REPORTER MURPHY
SUMMER 2020
+ COVID-19: HOW THE SCHOOL RESPONDED & WHAT’S NEXT + TOWN HALL EVENTS EDUCATE THE PUBLIC
CONTENTS MURPHY
REPORTER SUMMER 2020 DIRECTOR Elisia Cohen
EDITOR
Amanda Fretheim Gates
DESIGN
Jeanne Schacht
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Lauren Borchart, Katie Dohman, Kathy Hansen, Scott Memmel, Courtenay Parker Andy Kosier, Jack Rodgers
PROOFREADER Katie Dohman
ALUMNI RECORDS Kaylee Highstrom
2020-2021 HSJMC ALUMNI SOCIETY BOARD MEMBERS Karen Schultz, president Kelli Theiler, vice president Riham Feshir Nicole Garrison Maggie Habashy Allison Kuznia Tim Nelson Jenni Pinkley Michael Schommer Jennifer Sorenson Tanya Wright The Murphy Reporter is published semiannually by the University of Minnesota Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication for alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends of the school. Send questions or comments to murphrep@ umn.edu or Murphy Reporter, 111 Murphy Hall, 206 SE Church St., Minneapolis, MN 55455 The University of Minnesota shall provide equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. This publication is available in alternative formats upon request. Direct requests to murphrep@umn.edu
FEATURE
RAPID RESPONSE TO COVID-19……. 6 1 NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR 2 ADDRESSING UNREST 6 COVID-19
Murphy Hall Responds to Distance Learning.......... 6 Alumni Work Through COVID............................... 11 Campus Media in Quarantine............................... 15 ANDY KOSIER
PHOTOGRAPHY
16 EVENTS
Northern Exposure................................................ 16 Silha Center Spring Forum................................... 17
19 TEACH
Faculty News......................................................... 19 New Faculty.......................................................... 19 Sherri Katz Research............................................. 25 Jean Ward 1930-2020.......................................... 30
22 LEARN
Student News....................................................... 22 Meet a Student .................................................... 24 Class of 2020 ............................... inside back cover
18 ALUMS
Why We Give........................................................ 18 Alumni Spotlight.................................................... 27 Award for Excellence............................................. 28 Above the Fold...................................................... 29 Scott Meyer Retires............................................... 32 Alumni News......................................................... 34 Alumni Board update............................................ 36
CONNECT WITH US! facebook.com/umnhsjmc twitter.com/umn_hsjmc instagram.com/umnhsjmc youtube.com/umnhsjmc U of MN Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication Alumni On the cover: Illustration created from an image courtesy of the CDC
NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR
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MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
in June. Protests were followed with demands from student campus leaders for the University to re-examine its treatment of students, staff, and faculty of color, and to enhance equity and opportunity for students interested in pursuing careers in professions that have historically excluded and failed to recruit, train, and advance people of color. The Hubbard School, as an accredited journalism school, has a long-standing diversity, equity and diversity plan in place but there was a palpable feeling in the School that we needed to do more to educate and meet the expectations of the moment. Both First Amendment freedoms and principles of racial justice and equality were at stake. We began a series of Town Hall conversations (p. 2-5) to bring our expertise and that of partners in the community to media professionals and members of the public who struggled with reporting on race and responding to the demands of the moment. We quickly partnered with the Minnesota chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and Public Relations Society of America, as well as Twin Cities Black Journalists. We plan to continue to build our Town Hall programming into the academic year. To do so, we commit to deepen this initiative moving forward including new faculty, professional partners, and voices from the community. As I look ahead to the final days of summer, the School is prepared to turn the challenges of this moment into an opportunity to emerge stronger, with a clarity of purpose and relevant work. For the past three years of my directorship, we have searched for and brought in new talent into the School who have helped us do so. Our expanded faculty and instructional staff provided a guiding light this year to ensure student success and support. Our Diversity Fellows program brought in talented Twin Cities professionals to enhance professional development, awareness and competencies in our faculty-led classrooms, and expand this fall in our virtual environment. You can read more on page 19 about how we were able to make two “pre-COVID” hires of two tenure-eligible faculty: Assistant Professor and Cowles Endowed Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality Danielle Kilgo and Assistant Professor Adam Saffer. Undoubtedly there will be more challenges and successes ahead for the Hubbard School. But I am confident that the global COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on higher education will pass and eradicating the scourge of racism will remain a priority. I am confident that whatever lies ahead this fall, too, shall pass. This does not mean we overlook or fail to celebrate our strengths; nor should we fail to recognize the deep losses we experienced this year. We grieve the loss of propinquity, of togetherness, and our ability to engage with our communities in the way that we would wish to do so. The human condition, however, is ephemeral. The School has always embraced the endless changes in higher education, and in the industries and the professions we serve. Recognizing the possibility of change provides hope. The change in our current circumstances may not occur as quickly as I or others would like. The financial challenges the School and the University will confront in the next year will be difficult to surmount. But, working together, we can meet the challenges ahead. Thank you for providing me, the faculty, staff and students in the School the opportunity to do so. Sincerely,
Elisia L. Cohen, Director
PHOTO BY CHRIS COOPER
“THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS.” There are stories from many traditions and cultures that include this phrase. What occurs to me as I reflect on the last six months leading the Hubbard School, and its successes and challenges, is that the phrase captures the sentiment that the condition that is present will change. It will pass. And, as applied to higher education, there will be more challenges and successes for the School—good or bad news, happy or sad events, delightful or difficult times. This past spring, the School planned to push the boundaries of the classroom with a variety of partnerships. Little did we know in January that by March our classrooms would be transformed due to COVID-19 to meet the demands of Governor Walz’s stay-home order. Our standard operating procedures for teaching shifted, as life changed and instruction, research, and outreach efforts moved online (p. 6). The School’s more than 120 course offerings adapted to multiple modalities for recording, meeting, teaching, and interacting. The School’s dedicated staff adapted to a range of workflows to meet our mission, from supporting student and research services to instructional technology. Thanks to the generous support of donors during the Driven capital campaign (p. 18) and the solid endowed foundation of the School’s programs, we were able to quickly pivot to assess student needs, and offer emergency scholarships and technology support in coordination with University resources. All students enrolled in our laboratory classes were able to transition specialized software licenses for use on their home devices. Our nimble technical support team connected with instructors and students to troubleshoot the technical issues around remote learning to ensure all could keep teaching and learning. I am #UMNProud to report that what began as a public health crisis unleashed a creative energy among faculty, staff and students that, when harnessed, resulted in well-attended virtual events (p. 16-17), strategies for sustaining campus media work (p. 15), and innovation in the classroom, accolades for student clubs and accomplished class projects (p. 6-10). Though many students and families were disappointed to not be able to gather for graduation on campus, we were able to address that challenge as well. While the School historically has not had an independent graduation ceremony, the virtual environment afforded our faculty, staff, and students an opportunity to customize an experience to honor our students (p. 8). By May, it was clear that what had at first seemed daunting and perhaps impossible, became both possible and well-done. In fact, our well-received classes in the spring led to strong demand for our online instructional opportunities over the summer term. At the time of publication, I can share that the School had 371 more students in seats during Summer 2020 compared to 2019 (an increase of 245.7 percent). Despite the many challenges our students face, they are committed to learning and completing their degrees. The successes of overcoming the challenges posed by COVID19 seemed to fade into the background early into the Minneapolis summer. The death of George Floyd, city protests, and the arrests of journalists covering the unrest came to predominate conversations
MEETING THE MISSION DURING TIMES OF UNREST The Hubbard School created and hosted several Town Hall events to educate, lead and learn during the protests of summer 2020.
In the days following May 25, 2020, when George Floyd died while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers, both peaceful protests and violent riots erupted in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., and around the world. Numerous local, national and international journalists provided live coverage of the protests as they took place. Despite being exempted from curfew requirements, reporters faced arrest, detention, and physical assault by Minneapolis police, Minnesota State Patrol troopers, and the National Guard. In response to these events, the Hubbard School and the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law both released statements condemning the arrests and mistreatment of journalists. The Silha Center compiled a list of incidents involving police and journalists, which can be found on the School’s website. And the Hubbard School developed several Town Hall events to help educate the public on the roles and responsibilities of media professionals during this time.
JACK RODGERS
Recordings of all the Town Hall events are available at z.umn.edu/HubbardTownHalls.
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MURPHY REPORTER â?™ Summer 2020
—Jane Kirtley
“The best journalism happens by being present. Building those relationships with the community and activist groups before the difficult events come up will only help with the coverage during unrest.”
JUNE 3, 2020 COVERING PROTESTS: FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES AFFORDED JOURNALISTS Jane Kirtley, Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law and Director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law, Chris Ison, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Director Elisia Cohen discussed the First Amendment rights of reports, the ethics of covering protests, the safety of journalists and more. Approximately 90 people attended the webinar to learn and ask questions.
—Chris Ison
“The media have taken a hit by not having enough diversity in their newsrooms or coverage. If you’re talking about trust, the public wants the reporter to have experiences and background that comes close to the story being told.” —Stan Alleyne
“Be timely, accountable, truthful, ethical, transparent, and vulnerable during a press conference.” —Marsha Pitts-Phillips
“We know that denial is the most dangerous place to be in a press conference situation. Comms people need to coach leaders against those tendencies to deny or disbelieve information out loud.”
JUNE 5, 2020 ETHICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS, PRESS CONFERENCES, AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT DURING CRISIS This event, co-sponsored by Minnesota PRSA, featured several communications professionals who discussed the response of the governor’s office and other public entities. They also discussed the role of social media when it comes to messaging during a crisis. The panel was led by Director Cohen and featured Amy O’Connor, Associate Professor; Stacey Kanihan, Associate Professor of Strategic Communication and Academic Director of the Professional M.A. Program in Strategic Communication; Marsha Pitts-Phillips, President and Founder, MRPP & Associates Communications, member of Twin Cities Black Journalists (TCBJ), Diversity and Inclusion Officer for Minnesota PRSA and Hubbard School Diversity Fellow;
“Look at where people are getting their news. It’s really important to understand what’s happening in those social channels, like Facebook or on Twitter, in many different communities. Who is driving the conversation? That will help you get the big picture perspective.” —Tom Jollie
“If you’re going to put out a statement, make sure someone who is black has contributed to or read the statement. Don’t be afraid to be bold in your statement, either.” —Alberto Monserrate
“If you’re in a public place you give up privacy. Your right to protest is my right to take photos. People have their own cameras. They’re taking selfies or livestreaming. I think people are forgetting the surveillance all around us.”
Stan Alleyne, Chief Communications Officer, Vitals Aware Services; Tom Jollie, Senior Vice President, Padilla and past president of Minnesota PRSA; and Alberto Monserrate, Co-Founder CEO, NewPublica. Approximately 85 people attended the webinar to learn and ask questions.
“We’re trying to tell stories—without taking sides—of a community that’s in pain. That’s what I’m thinking about when I’m taking photos.”
JUNE 10, 2020
“One of the first things I try to do is take the temperature of the crowd. I try to use empathy as my No. 1 tool.”
—Jerry Holt
CAPTURING CRISIS: PHOTOJOURNALISTS TALK ETHICS, SAFETY AND PROFESSIONALISM
—Rich Tsong-Taatarii
“We go out there and shoot what we see, without preconceived ideas.”
Photojournalists discussed working during COVID, covering protests, privacy issues, their roles in the age of cell phones, and more. The panel, which was co-sponsored by Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), was moderated by Hubbard Senior Fellow Regina McCombs and the panelists included Jerry Holt, Carlos Gonzalez, Liz Flores, and Rich Tsong-Taatarii from the Star Tribune, Ellen Schmidt of the Las Vegas Review Journal and Evan Frost, MPR News.
—Liz Flores
“I found it was most important to keep the city informed about what was happening where—in what neighborhood, what’s on fire and so on.” —Evan Frost
“Another photojournalist and I were arrested side by side. We showed our credentials, shouted our First Amendment rights, and we spent the night in jail. And all the other 80 people arrested that night had the same rights as us.”
—Carlos Gonzalez
ANDY KOSIER
“Police are here to serve the public. Journalists are here to serve the public. Let’s figure out how to do that well together.”
—Ellen Schmidt
—Amy O’Connor
“Young people get their information through social media. And this medium has the power to mobilize them as well.”
ANDY KOSIER
— Stacey Kanihan
HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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—Julie Nelson
“I have been in Iraq and other tense places, but the time I was in Minneapolis [for the protests] was the most chaotic scene I’ve ever been a part of.” —Tom Aviles
“As a journalist of color, you’re going to have different experiences than your white colleagues. It’s important to watch the narrative of the mainstream media.”
UNREST: THE CHALLENGE OF LIVE COVERAGE Local broadcast professionals talked about covering live events. The event was moderated by Hubbard School Senior Fellow Scott Libin and panelists included Julie Nelson, lead anchor at KARE-11, and Tom Aviles and Norman Seawright of WCCO.
JUNE 11, 2020
—Mukhtar Ibrahim ANDY KOSIER
—Norman Seawright
“You are going to be told to take one narrative and run with it. You’ll be told you’re doing it wrong [on social media]. It’s important to tell complete stories. Don’t believe the worst, don’t believe the best, because somewhere in the middle is the truth.”
JUNE 10, 2020
RELIABLE REPORTING: ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN COVERING CIVIL UNREST
—Harry Colbert, Jr.
Panelists discussed the practical aspects of getting the story while covering racism and crime during times of crisis or unrest. The webinar, which was co-sponsored by the Minnesota SPJ, was moderated by Chris Ison and the panelists included Duchesne Drew, Minnesota Public Radio; Andy Mannix, Liz Sawyer, and Chao Xiong of the Star Tribune; and Dr. Lanier Holt, associate professor at The Ohio State University.
“We have struggled with race since 1619, and we’ve struggled with race as an industry for just as long. We have work to do on our own to connect with people in authentic ways— be authentic to those we’re covering and relevant to those who are reading.”
—Mel Reeves
—Duchesne Drew
“If [journalists] only show up when there’s bad news, we’re going to think that’s all [they] care about. If the only thing people know is what they read, and the only thing they read is bad, then that’s what they believe. You need visual credibility in the neighborhood to gain trust.”
ANDY KOSIER MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
“To build trust in a community, you have to continue to show up and continue to do the reporting.” —Madeleine Baran
“Once the national media is gone, community journalists need to figure out what to cover next. And figure out how to cover the city council decisions.” —Matt Sepic
—Dr. Lanier Holt
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“Because of COVID19, there were no other distractions. No sports, no clubs, no restaurants. The lack of distraction helped in changing the tenor of this conversation.” “In our community, people who are activists also have to write about it. We try to tell the truth as best we can, but I’m not going to pretend I’m not a black man in this community.”
JACK RODGERS
“I made a point of getting as many Black voices as possible. While Black Americans can’t shoulder this burden, their perspective must be shared.”
