Barry Bearak MS '75 JOURN was released on bond today (April 7, 2008) after spending more than three days in a Zimbabwe jail for reportedly violating the country's journalism laws. This is according to reports by Reuters and The New York Times. The Reuters report, published in today's issue of The New York Times, said Bearak is being treated at clinic because he fell ill while in prison and "was severely injured." Bearak is a foreign correspondent for The Times, and he had been covering the elections in Zimbabwe when he was jailed on April 3. In 2002 he won a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in Afghanistan, and in 2003 he was the Commencement speaker at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. See the Reuters report.
UPDATE: Read Bearak's account of his recent jail time in Zimbabwe as published in the April 27 issue of The New York Times.
College alumni get together in New York
Highlighted events
- Multicultural Marketing presentation
April 10, 8-9 p.m., General Lounge, Illini Union
Featured speaker is Charles Morrison, a leader in the field of ethnic marketing and current president and general manager of UniWorld Group Inc. MORE ON MORRISON'S LECTURE ... - Foundation Relations Seminar
April 15, 10-11:30 a.m., General Lounge, Illini Union
Gary Kebbel MS '76 JOURN, '77 AM LAS, journalism initiatives program officer for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will speak on how to build a good working relationship with foundations that provide grants. He is responsible for identifying grant projects and recipients that coincide with the Knight Foundation's primary goals of defending a free press and encouraging journalistic excellence. Previously he worked as news director at AOL, and at USAToday.com, Newsweek.com, Washingtonpost.com and EdWeek.org. - Cline Symposium panel discussion/public forum on the media and elections
April 21, 3-4:30 p.m., Room 314, Illini Union
Louis Liebovich, UI journalism professor; Tom Rosenstiel, journalist and director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism; and Scott Alhaus, UI professor in political science; will discuss "Journalism: Adding Light or Just Turning Up the Heat? The Challenge of Democracy in the Age of New Media." The panelists will focus on issues and questions about the role of the news media in campaigns, elections and politics in the United States. - 10th Annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival
April 23-27, Virginia Theatre, Champaign, Ill.
(See story and link on Ebertfest to the left, under "Around the College.")
- See more College events in the College calendar.
Alumni accomplishments
Broadcast journalism alumnus moves to CBS affiliate in Chicago
Ryan Baker '91 JOURN is moving to the sports anchor position at WBBM-Channel 2, the CBS affiliate in Chicago. According to Chicago Tribune columnist Robert Feder, the role was "created specifically for Baker (and) he initially will anchor sports for Channel 2's weekday morning newscast and report for other newscasts on the station." A familiar face in Chicago sports reporting, Baker has been part of the sports team at NBC affiliate WMAQ-Channel 5 for the past five years.
Advertising alumnus takes marketing post
Brett DeBord '07 ADV has accepted the position of director of client services for Chicago-based PROtential, a marketing and sponsorship agency that specializes in corporate sponsorship management, creative and strategic marketing activation and business consulting for sports and entertainment properties. DeBord previously worked as sales and marketing coordinator for the St. Louis Rams organization.
Alumna releases new book on media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Marda Dunsky '81 JOURN has written the book, "Pens and Swords: How the American Mainstream Media Report the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict," which was published in February 2008. The book examines more than 20 major print and broadcast companies' coverage and the effects on public policy, public opinion and U.S. foreign policy. Dunsky served as an Arab affairs reporter for the Jerusalem Post and a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. She teaches journalism courses at Northwestern and DePaul universities and was a recent guest lecturer on "Reporting the Arab and Muslim Worlds" at Illinois.
Broadcasting alumna is a triple threat
Melissa Foreman '92 JOURN is so popular on Chicago radio that she replaced Whoopi Goldberg's syndicated show on WLIT-FM after an uproar from listeners. Whoopi's show knocked Foreman off the airwaves early last year, but fans protested, station management apologized publicly, and six months later Foreman was back. Late in the year, Foreman "became the first woman to host both mornings and afternoons at the same time in the country's No. 3 media market," according to Sun-Times media columnist Robert Feder. In addition to taking the helm of the 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. slot and the afternoon drive from 4 to 7 p.m. at WLIT, she also hosts the real estate show, "Homes Plus," for CLTV.
Alumna trades education reporting for communications job
Raven Hill '98 JOURN, MS '00 JOURN, is a communications specialist at The Education Trust, a think tank in Washington, D.C. Previously she worked for three years at the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman as an education reporter, where she won the Silver Apple Media Award from the Texas Classroom Teachers Association last year for outstanding coverage and launched the paper's K-12 blog, "Homeroom." In her new position, Hill is the primary contact for press operations. She provides overall support to the government affairs and communications team, and her duties include fielding media inquiries, organizing press conferences, and conducting extensive research.
Virginia group names UI alumna 'Advertising Person of the Year'
Terri Jones '73 RADIO & TV was honored for her dedication to the advertising industry in March 2008. The Advertising Federation of the Roanoke Valley named her the 2007-2008 Advertising Person of the Year at a gala in Roanoke, Va. Jones is senior vice president of AccessPR in Roanoke.
