PR and advertising students stage hackathon-styled marketing competition
Students, faculty, alumni create Ebola tracking site for Liberian government
Cates leads health comm team on $2.4 million NIH grant to fight HPV
jomc.unc.edu/carolinacommunicator
Hogs are integral to North Carolina culture, politics and business. The J-school’s Powering a Nation series on energy in the U.S. — which has won more than 60 national and international awards including South by Southwest Interactive, World Press Photo and the Grantham Prize — explored the energy dynamics of the state’s hog industry for its 2014 project “Whole Hog.” Students scoured eastern North Carolina for the best barbecue joints to share meals of chopped pork and hush puppies, and engage in sometimes difficult conversations about the complex set of relationships in the industry. wholehognc.org I M AG E C R E D I T: C A I T L I N K L E I B O E R
WINTER 2015
TO O UR CA R O LI N A J - SCH O O L FA M I LY A N D F R I E N DS :
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rum roll please.
After a year of research, discussion, outreach and student branding projects, the faculty voted unanimously to change our name to align better with the dynamic learning underway in the school.
We will become the UNC School of Media and Journalism in summer 2015. We are focused on the future and firmly rooted in our journalism and First Amendment values. You will hear more. We want you to help tell today’s J-school story. Our school is a hub of media innovation.
SUSAN KING @susking ADDRESS CORRECTIONS:
Meghan Hunt meg_hunt@unc.edu (919) 962-3037 UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication Development and Alumni Affairs Carroll Hall 311, CB 3365 Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3365
EXPERIENCE THE J-SCHOOL AT YOUTUBE.COM/UNCJSCHOOL The UNC J-school often hosts top visiting professionals and scholars who come to share their experiences and tap into the expertise in the school. Check out our YouTube channel to take advantage of the posted events, lectures, conversations, faculty research presentations and more.
Four alumni recently won national Emmys for creative multimedia reporting. Gabriel Dance ’06 (M.A.) and Feilding Cage ’06 were part of The Guardian team that won for an interactive about the NSA’s mass surveillance program. Joshua Davis ’12 (M.A.) and Nacho Corbella ’09 (M.A.) were on an NPR team that won for a project that documented the making of a T-shirt from the farms where the cotton is grown to the factories where they are sewn. When The Wall Street Journal recently announced new hires, it was a UNC trifecta. Three of our 2014 grads were hired as journalist developers, focused on creating news apps and digital products. These are journalism jobs that weren’t around 20 years ago. Something not new is the school’s accreditation process every six years from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. We are up for re-accreditation in February 2015, when a prestigious group of deans and professors from across the nation will visit us. Some of you may be called on to comment. I invite you to review the self-study on our website
at jomc.unc.edu/accreditation. It shows our strengths, but also takes on the reality of tighter budgets, industry change and assessing curriculum. To strengthen our scholars’ ability to keep on the edge of research with impact, we are updating our research infrastructure in Carroll Hall. We will have a fully outfitted focus group facility, featuring white boards and interactive labs that allow for the experiments on behavior that are critical to our work. The competition in the field is fierce. A number of doctoral alumni are helping us create this state-ofthe-art facility. A few of our advertising and public relations faculty gurus — John Sweeney, JoAnn Sciarrino and Gary Kayye — put together a recent symposium on big trends in the business. They focused on the rise of small entrepreneurial firms in the reinvented advertising business — covering the landscape of contemporary marketing communications in the mobile, digital, data-driven and social networked media environment. Change comes so fast in our industry that many of you have asked to join in our forward thinking programs like this. Stay tuned. We plan to open it to alumni next year. I hope you will find much in this Communicator to whet your appetite — and then learn lots more online at jomc.unc.edu. Best,
SUSA N KI N G DEAN
John T. Kerr Distinguished Professor
THE ROY H. PARK DISTINGUISHED LECTURE featuring PEGGY NOONAN Author and Columnist for The Wall Street Journal Thursday, April 9, 2015 | Carroll Hall FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT JOMC.UNC.EDU/NOONAN Made possible by generous support from the Triad Foundation
J-SCHOOL CODERS RESPOND TO LIBERIAN MINISTER OF INFORMATION’S CALL FOR HELP WITH EBOLA OUTBREAK DATA SITE
A
t the start of fall 2014 classes, assistant professor Steven King sent out a call to students to help him create a data dashboard to visually represent statistics of Liberia’s Ebola crisis.
