College Media Review

A Q&A with Rachele Kanigel, editor of The Diversity Style Guide

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What would be the most accurate way to describe The Diversity Style Guide?

The Diversity Style Guide is a resource to help journalists and other media professionals cover a complex, multicultural world with accuracy, authority and sensitivity. The guide includes terms and phrases related to race/ethnicity; religion; sexual orientation; gender identity; age and generation; drugs and alcohol; adoption; and physical, mental and cognitive disabilities.

What prompted you to produce The Diversity Style Guide?

About 20 years ago the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism based at San Francisco State University compiled the original News Watch Diversity Style Guide, a compilation of terms from style guides put out by the National Association of Black Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Center on Disability and Journalism and five other organizations. It was last updated in 2002.

In 2014, when I was interim director of the center, I wrote an article for San Francisco Magazine about people who identify as genderqueer, agender or nonbinary, and I realized the Diversity Style Guide didn’t include any of these terms, which were just coming into common parlance. I decided to update and expand the guide, which at that time was just a PDF posted on a website. I received a grant from the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation of the Society of Professional Journalists to create a searchable online style guide and then I wrote a proposal for a book that would include the glossary but also provide a context and framework for diversity reporting. I was delighted to find that several publishers were interested and I signed a contract with Wiley to write the book.

The online guide now includes more than 750 terms – about double the number in the original News Watch Diversity Style Guide. Continue reading “A Style Guide for Diversity in the media…”

A dozen ideas on how to focus on diversity issues on your campus

By Rachele Kanigel
San Francisco State University

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Over the past two years, college campuses around the nation have been rocked by unrest as activists have demonstrated against systematic racism, police brutality against people of color, insufficient facilities for transgender and gender-non-conforming people, cuts to ethnic studies programs, and other hot-button issues. These actions have shined a spotlight on long-simmering tensions and forced both administrators and student media outlets to pay closer attention to the realities of living in a diverse community.

Infused with emotion, these stories can be difficult to report, and student journalists sometimes find themselves in the middle of the conflict, with both administrators and activists criticizing their coverage.

Good journalism means building trust and that requires going beyond the news story du jour and taking a deeper look at the enduring and complex roots of these events.

As your student media outlet starts a new school year, consider ways to explore the larger issues behind the headlines. For inspiration, check out The Seattle Times’ “Under Our Skin” project, NPR’s new CodeSwitch podcast and the Associated Press’ “Divided America,” an ongoing series on the economic, social and political divisions in American society.

Here are some ideas for exploring diversity issues on your campus. Continue reading “Explore campus diversity with effective coverage”

College Media focus of research activities

College Media Review’s Research Annual is now available for download from this site.

Volume 53 for CMR contains peer-reviewed research relating to college media and its practitioners that was published by the College Media Review (CMReview.org) during the 2015-2016 Academic Year.

To download a copy of this volume, CLICK HERE.

For previous editions of the Research Annual, see the “Archive” link at the top of the home page.

CMR research for Volume 53 available for download

By Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver
CMR Associate Editor

Perhaps nowhere is change more evident than in journalism. The world of communications is rapidly evolving, and as this evolution takes place, those of us who work with college and university student media sometimes need roller skates to keep up with what is happening with professional media in order to better prepare our students to go to work in that world.

Two of our authors in this volume of College Media Review deal with change and look at the issue of convergence, a word we hear all around us. Media organizations across the country are rushing to gure out how to converge their news operations, and readers and viewers are demanding more and faster options to get information. Campus media, however, are struggling with this issue and searching for the best model.

Mark Smith and Don Krause from Truman State University look at the topic in both print and broadcast operations in Missouri colleges and universities. Their article explores the status of convergence as well as its challenges and the reasons for the lack of convergence in numerous institutions. Continue reading “CMR’s Research Annual reflects embrace of change”

Editor’s note: Journalists typically learn early on how to write a city council story, cover a sports game, do an investigative piece into questionable spending by public officials, write a profile or in-depth article.

They may never have to cover breaking news and follow-up stories related to horrific mass shootings in Orlando and Dallas, and on school and college campuses and elsewhere.

College and professional media should have in place at least some guidelines on how to cover such tragedies and how publications and stations want to present the coverage, including coverage through social media. They’ll want to look at many different angles and how to best do so.

Continue reading “CMR Extra — Quick Links”

Editor’s Note — Horrific news stories—such as what occurred in the Orlando nightclub shooting—include breaking news, profiles, and myriad follow-ups.

They prompt campus and professional news organizations to reflect on the coverage to date as well as analysis from outside observers.

Here are links to some of the analysis of the Orlando coverage.

Media Coverage of Orlando Tragedy Follows Familiar Scripts …

Variety — Jun 12, 2016 · An outpouring of emotion and familiar narratives marked TV news coverage of the Orlando shooting. As soon as word emerged, on Sunday morning, …  Continue reading “CMR Extra — Quick links”

A Survey of Convergence in Missouri Higher Ed Journalism Programs

Mark Smith, Ph.D.
Truman State University

Don Krause, M.A.
Truman State University

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Abstract: With changes in how audiences receive information, much attention has been placed on the implementation of multi-media storytelling tools and convergence of media outlets to enhance the news consumption experience. Through a survey administered to both print and broadcast association members advising student media in Missouri, as well as a focus group comprised of broadcast journalism advisers, this study closely examined the status of convergence at institutions of higher education in Missouri and the challenges of converging. A significant finding reveals that advisers introduce convergent storytelling techniques in coursework and have engaged colleagues in discussions of convergence, yet in practice convergence in student media in Missouri higher education remains a challenge for faculty advisers and students. Some of the reasons for the lack of convergence include the different ownership structures of student media within the same university, lack of time among advisers to oversee implementation of convergence as well as learning software to aid in the effort, and difficulties in working through university IT departments to implement combined websites. Continue reading “Research (Vol. 53) — Convergence, Higher Education”

Exploring the use of corrections on college newspapers’ websites

Kirstie E. Hettinga
California Lutheran University
Rosemary Clark
The Annenberg School for Communication at University of Pennsylvania
Alyssa Appelman
Northern Kentucky University

Abstract: A previous study found that college newspapers have perceived levels of credibility on par with their professional counterparts, but suggested that quality could be assessed in other ways. Previous research has documented the potential for error corrections to increase perceptions of quality. In a content analysis of College Media Association members’ websites (N = 419), the researchers found that some college publications are publicizing corrections, but some are not. Additionally, these practices seem to depend on publication and university differences. Similarities between college and professional publications are noted, and recommendations for improvement are discussed. Continue reading “Research (Vol. 53) — Corrections and the College Web”