The Institute for New Media Studies and the Minnesota Journalism Center will conduct its second Multimedia News Producers Workshop, August 16-18, 2007. This year’s workshop will teach basic video storytelling techniques for the web to print and broadcast journalists. Space is limited to 36 participants. Last year’s workshop filled within four days with a wait list. Online registration opens in mid-May on the Institute’s website: http://www.inms.umn.edu.

The call for papers for the New Media Research@UMN Conference (www.inms.umn.edu) is open to any University of Minnesota faculty, graduate students, researchers, or librarians working on projects in the area of new media and Internet studies. The call for proposals deadline is June 1, 2007. Mark your calendar and be sure to kickoff the new academic year by connecting with fellow new media researchers about their projects at this important cross-disciplinary collaboration. The conference takes place Sept. 13-14, 2007. The New Media Research@UMN conference opens with a reception and poster presentation at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, and continues with a half-day conference complete with break-out sessions from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

The Minnesota Journalism Center and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis will co-host the annual Supply, Demand & Deadlines Workshop June 24-26, 2007. "Supply, Demand & Deadlines: A Workshop on Economics for Journalists," provides mid-level reporters, editors and producers from the business, economics, political and policy beats with insights into how to cover some of the most important but difficult economic and business issues facing our communities. The workshop will include extensive opportunities for journalists to work through sample stories, case studies, and critiques of journalistic work in these subject areas. For more information, contact mnjrnctr@umn.edu.

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Professor Jane Kirtley was featured in a number of stories and interviews over the last number of weeks, including two guest spots on Minnesota Public Radio speaking about violence and the news media, and the impact of further buyouts at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She was featured in an article that appeared on the University of Minnesota’s homepage titled, “News coverage in the hot seat,” along with Professor Ed Schiappa. The story discussed media coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings. She was also quoted in a Star Tribune story, “Professors make it hard for high-tech cheaters,” talking about the possibility of students using electronic devices for cheating on final exams. Kirtley was also quoted by the Minnesota Monitor regarding a cartoonist who believed his First Amendment rights were violated when his college newspaper refused to print his work.

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Professor Ken Doyle has been appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Communication.

Professor Michael Stamm received the Margaret A. Blanchard Doctoral Dissertation Prize for best dissertation in journalism and mass communication history from the American Journalism Historians Association.  Stamm’s dissertation is now under contract with the University of Pennsylvania Press, with publication expected in 2008.  He also received a  University of Minnesota McKnight Summer Fellowship and a  Faculty Summer Research Fellowship for the coming summer.

Cowles Media Fellow Sherrie Mazingo has been selected by the national Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) for inclusion in the Rainbow Diversity Sourcebook.  The Sourcebook is a directory used by reporters to "find qualified experts on key news topics from demographic groups underrepresented in the news." The directory seeks to promote a broader voice in newsrooms across the country and expand the depth and quality of news reports through better sourcing. Mazingo is listed under the categories of Media, and Race/Ethnicity: http://www.spj.org/diversity.asp.

Cowles Media Fellow Sherrie Mazingo recently accepted an invitation from Minnesota Daily Co-Publisher and President Anna Sauser to join a list of professionals and professors serving as a network of experts for the paper.  Mazingo has been asked to serve as a source on media ethics and diversity issues. 

Graduate student Itai Himelboim has been awarded the Ralph D. Casey Dissertation Research Award.

Graduate student Patrick File was awarded the Silha Fellowship for Media Ethics and Law.

Several graduate students have received the Mark Kriss Graduate Student Research Award. They are Brittany Duff, Penny Sheets, Jun Rong Myers, Yuliya Lutchyn and Stephanie Blake.

Two students in the SJMC master’s program in health journalism have been recognized for their work. Suzanne Sobotka received the Science Journalism Student Award from the Society for Neuroscience. Nicole Endres received the Pride of CASE Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education Pride.

The College of Liberal Arts Graduate Research Partnership Program (GRPP) was awarded to several SJMC graduate student and faculty teams, including Yulia Lutchyn and Ron Farber; Rebecca Swanson and John Eighmey, and Vanessa Boudewyns and Marco Yzer. The GRPP is a graduate student fellowship program that supports research partnerships between faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and students enrolled in graduate programs housed within the college. The program provides a summer research stipend to CLA graduate students to support their professional, scholarly, and creative development while collaborating with a CLA faculty project adviser on scholarly research and creative activity.