It was not a hypothetical situation. It was not a project for a grade. It was a response to the Liberian Minister of Information, who needed help presenting data on the outbreak in a more meaningful and timely way than distributing pages of spreadsheets. King and his current and former students fought through major obstacles and quickly delivered ebolainliberia.com to visually represent Liberia’s Ebola statistics. May 2014 graduate and news app developer for The Wall Street Journal, Casey Miller, pictured above with Steven King, developed the backend system to turn the data into visualizations. Officials at SAS Institute noticed the work and began supporting the effort with resources, data analytics and expertise to create a more detailed information portal — with projections and forecasts — to help
inform decision-makers in the field trying to contain the outbreak. The project has also drawn attention from and led to conversations with the World Bank, White House, State Department and Microsoft’s crisis response team. Beyond helping Liberia manage Ebola data, King and his students hope to create open source code that can collect and display data sets for major events. “Our hope is that all of this work can be used during events that might be completely different,” King said. “We could have a system up and running even more quickly to better serve various audiences with realtime information.”
GET MORE JOMC.UNC.EDU/EBOLAINLIBERIA
SYMPOSIUM ON RACE, INEQUALITY AND JUSTICE HONORS LEGACY OF CHUCK STONE
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he school hosted the first Chuck Stone Symposium on Democracy in a Multicultural Society, convening scholars and journalists to discuss the issues of race, inequality, justice and democracy in America — issues central to Chuck Stone’s work over a 60-year career. The two-day symposium — which honored the J-school professor who passed away in April 2014 — continued Stone’s legacy by addressing America’s contemporary struggles for racial and economic justice. The first night featured a screening and discussion of “Los Jets,” a documentary series about a Siler City, North Carolina, high school soccer team of Latino immigrants, coached by UNC journalism professor Paul Cuadros. “Los Jets” is a window to the immigrant experience and to how a community is changing along with major demographic shifts. The second day included two panel discussions organized by J-school faculty members Daniel Kreiss and Trevy McDonald — “Contemporary Democracy in a Multicultural Society” and “Civil Rights Then and
Paul Delaney, veteran New York Times editor and correspondent who covered civil rights issues, joined the Stone Symposium panel “Civil Rights Then and Now.”
Now” — and an address by Chuck Stone protégé Barry Saunders, the popular columnist for The (Raleigh) News & Observer. The panelists included professors from UNC, North Carolina Central University and NC State, and former New York Times journalist Paul Delaney.
Panelists discussed a wide range of topics including: ƌɄ -$( ƇɄ /#Ʉ+ ) '/4Ʉ ) Ʉ/- Ů Ʉ./*+Ʉ / Ʉ ) Ʉ./ /$./$ 'Ʉ $.+ -$/$ .Ɖ ƌɄ (+ /Ʉ*!Ʉ%*0-) '$./$ Ʉ // )/$*)Ʉ ) Ʉ/*) Ʉ$)Ʉ *1 -$)"Ʉ ,0 '$/4Ʉ$..0 .Ɖ ƌɄ # Ʉ$(+*-/ ) Ʉ*!Ʉ * '$/$*).Ʉ ) Ʉ $1$ Ʉ- +- . )/ /$*)Ʉ/*Ʉ $Ŧ0. Ʉ / ).$*)Ʉ ) Ʉ0+# 1 'Ʉ.0 #Ʉ .Ʉ/# Ʉ- )/Ʉ 1 )/.Ʉ$)Ʉ -"0.*)ƇɄ $..*0-$Ɖ ƌɄ -.*) 'Ʉ./*-$ .Ʉ ) Ʉ#$./*-$ 'Ʉ+ -.+ /$1 .Ʉ!-*(Ʉ/# Ʉ $1$'Ʉ $"#/.Ʉ *1 ( )/Ɖ ƌɄ # Ʉ$)/ -+' 4Ʉ*!Ʉ+0 '$ Ʉ*+$)$*)ƇɄ' "$.' /$*)Ʉ ) Ʉ%0 $ $ 'Ʉ /$*)Ɖ ƌɄ $ Ʉ Ŧ /.Ʉ*!Ʉ$)/ "- /$*)Ʉ$) '0 $)"Ʉ # )" .Ʉ/*Ʉ/# Ʉ! -$ Ʉ*!Ʉ minority communities.
