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Learning anywhere,anytime

2 Jargon Fall 2011

JMC dedicates sculpture honoring First Amendment

Lights, camera, actionKent State students produced

feature length musical set to debut later this fall.

Study abroad experience exposes students to media

in Paris & Geneva

Convergence half a world away

New course enabled JMC students to travel to Shanghai to learn about multimedia reporting.

Alumnus Larry Rodgers spends his career interviewing music legends p20

Country music fest comes to Kent Grad student Jodee Hammond organized the event for her master’s professional project.

Contents

Learning anywhere, anytime To better match student needs, the School now offers two fully online master’s programs, one in public rela- tions and another in scholastic journalism.

Seventh annual Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop examined the role of ethics in sports journalism

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Students create short documentaries about local watersheds p10

“Research: The Musical” is the second feature film produced by Kent State students.

Jargon Fall 2011 3

The University has stayed the course on mission and vision through the last few

years, making strategic investments that are yielding very significant results. It is no accident that enrollments are at an all-time high, average new student grade point averages and board scores are up and annual giving set a record during this past fiscal year.

Students gain first-hand experience reporting & producing during Ohio e-Tech conference

School hosts 10th ASNE Reynolds Institute More than 30 teachers spent two weeks in Franklin Hall this summer learning about aspects of publication production.

Faculty notes, alumni notes, student awards

Obituaries & Professional Advisory Board update

Ohio Scholastic Media Association hosts fourth state convention

Jargon

Jargon is a biannual publication of the Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication204 Franklin Hall, Kent State University,P.O. Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242-0001Phone: 330-672-2572Fax: 330-672-4064E-mail: jfruit@kent.edu ON THE COVER: The illustration was done by photojournalism major Phil Botta using a combination of Adobe Photoshop and photo collage techniques.

DireCtor’s note

Our College and School parallel the larger University’s success, managing resources care-fully while building new pathways to meet our mission and vision.

In last spring’s Jargon, for example, we outlined a number of international initiatives to better engage our learning community on campus with the world’s affairs.

We also have heeded calls to develop “new, high impact, academic programs,” particularly through distance learning. Jargon’s cover stories focus on several School initiatives to leverage technology not only to improve access to learning but also to enhance learn-ing outcomes and the quality of the learning environment.

Our large enrollment Kent Core course, offered to non-majors, is Media, Power and Culture (MPC). Professor Gary Hanson has developed MPC Online into an outstand-ing undergraduate survey course to develop media literacy. The course has captured several national awards, most recently a Broadcast Education Association Best of Festival King Foundation Award in April.

As part of the School’s goal to build quality graduate degree offerings, we now have two completely online master’s programs, one geared toward secondary school journalism

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Look online for quality learning opportunities

and media educators, the other geared toward pub-lic relations professionals. Both programs feature strong, engaging curricula taught by outstanding faculty.

The educator’s program has been developed over several years by our team in the Center for Scholas-tic Journalism. You can’t turn a corner in their office or a Web page in that program without running into a former national high school journalism teacher of the year or the nation’s leading experts on law of the student press.

Our first graduates from that program are just now being awarded their degrees.

The new online graduate public relations effort launched in January and is on track to have 100 graduate students enrolled by the end of the year, an amazing launch for an academic program. But when you discuss the program with our lead faculty, Bob Batchelor and Gene Sasso, the talking points are all about quality, rigor and the caliber of enrolled students. Most students have significant work experience, some at more senior levels. They include vice presidents and mid-level managers.

They are learning online about the new tools of the trade, including social media, multiplatform distribution of content and media metrics as well as the traditional underpinnings of theory and management.

In today’s media environment, where online en-gagement with content through multiple platforms is an everyday reality, developing quality learning environments online just makes sense.

We also pause to remember the life and work of our colleague Evonne Whitmore, who passed away in August after a battle with cancer. Her contribu-tions to the School and the profession were beyond measure. Please see the note about her on Page 7. Transition coming: In the heads up department, my term as School director is coming to a close. I have informed Dean Stanley Wearden of my desire to assume a full-time faculty position as soon as a qualified new director can be identified and hired. This will be my 10th year on the job, including one as interim director and a semester as interim dean. Our School faculty, staff and students have accom-plished much through the first decade of the 21st century. We continue to bask in the reflected glory of our alumni. But as I have opined often in this column, change is a necessary and positive process, so my transition is a bit of walkin’ the walk.

Keep up the good work, and keep in touch.

“Our School faculty, staff and students have accomplished much through the

first decade of the 21st century.”

STAFF: Jeff Fruit, editor; Trevor Ivan, managing editor; Rachael Chillcott, art director; Phil Botta, photo editor; Chris Sharron, production manager

Jeff FruitDirector, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

4 Jargon Fall 2011

sCulpture DeDiCation

‘StarSphere 2010’ is much more than artBy Suzi Starheim

To the untrained eye, the large, stainless steel sphere outside Franklin Hall seems like another

piece of abstract art. But to those who understand its message, it has a deeper meaning.