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The educational video game, Neverwinter Nights, was featured along with Professor Nora Paul, director of the Institute for New Media Studies, Professor Kathleen Hansen, director of the Minnesota Journalism Center and Scott Dierks, systems administrator for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in the May/June 2007 issue of Edtech, a magazine on higher education information technology trends. The article “Gaming in Education” notes the increasing use of video games in college classroom instruction and discusses how schools’ information technology staff support these initiatives.

The Institute for New Media Studies, in collaboration with Sauman Chu from the University’s School of Design and Laura Ruel from the University of North Carolina, began an eyetracking research project in late April. They are testing different techniques for displaying “refreshed” or “breaking” news online, different styles of providing links to supplemental information, and different navigational options for moving through slide shows. The research, funded by a Digital Technology Center grant, will be completed by mid-May with research results to be compiled and published by mid-summer.

Professor Jisu Huh will present three research papers at two different conferences this month. She will present "Corporate Blogs as a Public Relations Tool: A Content Analysis Applying the Relational Maintenance Framework,” which she co-authored with Soyoen Cho, at the 2007 International Communication Association Conference in San Francisco. She will present two papers at the 2007 American Academy of Advertising Asia Pacific Conference in Seoul, South Korea; "U.S. and Korean Website Practitioners' Perspectives on Website Effectiveness Measurement: A Qualitative Investigation,” written with Cho and Nora Paul, and "Content Analysis of Global Corporate Websites,” written with Wonsun Shin. Huh also organized a special topics session for the conference focusing on interactive advertising in a global context. “Recognizing the importance of new technologies in global advertising and the scarcity of studies on this topic,” she said, “this special session shares various perspectives and research findings on interactive advertising in a global context among academic scholars and practitioners. This session brings together many prominent scholars in the area of interactive and international advertising.”

Professor Dona Schwartz’s work appears in two new exhibitions; “Suburban/Domestic: The Nature of Love and Family,” at the Salina Art Center in Salina, Kansas, May 11-Aug. 19; and in “Interactions,” at the Center for Fine Arts Photography in Fort Collins, Colo., from May 4-30. Schwartz was awarded the “Juror’s Selection,” which is the highest honor, by juror Alison Nordstrom, Curator of Photographs at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, and had her work featured on the award-winning photogblog, Flak Photo ( http://www.flakphoto.com/archives/6333_1646490288/228259). In addition, Schwartz’s photograph, “Fried Eggs” was chosen for the back cover of the Blue Sky Gallery’s annual exhibition catalogue.

An article written by Professor Gary Schwitzer, titled, “Journalists and Health Screening Tests: Unhealthy Advocacy,” has been published on the Poynter Institute web site at http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=123044. The story talks about the apparent pro-screening-test bias of some journalists.

Professor Jane Kirtley delivered two lectures at the University of Nebraska-Omaha last month. The first, "Can a Good Journalist Be a Good Citizen?" was presented at the University’s School of Communication 2007 High School Journalism Conference. The second, "Seduced by Secrecy: How the Public's Right to Know has been Undermined in the Post-9/11 Environment" was presented by the School of Communication and was open to the university community.  These lectures opened the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Communication Week, April 19-26. Kirtley also participated on a panel for the 20 th Annual Media and the Law Seminar in Kansas City, Missouri last month. The panel was titled, "The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship? -- Privacy and Technology Intersect.” The conference was sponsored by the University of Kansas School of Law, University of Kansas Continuing Education, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and the ABA TIPS Media, Privacy and Defamation Law Committee.

Nora Paul, director of the Institute for New Media Studies, has been all over the world in recent weeks to talk about digital media. In February, she was part of a panel presentation for, “New Media: The Press Freedom Dimension, Challenges and Opportunities,” at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. In March, she attended the America East Newspaper Publishers conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and gave a speech on digital storytelling. She also gave a talk on “New Media and Impact on Marketing,” at the British-American Tobacco/Bigott conference in Caracas, Venezuela. She also spoke to the Pioneer Press’ Innovations Group on digital storytelling in St. Paul, and the American Business Magazine – Digital Velocity Conference: New Media and Magazine in New York, and was on a panel on multimedia news at the International Online Journalism Conference in Austin, Texas. In April, Paul traveled to St. Petersburg, Florida, to a Poynter Institute eyetracking conference. She was part of a panel for the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce on “The Future of News for Community Leaders” program and also participated as a panelist at the Wireless Cities Conference on Wireless and Media Initiatives held at the University of Minnesota.

A recent Minnesota Daily online video story by Steve Kuzj featured excerpts from a presentation on immigration coverage by University of Texas-Austin Professor Mercedes de Uriarte. Her appearance last month was part of the SJMC Diversity Forums. Cowles Media Fellow Sherrie Mazingo was quoted in the story on media use of the term 'illegal immigrants:' http://www.mndaily.com/loadAV.php?mult_id=232

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SJMC records a first as new M.A. program celebrates graduation

Graduation ceremonies this month included a first for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication as the first cohort of the new M.A. in strategic communication completed their academic program.