Disney gains journalism alumna
Jennifer Liu '97 JOURN recently accepted a position with Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale, Calif. She oversees the company's internal and executive communications and is responsible for developing communications vehicles for the newer Disney ventures, including Walt Disney Park and Resorts Online, and Adventures by Disney. In her first few weeks on the job, Liu said she "was asked to try out a futuristic new ride vehicle and got to provide feedback to the engineers."
Alumnus' play enjoyed seven-week run in Chicago
Michael Rosenbaum '74 JOURN co-wrote his first play with friend Dave Brimm after 30 years of working in various communications arenas. "Pitching Penguins" played at the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago from February through March 2008. Rosenbaum said he and Brimm worked in sister PR agencies for about 15 years and regularly had lunch together, during which they'd often talk about the zany things clients asked them to "pitch." They always said that one day they'd put it all down on paper. "Pitching Penguins" is the realization of that dream. According to the Web site, it is the comedic tale of the "Brooks & Reilly Public Relations agency," forced to find a way to sell the public on some rather eccentric ideas, including the concept of penguins as food — "the other white — and black — meat." See the Web site for more on "Pitching Penguins."
Advertising alumna working on advanced degree
Bethany Snyder-Morse '03 ADV, AB '03 LAS, currently is working on her doctorate in rhetoric through Bowling Green State University in Ohio. In 2005, she earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan. She is also working on a project producing short family films, and her film on the Huron River was shown at the Miller's Creek Film Festival in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 2007.
New Chicago anchor is journalism alumna
Anne State MS '97 JOURN will co-anchor the 5 p.m. news slot with Rob Johnson and do reporting for the 10 p.m. news at WBBM-Channel 2 TV Chicago, beginning in late April. State, a native of Southern California, comes to Chicago from KSWB-TV in San Diego, where she has been a news anchor since 2002.
Graduate takes on new professorship
Sukki Yoon PHD '05 COMM recently joined the marketing department as a professor at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI. Previous he was an assistant professor in the journalism and communications department at Cleveland State University.
Broadcast graduate accepts Minnesota job
Jackie Orozco '07 JOURN recently began working as a reporter at KAAL-TV in Austin, Minn. The ABC affiliate serves the Austin, Rochester and Mason City (Iowa) area.
The Media I archive
New name for College approved by BOT
The UI Board of Trustees approved the College's new name, "College of Media," during the trustees' March 26th meeting in Urbana.
Since 1968, the College has been known as the College of Communications, but a name change appeared inevitable after discussions during the past four years with the Department of Speech Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Their counterparts across the country were dropping the "speech" portion of their names, and the Urbana campus unit wished to follow suit. A Department of Communication on the same campus as the College of Communications would create confusion at Illinois, so the College agreed to change its name, as well.
The situation presented an opportunity for the College to better define itself, said Dean Ron Yates.
"Many programs around the country are jettisoning the names 'Communications' or 'Mass Communications' " in favor of media-related names, Yates said. "What we really do is study and teach 'mediated communications,' but that is more of an academic moniker than a popular one. We study and teach media — old media, new media, emerging media, future media. In short, the College is about media."
The College is in the midst of making changes related to the new name. It is already in use on the College's Web site, in e-mail signatures, telephone greetings and on WILL radio and TV, and some changes are being held off until after Commencement and Convocation. Please stay tuned.
Around the College
Advertising students win industry creative awards
Five students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have won silver Addy Awards for their creative work in advertising. The American Advertising Federation of Central Illinois presented the awards Feb. 29 in Springfield, Ill. All five are students in the Department of Advertising, and their work was produced in an advanced creative course taught by faculty member Peter Sheldon.
The awards qualify the students for entry into AAF's regional and national Addy competitions. Following are the winners, their hometowns, products or company advertised and categories of entries:
Ryan Cwiklinski, Geneva, Ill., "Kiss The Sky Music Store," point of purchase
Laura Knight, Bloomington, Ill., "1154 Lill,' magazine campaign
Peter Meersman, Arlington Heights, Ill., "Voss Water," out-of-home
Jill Tiongco, Bensenville, Ill., "Virgin Atlantic," magazine campaign; and "Listerine Strips," non-traditional advertising
Sara Volpe, Schaumburg, Ill., "Q-tips," magazine campaign
Addy Awards are presented annually by AAF to honor students representing the 200 college chapters and advertising professionals who are members of the organization’s 15 districts. Each year, more than 60,000 entries are evaluated nationwide, and the AAF selects gold and silver winners. AAF calls the awards "the world's largest advertising competition" and "the only creative awards program administered by the advertising industry for the industry."