“StarSphere 2010” is the title of this sculpture, and it is approxi-mately 11 feet tall with the words of the First Amendment wrapped backward around its flat outer edge.

This piece, along with three oth-ers, was placed along the Universi-ty Esplanade as a part of the Ohio Percent for Art Program. All four were dedicated April 13.

Susan Ewing, a slightly built woman with chopped blonde hair, is the creator of this large, stain-less-steel piece, and everything from Ewing’s clean, pencil skirt and tucked-in blouse to the slick metal piece she constructed out-side Franklin Hall demonstrates her particular personality. This even translates into the way she begins to work on sculptures.

“I draw three-dimensionally,” Ewing said. “Our painting faculty would be appalled to know how I really draw. I just start working with paper.”

While Ewing, associate dean of the School of Fine Arts at Miami (Ohio) University, has boxes of paper models from past sculpture ideas, the initial idea for “StarSphere 2010” came from a bracelet and the idea of blades and spheres.

Cutting away the material cre-ates the blade that Ewing refer-ences, and in “StarSphere 2010,” this sharp section of the object resides toward the center of the sculpture rather than on the out-side of the sphere.

“In this case, I really wanted to create a space that created light that made the shape of a star,” Ewing said. “It’s not even so much that the piece itself has the star; it’s what comes through the piece.”

This aspect of “StarSphere 2010” makes it perfectly designed to reflect light and shadow outside Franklin Hall during the different seasons of the year.

Ewing’s inspira-tion for the piece originated from an international ex-perience. In 1996, Ewing received an Ohio Arts Coun-cil Fellowship that sent her to Prague, Czech Republic. She saw stars all over Prague and began to see stars as “continuing sym-bols of freedom and hope.”

While Ew-ing is now known as a sculptor, she began her educa-tion as a musician. After transferring schools, however, she fell into metals because she was not able to get into the initial courses she wanted to take. This scheduling incident led Ewing to what she re-ally loved.

“I knew instantly that was my passion. That was my life,” Ewing said. “It was the fire, the physical-ity, the rhythm. The things I liked about music were ten-fold in the metal working.”

While she admits to falling into metals by mistake, what Ewing may not have realized initially is that a passion for metals was in her blood. She discovered her grand-father and his brother were both blacksmiths.

Ewing earned her master’s in Fine Arts from Indiana Univer-sity in 1980 and has headed the graduate and undergraduate met-als program at Miami University since 1981. She was named as a Distinguished Professor and Dis-tinguished Scholar of the Gradu-ate Faculty in 2005. She was ap-pointed to associate dean of the School in 2008.

“StarSphere 2010” was designed between December 2009 and Jan-uary 2010, and once Ewing was selected to complete the piece, she didn’t have an extensive timeframe to complete it.

“Susan Ewing’s design was cho-sen by the Kent State Selection

Committee in January 2010,” said professor Ann Schierhorn, who sat on the selection committee. “She met the challenge of having it produced and installed just eight months later.”

This piece began with her idea and a one-inch to one-foot scale model that Ewing had fabricated into the full-size sculpture by John Bridges, owner of Shadetree Ma-chine in Middletown, Ohio.

The piece not only had to be formed into the proper size and shape of Ewing’s design, but the text of the First Amendment was to appear around the circumfer-ence of the sculpture in reversed capital letters. The relevance of having the First Amendment wrap around the entire sculpture may not be evident to people at first glance, however.

Ewing acknowledged its im-portance in her project proposal when she said, “But especially rel-evant, not only to Franklin Hall, but to the university as a whole, is the need for a work that symbol-izes those freedoms explicitly cited and implicit in the First Amend-ment that distinguish our rights as Americans above all other interna-tional democratic constitutions.”

Professor Tim Smith spoke

about the First Amendment prior to Ewing’s discussion of her piece. His speech ensured that individu-als who walked past “StarSphere 2010” each day understood the artistic value of the printed words along the outside edge of the piece.

“On a college campus, espe-cially outside of the School of Journalism, I can’t think of a bet-ter message to have permanently enshrined than the First Amend-ment,” Smith added. “One, it is a reminder of how important free speech is to our particular edu-cational mission and to the work that our graduates will pursue be-yond these walls. Second, I think the shape of the sculpture itself carries a valuable message. It isn’t easy to read. You have to work at it to get the message.”

The three other sculptures dedi-cated on the Kent State campus in April include “Athleta,” created by Giancarlo Calicchia; “Eye to Eye,” created by Barry Gunder-son; and “Limits of Spoken Lan-guage: Congeries,” created by Jarrett Hawkins. All four pieces combined make up the Sculpture Walk along the University Espla-nade.

Dave LaBeLLeSusan Ewing of Miami University spoke during the dedication ceremony in April of her sculpture “StarSphere 2010.” The piece features the text of the First Amendment around its circumference.

