Tag Archives: SJMC

News & Achievements Archive

J-Term update

Leadership at Sea
On Friday, Jan. 8, Ambassador Mary Kramer (ret) spoke to the LEAD 100 Leadership at Sea class. Kramer is a well-known leader in Des Moines, having served as vice president of human resources for Wellmark and Younkers, as well as president of the Iowa Senate. In addition, she served as ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean during the George W. Bush administration.

During their trip to the Bahamas, the LEAD students will meet with and present gifts to Bahamian government officials and American Embassy employees. Kramer’s role as ambassador helped prepare the students for that experience by guiding them on the etiquette and protocol for those exchanges. She also spoke to the class about her book, More Than A Walk On the Beach: Confessions of an Unlikely Diplomat, which the students had all read.

—Submitted by Tom Westbrook, Professor of Leadership Studies and Director of Leadership Concentration


Families, Lifestyles, and Annuity Tables: Why Corporations are Interested in Chile
Thanks to one of the University of the Andes Journalism and Mass Communication professors, Alejandro Garcia, we spent the morning at Channel 13.  They are the largest TV station in Chile.

We had an extensive tour, witnessed the live broadcast of their morning talk show, and had many people from many departments explain the workings of the station.  Our students were very excited!

I’m sharing a few photos from the visit: Molly Longman and Katherine Rousonelos, both of SJMC, seated at the news anchor desk; all the students live and on the “big screen”; all of us on the set of The Voice – Chile.

MollyKath

studentsTV13

TheVoice

—Submitted by Dorothy Pisarski, Associate Professor of Journalism

If you want to keep up to date on other J-Term courses, check out @OnPaintedStreet on Instagram!

News & Achievements Archive

SJMC news: Week of Dec. 21

Times-Delphic Editor-In-Chief Tim Webber and Rachel Paine Caufield, associate professor of politics and associate director of citizen engagement at The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement, were featured on a recent edition of the Iowa Public Radio talk show River to River. Webber and Caufield discussed the issues important to millennial voters and how they might shape U.S. politics. Also featured were interviews of Drake students conducted by SJMC Associate Professor Jill Van Wyke’s audio and public affairs reporting class.

Students in the reporting class also produced their first podcast, “Des Moines: A Day in the Life,” with profiles of some of the people in the Drake neighborhood that students run into every day.

Master of Communication Leadership students presented research they conducted this semester for the city of Perry; public relations seniors presented research they conducted for their spring capstone client, the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the communities of Perry and Manning. PR writing students presented work they had done for the Spina Bifida Association of Iowa, and advertising students presented qualitative research they conducted related to the spring advertising capstone client, DuPont Pioneer.

—Submitted by Kathleen Richardson, Dean, SJMC

News & Achievements Archive

SJMC news: Week of Dec. 7

Drake grad places third in national writing contest
Kayli Kunkel, JO’15, received third place in the 56th annual William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program. A record 159 feature writing entries were received in the competition from 83 schools across the nation. Kayli’s competition in the contest included entries from Penn State, University of Missouri, and Arizona State University. Drake was the only private school among the top 20 finishers.

Kayli’s article was an essay about her father’s death and handling grief in college that was published in Paste Magazine. The article previously won a first-place award at the AEJMC national contest this summer. She is currently a graphic designer at Lexicon Content Marketing in Des Moines.


Advertising senior advances in national media fellowship contest
Advertising senior Megan Leverenz has advanced to the semi-final round of the competitive IRTS Summer Media Fellowship program.

Thirty students will eventually be selected from the national applicant pool to intern in New York City for nine weeks this summer. Winners receive a salary, round-trip airfare, free housing, and a living stipend. The original application included seven pages of essay questions and challenges.

—Submitted by Kathleen Richardson, Dean, SJMC

News & Achievements Archive

Student media win national awards

SJMC students once again made an impressive showing, including two first-place awards, in two national contests whose winners were announced Oct. 30-31.

In the Associated Collegiate Press awards:

  • Amanda Horvath, JO’15 and Faith Brar, JO’15, won first place for multimedia story of the year for a story on nitrates in Iowa’s rivers for Urban Plains. Both graduated in May; Amanda was a Broadcast News major, Faith a Magazine major.
  • Greta Gillen, a senior Magazine and Graphic Design double major, won first place in magazine spread design for “Traffic Trap” in Drake Magazine.
  • Rachel Collins, a Radio-TV Producing major who graduated in May, won honorable mention for environmental portrait for Drake Magazine.

In the College Media Association Pinnacle Awards:

  • Melissa Studach and Kendall Wenaas collected three Pinnacle awards for Drake Magazine.
  • Drake Magazine won second place in best feature magazine, third place for photo illustration (Cole Norum), and third place for photo package (Morgan Cannata).
  • Urban Plains won second in best viral video, for Drake’s world-record Nerf gun fight.
  • KDRA won third place for best podcast.

The awards were announced at the National College Media Convention in Austin, Texas. Drake’s competition included publications from Northwestern, Stanford, and Temple, among others.

Also at the convention, Associate Professor Jill Van Wyke led three sessions on livestreaming with Periscope, ethics and accuracy in breaking news, and live-blogging.

