Despite weather, photographers document New York experience

Despite the cold and rain common in New York City this time of the year, 12 college photographers spent time exploring the city as part of the convention photo contest.

And, for the first time, B&H Photo Video awarded a camera to the photographer who shot the class favorite image — Gavin Britton, a photographer at the University of Portland (Nancy Copic, adviser).

After the convention was over, a panel of 45 judges including college educators, professional photojournalists and scholastic educators judged the images selecting the top three for recognition.

1. Olivia Reid, University of Massachusetts (Boston) (Charles Henriques, adviser)
2. Laila Hazel, Southern University and A&M College (Jermaine Proshee, adviser)
3. Photo by Gavin Britton, University of Portland (Nancy Copic, adviser)

JUDGES: Meagan Abo, Emily Arnold, Judy Babb, Michelle Balmeo, Jane Blystone, Candace Bowen, Kelly Buckner, Pam Bunka, Elise Carlson, Cary Conover, Greg Cooper, Nancy Copic, Kathy Daly, Steven Dearinger, Mark Dolejs, Hunter Doughty, Al Drago, Evan Evenson, Dominick Ferreira, Leslie Fireman, Chris Gillon, Kelly Glasscock, Stephen Green, Tara Haelle, Whitney Huang, Bonnie Katzive, Debra Klevens, John Knaur, Todd Maisel, Erin Martin, Jim McNay, Jackie Mink, Shannon Oden, Lori Oglesbee, Michelle Martinez Rivera, Margaret Sorrows, Jacob Spotts, Matt Stamey, Elizabeth Strehl, Alison Strelitz, Justin Turner, Dustin Vickers, Hillary Warren, Carrie Webbenhurst, Mark Webber, Bretton Zinger

CONTEST COORDINATOR: Bradley Wilson

SLIDESHOW:

Shoot-out reflects ‘absolutely stunning images’

Student photos reflect a portrait of Washington

After the convention in Washington, D.C., 44 judges set to work looking over the 32 entries from 19 students in the on-site Shoot-out.

One judge wrote, “(The top images) were head and shoulders above the other entries. Absolutely stunning images.”

Indeed, perhaps for the first time in nearly 20 years, the top entry scored three times higher than any other entry. It was ranked by 77% of the judges and ranked first by 47% of them.

Wrote another judge: “(The top entry) tells a story and surroundings all relate to who the person is.”

The assignment included writing captions with the names of all identifiable people. Judges repeatedly said the quality (or absence) of captions reflected in their rankings.

Continue reading “Shoot-out reflects ‘absolutely stunning images’”

First CMA Confab devoted to building trust in media

Sifting through misinformation to get to the real story

CMA CONFAB: The midterm elections are on the horizon, and college journalists must grapple with reaching their audiences while sifting through misinformation along the campaign trail. This session aims to provide tips on how to navigate the political free-for-all while getting down to the issues.
ORGANIZER: Fredrick Batiste, College Media Association, vice president, member training
SPEAKER: Lynn Walsh, assistant director Trusting News
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 30, 2022 via Zoom meeting

Continue reading “First CMA Confab devoted to building trust in media”

Teach-In provides education for collegiate, scholastic advisers

‘Journalism hasn’t been sustainable for all voices and all people’

When Candace Perkins Bowen and Julie Dodd dreamed up the idea of the Teach-In, it was an idea to connect with local scholastic journalism teachers and to provide them with free sessions on timely topics.

The day before the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in Detroit, the 2022 Scholastic Journalism Division Teach-In continued the tradition that is about 13 years old. Continue reading “Teach-In provides education for collegiate, scholastic advisers”

Legal analysis: Why Sarah Palin (still) matters for student journalists

‘This is—and has always been—a case about media accountability’

By Carolyn Schurr Levin

You may be tired of reading about Sarah Palin and her potentially “groundbreaking” libel case against The New York Times. However, so much has happened since our 2019 analysis of her case that I thought it was time for an update. I will focus on how the recent 2022 court resolution of this 2017 libel lawsuit impacts what student journalists do, and how best for campus media advisers to advise them.

First, a bit of background. On June 14, 2017, The New York Times published an editorial entitled “America’s Lethal Politics,” which stated that there was a connection between a 2010 advertisement by Palin’s political action committee and the 2011 Arizona mass shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Arizona, and others. The byline for the editorial was “By The Editorial Board.”

The New York Times changed the language of the editorial and published a correction two days later, on June 16, 2017, after readers noted there was no connection between the Palin advertisement and the Giffords shooting. The correction read, in full: “An editorial on Thursday about the shooting of Representative Steve Scalise incorrectly stated that a link existed between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords. In fact, no such link was established. The editorial also incorrectly described a map distributed by a political action committee before that shooting. It depicted electoral districts, not individual Democratic lawmakers, beneath stylized cross hairs.” But, The New York Times did not apologize to Palin. Continue reading “Legal analysis: Why Sarah Palin (still) matters for student journalists”

Session on conflict in Ukraine prompts timely discussion

‘Disinformation, Dictators and The Undaunted: Covering the Ukraine/Russia War’

The class

The last-minute addition to the College Media Association Spring National College Media Convention was certainly on a timely topic: the conflict in Ukraine. The course description:

During this session you will first learn context and history for the current Russia/Ukraine conflict including a discussion about Putin, propaganda and power in Russia, and about Ukrainian revolution, civil war, Ukrainian culture and a comedian turned president. Then you will get inside information about what is happening in Ukraine right now, and you will get tips on how to make this global story relevant to your local university or college audience.