Jargon Fall 2011 5

‘StarSphere 2010’ is much more than art KSU students produce second feature film

By Raytevia Evans

In a small lab on the second floor of Cun-ningham Hall, Qiqige “Coco” Zhang and Jes-sica O’Masta, senior electronic media majors, strapped on rubber gloves and cleaned away the mess on the lab tables using large, blue sponges.

While they cleaned, Lawrence Hudson, a junior communication studies major and one of the photographers for the project, took a few practice shots with his Canon 10D cam-era, testing the lighting in preparation for the long night ahead of them. Zhang placed a box labeled “Film Stuff ” on the table, and she and O’Masta filled test tubes and beakers with food coloring and water as part of the film set’s deco-rations.

It was 7:30 p.m., and the students were prepared to be there all night to shoot the lab scenes of their film, “Research: The Musical.” The camera crew hauled the equipment from the parking lot to the lab, and soon after, it was literally “Lights. Camera. Action.”

Just two weeks prior, Zhang, O’Masta and Hudson, along with more than 30 other stu-dents, sat in the FirstEnergy Auditorium in Franklin Hall while associate professor Dave Smeltzer and lecturer Traci Williams ex-plained to them that the hands-on experience they would gain from this project would pro-vide them a closer look at a career on a movie set.

O’Masta, who is a part of the set design crew, said she received an email from her academic

adviser about the movie project after she didn’t receive a summer internship. This experience counted as her internship.

“This is a great real-life experience,” O’Masta said. “I work with the director [Zhang] and the properties manager to create set designs for each scene. We’re doing pretty well, but the first week was rough because everyone does things differently, but we’re all coming together now.”

Williams described their production sched-ules as long nights, but in the end she said it would be a great experience. Smeltzer said it gives students the opportunity to work on a real movie set instead of just learning about it in a classroom. “This will give you a flavor of what it’s like as a career,” Smeltzer said.

“Research: The Musical”—which is funded by the School of Journalism and Mass Com-munication and through alumni donations—is set in a research lab, where scientists are work-ing on stem cell research on bone marrow. Though the topic is serious, the film takes a dif-ferent and interesting comical turn as many of the characters burst into song and dance at any given moment.

Before filming began, Smeltzer and Wil-liams explained the film project to all of the participating students and assigned positions and responsibilities. During their three-day boot camp, Williams and Smeltzer invited Ja-son Tomaric, Ohio native and multiple Emmy award-winning director and cinematographer, to discuss the principles of good directing and life on a movie set.

“Directing is creating real life. You all aren’t just students,” Tomaric said during the training session. “You have a life behind you that shaped you to the person you are. So it’s about making real characters.”

The cast and crew for “Research: The Musi-cal” comprise a wide range of Kent State stu-dents, including students studying journalism, fashion, visual communication design and per-forming arts.

Williams said the film is also international, considering Zhang is originally from China where she first received directing experience before attending Kent State. Zhang created a seven-minute film back home but never direct-ed a musical before this project.

“I will do my best because I want this film to be special,” Zhang said.

Caleb Ference, a freshman electronic media major, said he wanted to start a film group when he first arrived at Kent State. While trying to form this group, he learned about Williams and Smeltzer’s class and immediately became involved. He is one of the many production as-sistants for this project throughout the summer and fall months.

“I was enrolled in the spring [2011] class, and this is honestly what I want to do with my career,” Ference said. “I had no experience, so I thought I’d get involved now.”

Work on the film will continue into the com-ing months, and the premier is set for 8 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Kent Student Center Ballroom.

lights, Camera, aCtion

PhiL BottaLeft: William Franzilino, head gaffer for “Research: The Musical,” affixes a light to the bottom of a pool table in the basement of the Student Center. Franzilino, along with the crew, transformed the basement into a sports bar for a scene in the film. Edward Olschansky, director of photography and camera operator, helps adjust a poster in the background (top right) and helps set up a scene (bottom right).

By Nicole Gennarelli

Outdoor cafes and bakeries line every side of the street. A bottle of wine sits on every table where people are enjoying lunch while casually chatting in French. Across the street, just over the trees, you can see the top of the Eiffel Tower. You’re within walking distance from the Arc de Triomphe. But the best part is you get to study and live here all while soaking up European cul-ture.

The two-week Comparative Global Media Studies (GMS) intersession study abroad semi-nar from May 14 to 29 allowed students to visit different professional European journalism, ad-vertising and public relations outlets. From visit-ing the Associated Press in Geneva to Havas, a global advertising and communications services group in Paris, seeing the similarities and differ-ences between American and European media was interesting.

Evonne Whitmore, Ph.D., an associate pro-fessor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication who taught the course and traveled with the students, said the goal of the trip was to present speakers who represent the various JMC majors.

“I believe the presentations not only rein-forced what we are teaching in the School but also allowed students to get a firsthand view of what the professional expectations would be to work in media in a foreign country,” she said. “Students met professionals and in some instances made significant progress toward gain-ing international internships. Those combined experiences are invaluable.”