ANDY KOSIER
“When I go cover these events, I try to find a diverse group of people—young and old—instead of the organizers who are in the media all the time. You can’t let people tell you who you should talk to.” —Liz Sawyer
“We need to be able to adapt to the situation. Your phone can be used as a tool to record either for yourself or your editor or for social media.” —Andy Mannix
JUNE 11, 2020 COVERING COMMUNITIES THROUGH AND BEYOND THE UNREST Several local journalists discussed what it’s like to cover the communities in which they live, and about the representation of minority, underserved and vulnerable populations in the news. The event, which was co-sponsored with Twin Cities Black Journalists and Minnesota SPJ, was moderated by Hubbard School Senior Lecturer Gayle Golden. Panelists included Harry Colbert, Jr., North News; Mukhtar Ibrahim, Sahan Journal; Mel Reeves, Spokesman-Recorder; Matt Sepic, MPR; and Madeleine Baran, APM Reports.
“We don’t do ourselves a favor by covering the most extremes that are happening. We need to grab the full picture.”
JACK RODGERS
—Chao Xiong
HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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COVID-
SPECIAL SECTION
How the School Responded and What's Next. 6
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
LIFE CHANGED
O
On Friday March 6, 2020, University of Minnesota students, faculty and staff took off for spring break. By the following Wednesday, March 11, President Joan Gabel made the decision to temporarily keep students away from campus due to COVID-19. Faculty and staff in Murphy Hall—and across the University—had until Tuesday, March 17, to update class formats and syllabi and prepare for classes to resume on March 18 via distance learning. The actions taken immediately by the School included:
TELECOMMUTING. All faculty and staff started working from home on March 16, and continued to do so over the summer.
MOVED CLASSES ONLINE. Instructors
(with the help of staff) spent many hours building their classes to work virtually for students. The School had already planned for several classes to be offered online during summer 2020. Many instructors of the largest classes had received online training; for those who didn’t, the College of Liberal Arts and the School offered training during the University’s spring break.
CANCELED EVENTS. Spring is a busy
event time for the Hubbard School. Based on the recommendation of the Minnesota Department of Health, the Governor, and the University, the School canceled or rescheduled a majority of its spring events, including the annual Spring Showcase.
BY AMANDA FRETHEIM GATES
MOVED EVENTS ONLINE. Many scheduled events, including commencement, were moved online. Many new online events were created for the moment (read more about these events throughout this issue).
MAINTAINED STUDENT SUPPORT AND OFFICE HOURS. The
School’s student services office, technical support staff, and instructors maintained virtual office hours each week so students never felt alone during this time of uncertainty.
SUSPENDED TRAVEL. All University-funded or business-related travel was suspended until further notice.
Once the logistics were in place, the School, faculty and staff worked to keep disruptions to a minimum, assisted students with emergency funds, stayed flexible STUDENTS TELL COVID for those in different time zones and STORIES answered questions quickly. Classes During the Spring 2020 were taught either synchronously or asynchronously, depending on semester, Hubbard School the instructor’s preference and the students had to improvise class structure. The feedback from when it came to their hands-on students throughout the semester was courses, which were now being positive, and the creativity, resilience and drive demonstrated by all who administered from a distance. work and learn in Murphy Hall was an Many students chose to use inspiration.
this time to tell stories about COVID-19. The School is proud of the students' resiliency and ability to complete these important stories. Find their stories on our website. z.umn.edu/studentcovidstories
ADVISING STUDENTS FROM A DISTANCE
All Hubbard School majors have a set program plan that guides them to graduation. Oftentimes that plan includes studying abroad or hands-on lab classes. Moving to distance learning became a huge adjustment
HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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EACH DAY OF THE CRISIS BROUGHT ITS OWN FEELINGS. AS WE GOT CLOSER TO GRADUATION, I FELT MORE AND MORE SENTIMENTAL ABOUT HOW THE CLASS OF 2020’S TIME WAS COMING TO AN END. BUT THROUGH IT ALL, I AM THANKFUL FOR THE SUPPORT OF MY FAMILY, FRIENDS AND TEACHERS AS I PREPARE TO HEAD INTO THE UNKNOWN. I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT I HAD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AND I'M OPTIMISTIC ABOUT WHERE THEY WILL LEAD ME. —Norah Kleven, Class of 2020
not just to sophomores and juniors, but to those studying around the world and those who were set to graduate as the Class of 2020. Rebecca Rassier, Christine Mollen and Kassie Snyder make up the Hubbard School advising team. Shifting from being available in person during business hours to online availability only was an adjustment. Rassier offered “walk-in” hours on Zoom every day, but ended up spending most of her time answering student questions via email. Students had questions about summer courses, finishing earlier, and back-up scenarios in case something fell through. She also worked quite a bit with students who had to come back early from studying abroad to realign their plans. “I was pleasantly surprised at how well students adapted to being at home and taking courses virtually,” Rassier said. “They seemed very pleased with our instruction and they seemed to be going with the flow of their new lives. Given how much we had heard about how stressed students were, I was happy to see that some students, at least, seemed to be doing OK.” The advising team was also getting inquiries about the major application far earlier than usual. The once in-person application is moving online for Fall 2020. “We had to post it earlier than we ever have because students wanted to apply,” said Mollen. “I hope this means our fall numbers look good!” Transfer student orientation also moved online during summer 2020, and instead of meeting students in person, Mollen created a video to share with students about the major.
LECTURES SHIFT ONLINE I HAD A STRONG FEELING I WOULDN’T LIKE THE ONLINE CLASSES BECAUSE I LEARN BEST THROUGH DISCUSSION AND FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION, BUT THE ONLINE FORUMS HELD ME ACCOUNTABLE TO STILL ATTEND MY CLASSES. IN AN ODD TURN OF EVENTS, I THINK THEY ALLOWED ME TO CREATE STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS WITH MY PROFESSORS. SINCE WE NO LONGER CONVENED FOR IN-PERSON CLASSES, I COULDN’T ASK QUESTIONS IN THE SAME WAY I DID BEFORE. IT WAS REALLY ON ME TO REACH OUT AND CLARIFY OR REMEDY ANY SITUATIONS I MIGHT HAVE.” —Christina Harisiadis, Senior
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Large lectures, like Jour 3004: Information for Mass Communication, which serves around 80 students, moved online asynchronously. Assistant Professor and Assistant Director for Curriculum and Instruction, Susan LoRusso, found it most challenging to reconfigure the lecture schedule in just a few days. She also had to create short, recorded lectures that were different from what she would’ve presented in the classroom. However, Jour 3004 students were already used to taking quizzes and exams online and submitting assignments through the classroom portal. For in-class assignments, LoRusso instead created independent activities that corresponded with the lesson of the day. She measured engagement through analytics on lecture views, the number of assignment submissions, and quiz and exam completion. “Overall, students were
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
more engaged with the content than when class was in-person,” LoRusso said. “The quality and scores for assignments after the online shift was higher than previous semesters.”
CLIENTS AND THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
Mark Jenson was teaching three strategic communication classes during spring semester, including one that was working with Best Buy as its outside client. He made the decision to teach all three classes synchronously. “I wanted to bring some normalcy to the students by having the class meet at the same time so that we would still be together as a class, albeit online,” he said. “At the end of the semester, the feedback from students in all three classes was that they liked having our classes meet at the regular time as an in-person class.” Jenson would cover the same material as he would’ve during a normal semester. He had his scheduled guest speakers join them via Zoom, too. They continued their class discussions virtually and he had students use the Zoom breakout rooms for small group discussions. “All the students had their videos on so we could all see each other and we used the ‘raise the hand’ feature to have the vibrant discussion that you need with our assignments,” Jenson said. All three classes required group projects as well. Students would meet virtually on their own time and present their work to the class on Zoom. In his Campaigns class, the final project was for Best Buy. Usually the client would come to Murphy Hall at the end of the semester to attend the group presentations. Instead, the students presented via Zoom. “They had to think about their room background, lighting, sound, the camera quality, and of course how they would project themselves on camera,” Jenson said. “All the groups did a terrific job of sharing their work and presenting online.” Sam Heitke, manager of brand advertising at Best Buy, commended the class as well. “It was such an amazing opportunity to have this group of bright individuals take a look at our brand from an objective POV and apply learnings and recommendations in such thoughtful ways,” he said. “With the target audience of this project being Gen Z, this group of students provided an incredibly valuable point of view.”
STUDENTS IN THE NEWSROOM
The Star Tribune practicum, which places a handful of students in the newsroom for the semester, also happens every spring. The shift to telecommuting, not just for the
ACADEMIC PERSPECTIVE: COMBATING MISINFORMATION ONLINE University but for the Star Tribune newsroom as well, meant students, editors and their instructor, Chris Ison, had to adapt quickly. The class had two photographers, a business writer, a sports writer, two feature writers, an education writer and several students covering general news for the paper. Because a lot of the government and public life shut down, some of the beats students covered as interns THIS TIME HELPED disappeared. Student photographers didn’t produce ME REFLECT ON WHY as much work as during a normal semester because I CHOSE STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION IN THE the School and the paper didn’t want them to risk their FIRST PLACE: TO CONNECT health. But the students in the practicum still produced WITH PEOPLE, LEARN HOW TO BE A STEP-UP-TO-THE more than 100 stories during the semester, including PLATE PLAYER AND writing about COVID-19 and its effect on businesses, EMBODY FLEXIBILITY. WHILE I INTERNALIZED student life, and sports. THOSE ASPECTS OF MY “Because they're young and live in a campus comMAJOR, I ALSO ACCEPTED MY DOWNFALLS. munity, they have a perspective that often is lacking in a —Gabriella Sonnenschein, Class of 2020 newsroom,” Ison said. “Editors at the paper constantly tell me how much they value the students' viewpoints.” After the stay home directive began, students completed a lot of their interviews by phone or Zoom, which Ison said was great practice since many journalists need to rely on phone interviews in a pinch. Photographers followed social distancing guidelines, and were able to capture meaningful HONORING THE CLASS OF 2020 images around a deserted While graduation couldn’t happen in its original campus. form, the University presented a virtual celebration “One on May 16, 2020. The Hubbard School wanted to thing we kept emphasizing is honor its individual graduates as well. A web page that journalists was created to feature commencement addresses have to adapt from Director Cohen, Scott Memmel, a Ph.D. to new challenges every graduate, and Hamy Huynh, an undergraduate day,” Ison said. student. The School also collected and compiled “It's just part information for three Class of 2020 virtual of the job. One day you're covyearbooks for graduate, professional master’s and ering a zoning undergraduate students. Many faculty members commission recorded inspirational video messages to meeting in St. Paul and the include on the web page as well. See a list of our next you're graduates on page 36 and visit the commencement covering a page: z.umn.edu/HubbardGrad2020 flood in Fargo.
Associate Professor Emily Vraga researches misinformation online, and coronavirus has brought about its fair share of misinformation. A white paper Vraga published with Leticia Bode, Georgetown University, “shows that people shared links on Twitter to misinformation sites almost as often as links to credible health websites like the WHO.” Her research with Bode and Melissa Tully, University of Iowa, has also found through an experiment conducted with 610 participants that corrections to misinformation—pointing out information that is wrong or misleading and offering credible information in its place—on social media reduce misperceptions regardless of the correction’s tone (uncivil, affirmational, or neutral). Since the COVID-19 health crisis began, Vraga has been interviewed about misinformation in TIME magazine, Men’s Health, Smithsonian magazine, CNN Business, Mother Jones, and more.
So this was a drag, but it also was good training. The students handled it like pros.”
PRODUCING NEWS WHILE SEPARATED
Scott Libin and Sara Quinn teach production classes that rely heavily on equipment, face-to-face planning sessions and hands-on learning. To move to distance learning mid-semester, leaving the collaboration and technology behind, was quite jarring. Libin’s class had only produced one in-person newscast in the Murphy Hall studio before scattering. The students finished out the semester by producing “Zoomcasts” virtually. The class discussed many logistics before getting started: how to hold a phone steady, how to capture the best sound without microphones, and the ins and outs of software and internet connections. “We talked about how to coach interview subjects through the process of setting up their own computers, tablets or phones, so that we saw the person at eye level, effectively lit and in an appropriate environment,” Libin said. The class eventually was able to go “live” via Zoom. Anchors read lead-ins as they would in a studio, Libin ran the edited packages from his computer, and the producer each week would run a show topper and a closing HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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WHAT’S NEXT: FALL 2020
I UNDERSTAND THAT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE CORONAVIRUS SHOULD NOT TAKE AWAY FROM ALL OF THE HARD WORK I’VE DONE THROUGHOUT THE PAST FOUR YEARS. I AM INCREDIBLY PROUD OF MYSELF FOR PERSEVERING AND BUILDING RESILIENCY DURING THIS MAJOR TRANSITION PERIOD.” —Hamy Huynh, Class of 2020
graphic. “Almost everybody in the class had gone home, so we had reports from Long Island, Kansas City and Seoul,” Libin said. “Even our two Korean students, who were 15 time zones away, participated in key class sessions live. That meant it was midnight, their time.” Quinn’s magazine production class kept up with each other with extra Zoom meetings and a Slack channel, and were still able to produce a printed piece by June. The magazine’s overall theme of an ever-changing world and the uncertain futures of 20-somethings lent itself well to COVID topics, too. “In addition to the stories we'd already planned, each student was asked to create a project on coping with the quarantine,” Quinn said. “These projects included writing, videos and artwork.”
COMMUNITY JOURNALISM VIA ZOOM
Each spring, the students in Gayle Golden’s Brovald-Sims Community Journalism practicum choose an underserved community to cover. Past semester students have covered the disability community and University students from greater Minnesota. In 2020, the students chose nontraditional students, such as working parents, part-time students, those in the military and others. Moving online mid-semester created many challenges for the class, especially since it prevented students from visiting potential sources where they live, work or hang out. To keep the class feeling connected after spring break, Golden kept up regular bi-weekly class sessions via Zoom, used Slack for informal communication, HELPING STUDENTS IN NEED and took advantage of Google The Hubbard School gave out drive to document story ideas, $9,000 in emergency scholarships keep a story budget, collect interviews, and process story edits. to undergraduate students and Golden said the Google drive $22,500 to graduate students created a “virtual newsroom” that during COVID-19. This money worked really well. helped students with technology Before the shutdown, the class had prepared a survey of needs from having to move home 5,700 undergraduates. “The for distance learning. Through survey not only gave us inforfunding collaborations between mation about important issues CLA and various campus-level facing nontraditional students but also, most importantly, gave offices, the College of Liberal Arts us permission to contact nearly gave hundreds of thousands of 100 students who identified as dollars to CLA students in need. nontraditional,” Golden said.
