact with journalist-turned-author Marita Golden, Wall Street Journal political columnist Kimberley Strassel, PolitiFact founder Bill Adair, New York Times Pentagon correspondent Helene Cooper ’87, and a whole range of professionals and scholars, representing many of the disciplines and perspectives our students will continue to encounter in their careers and lives.

DAVID TINSON ’96 Senior vice president of marketing communications at Electronic Arts

The school is moving forward on adopting a new strategic plan to guide decision-making in the years to come. The plan reaffirms our values, recognizes our challenges and sets a course to keep the school at the leading edge of the media and journalism fields. I look forward to sharing more about our forward-looking strategy in the months to come.

“At the most I’m six years older than the freshmen on the [football] team, so I think that’s helped in terms of getting them to open up.”

GRACE RAYNOR ’15 Clemson sports beat reporter for The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina mj.unc.edu/shnspodcast

UNC School of Media and Journalism Office of Development and Alumni Affairs | 311 Carroll Hall, CB 3365 | Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3365

FIVE INDUSTRY LEADERS

to be inducted into

THE NC MEDIA & JOURNALISM

IN 2019

mj.unc.edu/news/MJHoF2019

The NC Media and Journalism Hall of Fame will induct Taylor Branch, Margaret Johnson, Mary E. Junck, Rochelle Riley and David B. Woronoff on Friday, April 12. Honorees will be recognized during a gala benefit at 6:30 p.m. at The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill. The benefit supports the UNC School of Media and Journalism in its critical role in developing future industry and academic leaders. CNN’s Pamela Brown ’06 (left), senior White House correspondent, will join the celebration as the evening’s master of ceremonies. #MJHoF2019

TAYLOR BRANCH

MARGARET JOHNSON ’91

MARY E. JUNCK ’71 (M.A.)

ROCHELLE RILEY ’81

DAVID V. WORONOFF

Pulitzer Prize-winning author, journalist and public speaker

Goodby Silverstein & Partners’ chief creative officer and partner

Lee Enterprises chair

Detroit Free Press columnist

The Pilot president and publisher

Nike and FleishmanHillard duo kick off Jordan Brand shoe campaign with public relations student teams Teaching Assistant Professor Livis Freeman (right) brought FleishmanHillard’s Courtney Quaye (left) and Nike’s Samantha Baker (center) to Chapel Hill to work with his students in one of three “Public Relations Campaigns” capstone courses offered this semester. The Fleishman/Nike duo of advisers is working with seven student teams. Freeman has charged each of the seven “mini-PR agencies” with developing a campaign for Nike’s Jordan Brand. mj.unc.edu/livis

NEXT WORLD MEDIA WORKSHOP The increasing importance of public relations expertise will be the topic of discussion at the Next World Media Workshop in Hanes Art Auditorium on Friday, March 22 from 9 a.m. to noon. The workshop is free and open to the public. Director of Advertising and Public Relations and Distinguished Professor in Sports Communication John Sweeney will talk with five esteemed professionals who have strong Carolina ties. Through his Campaign for Carolina gift, Frank Andrews ’90 helped make this workshop possible. mj.unc.edu/NextWorld2019

NEWS DESERTS

GHOST NEWSPAPERS

Dramatic shifts in ownership of newspapers continue to roil the media landscape. Penny Muse Abernathy, the Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the MJ-school, has been studying these seismic shifts in her groundbreaking research of an industry in financial distress and publishers struggling to adapt to the digital age.

Her work on emerging news deserts documents the long-ranging social, economic and political impact of shifts in ownership as private equity funds, hedge funds and investment groups have moved in to buy and manage newspapers. Abernathy was a guest on PBS NewsHour on Jan. 31, where she pointed out that the loss of 1,800 newspapers over the last 15 years is not the only alarming statistic.

“There’s also the equally troubling situation that we have with the surviving newspapers,” Abernathy noted, “where we have lost more than half of the newspaper newsroom journalists that we had just in 2008. We’re calling that the rise of the ghost newspaper, in which papers are basically shells of their former selves.”

Find details at the school’s Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media at cislm.org. Read updated research and see a related video at newspaperownership.com.

Assistant professors’ research recognized with

$10,000 JUNIOR FACULTY AWARDS

Assistant Professor Allison Lazard (left) will address the sharp increase in adolescent use of e-cigarettes by developing digital media designs to deliver relevant countermessages to youth online, assessing reach and engagement among adolescents on social media. Assistant Professor Lisa Villamil (right), in collaboration with the American Indian Center and Coharie Tribal leaders, will produce a conceptual plan and market feasibility study for a new public park running through the Coharie Tribal lands in Sampson County, North Carolina.