—Submitted by Kathleen Richardson, Dean, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

News & Achievements Archive

SJMC news

National Public Radio’s senior diversity editor, Luis Clemens, met with SJMC faculty on Friday, Oct. 9, to discuss best practices for addressing diversity and inclusion throughout the JMC curriculum. He later met with SJMC students to discuss the journalism profession and offer tips on obtaining internships and jobs.

—Submitted by Kathleen Richardson, Dean, SJMC

News & Achievements Archive

SJMC news, Oct. 5

Iowa caucus season is always a lively time on the Drake campus, and this year is turning out to provide an unusually rich number of opportunities for students. A group of 20 journalists from around the world were on campus Sept. 24, hosted by the Iowa International Center. The group met with SJMC Dean Kathleen Richardson to discuss journalism education and open government issues and with political science professor Dennis Goldford, the Harkin Institute’s Flansburg Fellow, to learn about the caucuses. They also attended SJMC professor Lee Jolliffe’s first year seminar, Grassroots Politics on a Global Stage.

—Submitted by Kathleen Richardson, Dean, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Featured Events Archive

Grad and Professional Expo, Sept. 23

Drake offers a multitude of graduate and professional programs in business, public administration, education, law, leadership, communication, and health care. You can take classes part-time or full-time for many degrees, and online options exist. Or, further your leadership and skills with a non-degree option from the new Executive Education Center, which is offering one-day professional development courses throughout the fall. Learn more about all your opportunities at the Graduate and Professional Expo on Sept. 23 from 4:30–6:30 p.m. in Upper Olmsted. Register today for free. Know someone else who might be interested? Spread the word!

Remember, full-time employees at Drake can take advantage of tuition reimbursement for graduate programs. For more information, go to www.drake.edu/hr/overviewofemployeebenefits/tuitionbenefits/

News & Achievements Archive

SJMC news: Sept. 21

Twenty journalists from 20 countries will join Drake students to talk Iowa caucus politics this Thursday, Sept. 24.

The journalists will first meet with Drake politics professor Dennis Goldford to learn more about caucuses and Iowa’s role in the presidential selection process, then meet with 19 students for presentations and discussion in Lee Jolliffe’s First Year Seminar, The Iowa Caucuses: Grassroots Politics on a Global Stage.

Students in the Iowa Caucus FYS will give a presentation for the visitors about how social media has changed young people’s experiences of presidential selection politics. The participants will also meet in small groups to talk about young adults’ experience of free press, democracy, and political participation—key issues identified by the U.S. State Department, sponsor of the visit.

Janet Norton, of the Iowa International Center, is working with Drake to make the Iowa segment of the visitors’ trip as informative and smooth-running as possible. The larger visit, encompassing other cities and learning experiences, is hosted by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and U.S. Department of State, and is part of the International Visitor Leadership Program. This particular study trip is called The U.S. Political System: Background for Journalists, and the journalists selected are from many continents and countries.

Among the guests are prominent journalists from Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Croatia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Italy, Nigeria, Paraguay, People’s Republic of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Taiwan, Tunisia, and Turkey.

—Submitted by Lee Joliffe, Associate Professor of Journalism

News & Achievements Archive

School of Journalism & Mass Communication news: Week of Sept. 14

  • Students in advertising professor Dorothy Pisarski’s Concepts in Consumer Awareness class met with Oakridge Neighborhood Chief Executive Officer Teree Caldwell-Johnson during a visit to the Oakridge Neighborhood on Sept. 8. Students will be crafting a strategy and executing tactics for supporting fundraising initiatives for preschool and afterschool programs at Oakridge. The Oakridge Neighborhood is celebrating its 45th year in Des Moines, providing affordable housing to the most vulnerable populations.
  • SJMC faculty counted 21 Drake alumni among the nominees in the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ 2015 Midwest Regional Emmy Awards. Winners will be announced at a gala in Minneapolis in October.
  • Drake SJMC students and recent graduates are finalists in two major national contests that honor the best of collegiate journalism. The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) and College Media Association (CMA) contests recognize reporting and writing, multimedia, design, photography, and video. Winners of both contests will be announced at the joint ACP/CMA student media convention in Austin, Texas, in late October. For more information, see the SJMC website.

—Submitted by Kathleen Richardson, Dean, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

News & Achievements Archive

School of Journalism and Mass Communication news

Broadcast journalist Gwen Ifill, who received an honorary degree from Drake in 2005, returned to campus this week with a crew from PBS’ NewsHour to report on the 2016 Iowa caucuses and presidential campaign. Drake alumnus Travis Daub, JO ’98, creative director of NewsHour, connected with Lee Jolliffe, associate professor of journalism, to arrange for the PBS crew to set up shop in Meredith Hall for two days. Broadcast news grad Mario Rossi, JO’15, helped the crew as they interviewed political experts (including Professor Art Sanders) and presidential candidates (such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich).

Many thanks to the Drake Technology Services folks, especially Bill Jensen, who helped make it possible. (Drake was recognized in the NewsHour credits.)

—Submitted by Kathleen Richardson, Dean, School of Journalism and Mass Communication