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MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
At the time of publication, the University planned to bring students back in the fall as long as social distancing guidelines can be maintained. This means courses will be a mix of both online and in-person. In Murphy Hall, due to space constraints, classes with more than 27 students need to be held online. As many graduate courses that can be held in person will be. According to the College of Liberal Arts, “The goal is to accommodate people at a higher risk of COVID-19 while allowing them to progress academically.” The School is ordering masks, face shields, and hand sanitizer in individual packets for people who use the spaces the School keeps open. All classes University-wide will be online after Thanksgiving and will provide all final exams remotely. However, the School is prepared to switch to remote instruction before the Thanksgiving holiday if necessary. Any faculty member teaching an in-person class has to allow students to complete it remotely. “No one is to be made to teach, TA, or be a student in person who does not want to do so,” said CLA Dean John Coleman, in a June email. Students with technology needs may receive assistance from School, CLA and University emergency scholarships. The School will also provide students with loaner laptops and other equipment and support based on faculty referral.
With everyone stuck at home, those names became a valuable place from which to mine stories and interviews. And because they were developing the survey in early March, they were able to add questions about COVID-19, which led to stories about nontraditional students and how the virus affected them. “Nontraditional students reported more mental health struggles [in the survey] than traditional students, which makes sense because the community includes those who delay enrollment or go to school part time.” Golden said. “So the shutdown did impact them disproportionately. The lives of student parents certainly changed when those parents began struggling not only with their own school issues but also their children's at-home schedules. We wrote about that, too.”
WORKING THROUGH A PANDEMIC
Alums and students get creative while telling stories during COVID-19. BY AMANDA FRETHEIM GATES COVID-19 AFFECTED WORKPLACES EVERYWHERE. HUBBARD SCHOOL ALUMS ARE SPREAD ACROSS MANY INDUSTRIES—A MAJORITY OF THEM IN CHARGE OF COMMUNICATING TO PATRONS, CUSTOMERS, FANS, VIEWERS, READERS, EMPLOYEES AND MANY OTHERS. ONE OF THE AMAZING DEVELOPMENTS TO COME OUT OF THIS PANDEMIC IS HOW QUICKLY PEOPLE ADAPTED AT WORK. HOW DO YOU PROMOTE AN ARTS ORGANIZATION AFTER IT CLOSES INDEFINITELY? HOW DO YOU RUN DIGITAL MEDIA FOR A SPORTS TEAM THAT’S BENCHED FOR THE SEASON? HOW DO YOU THOUGHTFULLY TELL YOUR CLIENT’S STORIES DURING A CRISIS THAT NO ONE HAS EVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE? THERE’S NO RULE BOOK FOR THIS, SO MANY COMPANIES HAVE HAD TO MAKE THEIR OWN. HERE ARE JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF OUR ALUMNI TELLING STORIES IN THE PANDEMIC.
SPORTS COME TO A STOP
Shahbaz Khan (B.A. ’15) is the director of digital content for the Timberwolves and Lynx. At the time of publication, the NBA last played a game on March 11, 2020, and the Lynx had plans for a truncated season in late July. How does a sports franchise rethink its digital game when it doesn’t have scores, game photos, trades or drafts to share? “First and foremost, we wanted to ensure we weren't
forcing content during this period. Any of our plans to post content required us to ensure that there was a natural tie that made sense. “Initially, this meant highlighting what our players were doing, sharing relevant information pertaining to team efforts to help combat the crisis, and finding creative ways to share messages that would promote slowing the spread of COVID-19. “For us, like many others, not having an answer in terms of what's next has been a challenge from a digital perspective. Countrywide, we're all at a standstill in terms of how, when, and if our world will get back to ‘normal.’
Truthfully, I think it's these unknown scenarios that we work best in. Shahbaz Khan
“My team does a fantastic job finding content opportunities that come naturally, and I'm extremely proud of their efforts in this difficult time. We think of things from a content-first perspective, meaning we will only post if we feel like we're contributing something of substance. “The WNBA Draft was held virtually, and as a build up to that, Taylor Nardinger, our social media coordinator (and U of M alum) put together a robust plan leading up to the draft that engaged our audiences. My favorite piece during that period was her idea to create custom Lynx wallpapers featuring fans' last names for their phones. Additionally, on the Wolves side, Cody Sharrett, our social media manager, put together an NCAA-esque March Madness bracket featuring Timberwolves uniforms over the years to determine which of our jerseys is best in our fans' eyes. “The good thing for us working in sports is that we're used to planning for unknowns. We often have to prepare for several different outcomes from a game-night perspective, and given so, there's a level of familiarity with uncertainty that we have. Truthfully, I think it's these unknown scenarios that we work best in.” —Interviewed on April 24, 2020 HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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GROCERS ON THE FRONT LINES
Aaron Sorenson (B.A. ’99) is the senior communications manager for Lunds & Byerlys and is responsible for communicating out to 27 stores, two production facilities and one distribution center. During the pandemic, grocery store employees, including corporate employees such as Sorenson, were considered essential workers. Because the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be an ever-evolving situation, Sorenson’s job focus shifted primarily to the company’s response and to communicating frequent updates to staff, customers and the media. “We have an incredible team that continues to deliver an exceptional level of service to our customers. We are communicating with them in a variety of ways with our internal social platform serving as our primary communication channel. This includes video messages from our CEO expressing gratitude to our staff and sharing updates about our COVID19 actions. We We need to quickly make also have a dedicated page decisions that align with everon our internal evolving guidance from local platform that and national health authorities provides answers and then quickly communicate to our staff’s frequently asked those updates to staff, questions and customers and the media. information about —Aaron Sorenson key resources available to them during this unprecedented time. We are also frequently sharing with our team the many messages of appreciation from customers, including sidewalk art in front of some of our stores and prominent “thank you” messages in the windows of
buildings in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. “Given the safety of our staff and customers is always our top priority, we want to do everything we can to ensure we’re here to serve the community in the safest environment possible. That means we need to quickly make decisions that align with ever-evolving guidance from local and national health authorities and then quickly communicate those updates to staff, customers and the media. “This has further confirmed what a great team we have here at Lunds & Byerlys. Despite all of the stress and challenges this situation has presented, we have collectively never wavered from the key factor in all of our decisions— the safety of our staff and customers.” —Interviewed April 27, 2020
ARTS GO DARK?
Amy Nelson (M.A. ’02) is the communications manager at Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota. She oversees social media channels, writes press releases, conducts interviews, shares stories, and manages the internal and external communications for the venue. Because Northrop sits on the University’s campus, the venue had to follow the directives coming from the top. Nelson and her team had to shift messaging quickly once the venue couldn’t present the works of their partners and upcoming bookings. “We wrote a very specific COVID-19 communications plan that aligned with the University’s key messages to help guide us on what content and stories should come from
We will need to keep everyone safe. Ticketing and pricing likely will change drastically too. I suspect there will be a lot of stories about resilience and community. — Amy Nelson
Northrop. We started a weekly ‘Northrop MOVES Online’ email newsletter written by Northrop Director Kari Schloner and we started posting daily inspiration resources on our social media channels throughout the workweek. We created a ‘Curtain Speech’ video specific to the event that was canceled and sent a link to that to ticket holders the day the event was scheduled. For example, the day that University of Minnesota Organist Dean Billmeyer was to perform his faculty recital, we created a video with a recording of Billmeyer previously performing on Northrop's pipe organ. “I'm amazed at how supportive everyone in the arts has been with each other and how collaborative the dance companies and other performers who were to perform at Northrop have been with us. Many are willing to record personalized videos and offer other ways to 12
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
ORIGINALLY, I HAD A REALLY HARD TIME IN QUARANTINE, BECAUSE I’M SOMEONE WHO IS CONSTANTLY ON THE GO. BUT BEING STUCK INSIDE ALLOWED ME TO SPEND A LOT OF MUCH-NEEDED TIME WITH MY ROOMMATES, WHOM I ADORE, AND ALSO JUST SPEND SOME TIME WITH MYSELF, WITHOUT OWING OTHER PEOPLE MY ATTENTION AS WELL. I WAS ABLE TO REALLY FOCUS ON FIGURING OUT WHO I AM, AND WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE. DESPITE BEING STUCK INSIDE, I WAS ALSO ABLE TO REFLECT ON WHAT I’M GRATEFUL FOR, WHICH HAS BEEN A BLESSING, BECAUSE I DON’T REALLY EVER HAVE THE TIME TO STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT. —Sammy Caldwell, Senior
WITH CLASSES MOVING ONLINE, IT MADE IT HARDER TO BE MOTIVATED TO COMPLETE ASSIGNMENTS OR GIVE VALUE TO THE WORK I WAS DOING BECAUSE IT DIDN’T 100 PERCENT FEEL LIKE I WAS IN SCHOOL. THIS LACK OF MOTIVATION WASN’T EXCLUSIVE TO ACADEMICS EITHER. OVERALL I TOOK ON FEWER THINGS WHICH ALLOWED ME TO PROCESS WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE WORLD WITH COVID-19 AND THE XENOPHOBIA/RACISM AGAINST ASIAN-AMERICANS. I KNOW THAT WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS TIME WITH OUR COMMUNITY AND SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER.
—Yoko Vue, Senior
stay connected with us and with their fans. A remarkable number of patrons donated the value of their tickets for canceled events, which we appreciate. “It’s hard to stay positive while dealing with the disappointment of not being able to physically join together in the theater to experience live performances. There have been a great number of digital arts ideas shared but there's always something unique about experiencing the events live and all together in one location. “I know a lot of organizations are all thinking of ways to still present artists while offering social distancing seating options. We will need to keep everyone safe. Ticketing and pricing likely will change drastically. I suspect there will be a lot of stories about resilience and community, too.” —Interviewed April 27, 2020
A MUSEUM ONLINE
Tim Gihring (B.A. ’95) is the brand narrator at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Mia). Gihring writes and edits for the Mia blog, documents the museum’s impact on the community, and ensures the stories they tell in the galleries and online are as engaging as the art. Gihring also writes and hosts Mia’s podcast The Object, now in its second season of exploring the strange and wonderful true stories behind museum objects. The museum closed its doors in March but has continued to share art in many different ways. “We've put a lot of content online that would ordinarily be in the galleries: more art history, more images of art. But we've also tripled the number of stories we're telling on the blog and in social media—we have weekly brainstorms. What are people thinking and feeling this week? What seems relevant? We used to plan stories several months out; now it feels important to let the moment dictate the agenda. “We often say that nothing compares to seeing art in person, and it's true. But we've also never had so much engagement online as we're seeing now. People want something beautiful and timeless and familiar, even if it's the size of a stamp on their phone, and we kind of had to be forced out of the museum to realize that. “But, at the end of the day, the primary ‘products’ of the museum are still physical objects and exhibitions that put them in context, and no amount of storytelling can make that available to us. “A lot of people were already going to museums for solitude and solace, and now I think we'll emphasize that sense of refuge and generosity in the galleries and our storytelling. The podcast, for example, had already proven how popular a playful approach to museum storytelling could be, and it's only become more successful in this moment. I think the crisis will accelerate this kind of responsiveness to our audience, to really meet people where they're at—physically and emotionally.” —Interviewed April 24, 2020
A lot of people were already going to museums for solitude and solace, and now I think we'll emphasize that sense of refuge and generosity in the galleries and our storytelling.
Below are examples of how the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is telling stories online during COVID-19.