Stephanie Neumann, senior public relations major, said studying abroad enabled her to see public relations on a different level.

Public relations practitioners who work in the U.S. need to consider how an international audience will receive their messages. Different cultures respond to circumstances differently.

For example, the French do not photograph people in handcuffs because they believe it car-ries an implication of guilt. Neumann said the

French weren’t too happy when they saw Domi-nique Strauss-Kahn, former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, in hand-cuffs in the American media.

“It’s imperative to be careful about what is published and always think about international audiences,” Neumann said.

This was the first time the course included a trip to Switzerland.

“In terms of media exposure, students visited Télévision Suisse Romande, Europe’s third larg-

est public TV station, and interacted with free-lance and professional journalists,” Whitmore said. “They also heard presentations from PR representatives of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and Intellectual Property Watch. I am pleased with all of the presentations in Geneva and plan to expand our contacts if we continue to include Switzerland as part of the GMS course.”

Neumann said that although there are a lot of differences, it’s surprising to see the similari-ties that exist between American and European media.

“A media relations intern from Germany at a PR/advertising agency in Paris talked about what her job and classes are like,” she said. “A lot of the principles she uses on a daily basis are similar to what JMC students learn in their core classes. The trip provided students with many chances to network with professional contacts in other countries.”

Julie Gollihue, junior newspaper journalism and international relations major, said the trip al-lowed students to meet media professionals.

“My favorite part of the trip was all of the net-working I was able to do,” she said. “I came home with business cards from people I never thought I would even meet. I have emailed back and forth with some of them since I’ve been home, and I think this will truly help me in the future.”

Kristen O’Brien, senior public relations major, thought the two-week trip was a great education-al experience.

“I had the opportunity to meet with profes-sionals in the PR, advertising and journalism industry and see what it’s like first-hand inside French and Swiss media systems,” O’Brien said. “Studying abroad was the opportunity of a life-

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Students experience international media in Paris/Geneva

MicheLLe Bair Participating students were able to see numerous landmarks (above left) and were able to attend the World Health Assembly’s meeting in Geneva (above right). They had dinner at the home of international journalists Eduardo Cue and Diane Seligsohn in Paris (below). They also traveled by train in the Swiss countryside (opposite).

time. It allowed me to make connections with professionals in my field as well as ex-perience what life is like overseas.”

Deborah Davis, coordinator of interna-tional programs for the College of Com-munication and Information, said she believes study abroad greatly influences students’ ability to find jobs and prepares them to excel in those jobs.

“It’s rare to find a true local business anymore,” she said. “Thanks to the Inter-net, even the smallest organizations can be heard around the world, and employers are looking to hire people who understand that. Study abroad on a resume suggests a person who is curious and adventurous, a person who wants to know how people around the world live and work, a person who’s willing to meet others in their own land and try to speak their language.”

Short courses like GMS are beneficial because they give students a global perspec-tive even in a limited time period, Whit-more said.

“At the end of our course, many stu-dents expressed a new understanding of the benefit of studying a foreign language because most media professionals in both Paris and Geneva spoke multiple languag-es,” she said. “Beyond that, travel abroad provides another perspective of the world that can’t be gained simply by reading or studying about other cultures.”

Kent State has programs all over the world, ranging from a week to a year, Davis said.

“I think a study abroad experience

that fits with academic and career plans is something every student should aim for, and with so many choices, a perfect one is easy to find,” she said. “Money tends to be the roadblock, but if students plan ahead, costs are manageable, and I’ve yet to meet a student who didn’t say it was worth every penny.”

Davis said she has seen students come back from study abroad trips transformed. They come back bolder, more mature and more confident.

“One student I escorted to Florence for the semester had never been inside an air-port or on a plane before,” she said. “Now she’s traveled independently all over Eu-rope, and she can’t wait to see more of the world. Once students get started, there’s no stopping them.”

How many American students can say they’ve gone up in the Eiffel Tower or seen the Swiss Alps? Not many.

“Having now traveled to Europe, I feel like my goals are much more attainable,” Gollihue said. “The contacts I made, and just my personal experience while I was there, will help me very much in the future. I think that study abroad can be a wonder-ful experience. It puts you in an unfamil-iar atmosphere that requires you to think about and look at life in a different way.

“It’s up to the individual to make each and every moment count. I know that the group of classmates I went with did just that. I feel like all of us came home with amazing memories.”

