CMR Extra — Quick Links

CMR Editor’s selection for newsmaker links…

Transitions — The Media World takes note of the life and contributions of prolific contributor to CMR, Dan Reimold, 1981-2015.

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Dan Reimold — Scholar, CMR contributor dead at 34

Reimold was a leader in college media education, advocacy

Dan Reimold, an internationally recognized leader in the field of college media and frequent contributor to College Media Review, died this week, according to a release issued today on the College Media Association discussion group.

Reimold
Dan Reimold, college media advocate and scholar

What Jim Romenesko did for professional media, Dan Reimold did for college media through his popular blog College Media Matters. He covered the students who were covering their campuses, and he consistently legitimized an often-overlooked area of journalism. When collegiate media was facing budget cuts, publication thefts and other threats, he shed light on their struggles.

The Romensko site reports an official cause of death hasn’t been released and a friend tweeted early Friday morning that it was “an accident.” Reimold was 34. Additional information in the developing story is also available at the Neiman Lab web site. Continue reading “Dan Reimold — Scholar, CMR contributor dead at 34”

For photojournalists, internships are a must

Baltimore Sun photo intern Al Drago dances after making an early deadline at the Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco 49ers preseason NFL game in Baltimore, M.D. in August 2014. Photo by Rachel Woolf.
Al Drago dances after making an early deadline at the Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco 49ers preseason NFL game in Baltimore, M.D. in August 2014. Photo by Rachel Woolf.

‘Eyes of History’ winner shares views on developing skills as photojournalist

By Bradley Wilson, Ph.D.
Midwestern State University

Al Drago
Al Drago

The White House News Photographers Association honored Elon University senior Al Drago this month as part of its 2015 “Eyes of History” student still photography contest.

The journalism major from Durham, N.C., was selected following a public judging, hosted at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. The contest’s judges were Matt McClain, a staff photographer with The Washington Post; Allison Shelley, an independent documentary photographer and multimedia journalist; and Brendan Smialowski, a photojournalist based in Washington, D.C.

The chief photographer for “Elon Local News” and former photo editor for The Pendulum, Drago has gained several accolades in recent years. The National Press Photographers Association, Society of Professional Journalists, and North Carolina Press Photographer Association have all recognized his work. Continue reading “For photojournalists, internships are a must”

Handing out papers builds overall awareness of the product

— and motivates rack pickups

By David Simpson
Director of Student Media
Georgia Southern University


If you want a college student to read a newspaper, hand it to her.
That may not sound profound, but it’s the most important lesson I’ve learned about circulation at two colleges where I’ve worked.

DavidSimpson
David Simpson of Georgia Southern University enjoying the New York tabloid experience while attending the National College Media Convention. Photo by Sabastian Wee.

At Georgia Southern University, we were printing 3,500 copies of The George-Anne newspaper on Tuesdays and 4,500 on Thursdays (for an enrollment of about 20,000) in January 2014. On some days, a large chunk of those papers remained on racks until they were recycled.

In spring 2015, we printed 5,500 copies on both Tuesday and Thursdays.Returns on a bad day were around 10 percent. The difference was the Street Team.

Eight students on a modest stipend worked two-hour shifts just standing at a busy spot and saying, “Hi, have a newspaper.” Every Tuesday and Thursday, they put 2,800 papers directly into the hands of students. (OK, every now and then there was a problem, but when we were fully staffed and doing it correctly, all those papers were handed out.) Continue reading “Handing out papers builds overall awareness of the product”