— Tim Gihring
HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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IMAGE FROM A SERIES ENTITLED "BEHIND CLOSED DOORS" BY NICOLE WOLF
“For Androscoggin we'd already shot an entire summer campaign that was primed and ready to launch. COVID-19 forced us to put things on hold and quickly pivot to what Maine business owners needed to hear right now: encouraging words and tangible solutions. We believe if you don't have anything valuable to say, stay out of the conversation. “I’m pleasantly surprised how our agency came together and not only made it out, but became better for it. Zoom calls sound fun, but are also a pain and our best work has always come when we're kicking stuff around in the office together. The way our team has stuck together and persevered through all of this to still grind and churn out solid work is a testament to their skills and our camaraderie. “You have to be adaptable or you're not going to be around at the end of this. This new normal everybody's talking about is a real thing and as a small independent ad agency, we didn't have the luxury of waiting it out. We had to shift the entire way we worked, moving at the speed of light and making more with less.” —Interviewed May 29, 2020
KEEPING THE COMMUNITY CONNECTED
Luke Behrends and family
SHOWING BRANDS THE WAY
Luke Behrends (B.A. ’04) and his wife, Meranne, run a strategic ad agency called Words from the Woods in Maine. The two tag-team the work while also taking care of their young daughter. They have clients who are considered essential businesses so they’ve used their skills to help these businesses tell the right stories. Below Behrends talks about two clients—MaineHealth and Androscoggin Bank—that needed strategic help during the pandemic. “MaineHealth is basically the Mayo Clinic system of Northern New England. With 13 hospitals, they're an authority and leading voice in the region. You need to be very careful and particular with what you're saying because 1.3 million people are looking to you for hope and guidance. We ended up mirroring the messages in our ads to the Governor's announcements and followed the Maine CDC daily to stay ahead of things and be as topical as humanly possible. 14
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
Amy Every (B.A. ’04) was just named the director of communications at Mayo Clinic Health System in LaCrosse, Wisc., in February when she was tasked with leading her team’s response to COVID-19. “As experts have learned more about the virus, information and recommendations have been constantly changing, which can lead to confusion among our staff and in the community. And for my colleagues across the organization, this is the first time in our careers that we are facing a pandemic. I've been so impressed by how everyone has really pulled together and risen to the challenge and is doing their very best work under unique and stressful circumstances. “Creating frequent updates to all staff via email has been effective in making sure that everyone is receiving the same information. We have also been holding virtual town hall meetings every week so staff can get information and ask questions directly from the leadership team. Those have been really well received by staff. “From the patient and public standpoint, our website has really been important as the source of truth for information regarding our services, visitor restrictions, COVID-19 screening, etc. Our media partners have also been very receptive and helpful with sharing updates from the organization with the broader community.” —Interviewed May 29, 2020
CAMPUS MEDIA IN QUARANTINE From 6 to 6,000 feet, Twin Cities campus media endures. BY COURTENAY PARKER UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA STUDENTS DIDN’T COME BACK
to campus after spring break. That meant campus media employees had to think quick so coverage remained consistent. The students of Radio K, the Wake and the Minnesota Daily didn’t miss a beat, or a story, during the pandemic. Hubbard School student Cleo Krejci was the editorin-chief and co-publisher at the Minnesota Daily. She said that despite the easy transition to online-only content, social distancing made communication with staff more of a challenge. “As journalists, we have to be in constant contact with one another, and before all of this happened it was easy to catch up in the office or in class,” she said. “We had to be hyper-aware of who we updated on which stories, and who else we had to update.” With much of the country operating on Zoom, Slack and Skype, internet connections were stressed and communications were slowed. In the midst of COVID-19, depression and anxiety are likely to spike in the United States, according to ABC News. The Daily’s newsroom stopped publishing on Fridays and Saturdays to combat the effects of seclusion. For then Minnesota Daily Multimedia Editor Jack Rogers, the documentation of this time was paramount, as future generations will look back on the media to learn about life during the health crisis. Sending out photographers, however, could be seen as irresponsible or even dangerous. “Great stories are told by taking a step into people’s lives to see the world from their perspective,” he said. “Yet that same community that is counting on our transmission of information is also kept safer by as much limited contact with the outside world as possible.” The Wake, a fortnightly magazine, didn’t have much to change when print editions of the publication were suspended, having already released them on the issuu digital platform. And since they formerly depended on pitch meetings to find writers for each issue, in-person pitches turned into a Google form. “Ultimately, as a platform that allows all students to share their voice, our content is decided by the student
body,” said Tala Alfoqaha, The Wake editor-in-chief. Volume 19, issue 10 of The Wake was heavily devoted to COVID-19. “Our editors pitched stories that approached the unique circumstances presented by COVID-19 in a variety of different ways, yet also pitched unrelated articles such as reviews of TV shows and music. Many students wanted to process their situation, and chose to write stories related to COVID-19.” Radio K, as Director Sara Miller puts it, “will never change.” The student-run station, which started broadcasting in 1912, has endured many crises over the last century. It even continued to broadcast while students were stuck at home during the polio epidemic in the late ’40s. “It is this personal connection that provides a connection to “Great stories are told by a wider world; taking a step into people’s people can still turn to 100.7 lives to see the world from FM or 104.5 FM their perspective. Yet that or 770 AM or stream online, same community that is to hear new music, just like counting on our transmission we did before the of information is also kept world changed,” Miller said. “That safer by as much limited is emotionally contact with the outside world powerful for a lot of folks.” as possible.” Although —Jack Rodgers there are no longer DJs in the studio, Radio K’s music is still curated by students, and every day their inbox is flooded with comments from listeners on how the crisis has been made easier by tuning in to their station. And even in a time of furloughs and unemployment, the station still sees generous donations during their Pledge Drive. HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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EVENT
CONFERENCE ACCOMPLISHED: NORTHERN EXPOSURE 2020
How the three-day visual journalism event went from in-person to online in just three weeks. BY COURTENAY PARKER & AMANDA FRETHEIM GATES WHEN THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AND THE STATE of Minnesota
decided to enact stay-at-home orders and cancel all in-person gatherings, many event planners were left to decide if events should be canceled altogether or adapted to virtual events. The Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication had to make a quick decision—the School’s second annual visual journalism conference, Northern Exposure, was just three weeks away. Conversations between event organizers, guest speakers and more made it clear: The show will go on. Online, that is. While the conference was originally planned for three days (like its inaugural event the previous year), organizers decided to condense the event into just one day on Saturday, April 4, 2020. The conference, a gathering for visual storytellers, was held primarily using Zoom, so students and professional journalists could meet, listen to experts and chat about photography and video. For more than eight hours, attendees heard from four keynote speakers and also separated into breakout groups that covered a range of topics. Keynote speakers included photographer David LaBelle, photographer Stephanie Sinclaire, and Alexandra Garcia, director and producer of The New York Times’ The Weekly. Regina McCombs, Hubbard School senior fellow and one of the event creators and organizers said, “Many people seemed excited to have something to think about, be inspired by, or from which to learn.” In preparation for the virtual 16
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
event—a new venture for many of those involved—advance testing was the core element in ensuring a smooth execution. Although Zoom is designed as an easy-to-use video conferencing platform, hosts were trained beforehand in screen sharing, polling, handling questions, and how to remove attendees if needed. Organizers also incorporated the use of Slack, a business communication platform, that allowed all hosts to talk and share screenshots of the event to be posted on social media while the conference was running. When they entered the sessions, all attendees had both audio and video muted automatically. Attendees were asked to submit questions through the “chat” function, but people used both the chat and Q&A functions. “For each webinar, we assigned a host to welcome attendees, introduce the speaker and manage the questions,” said Sue Couling, Hubbard School events manager. “We also assigned a tech host to monitor any technical issues, disruptive attendees and to begin and end the recording.” In order to combat the security issues Zoom has been addressing, including a worldwide concern of outsiders being able to “bomb” meetings, each participant was required to register in order to attend. The event also hosted five separate breakout sessions: Intro to Lightroom, Staying Safe in the Field, Advanced Lightroom, The Freelance Hustle, and Lenses and Their Purposes. Event organizers used the waiting room function in Zoom for the breakout sessions so they
could control entry from the start. “The tech host for each breakout would admit the speakers and hosts immediately to give them time to get started, and test screen sharing and audio/video levels,” Couling said. “Once all testing was done, the tech host would admit all who were waiting and then turn off the waiting room function so others would be admitted automatically.” More than 230 unique viewers attended the virtual event. McCombs said the event attendance didn’t suffer, NORTHERN EXPOSURE: and they even BY THE NUMBERS saw an increase Unique viewership was steady in attendees throughout the day. from around the world, which was Overall attendance a benefit. 235 unique viewers Zoom 4 countries/regions represented recordings were (U.S., Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong) taken of each 33 universities/colleges/high session, and are schools represented now available 101 people from educational on the Northern facilities Exposure 124 industry professionals website. The Keynote addresses sessions remain David LaBelle: 102 popular, with Sara Quinn: 63 some sessions Stephanie Sinclair: 86 receiving more Alexandra Garcia: 78 than 100 views weeks after the Breakout 1 event. Intro to Lightroom: 62 Sessions Staying Safe in the Field: 60 are available at northernexpoBreakout 2 suremn.org. The Advanced Lightroom: 28 Schuneman fund The Freelance Hustle: 75 supports this Lenses and Their Purposes: 22 event.
SILHA
2020 SILHA SPRING FORUM
Addressing the impact of fact-checking and misinformation on journalism. BY SCOTT MEMMEL
THE SILHA CENTER’S SPRING FORUM QUICKLY moved online when the
University of Minnesota concluded that in-person events would cease during the pandemic. On April 27, 2020, via Zoom, Silha Center Director Jane Kirtley welcomed more than 70 attendees to the Forum, which featured Barbara Allen, the director of college programming for the Poynter Institute of Media Studies (Poynter), a nonprofit journalism school and research organization based in St. Petersburg, Fla. Allen’s presentation, titled “What the Fact? How fact-checking is ballooning, its impact on journalism—and how not to be fooled yourself,” focused on the increasingly important role of journalists and fact-checkers around the world. She offered tips, recommendations, and tools for how everyone, but especially journalists, can spot and address mis- and disinformation online. Journalists, journalism students, and community members from around the country (and Iceland!) attended the forum, sponsored by the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law and the Minnesota Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Allen provided a brief history of fact-checking, including the founding of fact-checking website Snopes in 1994 and PolitiFact, an independent fact-checking organization under Poynter, in 2007. She described the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), a unit of Poynter launched in September 2015. According to Allen, the IFCN created a series of standards that fact checkers around the world should follow. The organization works with 74 signatories, according to Allen, “to make sure that
they’re doing the best kind of fact checking that you can possibly do.” Allen then talked about her current work with MediaWise Campus Correspondents, a group of 11 students from around the United States trained by Poynter to spot “fact from fiction online.” According to Allen, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the students have been conducting training across the country at every different university that will have them.” She provided a series of practical ways to spot in mis- and disinformation online, as well as tools to help readers trust information. The questions, which followed the journalistic 5 Ws, included: ❙ Who posted this? What motivations might they have? ❙ What evidence did they include to back up [this claim]? ❙ When was the information posted or updated? ❙ Where is it posted? ❙ How is the information being shared? Allen then described two really powerful tools favored by fact checkers including a reverse image search—uploading an image to a search engine to get more information about the image—ideally where it was originally posted and, potentially, who owns it. The second tool is “lateral reading,” which was developed by the Stanford History Education Group, a research and development group aiming to improve education around the United States. Allen played a video in which MediaWise ambassador and New York Times bestselling author John Green explained that lateral reading means “looking elsewhere for additional information. When you’re on a new website,
instead of staying put and taking their word for it, you should just leave, open a new tab [on your browser], and start looking for more information. That’s called lateral reading because instead of moving up and down [on a single webpage,] you’re moving from tab to tab.” Allen concluded by asserting that “a lot of the people that you may run into online that you have disagreements with . . . don’t have the luxury of spending their days in a newsroom being immersed in the world of the importance of fact checking the veracity of open records.” However, she argued that journalists, news organizations, and others “aren’t always doing a great job providing that understanding.” Allen therefore provided a “call to action [to] kindly start a conversation around the myths and disinformation you see online, which is often centered around the media or can be brought into a conversation about how much good the media does as its employees work to find out if [information online] is true or not.” She continued, “Remember, non-journalists don’t see how hard we work, how much we care, [and] the intricacies of our jobs. Now more than ever, journalists have to tell our stories and we have to help our fact-checking brethren correct mis- and disinformation.” Allen added, “Doing so is going to help our communities make better decisions and have better information. In short, bad actors are trying to pry open the chamber of chaos with misand disinformation and together we can slam it shut.” Silha Center activities, including the Spring Ethics Forum, are made possible by a generous endowment from the late Otto and Helen Silha.
HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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WHY WE GIVE
WHY WE GIVE: DEBORAH HUDSON AND RICK PALLANSCH
The couple dedicate a new scholarship fund to investigative journalism and new media. BY KATIE DOHMAN (B.A. ’03) THERE'S A NEW SCHOLARSHIP to support students with
financial need and a love of investigative journalism: The Deborah Hudson and Rick Pallansch Award for Emerging Investigative Journalists. Founded by the husbandand-wife namesakes, Hudson and Pallansch were both first-generation college-goers who had financial need, and who remember how much a little help, well, helped. The scholarship gift will be awarded to students who are able to demonstrate financial need and maintain a GPA for 3.5 or higher, with a preference given to full-time students interested in investigative journalism or new media. As college students, Hudson in the journalism school at the University of Minnesota (B.A. ’80), and Pallansch at St. Cloud State University, were recipients of financial support themselves, from work-study funds to scholarships to Pell Grants. Ultimately, they both graduated without student loan debt. So, their scholarship goal was two-fold: Honoring their parents, who scrimped and saved to help with expenses such as books and groceries, and encouraging prospective journalists devoted to seeking truth and accountability in an increasingly volatile industry. Hudson, once a journalist at the St. Cloud Times, said she wishes she could go back and do her career again with the variety of research resources and media forms now available. “Investigative journalism drives accountability and the free press,” she said. “We’ve been so dedicated to trying to make sure we support students no matter what form that takes. . . such as podcasts or the data-driven infographic stuff you see besides just the printed word. Journalism has changed so much, but the basics— facts and verity and publishing the truth and accountability—is the same.” But Hudson, who transitioned to working in higher ed communications at Ball State, To support the and Pallansch, who is the Assistant Vice President of Creative Services at Towson University, Hubbard School, visit have watched as higher ed has become less z.umn.edu/hsjmcgive financially accessible for students. “One of the things that always struck me in working inside the machinery of higher ed 18
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
is how much we and all the people we work with really honestly care about students,” Pallansch said. “It’s easy to think that we are just doing a job and the fact that students are educated is a byproduct. I’m here to tell you that is not the case. Almost to an individual, everyone is passionate about making sure students have a good opportunity and experience and education—but also a life education at the same time.” Hudson and Pallansch consider themselves mentors to students and young professionals, and helping them financially seemed to be the logical next step they assumed they’d take with their estate, though they’re quick to note they never knew if they’d be in a financial place to create a gift as generous as this in their lifetimes. “I was thinking the other day: We aren’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination,” Pallansch said. “We’re not multi-zillionaires, but we were able to cobble things together.” When they realized they could contribute in a significant way, they asked themselves: why wait, especially when they could enjoy recipient successes? And especially with the immediate need for journalists? “One of the stories I love most about my mom—who worked in a factory—was when I started getting college offer letters, she put a box under the bed. She would buy me school supplies and fill the box,” Hudson said. “That’s what made going to the University real for me, how supportive they were. Now we have a box under the bed, and we keep putting some money in it. The reality of this scholarship is that somebody else will benefit from the box under the bed.”
SCHOLARSHIP
FACULTY NEWS COLIN AGUR and VALERIE BELAIR-GAGNON, along with
HUBBARD SCHOOL WELCOMES TWO NEW FACES Danielle Kilgo (Ph.D., University of Texas) joins the School as the
John & Elizabeth Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality after beginning her career at Indiana University-Bloomington's Media School. She researches news media’s and media audiences’ contribution to uneven power dynamics and diversity issues in society. Her published work explores how the public perceives and engages with news content published online and within social media, primarily in the contexts of police brutality, government impunity and social movements against violence and racism. Prior to her research career, Kilgo worked as a photojournalist and public relations professional. “It’s a research dream to get to work with worldclass faculty, elite students, a diverse media market, and an engaged citizenry,” she said. “I think I’m most excited about the collaborations, projects, and programs that the future will hold. The opportunities at the University and within the Twin Cities area are endless, and I am eager to contribute to HSJMC’s unparalleled efforts to innovate in journalism research and education.”
Adam J. Saffer (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) joins the School as an advanced Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication after beginning his career on the faculty of
the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill's Huessman School of Journalism and Media. Saffer's research revolves around a core interest in understanding the ways individuals, groups, and organizations use and are influenced by communication networks. His recent work is particularly focused on revealing how the social ties individuals activate in response to health messages and political events have hidden influences on the reception of messages or perception of events. Saffer has published in journals such as the American Behavioral Scientist, AIDS & Behavior, Journal of Communication, and Management Communication Quarterly. “In a time of considerable uncertainty, it’s reassuring to be joining the vibrant and forward-looking faculty at HSJMC," he said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created an acute need for effective and ethical strategic communication. I’m excited to join the mix of researchers and practitioners at HSJMC who will train the next generation of strategic communicators who will navigate the other side of this pandemic. And I’m particularly excited to advance my communication network research agenda with the research infrastructure and support provided by the Hubbard School.”
Seth Lewis of Oregon, published “Failure to launch: Competing institutional logics, intrapreneurship, and the case of chatbots,” in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
Colin Agur
BETSY ANDERSON spoke on an
International Association of Business Communicators Minnesota panel on May 21, 2020, called “The new normal for the communication function: Where do we go from here?” Following the recommendation of the faculty in the Hubbard School and the College of Liberal Arts, its Dean and the Provost, the University of Minnesota Regents voted to promote SID BEDINGFIELD to the position of associate professor with tenure this past May.
Betsy Anderson
Sid Bedingfield
VALERIE BELAIR-GAGNON participated
in a high-level discussion aimed at generating a better understanding of the recent worldwide protests held by Columbia World Projects, an initiative of Columbia University, in collaboration with the UN Peacebuilding Support Office in support of work being done on protests at the United Nations around these issues. This workshop resulted in a report for the UN Peacebuilding Support Office. With Hubbard School alum Rodrigo Zamith (University of Massachusetts-Amherst) and Avery Holton from the University of Utah, Belair-Gagnon also published “Roles orientations and audience metrics in newsrooms: An examination of journalistic perceptions and their drivers” in Digital Journalism.