Evonne “Von” Whitmore, Ph.D., an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication passed away Thursday, Aug. 25 after a battle with ovarian cancer. Whitmore spent 35 years in jour-nalism. Twenty-two of those years were spent as a JMC faculty member, specializing in electronic media and broadcast news. “Von was a senior faculty member who took on leadership roles at many levels,” said Jeff Fruit, director of the School. “She was a senior officer in our most prominent education as-sociation, serving most recently as chair of the Council of Divi-sions of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.” She was part of study abroad programs in Paris and Geneva and was the School’s first Fulbright Scholar, spending nearly a year teaching and conducting research in Egypt. Whitmore served several terms as the JMC graduate coor-dinator and assisted the School in greatly increasing graduate enrollment. She was recognized as a leading scholar in the study of diversity in journalism education and associated professions. Stanley Wearden, Ph.D., dean of the College of Communi-cation and Information, said Whitmore made a huge contribu-tion to the broadcast news program. “(Whitmore’s) standards really helped transform the pro-gram into one of the leading broadcast news programs in the country,” he said. “She was an institution in the School of Jour-nalism and Mass Communication.” Whitmore is survived by her husband of 38 years, Arthur Whitmore III; son, Kinney; and daughter, Lauren. Donations can be made to the Dr. Evonne H. Whitmore me-morial scholarship. Make checks payable to Kent State University Foundation and mail to: KSU/JMC, P.O. Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242, reference: The Dr. Evonne H. Whitmore Memorial Scholarship.

JMC remembers senior faculty member

Jargon Fall 2011 7

8 Jargon Fall 2011

W ith a Star-bucks on one corner and a

Pizza Hut on the next, this could be Chicago, New York or Los Ange-les. Sometimes the only reminder this is China is the indistinguishable set of Chinese charac-ters on the side of the next building. Step out of the car, and it’s a dif-ferent story.”

By Margaret Stahl

Justin Parsons, graduate stu-dent in public relations in Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, didn’t know his comparison between China and the United States would be this ex-plicit when he boarded a plane to Shanghai back in March. But when he and his project partner, Marga-ret Thompson, composed the story “Half a World Away: Americans Connect in Shanghai,” he realized he never would have discovered these observations in a traditional classroom.

Parsons’ account of Americans

working, living and embracing China was just one of the mul-timedia projects created by Kent State JMC students as part of last spring’s study abroad course “Sto-rytelling in Shanghai.” Sixteen Kent State students embarked on a 10-day convergence experience that challenged their skills and revamped their cultural attitudes. They received guidance from pro-fessor Gary Hanson, assistant professor Mitch McKenney, Lu-Ett Hanson, associate dean of the College of Communication and Information, and 16 friends from Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). Their work is featured on the website Dateline Shanghai.

chOOSing a path“The hardest part of the entire

trip was getting out of the Franklin Hall parking lot,” McKenney said.

At the time of departure, early March snow storms piled in, deem-ing the chances of making their flight on time seem unlikely. But the course’s journey didn’t begin in the parking lot. It began three years ago when former provosts from SISU and Kent State brainstormed the partnership following an informal meeting.

“In 2008, after that meeting oc-curred, a group of SISU students came to the United States to cover the presidential election,” Gary Hanson said. “Because Ohio was such a big swing state, the students

spent a lot of time in Kent and were intrigued by the resources we have here.”

Fast forward to 2010. During the past two years, a partnership between Kent State and SISU al-lowed students from China to come to Kent State to obtain master’s de-grees. Because of that partnership, that same provost became more in-terested in JMC and CCI. The pro-vost invited Dean Stanley Wearden, Ph.D., to create a program for Kent State students to travel to Shanghai to experience journalism in China and extend their skills to the inter-national landscape.

Wearden then extended the in-vitation to faculty members to pro-pose a course in Shanghai. Intrigued by the opportunity, Hanson and McKenney submitted an idea, and it was accepted last September.

“Within days of our acceptance and the initial announcement to students, the course already had the maximum of 16 applicants,” McK-enney said.

Because of the eagerness of the early applicants, Hanson and McK-enney ceased to take more appli-cants after the first week. As the class got underway in January, the next step was to choose topics and partners based on interests and skill sets. McKenney said the goal was to pair the students evenly, with one print student and one broadcast/multimedia student per team.

“We got pretty close,” Hanson said. “We did have one group of two photography students and one of two broadcast students, but overall it was pretty equal.”

Story ideas included the world of work, family and tradition, jour-nalism, arts and culture, emerging economy, and sports and recreation. Once the students “speed dated” to find partners with similar interests, they began working on multimedia techniques and learning about Chi-nese culture. By the time they left for Shanghai, they were more than ready to put their skills and attitudes to the test.

creating cOnvergence half a WOrld aWayJMc students explore multimedia journalism in Shanghai

Gary hanson

Layered on top of the cultural, technical and course-related as-pects, the students ventured outside their comfort zones and gained appreciation for multiple forms of journalism.

Brittany Macchiarola, a senior public relations major, and Dani-elle Manfredi, a broadcast student, partnered to work on a story about the impact of disposable chopstick waste. The result was “One Time Use, Lifetime Impact: 4 Million Trees to Feed 1.3 Billion People,” an in-depth look about the eco-nomic and environmental impact of choosing reusable chopsticks over disposable ones. Macchiarola said the biggest challenge through-out the process was dealing with the differences in each other’s sto-rytelling skills.