GET MORE JOMC.UNC.EDU/STONESYMPOSIUM
Please remember the J-school in your year-end giving. Unrestricted gifts provide the most flexibility and are particularly appreciated. If you are able, consider joining the Dean’s Circle with a gift of $1,000 or more. We are grateful for gifts of all sizes and purposes. YOU CAN GIVE ONLINE AT JOMC.UNC.EDU/GIFT.
HONORING NORTH CAROLINA GREATS IN JOURNALISM, ADVERTISING AND PR The school honored eight leaders in journalism and strategic communication at the N.C. Halls of Fame in Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations induction ceremony Oct. 10 in Chapel Hill. ABC11 anchor and reporter Fred Shropshire, a 2000 graduate of the school, pictured far right on the back row, was the night’s emcee. The 2014 class includes:
Or write your check to the “UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication” and mail to: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill P.O. Box 309 Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0309 Please call Meghan Hunt at (919) 962-3037 for more information.
CHRIS MATTHEWS MSNBC Hardball host (journalism) Introduced by Dick Krasno, executive director of the Kenan Charitable Trust
JULIE DIXON Golin deputy managing director (public relations) Introduced by Ellen Ryan Mardiks, Golin vice chairman
TAR HEEL TALK with DANIEL KREISS:
ALLEN G. MASK III Google Play associate brand manager (next generation leadership)
KIM STONE Miami Heat / American Airlines Arena executive VP and GM (public relations)
Digital media and political campaigning
Introduced by his father, Allen Mask Jr., WRAL-TV
Introduced by her sister Kelly Delong
back row, left to right
HARRY AMANA UNC professor emeritus (journalism) Introduced by Dean Emeritus Richard Cole, UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication front row, left to right JIM HEAVNER VilCom owner and CEO (journalism) Introduced by Wade Hargrove, Brooks Pierce partner
SUSAN FOWLER CREDLE Leo Burnett chief creative officer (advertising) Introduced by Distinguished Professor John Sweeney, UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication WALTER E. HUSSMAN JR . Arkansas Democrat-Gazette publisher ( journalism) Introduced by Erskine Bowles, former Pres. Clinton chief of staff and UNC system president
FOR MORE INFO & TO WATCH INDUCTIONS JOMC.UNC.EDU/HOF2014
JOMC.UNC.EDU/KREISSTHT Daniel Kreiss studies the effects of digital media on election processes and campaigns. His book — “Taking Our Country Back: The Crafting of Networked Politics from Howard Dean to Barack Obama” — covered new media and Democratic political campaigning. He is working on a second book focused on Republican use of new media technologies. “Networked Ward Politics: Parties, Databases, and Campaigning in the Information Age” explores the role of digital media, data and analytics in contemporary campaigning, and frames the differences in the two parties’ technological capacities.