MATT CARLSON was named director
Valerie Belair-Gagnon
Matt Carlson
Ruth DeFoster
of graduate studies for the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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SCHOLARSHIP
FACULTY NEWS Kathleen Hansen
RUTH DEFOSTER was named director
of undergraduate studies for the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She also published a book review in January reviewing the book “Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America,” by Kathleen Belew, for the magazine Critique. She gave a talk in February at the Associated Collegiate Press Best of the Midwest conference called “Covering violence, terror and risk.”
GAYLE GOLDEN was appointed to
the University’s Council on Liberal Education this semester. She also spoke about community journalism at the Associated Collegiate Press Best of the Midwest conference and the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s annual meeting.
KATHLEEN HANSEN (retired as of June
2020) received the Arthur “Red” Motley Exemplary Teaching Award in March. This award recognizes faculty who exemplify the highest standards of teaching and scholarship and who have enhanced the lives of University of Minnesota-Twin Cities College of Liberal Arts students. In keeping with the qualities embodied by Red Motley, this award is designed to recognize top educators who demonstrate their passion and commitment to teaching.
JISU HUH is currently working on a
multi-nation research project “Media communication, online falsehoods and population responses surrounding the novel coronavirus disease crisis (COVID-19) in Singapore,” which is funded by the Singapore National Medical Research Council Grant. This project examines how mainstream media and social media influence public preparedness vs. paranoia in the current COVID-19 pandemic 20
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
situation, and the impact of different information sources on individuals’ awareness, perceptions, and behaviors. Huh’s research team, the Social Media Analytics and Computational Communication Research Group, is also analyzing U.S. social media data regarding COVID-19 to examine public emotions and their influence on information-sharing and behaviors.
CHRIS ISON deferred his retirement for one year to continue teaching investigative reporting and media ethics classes for the School.
MARK JENSON served as one of the
judges for the Twin Cities AdFed 32 under 32 program, which involved selecting the top 32 young communication professionals in the Twin Cities from more than 130 entries. The 32 under 32 recipients were announced virtually on May 7, 2020. Jenson also serves on the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) Board of Directors. One of the organization’s initiatives is to award four $1,000 scholarships to local university students. He was on the selection committee for the scholarships and those recipients were announced in April.
JENNIFER JOHNSON joined the stu-
dent-run advertising and PR agency, Backpack (formerly CLAgency), as the senior adviser. This opportunity builds on her professional experience as an advertising officer/ executive creative director and on her academic background as a faculty member for 12 years. Johnson’s responsibility is two-fold and includes advising the external accounts team, in addition to creating a more cohesive bond with the Hubbard School.
Jisu Huh
Mark Jenson
Jane Kirtley
STACEY KANIHAN, academic director
of the Strategic Communication M.A. program, led the first curriculum revision since inception of the professional master’s program 15 years ago. The curriculum changes were approved in January and will start in September 2020, when Cohort 16 begins its two-year course of study. The new curriculum includes a new course, Digital Strategy and Analytics, which makes its debut during Summer 2020. In addition, the curriculum has integrated two courses that will be standing electives in the program: Content Strategy and Development, and Issues Management and Communication. The changes also include a restructured capstone project, in which students will research, plan and design a strategic communication campaign for an organization using the concepts and tools they’ve learned throughout their two years in the program.
Scott Libin
Rebekah Nagler
Marco Yzer
SHERRI JEAN KATZ and ELISIA COHEN
presented “Knowledge, attitudes and practices of college students and vaping” in the Health Communication Division of the International Communication Association (ICA) annual conference (virtual). Katz is co-investigator (P.I. Dana Carroll) of a new grant from the University of Minnesota Center for Evaluation of Nicotine in Cigarettes Pilot Projects Program titled “Low nicotine content cigarettes and product labeling: Impact on smokers’ perceptions and behaviors.” The one-year project was awarded on Feb. 1, 2020, and funds a study to test unintended message effects associated with low nicotine cigarettes.
JANE KIRTLEY presented her paper
“Rewriting history: The dangerous convergence of the right to be forgotten and the war on fake news” at the Michigan State International
Amy O’Connor
SCHOLARSHIP
Benjamin Toff
Matthew Weber
Law Review 2020 Symposium “Free Speech Around the World” on Feb. 14, 2020 at Michigan State University College of Law in East Lansing, Mich. Kirtley was also quoted in an Associated Press story published on March 29, 2020 about legislatures meeting remotely due to the coronavirus. It was picked up by The Washington Post and The New York Times, among many other outlets.
SCOTT LIBIN was asked to provide a
prepublication review of new guidelines on media coverage of suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic. The request came from Dan Reidenberg, Ph.D., executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), who drafted the guidelines at the request of the World Health Organization. Reidenberg, who is a regular guest speaker in Libin’s Jour 1001: Media in Changing World, incorporated his edits and suggestions. In April, REBEKAH NAGLER and MARCO YZER, as part of a University of Minnesota-Wesleyan University research team, were awarded a research grant from the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research to test perceptions of conflict, controversy, and politicization surrounding COVID-19 in a population-based survey of 1,007 U.S. adults. Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Communications Director Mike Schommer and Deputy Communications Director Kate Awsumb are community partners on this project. The findings have been shared with MDH via a report sent to the MDH Communication Director’s team. In May, Nagler and Yzer were invited to discuss implications of the findings for MDH communication strategy in a conference call with all MDH Public Information Officers in
the state. Findings are currently being written up for publication in academic journals.
AMY O’CONNOR received the Talle
Faculty Research Award. Through this fund, the College of Liberal Arts recognizes and invests in the next generation of faculty who are poised to lead CLA as it pursues greater heights of excellence and who are engaging in new lines of research and creative activity that will shape their fields and the intersection of fields. Funded by a generous gift from Ken and Janet Talle, this award provides $300,000 of research support each year over five years, with 8-10 recently promoted associate professors receiving an award each year. O’Connor’s project “On the range: The values, practices, and language of CSR that bind mining companies and communities together” explores how corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and expectations are tied to everyday life and cultural values in two Minnesota mining communities.
SARA QUINN was awarded one of
seven fellowships from The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute for the 2020-21 academic year. Projects focus on truth and trust in journalism, challenges to covering climate change, diminishing newsroom resources and more. This year’s program attracted a record 620 applications, which is more than twice the number the institute received last year. Quinn will conduct eye tracking research, focus groups and interviews with industry leaders to explore the perception of professional photo and video journalism. She will work with newsrooms to create training materials to enhance visual storytelling as an integral aspect in covering communities.
With her co-authors, HYEJOON RIM published a paper in Journalism, which investigated how varying online communicative behaviors are connected to news characteristics of focus, tone, and media framing of crisis communication during the South Korean Candlelight Revolution that led to the ouster of former President Park in 2017. Along with co-authors, Rim also published “Online engagement of active communicative behaviors and news consumption on internet portal sites” in Journalism and “Click first! The effects of instant activism via a hoax on social media” in Social Media & Society.
Hyejoon Rim
Errol Salamon
ERROL SALAMON accepted an offer to join the faculty in the department of media, journalism and film at the University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom as a senior lecturer. His book project, “Digital Media Workers: Organizing to Democratize Journalism,” is now under contract with the University of Illinois Press. His journal article, “Digitizing freelance media labor: A class of workers negotiates entrepreneurialism and activism” was published in 2020 in New Media & Society.
Claire Segijn
CLAIRE SEGIJN was awarded the
prestigious Marie Alice Shaver Promising Professor Award by the American Academy of Advertising. This award honors a junior faculty member who has demonstrated excellence and innovation in advertising teaching and research. In addition, Segijn and Joanna Strycharz, a colleague from the University of Amsterdam, have been awarded with the first-ever European Advertising Academy Research Grant for the project “Corporate surveillance in your living room: Synced advertising and chilling effects.” HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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LEARNING
GRADUATE STUDENT NEWS Christopher Terry
Matthew Weber
CHRISTOPHER TERRY published a
Benton Foundation op-ed on the FCC’s Supreme Court petition in the Prometheus Radio Project cases, and had an article about the cases accepted for publication in the Federal Communications Law Journal.
BENJAMIN TOFF and Ph.D. student
Nicholas Mathews have embarked on a large-scale study of social media engagement with local and community news, which involves examining 2.4 million Facebook posts made over a two-year period by news organizations in three states (Arizona, Minnesota, and Virginia). The project, which was proposed for a special issue of the journal Digital Journalism, will assess different factors believed to be fueling the crisis facing local news by testing how ownership, audience demographics, and the platform itself are impacting engagement patterns online.
EMILY VRAGA received the Sharon
Dunwoody Early Career Award from her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also published an analysis of correction behavior on social media regarding COVID-19 in The Washington Post in May.
MATTHEW WEBER published a new
article in Digital Journalism that examines new models for supporting local news, and examines how some states are taking action to provide aide to the industry. In addition, Weber was the keynote speaker at the WARCNet kickoff conference in Aarhus, Denmark. He gave a virtual keynote about the importance of media archives as a research tool in the current media environment.
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JONATHAN ANDERSON received
the top student paper award in the History Division at the 2020 AEJMC Southeast Colloquium for his paper “Adjudicating press freedom: Legal dimensions of the Minnesota News Council.” He also presented a paper in the Law and Policy Division titled “The right to know about the right to stay: Access to information about immigration courts.”
MICHELLE CHEN will join Brock
University (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada) as an assistant professor.
MARY CORNELIUS was named
communications specialist for Minnetonka Public Schools.
CHUQING DONG will be joining the
faculty at Michigan State University's College of Communication Arts and Sciences as an assistant professor.
YUMING FANG received a Human
in Data Fellowship from the Digital Arts, Sciences, and Humanities (DASH) program, which supports faculty and students looking to employ digital methodologies and technologies in their research, engagement, and teaching, for her research “Empowered social bots: Content analysis of bots-created anti-vaccine information on Twitter.”
NICHOLAS MATHEWS’ paper “Life
in a news desert” about the study of how a Central Virginia weekly newspaper's closure impacted its community residents won top student paper award for the Journalism Studies Division of the International Communication Association's annual conference in May 2020.
SCOTT MEMMEL was awarded the
Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication Ralph D. Casey Dissertation Research Award, the highest honor a graduate student in the School can earn. He was also named a postdoctoral associate in the Hubbard School.
FERNANDO SEVERINO will be joining the faculty at California State University Dominguez Hills as a tenure track assistant professor.
ALLISON STEINKE virtually pre-
sented two papers at the 2020 International Communication Association Conference: “A voice for the voiceless: Social justice, emotions and the detached journalist” with co-author Valerie Belair-Gagnon; and a solo-authored paper, "Prosecution, protection, prevention and partnership: The strategic ritual of emotionality in sex trafficking news media coverage.”
SARAH KAY WILEY’S paper “Identity, autonomy, and press freedom in computational journalism” won the top student paper award for the Journalism Studies Division of the International Communication Association's annual conference in May 2020.
LEARNING
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT NEWS GENEVIEVE BENSON won a Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association scholarship in April 2020.
TIFFANY BUI received a Dow Jones
News Fund internship in data journalism. Because of COVID-19, recipients either participated virtually or locally. Bui interned with MinnPost.
PAUL HODOWANIC was nominated for the Hearst Sports Writing contest.
JESSICA JURCEK was named a 2020 Hollings Scholar by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. She receives a scholarship for the next two years and a summer internship.
SCHUYLER MCKINNEY and TEENY (CHRISTINE) KELLY were selected
to be part of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP) for 2020. This prestigious program typically selects a couple hundred multicultural students from around the county. McKinney was placed as an account management intern at the MullenLowe agency in Boston and Kelly was placed as a public relations intern at Dailey in Los Angeles. COVID-19 curtailed the program before the students were able to fully participate.
DYLAN MIETTINEN was named editorin-chief and chief student director of the Minnesota Daily.
TIFFANY WELTY was named business operations officer and chief student director of the Minnesota Daily.
WINTER TRIPS BEFORE COVID-19 NSAC TEAM COMPETES IN THE NATIONAL SEMI-FINALS The National Student Advertising Competition student group performed well during the 2019-2020 academic year in spite of COVID-19 setbacks. The assignment for all teams was a B2B project for Adobe to generate awareness for their Experience Cloud for Advertising program. It was the first B2B assignment in the more than 40-year history of NSAC. When COVID-19 hit, the teams had to finish working on the book apart from each other and present at the district competition virtually. The Hubbard School NSAC team handled this challenge successfully and won the District 8 competition for the first time in four years on March 28, 2020. The team moved on to the National semi-finals, which were held virtually on May 7. Even though the Hubbard School team did not move forward, the group finished as one of the top 17 teams in country, out of the more than 100 colleges and universities that completed this year.
While many students spent their winter break getting away from school, eight upper-class students in PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) packed up and headed off to Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 16–18 for their annual winter trip, where they learned more about careers in public relations and connected with industry professionals. During their stay in “Music City,” the group toured ST8MNT Creative Brand Agency, heard from panelists at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, visited the PR team at MP&F Strategic Communications, and closed out their trip speaking with the director of communications for the Nashville Predators’ ice hockey team, to get an inside look at the sports side of communication. AdClub also took a winter trip and traveled to Phoenix, Ariz., Jan. 8-11, where they mingled with professionals in the advertising industry. Tempe, an art-filled city just east of Phoenix, was the group’s first stop as they met with the creative director at the full-service ad agency, Zion and Zion, which focuses on bridging the gap between strategy and creativity. Next on AdClub’s itinerary was another agency in Tempe, August United. August United is a smaller influencer marketing agency where the group learned how advertising is affected by social media. Lastly, the group stopped by OH Partners, one of the fastest growing marketing agencies in Phoenix.
Above: AdClub visited agencies in Arizona for their winter trip. Left: PRSSA headed to Nashville to connect with professionals.
HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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LEARNING
MEET A STUDENT: MINH PHAN
The senior is the digital media editor at the Minnesota Daily.
❙ INTERVIEW BY COURTENAY PARKER Minh Phan grew up in Ho
coming over to share their wisdom. One of his best pieces of career advice is to not enter the industry with the sole intention of becoming an expert, but to use my talent to influence the world for good. This completely changed my perception on advertising and has since motivated me to find a sense of purpose in anything that I create.
Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He’s double majoring in psychology and strategic communication, focusing on advertising. He picked those two majors because he’s interested in human
Q What other activities are you
nature and the different ways we look at the world. Psychology can be applied to brand strategy in interesting ways. Q What has been your favorite part of your experience at the Hubbard School? A My involvement with the National
Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) is truly a game-changing—if not the best—experience that I have had at the Hubbard School. I joined the team during my sophomore year and it has been a part of my life since. The coolest part about NSAC is getting to work alongside some of the coolest, most talented people here at the J-school that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. We came together with a drive to win and we had fun while getting there. What also makes me feel so proud about NSAC is the skillset that I gained from working on our project. We push ourselves to think like professionals and work on projects that we’ll all be proud of for many years to come. It is not an exaggeration to say that NSAC is the closest any college student can get to working in an agency setting 24
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
outside of a summer internship. I cannot speak highly enough of this experience!