“Each of us were detail-oriented in our own ways,” she said. “I fo-cused on the questions and getting every answer, while Danielle was more focused on the video elements, such as sound, lighting and time.”

When it came time to edit, Mac-chiarola had almost an hour’s worth of footage, something that would make any broadcast student cringe.

“For most of these students, this was their real multimedia conver-gence activity,” Hanson said. “They were put in a position to make it work together, and they realized each other’s methods were more difficult and extensive than they looked.”

Another challenge was locating

sources. Parsons said everyone knew his or her topics, but they didn’t have any contacts identified upon arrival.

“We had a connection with an Associated Press contact working in China to help point us in the right direction,” he said, “but we didn’t really know who we would be talking to until the day of [our interviews].”

With the help of their SISU cohorts, the students were able to navigate where they needed to be and how to work without violating any Chinese policies. Parsons said everyone needed to be careful with their equipment and where they filmed, so as not to break any of the city’s media laws.

Intrigued be the American way of journalism, some of the SISU students jumped right in to assist with some of the projects. Macchi-arola said one of her partners, Jade, helped her and Manfredi with ed-iting and translations.

Hanson said one of the most in-teresting things to watch was how eager both sets of students were to learn from each other.

“I remember when we visited the [ Jiefang Daily] newspaper, Danielle was editing and one of her SISU partners was over her shoulder asking questions about all of her techniques,” he said. “What I saw was a clear example of the differences in the nature of work, yet the similarities in the drive for knowledge.”

McKenney described the experi-ence as “learning multimedia while doing multimedia.” Because all of the students were near the end of their college careers, it allowed them to showcase their best work.

“Students like the idea of having clips come from this,” McKenney said. “It also allowed them to use this as sort of a capstone project to

Jargon Fall 2011 9

As an upper-level elective, “Storytelling in Shanghai” was meant to take JMC’s brightest and most ambitious students halfway around the world for a once-in-a-lifetime multi-media endeavor. But for the 16 students who took part, it was more than just a lesson in multimedia storytelling.

From the interactions with their Chinese cohorts to the willingness to brainstorm story ideas weeks before departure, students were ready to do their best work, make lasting friend-ships and walk away with life lessons unavailable to them behind a computer.

“We could not have been more proud of the way these kids jumped in and started working, pretty much from the time they applied,” asso-ciate professor Gary Hanson said. “The whole experience says a lot about the drive of our students.”

While many study abroad programs give students a larger window of opportu-nity to get accustomed to their surroundings, “Storytelling in Shanghai” came upon them fast.

“JMC is increasingly an in-novative player in the journal-ism school world,” Hanson said. “Not only are our kids doing practical work and are excited about it, but they get to work in unique venues, away from the usual newsroom.”

Hanson remembers watching the students on their first two nights, amazed at how quickly the friendships began to unfold.

“On their first night, rather than eating in the [Shanghai International Studies Univer-sity] cafeteria, the students insisted on going out to an authentic Chinese restaurant. After heading around a gigantic block, they found a restaurant, but not one word in the menu had an English translation and none of the wait-staff under-

stood English either.” One of the students went

table to table asking people if they spoke English until coinci-dentally finding a SISU student to help them order.

“Not only was the meal filling and about $57 total, but it proved to us the kind of stu-dents we had and said wonders about the kinds of students in the program,” Hanson said.

A similar experience occurred when the students first met their Chinese cohorts. Each group was assigned two students from SISU to help guide them through their destinations, where to look for sources and best practices for conducting

these projects in a much more regulated government setting.

Hanson said at the welcome tea party the SISU students hosted, he, Mitch McKenney and CCI Associate Dean LuEtt Hanson, sat back and watched the friendships develop.

Eight days later at the clos-ing dinner, with tears in their eyes, the students left with an experience unmatched by any traditional classroom setting. They were half a world away, returning to the U.S. with more skills than they had two weeks before and lifelong bonds.

“One of the best parts about our experience was we came into the course as 16 strangers and came away with more than 16 new friends,” said Brittany Macchiarola, a senior public relations major.

Ambition to succeed in the unfamiliar

“JMc is increasingly an

innovative player in the

journalism school world.”

-gary hanson

show off everything they’ve learned in one place.”

Parsons’ other story, “A look at Timken in China,” was omitted from Dateline Shanghai, so it could run in the Akron Beacon Journal.

next endeavOrPart of what made China so sig-

nificant was the country’s growing economic, political and military importance. Hanson said since they returned home at the end of

it’S all abOut the StOrieS

To view all of the projects, visit www.datelineshanghai.com. “A look at Timken in China” can be found at www.ohio.com.

Mitch MckenneyIn addition to producing their story packages, the students also toured Chinese media operations and engaged in sight-seeing activities.

(Opposite page) MichaeL MosesBen Wolford looks through the glass on the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center.

(Continued on Page 10)

– Margaret Stahl

10 Jargon Fall 2011

environmental meDia

Three JMC faculty members helped launch a new course in Environmental Media at the Stark campus.