Journalism students earn regional and national awards
Ten current and recent students in the Department of Journalism will receive Region 5 Mark of Excellence Awards during the Spring Conference of the Society of Professional Journalists, April 4-5. Following are the honorees, how they placed, the categories in which they won and story titles:
Eric Steckling, First Place in Radio Feature for "Broomball"
Michael Koliska, Liz Reising, Ted Land and Lauren Thorbjornsen, First Place in Radio In-Depth Reporting for "China: Beyond the Great Wall"
Alex Symonds and Stefen Jellicoe, First Place in Radio Sports Reporting for "Basketball Walk-On"
Megan Loiselle, First Place in Online In-Depth Reporting for "Latinos in Education"
Kristin Maiorano, Second Place in Radio News Reporting for "Salmonella Scare"
Dan Howell, Second Place in Radio Feature for "Police Ride Along"
Alex Symonds, Second Place in Radio Sports Reporting for "Beanball King"
in the national TV News Hearst Awards competition, Angelica Duria finished 15th.
(Editor's note: This story originally listed 11 awardees, however one was from another university and inadvertently was listed among the UI students.)
Tenth annual Ebertfest promises celebrity appearances, including Ebert
Roger Ebert '64 JOURN may be bruised, but he's not broken. Although he's recovering from another recent surgery, he plans to attend the Roger Ebert Film Festival in Champaign, April 23-27, and participate in every way he can, including communicating through his beloved wife, Chaz. Ebertfest has also attracted Ang Lee, UI alumnus and Academy Award-winning filmmaker; Joe Pantoliano and Aida Turturro, actors from the HBO series, "The Sopranos;" actor Timothy Spall, known for his roles in "Sweeney Todd," "Enchanted" and "Harry Potter;" and several other actors, directors, producers and filmmakers. The annual film festival is presented by the College of Media, under the direction of Nate Kohn, festival director, and Mary Susan Britt, assistant director. For details, see the Ebertfest Web site.
More than 30 instructors in College of Media ranked as "excellent"
A substantial number of College of Media faculty and teaching assistants were ranked as excellent by their students in Fall 2007, according to evaluation results recently announced by the campus. Following are the teachers in the incomplete list (so-named because some professors do not distribute evaluations to their classes):
FACULTY:
Bill Berry, Jason Chambers, Leon Dash, Matt Ehrlich, Steve Hall, Walt Harrington, Bob Hays, Steve Helle, Mitch Kazel, Jean McDonald, Diana Mincyte, Claudio Moreira, Michelle Nelson, John Paul, Jay Rosenstein, Peter Sheldon, Lex Tate, Jeff Unger and Ron Yates
TEACHING ASSISTANTS:
Matthew Crain, Daniel Fischer, Amber Greviskes, Kevin Healey, Aishatale Mitchell, Molly Niesen, Geoffrey Olmstead, Rich Potter, Kevin Quinn, Melba Velez, Myra Washington and Desiree Yomtoob.
Journalism professor earns campus award
Matt Ehrlich was selected by the UI faculty and Provost to receive the Campus Award for Excellence in Teaching - Faculty. Ehrlich teaches radio journalism, the master's proseminar and journalism movies at Illinois. He was nominated for the award previously, but this is the first time he has won it. Ehrlich will be recognized at a campuswide ceremony and reception on April 29 at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center.
New honor for 'The Everlasting Stream'
Walt Harrington's documentary, "The Everlasting Stream," was chosen to receive an award for program production by the National Educational Telecommunications Association. See the NETA official release.
Associated Press Names WILL-AM News "Outstanding News Operation"
WILL-AM 580 News was named the "Outstanding News Operation" in the downstate radio division of the Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association Journalism Excellence Contest. WILL-AM 580 News also picked up four other awards, including second place in the Best Newscast and Best Newswriter categories.
In other awards, news director Tom Rogers and reporters Jim Meadows and Jeff Bossert placed second in the Best Series/Documentary category for their World War II: Central Illinois Stories series. Rogers placed second in the Best Light Feature category for his story on the POW camp in Hoopeston during World War II.
"I'm humbled and honored that Associated Press judges regarded our work as among the best in the state," Rogers said. "It's a testament to Jim Meadows, Jeff Bossert and other AM 580 reporters who work tirelessly to tell the stories of east-central Illinois plainly, accurately and innovatively."
The awards will be presented at the Illinois News Broadcasters Association convention in Springfield on April 19.
To listen to the winning stories, visit the WILL Web site at will.illinois.edu.
Advertising head offers opinion on Chicago-area judicial ads
Jan Slater was quoted in the Feb. 13 issue of the Law Bulletin in a story by Law Bulletin staff writers John Flynn Rooney and Brian Mackey. Slater weighed in on campaign ads sponsored by the Cook County Democratic Party, which were placed in newspapers prior to the 2008 primary election. According to the Bulletin, the ads showed 12 candidates seeking judicial seats on the Illinois Supreme Court, Appellate Court and Cook County Circuit Court, presented in a way that seemed to imply all were sitting judges, though two were not. The ads also used wording asking for votes to re-elect candidates who had not been elected and were actually seeking retention to judicial appointments. For more information, see the Law Bulletin article.
Advertising professor provides insight into percentage perceptions
Patrick Vargas co-authored a paper titled, "More Evidence that Americans Don’t Understand Percentages," with Justin Kruger in the Department of Marketing at New York University. The paper's study looked at how people perceive percentage discounts on products and services. The paper was published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology and cited on the Pew Research Center Web site.