HOW WE TALK ABOUT The Roles of Journalism and Public Relations in Framing Conversations about a Confederate Monument MJ-school faculty, led by Associate Professor Andy Bechtel ’93 (M.A.), convened journalism and public relations professionals on Wednesday, March 6, to talk about the roles and responsibilities of professional communicators in reflecting and leading the debate over Silent Sam. Associate Professor Joseph Cabosky ’15 (Ph.D.) and master’s student Lauren Houston ’13 ’19 (M.A.) moderated a dialogue with Mistyre Bonds ’19, MJ-school student and activist; Beth Keith ’02, associate vice chancellor for University communications at UNC-Chapel Hill; Jane Stancil ’89 (M.A.), reporter for The News & Observer; Courtney Staton ’19, MJ-school student and producer of the documentary film “Silence Sam” and Myah Ward ’20, MJ-school student and University desk editor for The Daily Tar Heel.

DEVELOPMENT

ALUMNI AFFAIRS

Planning ahead: long-term, creative support for Carolina Jamie Jacobson ’77 (right) began giving back to Carolina within a decade of graduating from the MJ-school. As vice president for creative direction at N.C.-based Adams & Longino Advertising, she continued to support the MJ-school by hiring students as interns and full-time staff. In 2007, she and her husband, Carolina graduate Charlie Adams (left), established the Adams-Jacobson Endowment and became major ongoing benefactors of Heelprint Communications, the school’s student-run creative communications agency.

From 2009–17, Jacobson served on the school’s Board of Advisers, and she is currently a member of the school’s Foundation Board. Recently, Jacobson and Adams decided to make long-term plans to support the school in their will. They formalized the bequest as part of their pledge to the Campaign for Carolina, in addition to the campaign donation they recently fulfilled.

Associate Professor Deen Freelon will participate in a Thursday, April 11, “Hacks, Trolls and Fake News” forum

Fact checking, fake news and disinformation

The Miami Herald’s Caribbean Correspondent Jacqueline Charles ’94 will speak to graduates of the UNC School of Media and Journalism on Saturday, May 11, at 3:30 p.m. in Carmichael Arena. She recently received the Columbia Journalism School’s Maria Moors Cabot Prize for coverage of the Americas. She began her journalism career with the Herald as a 14-year-old intern, and returned as a full-time journalist after earning her bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication.

Charles has reported on the Caribbean — and Haiti in particular — for the Herald since 2006. In 2008, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) lauded Charles as its International Reporter of the Year.

Three years later, the NABJ recognized Charles as Journalist of the Year, citing her as “a local reporter who is having an international impact.” Charles serves on the MJ-school’s Board of Advisers.

In a media landscape complicated by sophisticated disinformation campaigns, dubious claims and growing public distrust, the school continues to expand its commitment to instilling in students the foundational values of accuracy, clarity and fairness — and the skills to navigate through complexities and verify facts. Spring 2019 kicked off a new fact-checking workshop series led

by Associate Professor Ryan Thornburg ’97. The workshops are supported by a gift from alumna Paula Graham ’82 and the first featured Politifact founder Bill Adair. MJ-school computational researcher Deen Freelon is engaged in the examination of the alleged Russian media disinformation and manipulation strategies around U.S. elections and will participate in a public forum at Wilson Library on Thursday, April 11, on “Hacks, Trolls and Fake News: What’s Russia Got to Do With It?” co-presented with the UNC Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies.

mj.unc.edu/Commencement2019

cseees.unc.edu/events

mj.unc.edu/campaign

Foreign correspondent Jacqueline Charles ’94 to deliver MJ-school’s Spring 2019 Commencement address

Nonprofit Org US Postage PA I D Chapel Hill, NC Permit No. 177

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Campus Box 3365, Carroll Hall Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3365

CALENDAR

mj.unc.edu/events

Students had the opportunity to work with journalistturned-author Marita Golden (left) during a weeklong residency from February 10–15. The Wall Street Journal editorial board member Kimberley Strassel (right) shared her view on Washington politics and the journalism profession at Gerrard Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

March 6 How We Talk About Silent Sam panel discussion

April 11 “Hacks, Trolls and Fake News” with Deen Freelon

March 6–7 Health Communication Resesarch Colloquium with Jon-Patrick Allem

April 12 Junck Research Colloquium with Erica Scharrer

March 22 Next World Media Workshop with Julie Dixon ’91, Joyce Fitzpatrick ’76, Janet Northen, Merrill Rose ’77 and Mike Sundheim ’00

April 12 NC Media and Journalism Hall of Fame Gala May 1 Spring Research Colloquium with Daniel C. Hallin

May 11 MJ-school Spring Commencement with Jacqueline Charles ’94; 50th reunion participants are invited to attend May 12 UNC Spring Commencement

John Drescher ’83 (center), Foundation board member and recently-named deputy editor for The Washington Post’s national politics investigation team, established a five year MJ-school internship program to encourage immersive experiences for select journalism undergraduates. His generous support will continue to benefit young journalists through 2022.

In his words, “This money comes from part of what my late parents left me.

They were grateful for my education in Chapel Hill — and they would love the first two recipients, Rashaan Ayesh (left) and Camila Molina (right).”