REPORTER HUBBARD SCHOOL LEADING IN STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

DIRECTOR

Elisia Cohen

EDITOR

Amanda Fretheim Gates

DESIGN

Jeanne Schacht

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Claire Colby, Katie Dohman, Madeleine Ware

PROOFREADER

Katie Dohman

2022-2023 HSJMC ALUMNI SOCIETY BOARD MEMBERS

Michael Schommer, president

Kelli (Theiler) Brady

Alexa (Trussoni) Cushman

McKenna Ewen

Riham Feshir

Maggie Habashy

Suzy (Hart) Langdell

Shreya Mukherjee

Jenni Pinkley

Karen Schultz

Emee (Drews) Strauss

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.

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AS I CLOSE ON MY SIXTH YEAR AS DIRECTOR of the School, having served through the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, I have been delighted to return to spending the past year meeting alumni and friends. These efforts culminated at our November Centennial Gala (see page 6), or what I also have been referring to as our “Great Minnesota Media Get Together,” which was a philanthropic and social success.

I have been deeply impressed with the support we have received from the School’s professional community and alumni this past year (see our donor roster starting on page 35) as we seek to provide new and exciting opportunities for our students in the form of paid internships, unique culminating experiences in our classrooms, and opportunities for education abroad.

I’m also grateful for the support of our Loeffler construction team and staff whose hard work allowed us to open our lower-level laboratory classrooms, library, and Hubbard “Media Hub” spaces for students this spring (see photos on page 4). Managing this major construction project of our studios and labs within a nine-month time span required strong preparation and planning. It was important to me and the University that our pandemic-affected students be able to begin learning in these new spaces this spring. I am #UMNProud that these plans were well implemented, and I invite you to come see the new space anytime.

I want to take a moment to reflect on several programmatic highlights and bring those to your attention. First, last summer we piloted an internship program at outstate newspapers. Called Report for Minnesota (see page 5), the program funded two students during a 10-week internship at a community newspaper in a rural part of the state. The program not only created a wonderful opportunity for the students, it strengthened our statewide ties with newspapers. At our Gala, we raised funds to continue this program for the next two years. We are working on plans to expand it to broadcasting and other digital media internship opportunities, and we’d love your help. Please reach out if you have ideas or opportunities.

In the fall of 2021, the School brought in the College’s student-run communications agency, Backpack. I am proud that with the leadership of Jennifer Johnson and a strong Board of Directors, we’ve been able to grow the program and offer this professional opportunity to our students. The student agency has a track record of success working with non-profit clients. The students have shared that they particularly enjoy working with clients interested in strategic insights for their media strategies involving adolescents and young adults. Learn more on page 34.

Finally, this issue gave us a chance to highlight many achievements in strategic communication (starting on page 12). You’ll find highlights on a number of our faculty, including Jisu Huh, Sherri Katz, Amy O’Connor, Hyejoon Rim, Adam Saffer and new hire Erich Sommerfeldt.

You’ll also find an update on our nearly 20-year strong professional master’s program (see page 18). We have worked hard in the School to grow and nourish the strategic communication program, and these are just a handful of stories and proud moments for our talented team. (Stay tuned for the summer issue when we focus on the journalism program and its achievements.)

The centennial year for the Hubbard School was a wonderful opportunity to connect with alums, donors and friends and work together to imagine our future. I hope to continue these connections for years to come, and I welcome your feedback. You can contact me at sjmc-dir@umn.edu.

All my best,

Elisia L. Cohen, Ph.D. Director and Professor