Thanks to generous donors, the school is able to offer more than 100 scholarships and awards to students each year. Pictured at the school’s 2014 Scholarships and Awards Luncheon at the Carolina Inn are this year’s winners of the Mary Kathryn Forbes Scholarship and Mary Kathryn’s parents, who established the scholarship to honor their daughter. Left to right: Jasmine Jennings, Natalie Ballard, Katherine Forbes, GET MORE JOMC.UNC.EDU/LUNCHEON Paige Plumblee and Charles Forbes.
NEWS FOR MORE NEWS:
JOMC.UNC.EDU/NEWS
GARDEN & GUN FOUNDER AND CEO HIGHLIGHTS J-SCHOOL HOMECOMING WEEKEND
The J-school hosted a conversation with the founder and CEO of Garden & Gun, Rebecca Wesson Darwin, to kick off a homecoming weekend that included an alumni reception and pre-game tailgate on the Bell Tower Quad. Darwin, a UNC alumna, was joined by Raleigh’s Walter magazine editor Liza Roberts, Dean Susan King, professor of the practice Dana McMahan and senior Liz Crampton to talk about the Garden & Gun brand and how it fits into today’s media landscape. Watch Darwin’s talk at jomc.unc.edu/homecoming2014.
24-HOUR CRASH CAMPAIGN ‘HACKATHON’ FOR PR AND ADVERTISING STUDENTS DEVELOPS MEDIA CAMPAIGNS FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES AND NONPROFITS
Advertising students organized the school’s first Crash Campaign — a hackathon-styled event to develop branding and marketing solutions for local businesses and nonprofits in a 24-hour period. Seniors Joanna Sanfilippo and Matt Hurley, pictured above with PR professor Lois Boynton, organized more than 70 students from across disciplines to collaborate and pitch ideas to clients and judges. Sanfilippo said the Crash Campaign structure generates the intensity and pressure of developing campaigns on deadline while spurring the creativity born of both collaboration and competition. She hopes to establish the Crash Campaign as a tradition at the J-school to provide immersive experiences for students. The winning team pitched a campaign for Rumors, a Chapel Hill thrift clothing boutique, earning them a $500 prize and each member a yearlong membership in the American Marketing Association. Learn more at jomc.unc.edu/crash or crashcampaign.com.
J-SCHOOL FACULTY LEADS INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM ON NIH-FUNDED PROJECT TO SEE IF TEXTS, GAMES AND WEB PORTALS CAN INCREASE VACCINATIONS
With a $2.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at UNC and the Duke University Medical Center — led by J-school faculty member Joan Cates, pictured third from right — will evaluate new methods of reaching parents and preteens about the importance of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Cates and the team will work with 48 medical practices and nearly 500 parents and their children in North Carolina over the next four years to test how interventions that include texts, games and web portals can encourage vaccination for the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S., which is known to cause various forms of cancer.
MASTER’S PROGRAM ALUMNA MARY JUNCK ’71, CEO OF LEE ENTERPRISES, TO RECEIVE UNC HONORARY DEGREE
Mary Junck, a 1971 UNC journalism master’s graduate, will earn an honorary Doctor of Laws at UNC’s May 2015 commencement ceremony. She is the CEO of media company Lee Enterprises and serves as the chair of the board of directors of The Associated Press. Junck endowed the school’s Mary Junck Research Colloquium to nurture a vibrant interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary climate through scholarly presentations on diverse topics. She is pictured above with Donald Shaw — professor emeritus, eminent scholar and her mentor — at a Women in Media Leadership Series talk she gave in October 2013.
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Congratulations to J-school student Marcus Paige on earning All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball team honors and second team Academic All-America honors. Paige, a junior from Marion, Iowa, is majoring in public relations in the school. P H O T O C R E D I T: C A S E Y T O T H
AN INNOVATIVE ONLINE MASTER’S DEGREE IN DIGITAL MEDIA FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS. FOR PROGRAM AND INDUSTRY-RELATED UPDATES FOLLOW @UNC_MATC ON TWITTER. LEARN MORE AT MATC.JOMC.UNC.EDU.