The 11 students in the Spring 2011 class worked with commu-nity partners to focus on specific issues facing the region’s water-sheds, producing short documen-tary films that addressed those problems.

Mitch McKenney, assistant professor at the Stark campus, coordinated the team-taught course, in which associate profes-sor David Smeltzer taught film-making and assistant professor Joe Murray, Ph.D., taught online communication. Robert Hamil-ton, associate professor of biology at the Stark campus, taught the science of watersheds and the challenges they face.

The class moved fast. The first session coincided with a meet-ing of the Nimishillen Creek Watershed Partners, so students were immersed in their local watershed’s real-world issues from the start.

The four finished films (view-able at OurWaterWebs.org) dealt with failing septic systems, threats from hydraulic fracturing, community efforts to deal with storm water and everyday things consumers can do to protect their water source.

The films premiered at a campus event April 28, followed by a May 12 VIP reception at the Joseph Saxton Gallery in Canton, where, coincidentally, photo instructor Gary Harwood’s “Life

Behind the Lens” was on exhibit.Several students said they

wanted to continue their work after the semester ended. The three who produced “What the Frac?” even formed the student group TASK (Take Action, Spread Knowledge), to oppose hydraulic fracturing in Ohio. TASK hosted a June 13 rally at Price Park in North Canton that led to stories in the Akron Beacon Journal and The Repository in Canton.

As part of the course, students also received feedback from film-maker Ali Habashi, director of the Arnold Center for Confluent Media Studies at the University

of Miami in Florida. Habashi, director of the critically acclaimed documentary “One Water,”

worked with the Kent State professors to de-velop the course. The Herbert W. Hoover Foundation Initiative in Environmental Media at the Stark campus helped to pro-vide video equipment and staff support.

Community part-ners for the project included the Stark County Health Department, Stark

County Soil and Water District, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Western Reserve Land Conservancy, Nimishillen Creek Watershed Partners and other community groups.

“”

The students – a mix of journalism, biology and other majors – indicated in their feedback that they felt their work made a difference:

“I really liked how we were first taught about some issues, and then we were able to think about them critically on our own and choose the one that moved us most.”

“We got to build on various skills, including skills in research, interviewing, social media work, blogging, filming, editing and communicating with a community audience.”

“The ability to create a permanent – but malleable – piece of educational art that will continue to educate the public about issues facing our local watershed, and facing the global watershed, is my favorite part of the course.”

Students study environmental journalism

March, all of them have seen more and more press about the country.

“Some people define China as an isolationist nation, but to actu-ally experience China and its cul-ture helps offset these criticisms,” he said. “The only way we can see the world is to actually get out and see the world.”

Shanghai was also popular be-cause it provided students with a shorter, more focused and intensive experience that was not as logisti-cally difficult as a full semester pro-gram.

The Office of Global Education recognizes the appeal and offers a number of shortened study abroad experiences.

This summer alone, students from CCI had the opportunity to take part in a Paris-Geneva comparative media studies course and a photog-raphy course in Greece and Turkey. But a shorter trip doesn’t mean the students are putting in less effort.

“Our students were here for a purpose, as working journalists,” McKenney said. “They were hungry to do a good job, and many of them want to go back overseas to work.”

It’s undetermined whether a similar course will take place next year, but Hanson and McKenney are hopeful more students can take part in the opportunity. Discussions are also in place to set up a recipro-cal program in which SISU students would spend a few weeks using their skills in Kent and the surrounding area.

McKenney said because of the differences in technology and re-sources, the Chinese students would need more training with U.S. media technology, whereas the Kent State students already had the expertise with most of the Chinese multime-dia tools.

“We would definitely have to make sure we added some kind of teaching component rather than going straight into the meat of the work,” he said.

Though many of the Kent State students graduated or are close to that point, the experience will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

“My advice to anyone would be to just do it; there’s no way you could regret it,” Macchiarola said.

(Continued from Page 9)

FroM Mitch MckenneyStudents in a new Environmental Media course created documentaries about the watersheds in Stark County while learning about multimedia storytelling techniques (below). Associate professor Dave Smeltzer instructs students about using a camera (above).

Jargon Fall 2011 11”By Kelly Pickerel

“You don’t have to light a fire under these people,” said program coordinator Gene Sasso. “You have to actually contain them occasionally. The students’ enthusiasm, en-ergy and dedication to the day-to-day and week-to-week work is really very impressive.”

The program is largely geared toward professionals with eight to 10 or more years of experience who look to reinvent themselves or further their careers.

“These are people who have established wonderful, robust careers,” Sasso said. “Many professionals want to re-qualify themselves or re-position themselves within their organizations. Others wish to switch career direc-tions entirely, from journalism or broadcasting to public relations, for instance. Or they are retiring from a career, for example in the military, and want help transitioning to civilian life. They have impeccable experience, and they have chosen to align themselves with Kent State.”