The professional degree program was developed during more than two years of collaboration between the SJMC and communications leaders at major corporations and communications agencies in the Twin Cities area. Many of those same leaders in the fields of research, advertising, public relations and communications appear in the classroom to provide their insights and expertise to students.

SJMC Professor John Eighmey, (at left in photo) who holds the Mithun Chair in Advertising, is the academic director for the program. He has held senior management positions at Young & Rubicam advertising in New York and at the Federal Trade Commission. While at Young & Rubicam he was an adjunct associate professor of marketing at the Wharton School. He has been on the faculty at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Alabama.

“This program was developed to meet the needs expressed by the large communications industry in Minnesota,” Eighmey said. “The Twin Cities area is one of the nation’s largest media markets, measured by annual billings for advertising, public relations and related communications business. The rapidly changing profile of communications in advertising, public relations and direct response methods – whether in agencies, nonprofits or corporations – demands strong strategic leadership."

The program’s coordinator is Gordon Leighton, who has more than 30 years of experience in senior communications and strategic management at leading public relations agencies and corporations such as IBM, Honeywell and Xcel Energy. He specializes in issues management, crisis communication and public opinion research.

In the photo above, three members of the cohort gather to celebrate their graduation.


Recent visitors to G.R. (Jerry) Anderson Jr.'s JOUR 3155 Publications Editing class included Alberto Montserrate of the Latino Communications Network, owner of three newspapers and one radio station catering to Hispanics. He spoke on inherent institutional bias in U.S. media. Also visiting the class was Kate Parry, reader representative for the Star Tribune, who spoke on reacting to readers over various editing and reporting errors, and the process of corrections, and Mark Anfinson, attorney for the Minnesota Newspaper Association, who spoke on information gathering, editing decisions and legal matters.

Tim Blevins, SJMC alum and copywriter at Colle+McVoy, Joel Bratsch, interactive copywriter at OLSON and John Rekoumis, art director at OLSON were guests of Teaching Specialist Jennifer Johnson for her JOUR 4990 Advertising Portfolio Development spring portfolio critique.

Students in adjunct instructor Lynn Nelson’s JOUR 3279: Public Relations Writing and Campaign Tactics classes had the opportunity to hear from guest speakers in a range of strategic communications professions this semester, including Joe Deckenbach, formerly of Weber Shandwick, who taught students about crisis communications; the director of public affairs for Hennepin County, Carolyn Marinan, who spokeabout her experience in broadcast journalism as a former producer for KARE-11, and Mike Martorelli, principal of Minneapolis-based marketing communications firm, Johnson Martorelli, who shared insights about branding. 

Several local organizations have benefited from the work of students in Adjunct Professor Lynn Nelson’s JOUR 3279: Public Relations Writing and Campaign Tactics class. Public relations plans were developed by students for four local nonprofit organizations, including Make-A-Wish Foundation of Minnesota, Camp Heartland, Wise Swim School in Apple Valley and Friends of the Brookdale Library.  Students gained real-life experience by working directly with their clients to devise a plan that meets their organization’s needs and goals.  Student Sarah Seebecker, who works at Wise Swim School, as well as helped create a public relations campaign for the organization noted, “I enjoyed the overall experience, and my manager loved the ideas.”

Adjunct Professor Lynn Nelson received a grant from the University’s Office of Public Engagement to develop a web site program for Heading Home Hennepin, a program designed to end homelessness in Hennepin County. Nelson used the grant money to hire two students from her Fall 2006 JOUR 3279: Public Relations Writing and Campaign Tactics class, Stephanie Archer and Jessica Lee, to develop content for the Web site this semester. Archer and Lee received valuable, first-hand experience by writing extensively about the issue of homelessness, as well as the Heading Home Hennepin initiative.  Nelson also secured Marzan Interactive (www.marzaninteractive.com), to design and host the Web site. The site will be launched in June and can be found at www.HeadingHomeHennepin.org.

Students in Roshini Rajkumar's reporting class heard from WCCO personalities John Reger and Bob Raney, who visited recently to review students' final projects. Both reporters talked about their work at WCCO and what led them to their present positions.

Alums: Alumni societies offer ways for you to stay active
For more information on how to become involved with the University of Minnesota Alumni Association and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication Alumni Society, contact Erica Giorgi in the CLA External Relations office at giorg003@umn.edu or 612-625-8837.Return to top

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March 2007