Q What journalism class or professor has had the biggest impact on you? A Almost all professors have made
an impact on me one way or another, but Mark Jenson has made a huge difference in my learning experience here at the Hubbard School. I took Account Planning with Mark during my junior year and have been working closely with him for NSAC since. His class is never boring because there are always relevant industry updates and professionals in the Twin Cities area
Almost all professors have made an impact on me one way or another.
pursuing outside of your major? A Outside of my time at school, I currently work at Minnesota Daily as a digital media strategist. I came into this job when the newsroom was undergoing a major transition from a print to a digital-first, so it was my job to figure out how we could do it smoothly. This is indeed a challenge for any college student to take on such a role, but this experience has allowed me to learn more about digital marketing in such a short amount of time. Along the way, I get to spearhead some very exciting projects to help increase our digital presence and promote student journalism across the two campuses. It’s so satisfying to see everything I learn at school come in handy!
Q What advice do you have for
future Hubbard School students? A Give your 200 percent to every major project/assignment that is given to you! Devote your time and effort into perfecting them not only because it’ll earn you good grades, but because those are the opportunity for you to develop your skillsets and create a work of quality that you can put into your portfolio or show to your employer in the future. Also, show up to class because that’s the easiest and only way you can
SCHOLARSHIP
TAMPING DOWN YOUTH VAPING Assistant Professor Sherri Jean Katz is researching how youth perceive the dangers of vaping.
What is one aspect of your major that surprised you? One thing that surprised me is that I get to meet and collaborate with so many different types of creatives. I was amazed at the wide-ranging specialties and skillsets that students within my major have possessed. I have met some talented graphic designers, photographers, reporters, copywriters, digital geeks, podcasters, or even social media influencers. Everyone all brings something different to the table and it’s what makes the program so unique. Dabbling in different areas of expertise is a good practice for the future too if you’re going into a creative field. What do you wish you had known about your career path before now? That it will not be black and white, and it doesn’t have to be. I didn’t know I would pursue a career in advertising when I first came into the U. I didn’t know I would be interested in consumer behaviors. I didn’t know I could be so invested in the digital side of advertising. But here I am, slowly figuring myself out, and it’s perfectly fine.
BY LAUREN BORCHART
SAMIRAA AMIN
optimize your learning experience here. Nothing can come close to the enthusiasm of the HSJMC faculty.
MORE THAN FIVE MILLION YOUTH REPORTED using e-cigarettes in
2019, and nearly one million of those youths reported using e-cigarettes daily, according to the Youth Tobacco Survey conducted by the FDA and CDC. “This was the generation that was supposed to end nicotine addiction,” said Assistant Professor Sherri Jean Katz. Katz researches youth and vaping from a health communication perspective. She focuses on how vaping messages and prevention messages influence how youth perceive vaping risks and how this influences their choices.
READING RISK FACTORS
“There’s been 70 years of data on the health risks associated with cigarettes and quite a bit of research
on how people think about the risks associated with cigarettes. But we don’t have that history of research on e-cigarettes,” said Katz. This lack of information can be challenging, as it is difficult to communicate health risks when they are not fully known at this point. Recognizing a need for more information on risk perceptions of vaping, Katz took on the challenge herself. Katz first began researching tobacco regulatory science while pursuing her Ph.D. and postdoctoral in communication at Cornell University. At the time, vape products were mostly marketed toward adults looking to quit cigarette smoking. Since then, she has witnessed the increase in the use of vaping devices among youth, especially with the rise in popularity of the brand JUUL. HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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“We’ve seen a big change here on the University of Minnesota campus in the past few years. I conducted a series of focus groups in spring 2017, and then we did focus groups [in] spring 2019, and there is a huge change in usage patterns.” Her research initially focused on use among college and high school students, but she has recently received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to collect data from middle school students on how they perceive messages about vaping. To do this, Katz shows
encouraging them to think twice about what the packaging is telling them. “Based on my research with high school students, when they think deeply and really think critically about the messages they were seeing, those high school students are able to have higher risk perceptions and then lower intentions to use e-cigarettes,” she said. “I definitely think that from a messaging perspective, what you show them versus how they perceive it becomes a very important story,” she added.
while everyday vaping is sometimes stigmatized, social vaping is not, and social vaping leads to everyday vaping for many. “There’s this culture where it’s okay to do it socially, but you wouldn’t want to be seen doing it alone or on your own time.” To combat the normalization of social use, Katz said, “it could be helpful to make that connection, so that people connect that social use to everyday use.” To Katz, one way to tackle this issue is to research the perceptions that people have about
Before the introduction of vaping, Gen Z (people born between 1995–2015) was viewed as the generation that would end smoking. middle school students photos of vaping products, like they might see in a store, with different packaging elements, such as modified risk statements and flavors (e.g. tobacco vs. candy). She then collects data on risk perceptions and connects that to which category of statement and flavors the students viewed. In a past study with college students, Katz found that vape products with a tobacco flavor are associated with higher risk perceptions than vape products without flavors. In another study, college students reported that candy and fruit flavors make tobacco products seem less risky, whereas tobacco flavor reminds them of cigarettes. Katz believes the most effective way to make youth consider the risks involved with vaping is by 26
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
GATEWAY TO CIGARETTES
Before the introduction of vaping, Gen Z (people born between 1995– 2015) was viewed as the generation that would end smoking. “There was a call that this generation was going to end nicotine addiction. This was no longer going to be a thing; cigarette smoking rates had gone down, remarkably, and that was where we were heading.” Unfortunately, Katz sees a distinct relationship between people who currently vape and the likelihood that they will become addicted to nicotine and use cigarettes in the future. “We have a real increase in the potential for true nicotine addiction among youth and young adults.” She sees the culture around vaping to be one of the reasons it is a growing issue. She explained that
vaping. “Recognize that this problem (nicotine addiction) that we thought was going to be solved is actually now a huge challenge in our modern society. It’s important not to dismiss it.”
RESEARCH WITH IMPACT
Katz is taking her research to policymakers who can use her studies to make a difference as they develop vaping policy. “I’ve had the chance to speak directly with legislators and some policy folks. I think that this is an amazing opportunity to have an impact and allow my work to not just live in scholarly journals.” She hopes that her research can mitigate the youth vaping problem. “I’d like to see a change in the statistics regarding teen and young adult use.”
ALUMS
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: MEGHAN MCINERNY
Meghan McInerny (B.A. ’00) is not afraid to take a leap. Now, she lands into her new role as director of strategic experience design at Best Buy.
❙ BY KATIE DOHMAN (B.A. ’03) MEGHAN MCINERNY HAS WORN a lot
of hats in the two decades since she graduated. Most recently, she was COO of Clockwork, a digital agency, where she was the company project manager alongside friend and CEO Nancy Lyons. The duo launched Geek Girls Guide, a podcast and blog which morphed into the book Interactive Project Management: Pixels, People, and Process. She regularly speaks on panels about interactive work—most likely wearing bold magenta or emerald, accessorized with leopard print. She’s a board member for Still Kickin, a nonprofit founded by her sister, author and podcaster Nora McInerny. She also nailed a spot on the (Real) Power 50, and Mpls.St.Paul’s Business Journal’s Woman to Watch list. With McInerny, there’s been a lot to watch. Her education at the University of Minnesota actually began with a major in elementary education. Before graduating, she spent a year teaching in a Montessori school, only to realize she was better suited for the creative life. After taking a couple of years off and getting hired at Gage Marketing in accounts, she decided to return to the U. “It was extra powerful because I was getting the classroom version and, at the exact same time, the real-world version which is always a lot messier and more complicated,” she said. That’s where she met Nancy Lyons, then the president of Bitstream, one of the first internet providers in Minneapolis. “When I met Nancy, I had this really powerful feeling—I really need to go work for this person,” she said. So, even though she never considered herself a techie, she began to court Lyons to work at Bitstream. Eventually an executive assistant
position opened up, and McInerny jumped. “My parents were like, ‘What is wrong with you? Why would you go from an account executive to an administrative assistant?’ But I could feel this was the right thing. Years later, when I was reading ‘Lean In,’ Sheryl Sandburg wrote something like, ‘When you are offered a seat on a rocket ship, you don’t ask which seat, you just get on.’” During her nearly 14 years at Clockwork she rose to COO—a role in which she even wrote a user manual about herself for her employees. “I needed to figure out all the different ways I could jumpstart relationships with the people I am managing where we have to try to build trust and understanding and relationships with each other really quickly,” she said. It was a tool that other employees started to borrow for themselves. They’re all considered works in progress. Toward the end of her role at Clockwork, she took a quiet year-long sabbatical. “Similar to what happened to me at Gage, I started to have this gut feeling I needed to do something different and I didn’t know what it was. I tried to talk myself out of it. Why would I want to leave? I helped build this company, I love the leadership team and the vision and am good friends with CEO,” she said. “Acknowledging my privilege, at any other time in the past, listening to my gut has paid off. And when I haven’t, I’ve regretted it, even if my brain does not understand it.” Her LinkedIn post about taking a sabbatical got a lot of attention, including from folks at Best Buy, who mentioned they had an open position: director of strategic experience design. Now, with a user manual about herself in hand, she is that director. She helps lead a team tasked with designing the experiences customers will want, need,
and expect one to three years from now. She started just as COVID-19 hit, so she’s yet to really have a normal day at the office. “I’m a person who is good at translating between two groups of people who don’t totally understand each other, and I just kind of fell into a type of job that is taking advantage of all these things I’m good at,” she said, of her ability to toggle between tech and creative. “I didn’t realize what I was doing involved a particular set of skills and talents. In my mind, all of this stuff came easily to me, and therefore I thought anyone could do it. It took me several years of professional experience to see other people struggled to do what I was doing that helped me realize it was valuable. I thought, ‘This is what I was going to do when I grow—oh, I am grown up.’” HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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ALUMS
WING YOUNG HUIE RECEIVES THE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE The photographer was honored for his leadership and creativity. BY AMANDA FRETHEIM GATES THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA HUBBARD School of Journalism and
Mass Communication Alumni Society Board selected Wing Young Huie (B.A. ’79) as the recipient of the 2020 Award for Excellence. The award is given to an alum who exemplifies excellence, leadership, and creativity in his or her chosen field. The award, first given in 1980, has been awarded to graduates of the School representing many different facets of the communications industry, including advertising, public relations, print journalism, broadcast journalism, photography and academia. Past recipients include David Carr, Gail Marks Jarvis, and Michele Norris. Usually this award is presented at the Hubbard School’s Spring Showcase event every April. Even though the event couldn’t be held this year, the board and the School were still thrilled to present Huie with this honor. “Wing Young Huie has used his photography practice over the years to build a sense of community around life in the Twin Cities,” said then Alumni Society Board President Jenni Pinkley. “His work is noted for its sensitivity, inspiration and ability to connect people. His large-scale photo projects become part of the community themselves and his gallery is not just to display his work, but is also a place for people to meet and talk. The Hubbard School Alumni Society Board is excited to give this community builder top honors with the Award for Excellence.” Huie is a celebrated photographer who has captured the complex cultural realities of American society for more than 35 years. His photos have been shown in international museums, but 28
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
his best known works, “Lake Street USA” and the “University Avenue Project,” were epic public art projects that transformed Minneapolis and St. Paul thoroughfares into six-mile photo galleries, reflecting the everyday lives of thousands of its citizens. The Star Tribune named Huie Artist of the Year in 2000; the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts named him an Alumnus of Notable Achievement in 2005; and in 2018 he was honored with the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award, the first photographer ever to receive the award in its 21-year history. His work has been published in the Star Tribune, City Pages and Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. His work has appeared in galleries around the world, from Minneapolis and California to New York City and Beijing. His seventh and most personal book, “Chinese-ness: The Meanings of Identity and the
Nature of Belonging,” won a Minnesota Book Award and a Northeastern Minnesota Book Award. His stewardship goes beyond his public art, as it is featured in classrooms and non-arts venues where his work has made quite an impact. He’s given more than 1,000 presentations to audiences of all kinds—including K-12 classrooms, colleges, museums, non-profits, corporations, and places of worship—showing the various ways he’s photographically engaged thousands of strangers. “On behalf of the faculty, staff and students of the Hubbard School, I’m delighted that we are honoring Wing with the Award for Excellence,” said Director Elisia Cohen. “We feel privileged to have an alum who not only tells important stories through his photography, but who also gives back to all ages in our community by sharing his art.”
ALUMS
FOUR ALUMS RECEIVE THE ABOVE THE FOLD AWARD The Alumni Board recognized professionals from across disciplines.
KIM JOHNSON (B.A. ’06) was a
The University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication Alumni Society Board was thrilled to recognize the four recipients of the 2020 Above the Fold Awards. The award honors alumni under 40 who have made significant contributions in their fields. While the Above the Fold Awards are usually presented at the School’s annual Spring Showcase event (which had to be canceled this year), the School is still very proud to honor the following recipients.
WCCO 4 News at Noon and a WCCO This Morning anchor. She was a Special Projects Intern with WCCO while completing her double major in journalism and women’s studies and a minor in political science. She was awarded the Regional Edward R. Murrow award for her coverage on breast cancer survivors and has won three Emmys for her investigative journalism, including for her work on FDAbanned drugs and a Duluth sewer pipe flooding incident. Previously, she worked as a reporter, anchor and producer for WDIO-TV in Duluth. She was a primary weekday anchor for FOX 18/ WQAD News 8 in Illinois, and then a weekend anchor and reporter at KTVX-TV in Salt Lake City.
INDIRA ZAMOR (M.A. ’11) is an eight-
EMMA CAREW GROVUM (B.A. ’09) is AARON BLAKE (B.A. ’05) is a senior
reporter at The Washington Post, writing for The Post’s political blog, The Fix. A Post employee since 2010 and proud alumnus of the Minnesota Daily, he has also written for The Hill newspaper and the Star Tribune’s Washington bureau. In his current role, Blake spearheads The Post’s analysis of political issues and the presidential campaign, most recently focusing on the Russia investigation and the impeachment of President Trump. He is one of The Post’s most widely read reporters and has appeared frequently on MSNBC, NPR, radio stations across the country and news channels around the world.
a leader who builds bridges for key growth areas in journalism, such as leadership culture and product development. She solves problems at the intersection of storytelling, technology, and audience. She has built content management and storytelling tools, run newsroom operations, and managed the divide between editorial and tech for organizations, such as The Daily Beast, The New York Times, and Foreign Policy magazine. As a consultant, she coaches journalists across the country on topics such as leadership, membership, and product thinking. She has previously held nearly every kind of editorial role possible: researcher, reporter, social media editor, homepage manager, and assistant managing editor.
year veteran of Google, currently serving as Head of Industry. She leads a team of advertising sales executives. She works closely with top brands across the U.S. to solve their business challenges using innovative digital solutions. Prior to joining Google, she was a brand manager at Target building 360-marketing campaigns. Additionally, she spent numerous years in client service at 22 Squared, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and McCann Minneapolis covering clients such as Volkswagen, Domino’s Pizza and General Mills. Zamor earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in Broadcast Journalism, and an M.A. in Strategic Communication from the University of Minnesota.
HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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IN MEMORIAM
JEAN WARD MAY 18, 1930-JAN. 17, 2020 A PERSONAL REMEMBRANCE BY KATHLEEN A. HANSEN JEAN WARD COULD SEE AROUND CORNERS and anticipate
what was coming before most people even knew where the corners were. I know this because I was lucky enough to have her as my cherished mentor, colleague, co-author, fellow bird-lover and friend. Jean passed away in her sleep of natural causes on Jan. 17, 2020. She was 89. Jean earned a B.A. from the School of Journalism and was a staff writer at the Minnesota Daily, where she met her future husband. Jean and Jim were at an afterhours party at the Daily and the two crossed paths as the police were coming in the front door and they were leaving out the back. After a seven-year stint as a staff writer at the Minneapolis Tribune, Jean returned to the U where she completed an M.A. in Mass Communication and a Ph.D. in American Studies in 1967. Jean joined the journalism faculty in 1970 and quickly established herself as an innovative and forward-thinking academic. She taught in one of the university’s early interdisciplinary efforts, the Communication Program, along with her appointment in the School. With Donald Gillmor, she led the drive to overhaul the School’s undergraduate curriculum in the late 1970s in the face of the changing media landscape. That included the idea that there should be a new course in the School that addressed the centrality of the information gathering process in the work of communicators. I was hired in 1981 to help develop a course required for all journalism majors: Information for Mass Communication. I recall walking across campus from one location to another with Jean during my on-campus interview. While I don’t remember what we talked about, I do remember walking fast. Jean was a power-walker, attacking the sidewalk like she did everything else: with total determination.
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MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
Much of what I know about how to be a journalism professor I learned from Jean. We collaborated on curriculum development, book projects and articles, and some of the first computer-assisted instruction exercises used at the University. Jean was an important role model for how to successfully navigate University bureaucracy for all junior faculty, but especially as more women came on board. She also was a strong proponent of the philosophy that excellent teaching and service were as important as excellent research in the academy.
IN MEMORIAM
Jean received many awards during her career, including: the Outstanding Journalism Teacher Award from the Minnesota Press Club in 1979; the prestigious University-wide Horace T. Morse-Minnesota Alumni Association Award for Contributions to Undergraduate Education in 1988; the national award for Outstanding Contributions to Women in Communication from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) in 1992; and the Award for Excellence from the SJMC in 1999. Upon receiving the national AEJMC award, Jean said, “When I first started going to these meetings [in the 1970s], people assumed I was somebody’s wife.” The idea of a woman teaching in a journalism school was still novel enough to raise eyebrows. A generation of budding journalists came through Jean’s undergraduate reporting and writing courses. Her teaching was legendary and former students kept in touch with Jean for decades, reporting on their professional and personal lives. Jean also was a consummate adviser. Ann Brill (Ph.D., 1994), dean of the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communications, said at the time she established a fund in Jean’s name to support graduate students, “Jean was my dissertation chair, friend, mentor and an extraordinarily gifted teacher. I learned so much from her and I really feel that I would not be in the position as the dean of a Research 1 university if she had not just been there, listened to me and encouraged me during a very challenging program. She was very student-centered and very mature, especially in how she dealt with graduate students.” Countless M.A. students who came through the School’s graduate professional journalism program would agree. As an untenured junior faculty member, Jean served on a University Senate committee working on revisions to the university’s tenure code in 1972. She was instrumental in guiding the committee to recognize the challenges faced by junior faculty, especially women, in achieving tenure and promotion and helped create new language that addressed some of the inequities built into the existing tenure code. In 1988, Jean was the first woman promoted to full professor in the SJMC. Jean’s early research focused on the implications of sexist journalistic language. Her 1975 piece, “Attacking the King’s English: Implications for Journalism in the
Feminist Critiques,” published in the discipline’s leading journal, quickly became a classic in the field. She also examined the development of the urban neighborhood press in the 1970s. After observing the impact electronic technologies were having on the medical and engineering fields, Jean turned her attention to the role of information technologies and processes in news production. We published three editions of the book Search Strategies in Mass Communication and a raft of scholarly articles that examined how newsroom computerization and access to online databases were changing the work of communicators. It was a research partnership made in heaven. We complimented each other’s strengths and figured out how to work around Her teaching was our weaknesses. legendary and former Jean also knew how to balance a professional and personal life. students kept in touch with While raising daughters Ellen and Jean for decades, reporting Amy, Jean and Jim were regular attendees at the Guthrie, the on their professional and Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul personal lives. Chamber Orchestra and the Linden Hill Dance Club. The family went on spring skiing trips to the Rockies and summer trips to the host city for AEJMC conferences. As an adult, Jean took up the cello and co-founded the Linden Hills Chamber Orchestra. After retiring from the University in 1996, Jean traveled extensively in Central and South America, and went on expedition cruises to the Galapagos, Baja and SUBMIT AN Alaska. Her bird pictures from Costa Rica led me to put OBITUARY that country on my bucket list. If you have news The University, the School and the field of journalism of the death education have lost a pioneer. Jean once told me that of an HSJMC people in the 1970s thought she was “crazy” for pursuing graduate, changes in information sources as a research topic. But please contact murphrep@umn. she wasn’t crazy. She was just seeing around corners. edu. Please include the name Memorials in Jean Ward’s honor may be made to the of the deceased, Jean Ward Fellowship (z.umn.edu/wardfellowship) or to class year, Second Harvest Heartland. date of death and if possible, the published obituary.
HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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SCOTT MEYER ENDS HIS CAREER WHERE IT STARTED
The Hubbard School alum retired after a varied and illustrious career, which ended with him serving as the chief marketing officer for the College of Liberal Arts. BY LAUREN BORCHART
LIFE OFTEN HAS A FUNNY WAY OF COMING FULL CIRCLE;
sometimes you end up right where you started. For Scott Meyer, his journey began in 1967, as a journalism student at the University of Minnesota. Now, he’s ending his career in the same place. Meyer retired in June, wrapping up an impressive career in advertising that shaped the local industry. For many years, he worked for several esteemed businesses both big and small, like Weber Shandwick, Liberty Diversified International, and Lawson Software. Eventually, Meyer returned to the University of Minnesota, working as the chief marketing officer for the College of Liberal Arts and creating the student-run communications agency, Backpack. He’s been a mentor to many Hubbard School students and has left a lasting impression on those he met along his remarkable career.
ACHIEVEMENTS IN ADVERTISING
When Meyer started at the University of Minnesota, he aspired to be a high school journalism teacher and 32
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
a basketball coach. He was working part-time in the mailroom at what is now Piper Jaffray, an investment bank, when an advertising executive told him to go into marketing, as it was a flourishing field. This one moment convinced him to change his career ambitions, altering the course of his life. “It was just that moment of serendipity. It happened for a reason. And I just decided, ‘OK, this sounds like it’s right for me,’” Meyer said. He graduated with a degree in journalism with an emphasis in advertising and public relations, and spent the first 10 years of his career working in the corporate side of public relations at places like Piper Jaffray, First Bank Minneapolis, and Control Data Corporation. Meyer then shifted over to the agency side of advertising, going from working for a small agency of 19 people to becoming the chief executive officer of Shandwick International, which he eventually helped merge to become Weber Shandwick, one of the world’s leading public relations firms.
ALUMS Next came a brief stint in international business acquisition, traveling the world and obtaining business services for Liberty Diversified International, bolstering his reputation as an advertising expert and gaining the attention of the University of Minnesota. He started by working on strategic planning for the University of Minnesota, with organizations like the medical school, the alumni association, and the Carlson School of Management, among others. Then, the College of Liberal Arts offered him a job, allowing him to come full circle with his career. “The College of Liberal Arts was restructuring their communications and marketing and asked me if I wanted to join, so I ended at the University where I began,” he said.
GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY
While working as the chief marketing officer, Meyer wanted to give back to the community that fostered his career by helping students develop professional experience in advertising and public relations. To do this, he created Backpack (called CLAgency at the time) in 2014, a student-run communications agency. Though Meyer offered advice and guidance, he wanted the students to manage the agency, allowing them to gain skills in interviewing, editing, writing, and creating advertising campaigns. Working directly with students has always been important to him, so serving as a mentor to the students of Backpack has been extremely meaningful. “The highlight of my career was forming Backpack,” Meyer said. “We did something so different with students; rather than a club, we formed an actual agency, where students were getting professional experience opportunities. Watching them just take it and grow it into a community that was doing amazing things has been the absolute most rewarding thing.” Backpack started with nine students in the basement of Johnston Hall with the College of Liberal Arts as their only client. It has now grown to more than 40 employees and serves several external clients in addition to CLA. Although Meyer is retiring, there’s no doubt that Backpack will continue to thrive and expand.
MEYER’S IMPACT
Over the course of his career, Meyer established himself as an influential leader in the advertising industry while also being known for his positive demeanor and big heart. “Scott’s reputation was well known outside the halls of Johnston and beyond, in the marketing and communications of the state and the region,” said Susan Thurston-Hamerski, assistant director of alumni and donor communications in CLA. “When I met him during the interviews for my position, I was filled with fear and awe. Imagine my delight in finding him to be the kindest, sincerest of gentlemen. His GQ-worthy style was simply frosting
on the ‘best-of-big-bosses’ cake. I will take from him many things, but, most of all, the importance of listening, openness, and starting from the position of ‘yes.’” CLA Dean John Coleman speaks to Meyer’s work ethic and positivity. “He is one of the most creative, energetic, and optimistic people I have ever had the good fortune to call a colleague,” Coleman said. “He Over the course of his career, defines the term ‘can-do attitude.’ In fact, he was so can-do I sometimes Meyer established himself had to pause and think...‘Wait, as an influential leader in the do I really want this wacky idea to advertising industry while also happen? Because Scott will make it being known for his positive happen, so I’d better be sure.” Many of the students Meyer demeanor and big heart. mentored in Backpack have gone on to have exciting careers in advertising and communications, thanks in part to Meyer’s constant support and confidence in them. Former Backpack student Katelyn Faulks attests to this. “Scott showed me that what’s ‘possible’ isn’t limited by what has been done before, but by building the right team and asking the right questions to solve a problem,” she said. “He is a connector, a collaborator. With his calm demeanor, he truly makes up exactly what you want in a leader and, I would say, teacher, because he is wise and there when you need support, but gives you the reins—the opportunity to shoot your shot and prove yourself.” Although his career is coming to an end, the impact he’s had on those he met lives on. He’s leaving a legacy, not just as a major advertising talent, but as a mentor, friend, and role model.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
In retirement, Meyer plans to move to Medellin, Colombia, fulfilling his longtime wish to live abroad. “I really want to have that experience of pushing myself into something so different—the language, the culture, the food, everything,” he said. Although he’s excited for the next chapter in his life, Meyer will undoubtedly miss his colleagues in the Minneapolis area and the College of Liberal Arts. Most of all, he’ll miss the students and the day-to-day interactions with them. “If you’re not a faculty member, you rarely have that opportunity to have ongoing engagement with students, and that’s what university is all about. So, the fact that I was able to work at the University and be directly involved with students, I will definitely miss that,” he said. His parting advice for students is to be willing to take risks and follow those small, life-altering moments of chance, like he did all those years ago. “Your life can be changed with those moments of serendipity.” Lauren Borchart is a Hubbard School undergraduate and student employee in Backpack. HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
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ALUMS
ALUMNI NEWS ALYSSA HODENFIELD (B.A. ’18), video
MARGO ASHMORE (B.A. ’78) pub-
lishes a twice-monthly community newspaper, the Northeaster, serving Northeast Minneapolis, St. Anthony, Columbia Heights and Hilltop.
EMMALYNN BAUER (B.A. ’12) started
as the Director of State Agency Communications at the Office of the Governor Tim Walz and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan.
GREGORY BORCHARD (B.A. ’99), pro-
fessor in the Journalism and Media Studies Department at the University of Nevada - Las Vegas, is editing the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Journalism for SAGE Publications. He was named the editor for Journalism History, an AEJMC Division Journal in 2018.
PHAVANNA NINA BOUPHASAVANH
(B.A. ’03) was accepted to graduate school at the Earl Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, and still runs her storytelling business with an emphasis in copywriting for Fortune 500 companies.
EVAN CORDES (B.A. ’07) has been
made a partner at the law firm of Hansen, Dordell, Bradt, Odlaug & Bradt where he practices in the area of workers’ compensation and employment law.
MARK ENGEBRETSON (B.A. ’89, M.A.
’09) is the director of communications for the University of Minnesota Libraries. He produced and directed “Jay’s Longhorn,” a 2019 documentary film about the origins of the Punk Rock/Alternative Rock/New Wave scene in Minneapolis. The film won Best Music in a Feature Film at the Queen City Film Festival in Maryland. 34
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
MCKENNA EWEN (B.A. ’09), producer
at CNN, was named 2020 Video Editor of the Year by the White House News Photographers Association.
AMY FELEGY (B.A.’19) is a reporter
for CTV in the North Suburbs and the Chaska Herald. Her photographs were also selected to appear in a Minnesota magazine.
AMANDA FRETHEIM GATES (B.A. ’03)
received the Outstanding Service Award from the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts in February 2020.
ANNE GREER (B.A. ’73) is program
director for the Conference Board, where her work involves designing and delivering programs for top executives of innovation and market insights from a diverse set of major companies. All of the organization’s in-person meetings since March had to be converted to web meetings with a focus on the COVID-19 situation—to provide current unbiased information and exchange ideas for dealing with the crisis.
BETTE HAMMEL (B.A. ’47), author of
six books, has a new historical fiction book coming out soon.
JESSICA HART (B.A. ’19) is a multimedia journalist at KRCG in Columbia, Mo.
MUNA HASSAN (B.A. ’11) is the CEO
and founder of Body and Mind by Muna. Seeing a major gap in content geared toward Muslim women wanting to get fitter and eat better, Hassan created an app specifically catering to this market. The app—Muslimah Fit— officially launched in the Apple Store in May.
producer at The Sacramento Bee, was named a local news finalist for the Livingston Awards for the documentary she produced, S.A.C., which explores the legacy of Stephon Clark and looks at the lasting impacts of Clark’s death on his family, the Sacramento area and the legislation and policy changes that have come since.
MARSHALL HOFFMAN (B.A. ’86) has
been the news director for the KMRS/ KKOK radio stations in Morris, Minn., for the past two years after 13 years in print journalism.
