Photographers document city fizzing with excitement

23 photojournalists document the personality of Atlanta, host city of fall convention

Whether the photographers knew Atlanta as the “Chicago of the South” or “ATL” or just “The A,” their assignment was simple: “[C]reate an image — worthy of a postcard — showing that Atlanta is a city that’s always fizzing with excitement.”

In Atlanta, even the buildings have personality. Show the personality of people interacting with those buildings. Or parks. Or vendors. Or visitors.

The photographers on-site at the College Media Association and Associated Collegiate Press national convention in Atlanta definitely set out to cover those visitors, vendors, parks and buildings to document the cultural diversity of the city.

Continue reading “Photographers document city fizzing with excitement”

Training students how to report on mental health

College media is in a prime position to be at the forefront of reporting responsibly on mental health

By Ben McNeely

NC State was reeling. Students were stunned, parents were worried, and administrators were trying to respond.

My alma mater, NC State University, went through hell last academic year.

Fourteen students died, seven of which were deaths by suicide. In April, two students took their own lives within a 24-hour period.

Continue reading “Training students how to report on mental health”

Why I asked my students to Google me

An activity for the first week of class or before the first staff meeting

By Erin Olson

In the first five days of class, a crucial window for building relationships with my new students, I did something that other educators might consider bold. I asked my students to Google me and make inferences about the year we would have together. Realizing this is something they were likely to do anyway, I wanted to witness firsthand how they searched, how they shared what they found, and if they believed the information they encountered. 

In just a few minutes, students discovered a little bit about me, and I discovered a lot about their ability to effectively look for information online. 

Continue reading “Why I asked my students to Google me”

Editor challenges students: get ‘fired up’

Journalists ‘ready to go’ after Mega Workshop

By Madison Roth, Minnesota Daily

Eager journalism students filled the room, carrying their hopes and dreams with them as they settled into the dingy orange chairs. Chatter bursting with excitement rang in the ears of the staff members leading the workshop tracks.

This is the weekend the some 100 students had been anticipating for months: the 2023 Associated Collegiate Press College Media Mega Workshop.

Rick Green, executive editor and chief content officer of the Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, California, kicked off the workshop by asking staff and students where they were from, as every area of the country was represented in some way.

He asked the students why they were attending the conference.

Responses ranged from “We’re really excited to get different ideas from school and learn how to improve our newspaper.” to “If you have enthusiasm and trust in yourself, anything you’re putting out there, people are gonna listen.” Continue reading “Editor challenges students: get ‘fired up’”

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.

award
Gavin Britton accepts his camera donated by B&H Photo Video from Bradley Wilson. Britton had the image selected as class favorite on-site. Later, judges selected it for third place recognition.

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:

CMA NYC photo contest sp23

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’

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