Continue reading “Session on conflict in Ukraine prompts timely discussion”

Shoot-out returns to NYC

B&H Photo Video provides prize for top photographer

It’s been two years since photographers were able to participate in a Shoot-out as part of a national College Media Association convention. Two years ago, the headline was, “11 photojournalists document city in crisis.” This year, the 18 students were assigned to create “an image — worthy of a postcard — showing what life is like in the city that never sleeps after two years of the pandemic.”

And this year, they had an Apple Award as an incentive to win and a prize donated by B&H Camera Video —a Sony ZV-1 Digital Camera valued at nearly $900.

Some years, with the judges, a mixture of professional photographers, college photography instructors and media advisers as well as scholastic photography instructors and media advisers, the top entries are close. This year, 43 individuals judged the entries and all but 11 ranked the winning entries as one of their top entries. Nine of the judges said the winning entry was their choice for first place. No other single entry has scored so high in recent years. Continue reading “Shoot-out returns to NYC”

Applying Scanlan’s ‘The Coaching Way’ to media design instruction

Editor, adviser can assume coaching role

By Melanie Wilderman

I first heard of Chip Scanlan’s “The Coaching Way,” in 2004 when I was preparing to teach my first college-level class, Introduction to Media Writing, as a very green master’s graduate and new adjunct instructor for my alma mater. I was 23 years old and, like many new instructors, terrified my students would think I was a fraud. “The Coaching Way” saved me that first semester. It guided me as a teacher as much as it helped guide my students.

SAMPLE 1 — SAMPLES: In examples of students’ final designs for the basic business card assignment, note that they make decisions concerning color, font and placement of simple shapes to create the business cards. In doing so, they are primarily practicing the concepts of dominance, balance, hierarchy and space in their work.

For those who may not be familiar, Scanlan, a seasoned journalist and former writing instructor for The Poynter Institute, detailed his approach as an editor in a 2003 Poynter article. He said he approached coaching journalists first with the question, “How can I help?” Then he listened to the answer. Sounds simple, right? Even Scanlan admitted this, but it’s an important first step, and what follows is a more intense progression of open-ended questions throughout the writing process and a back-and-forth between editor and journalist (or, in educational settings, between teacher and student) that requires participation from both parties. He calls this style “The Coaching Way.” Continue reading “Applying Scanlan’s ‘The Coaching Way’ to media design instruction”

Review: ‘News for the Rich, White and Blue’

Author Nikki Usher proposes a “post-newspaper consciousness” framework to viewing media today

Reviewed by Carolyn Schurr Levin

I live in a town where, while we do have local newspapers, none of them regularly cover school board meetings (or police or fire department or other town meetings, for that matter). I would venture an educated guess that many – if not a majority of – college newspapers don’t regularly send a reporter to cover student government meetings, either in person or virtually during the pandemic. This state of affairs, both on campus and off, no doubt, is not good. In her recent book, “News for the Rich, White and Blue,” Nikki Usher tells us why.

“Journalism anchors American democracy by connecting people to the places they live,” Usher writes, “providing them with critical news and information as well as a sense of cultural rootedness and belonging.” If journalists are not covering the day-to-day meetings and events that impact our lives, are we getting what we need to be an “active and engaged citizenry,” college students and adults alike? We are not, Usher forcefully argues. She shares with her readers studies reflecting the underlying premise that without local news, the public cannot make informed decisions Continue reading “Review: ‘News for the Rich, White and Blue’”

Research (Vol. 59): Maintaining and Framing Social Media

A Multi-Method Examination of Award-Winning Student Newspaper Tweets

Emily A. Dolan
Slippery Rock University

Brittany L. Fleming
Slippery Rock University

Abstract: The current study examined how award-winning student newspapers used social media to maintain relationships with their audiences. We employed quantitative methods to examine 26,388 tweets for the presence of relational maintenance strategies. We then employed a qualitative analysis to understand how tweets featuring high levels of these strategies attracted audience engagement. Findings suggest that student newspapers employ relational maintenance strategies in their posts. Within each of these strategies, we identified patterns in the types of tweets that attracted high levels of user engagement. Broadly, our findings suggest that these strategies should not be centered on maintaining the relationships between audiences and newspapers, but instead should be centered on maintaining relationships between audiences and their university communities. We use these findings to propose a list of social media best practices for student newspapers and advisors. Continue reading “Research (Vol. 59): Maintaining and Framing Social Media”