JANE E. HOSMANEK KAISER (B.A.’78, M.A. ’80), writing as Seelie Kay, released her 15th book, “The White House Wedding,” on Feb. 14. Her 16th book, “Martimus,” will be released on May 29.
JEAN NAYAR (B.A. ’80) completed
a book called “Lucky—Anil Nayar’s Story: A Portrait of a Legendary Squash Champion,” a biographical memoir on the barrier-breaking sports career of her husband, who blazed a trail to the top of the international stage in squash, was the first Indian to serve as captain of Harvard University’s squash team, and was recently inducted into the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame.
ANITA NELSON (B.A. ’90), president and owner of IN Food Marketing & Design, celebrated her company’s 25th anniversary in March 2020.
JAMES NELSON (B.A. ’83) is awaiting
publication of his fifth nonfiction book about the American military experience in World War I. The York Patrol, to be published by William Morrow in February 2021, follows his previous books The Remains of Company D, Five Lieutenants, I Will Hold—which won the 2017 Colonel Joseph Alexander Award for
ALUMS
biography from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation—and The Polar Bear Expedition.
KATE NELSON (B.A. ’07), editor-in-
chief of Artful Living, received a 2020 Top Women in Media Award presented by Folio: and AdMonsters, a prestigious accolade bestowed upon a group of women who represent the best and brightest up-and-comers, entrepreneurs, change-makers, corporate champions, and industry trailblazers in the publishing industry.
MARY LOU (KROENING/GUST) NEMANIC (B.A. ’75, M.A. ’77)
released her new book, “Metro Dailies in the Age of Multimedia Journalism” (Temple University Press), about the struggle to keep metro daily newspapers alive and the people who are dedicated to that struggle.
MICHAEL NORTON (B.A. ‘86) wrote
Chasing Maine’s Second, a profile of the first federal election decided through ranked choice voting.
JANESSA PALMER (B.A. ’17) recently
completed a Master’s of Environmental Science at Antioch University New England.
JOEY PETERS (B.A. ’08) joined
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Have news to share? Send it to murphrep@umn. edu for inclusion in the next issue.
the Sahan Journal as a reporter covering health issues affecting Minnesota’s immigrant and refugee communities.
EMILY (BANKS) PHILLIPS (B.A.
’08) launched a new digital video franchise for Hearst Television, showcasing the company’s 26 local news stations’ exceptional coverage of the coronavirus in their communities.
KIMBERLY RODEN (B.A. ’77, M.A.
’87), career mentor at the Women’s Resource Center of Sarasota was
Three Hubbard School graduates were named to AdFed’s 32 Under 32 in May 2020: ANNIE
(ECONOMOU) MULLINS (B.A. ’13), connections strategist, MONO; ELLENI PAULSON
(B.A. ’15), social media strate-
gist, Colle McVoy; and JAYNA
WILCOX (B.A. ’15), senior digital sales strategist, Hubbard Broadcasting Corporate.
the recipient of the Gulf Gate Elementary School Outstanding Senior Volunteer of the Year award given by the Sarasota County Schools.
in New York, after leaving ABC News and his broadcasting career in 2016.
MARSHALL TANICK (B.A. ’69), a partner with the Twin Cities law firm of Meyer Njus Tanick, was named an Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer magazine.
Due to COVID-19, ANNE THOMPSON (B.A. ’19), marketing specialist at Be The Match, helped her team transition to digital marketing campaigns, further implementing paid and earned media.
KASISOMAYAJULA VISWANATH (Ph.D.
was hired as a general assignment reporter at WLUK Fox 11 in Green Bay, Wis.
'90) participated in the University of Minnesota's Consortium on Law and Values webinar titled “Communicating Science to Reduce Health Disparities in a World of Communication Inequalities” in April 2020.
CLINT SCHAFF (B.A. ’00) is the vice
HEATHER L. VOORHEES (M.A. ’15)
president of strategy and development for the Los Angeles Times, and business leader of L.A. Times Studios. He was named to AdWeek’s Creative100, which honors 100 innovative minds leading creativity in marketing, advertising and media.
begins as an assistant professor of Communication Studies at the University of Montana in Missoula in August 2020. She will be the department’s first faculty member focusing on Interpersonal Health Communication.
JENNY SILGEN (B.A. ’05) began work
CHARLEY WALTERS (B.A. ’75) is in
BABATUNDE SANTOS (B.A. ’19)
at Medtronic as a principal marketing specialist in the Cardiac and Vascular Group. Previous to Medtronic, she held marketing roles at Target and Strother Communications Group (SCG).
BRIANNA SMILEY (B.A. ’19), associ-
ate account executive at The Lacek Group, was nominated for AdFed’s 32 Under 32 honor.
SCOTT STACHOWIAK (B.A. ’83) is the
senior vice president at Health Media Relations with Porter Novelli Public Relations. Prior to joining Porter Novelli, he was at Russo Partners
his 44th year with St. Paul Pioneer Press. He is a former Minnesota Twins major league pitcher (1969) and current member of Major League Players Alumni Association. He is a former Minnesota Daily sportswriter and currently writes about sports for the Pioneer Press.
JEFF ZUCKERMAN’S (M.A. ’90)
memoir, “Unglued: A Bipolar Love Story,” is scheduled for publication in the summer of 2020. The book is a hopeful story about the effects of a wife and mother’s late-onset mental illness on her family, particularly her husband.
HUBBARD SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
35
GREETINGS ON BEHALF OF THE ALUMNI SOCIETY BOARD! ❙ BY KAREN SCHULTZ, BOARD PRESIDENT IT’S BEEN AN EXCEPTIONAL YEAR
for the Hubbard School Alumni Society Board and our cornerstone work, the Mentor Program. This year we connected 75 student mentees with mentors, all of whom really had to step up to the plate as the pandemic greatly disrupted school and work. Thank you to all involved. Thank you especially to the school’s leadership and Jenni Pinkley, our outgoing alumni board president, for their vision as we pivoted to our new normal. We learned a lot of lessons, too, that we’re excited to incorporate into our 2020-21 school year efforts. With virtual meetings being more commonplace:
❙ THE MENTOR PROGRAM WILL BE VIRTUAL THIS YEAR. Please consider becoming a mentor no matter where you live. ❙ WE’RE OPENING THE BOARD UP TO ALUMNI RESIDING OUTSIDE OF MINNESOTA. We have two openings. Please let us know if you or someone you know is interested.
We are always looking to have the Hubbard School alumni board and our work reflect the diversity of the student body. The recent protests and important messages our BIPOC community continues to relay have reminded us this mission is important as ever. We welcome our BIPOC and LGBTQ+ colleagues to consider joining our board and/or Mentor Program, as well as consider becoming involved with the School alumni and School events. Diverse opinions and experiences help us better represent the vision and future of journalism and communication. The alumni board events committee will refocus their energies to align with the School’s online events and will bring industry leaders to the virtual board meetings to report out to both the alumni board and the School’s leadership. The student board position newly created in 2019-20 will rotate so as to give more students the opportunity to get involved at a board level and offer their unique viewpoint.
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MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
The alumni board said goodbye to some exceptional members: Eric Hansen, Brian Hurley, John Maher and Jacqueline Smith. We thank them for their years of inspired contributions to the board and to the School and hope they will continue to offer their passion and expertise in the years to come. We welcomed MAGGIE HABASHY and MIKE SCHOMMER as our newest members and look forward to working with them. Mike is the director of communications for the Department of Health and is that voice you hear on the state’s COVID-19 briefings, and Maggie is the director of communications for Greater MSP. We appreciate them (and all of the alumni board members) for taking the time to contribute to their alma mater! Please again consider becoming a mentor and/or serving on or referring an alum to the alumni board. Both are very rewarding and help shape the future for the awesome young men and women soon to enter the world of journalism, strategic communication and mass communication as professionals.
Maggie Habashy
Mike Schommer
Visit z.umn.edu/ hsjmcalumni to find out how to volunteer.
CLASS OF 2020
Congratulations to all our Hubbard School graduates! We are #UMNProud of you and wish you the best in your future endeavors. Visit our virtual commencement web page at z.umn.edu/HubbardGrad2020 Ph.D. Graduates Chuqing Dong Scott Memmel Michaele Myers Fernando Severino Diaz M.A. Graduates Ida Darmawan Marisa Erickson Ines Guanchez Joshua Jordan Eugene Lee Renee Mitson Professional Master’s Graduates (Cohort 14) Pratakshya Bhandari Kelli Billstein Sandra Boone Mary Cornelius Kevin Coss Amanda Fons Tyler Igou Kayleen Jacobson Luke Johnson Inam Mahfuz Kelsie McMahon Jerilyn Miller Amelia Narigon Anthony (Tony) Palosaari Lauren Peck Emily Polgaze Jacqueline Sharpe Margaret VanEchuate Monica Wittstock Undergraduate Class of 2020 Karla Abreu Michael Achterling Kaitlin Adsit Madison Amland Hannah Anderson Caitlin Anderson Dylan Anderson Alexei Askvig Jessica Backlund Cammi Bartyzal
Meghan Baumler Grace Becker Gigi Behun Katelyn Belden Eleanor Bender Alexandra Berns Samuel Bevacco Grant Birno Lucia Bischoff Lew Blank Kyra Boland Kelsey Bolander Drew Borgerding Samantha Boring Calvin Bovy Miranda Bowman Sadie Bozyk Gabrielle Brakemeier Catarina Brambilla Emily Brandt Madison Brandt Tatiana Broses Emma Bublitz Willow Buckner-Gaudynski Rafael Buettner-Salido Tommy Bye Jalen Cannon Shannon Carley Louis Carlson Jessica Case Amanda Charles Jasmin Chou Brianna Cichon Natalie Cierzan Ella Cochrane Thomas Connor Thidasavanh Crockett Jonathan Cukla Jada Daniel Layna Darling Yves De Jesus Autumn Decenzo Carolyn Denn Ben Dezell Luke Diamond Emma Dill Geoffrey Dittberner Sammi Divito
Morgan Doimer Rachel Duerksen Julia Dunnwald Sarah Dybicz Maria Eastman Allison Eller Courtney Emmil Hannah Engel Matthew Erickson Olivia Erickson Andrea Erlenborn MacKenzie Farber Chad Faust J. P. Ferreira-Carvajal Ben Fischer Ian Flaherty Mariah Flores Cameron Flory Mari Fogel Paige Friedman Selena Galvan Kenna Gatzmer Kayla Glaraton Ksenia Gorinshteyn Jenna Graves Maria Graves Maegan Green Rachel Greenstein Megan Greseth Michelle Griffith Rose Griggs Tracy Gunapalan Ruby Guthrie Samantha Hanson Maya Harris Dina Hasic Michael Haubner Claire Hefko Joey Heglund Jessica Helman Emma Henzi Jesse Her Kang Her Abigail Herickhoff Madeline Hillman Sophia Holien Alexandra Holman Julia Huebert Amber Hull Olivia Hultgren Sofiya Hutsal Hamy Huynh Mohamed Ibrahim Maia Jacobson Haven Jacoby Charles Jaeckels Ahnika Jensen Taylor Johnson
Clarke Johnson Hayden Johnson Andrew Johnson Alexandra Jordan Sophia Julio Nicholas Jungheim Brooke Kangas Maria Kasel Teeny Kelly Audrey Kennedy Genevieve Kettleson Maraya King Gabriella Kinney Samanta Kistnan Erin Klang Risa Klein Norah Kleven Samantha Koza Charles Kral Cleo Krejci Megan Kropidlowski Chloe Kucera Trew Landis Mary Larson Abby Le Bail Amy Lee Jane Lee Samuel Legierski Hannah Levitt Melody Lewis Jiang Li Garrett Lieb Erik Lindquist Jordan Loken Emily Luebke Owen Luterbach Jansoper Ly Thomas Lyden Erin Mackaman Margaret Madsen Maura Maguire Emily Martens Olivia Martin Laura Martinez De Oliveira Dijon McCain Austin McGeheran Anna McIntyre Elizabeth McKenna Schuyler McKinley Madison McLaughlin Sebey Drue McLean Javan McNair Joseph Mead Haley Mihalchick John Miller Brett Miller
Zac Miller Xavier Miller Emily Monday Cassandra Moseng Elle Moulin Taylor Murray Erik Muus Puma Namarra Emma Noble Bethany O’Connell Grace O’Neil Darby Ottoson Charles Ouellette Lucy Pabst Grace Park Courtenay Parker Carter Pattison Rachel Perlin Ellen Peterson Benjamin Philbin Rachel Pierce Connor Ploen Madelyn Ploessl Katrina Pross Emily Protzner Emily Raap Natalie Rademacher Macie Rasmussen Margaret Read Claire Redell Catherine Retica Chaundra Rich Carissa Riemers Mia Rioles Elizabeth Rode Jack Rodgers Shelby Rognholt Sarah Rossler Michaela Rothstein Lauren Salonek Babatunde Santos Caelyn Sauerer Nicholas Scheffler Fiona Schiro Marlena Schlegel Zoe Seitz Noelle Simpson Gabe Sinner Evan Smith Lauren Smith Isabella Sogard Gabriella Sonnenschein Brock Splawski Harry Steffenhagen Cassidy Steidle Travis Steinke Cole Sterr
Sydney Stevens Landon Swallow Jon Taffe Anne Thompson Selena Thor Cheyanne Thurston Emily Tifft Melissa Tinucci Alexi Todde Patrick Tooni Tiffany Tran Phuong Tran Anna Treimer Sarah Trenda Gillian Trudeau Phillip Tseplaev Maximilian Twesten-McGowan Catherine Tynjala Jacob Van Blarcom Kendall Van Horne Luke Vang Madelyn Vang Sunny Vuong Mackenzie Walker Wenyi Wang Abigail Warrick Savannah Wedell Andrew Weil Josie Wilde Austin Wilhelm Madeline Williams Danielle Williams Ariana Wilson Brandon Wollman Megan Woodford Duresa Worika Marielle Wosepka Andrew Wright Kenho Yakushiji Mary Yang Jill Yazejian Soohyeon Yeon Hannah Zagon * This list was created by the College of Liberal Arts on May 7, 2020. Every effort was made to make sure this list was accurate.
REPORTER MURPHY
Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication College of Liberal Arts University of Minnesota 111 Murphy Hall 206 Church St. SE Minneapolis, MN 55455
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SAVE THE DATE:
2020 Silha Lecture Inconvenient Truths and Tiger Kings: The Vital Role of Documentaries Today Featuring Dale Cohen Oct. 19, 2020 Location: Cowles Auditorium or Online, TBD Dale Cohen serves as Special Counsel to FRONTLINE, the award�winning PBS documentary series, where he counsels and leads the news team and producers on legal issues and ethical standards. He is also director and founder of the UCLA Doc Film Legal Clinic and an adjunct professor of law.
For more information on these events, visit hsjmc.umn.edu/news-events/events