Online students have several options. Other univer-sities – George Washington University in D.C., Gon-

By Trevor Ivan

Candace Perkins Bowen, assistant professor and di-rector of the program, said it fills a niche among scholas-tic media advisers.

“There really was no comparable program offered through an accredited school of journalism aimed specif-ically at high school journalism teachers,” she said. “Oth-ers focused on things like curriculum planning, English or administrative training. This program allows them to pursue something they are passionate about.”

A clear need existed for this program because advisers kept seeking fresh ways to teach concepts as well as deal with thornier issues like media law and ethics. Also, time and distance prevented many teachers from obtaining a master’s degree in this field in a traditional classroom.

The program seeks journalism teachers at all skill lev-els—from beginners to the well-seasoned as well as those whose main career goal includes advising publications and those who came to teaching as a second career.

Course development began four years ago, and Perkins

learning anywhere, anytimeTwo fully online master’s programs increase access to graduate education

Journalism education program provides teachers with training, retooling

public relations degree caters to the working professional seeking career advancement

It started with one student in one class four years ago. Now, the Center for Scholastic Journalism of-fers a fully online master’s degree program aimed toward high school journalism teachers.

Since its launch in January, enrollment in Kent State’s fully online master’s degree for public relations pro-fessionals has exceeded expectations. Professionals are taking the opportunity to further their careers. This also provides a unique opportunity to the university – a chance to teach exceptional students without regard for geography or busy schedules.

(Continued on Page 12) (Continued on Page 13)

12 Jargon Fall 2011

CsJ program

Bowen, along with other Center faculty member John Bowen, be-gan adding courses each semester.

Perkins Bowen said the online environment allows for greater mo-bility in choosing outstanding fac-ulty to teach each course. Notable names within JMC and outside instructors comprise the teaching staff. Outsiders include Jon Wile, senior news designer for the Wash-ington Post, who teaches “Teaching News Design,” and Sarah Nichols, of Whitney High School near Sac-ramento and the Journalism Educa-tion Association’s Yearbook Adviser of the Year in 2011, who teaches the course “Advising Yearbook.”

The degree is a mix of traditional journalism training—law, ethics, re-porting and writing—and courses that focus on technological skills like software programs and multi-media journalism. Each course em-phasizes teaching methods.

Each course also contains a heavy dose of collaborative learn-ing through discussion boards, the sharing of weekly assignments and lesson plans, and through live on-line chats each week.

Susan Hathaway Tantillo, in-structor of the “Reporting for Mass Media” course, said the program of-fers participants a chance to reassess their teaching style by working with others who are experiencing the same issues.

“It’s about finding a new way to look at things,” she said. “I present one way in class. However, the class discusses other ways to teach cer-tain concepts. The goal is to provide everyone in the class with new ideas they can take and start using right away in their classrooms.”

She cited an example from early in the semester in which the class discusses the difference between the style and purpose of journalistic writing and more traditional writ-ing for other classes like English or history. Class members share ideas about what works for them in their classrooms.

“In so many cases, the journalism teacher might be the only person in his/her school teaching that sub-ject,” Tantillo said. “This program is an excellent way for teachers to kick ideas around with others like them.”

Instructors in this program be-lieve teachers must be able to “do” something themselves before they can teach it. Tantillo incorporates a semester-long reporting assign-ment into her course in which stu-

dents choose a topic for a feature story and then complete the report-ing, editing and rewriting while col-laborating with classmates during online coaching sessions.

H. L. Hall, an instructor in the program who teaches a course about advising publications called “Media Management,” mirrored Tantillo’s sentiments regarding the practical skills this degree offers.

“The course I teach is about managing student publications,” he said. “We cover things like law, ethics, staff organization, grading, deadlines, motivation and relation-ship building.”

Hall said learning about each of these things better enables advisers to let students have control of the publication. He compared the ad-viser to a coach, who can offer ad-vice and structure but can’t go onto the field and play the game for the players.

Perkins Bowen said some of the inspiration from the program came several summers ago when she, Bowen, Hall and Tantillo taught a three-week, fully online seminar for advisers through the Poynter Insti-tute’s NewsU program. That course was divided into three parts: law/ethics, reporting and advising. The experience was eye-opening for the instructors.

“It was a real ‘aha’ moment,” Per-kins Bowen said. “We realized that you could develop a collegial atmo-sphere in an online environment. We had daily hour-long chats with that NewsU group. By the end of the three weeks, some didn’t want to sign off after the hour was through. They kept exchanging ideas and talking.”

The course material is rigor-ous and forces students to interact with each other. Perkins Bowen said courses are updated, tweaked and added as she and other instruc-tors hear about new needs through journalism education listservs and discussions with teachers. For in-stance, a new elective about using WordPress was added this summer.

Those interested may enroll in six credit hours as a guest student be-fore joining the full degree program. All students pay the Ohio in-state tuition rate.

The ultimate goal of the program is to provide journalism teachers with the resources and training they need to create successful student publications, Perkins Bowen said.

For more information about the program, contact Candace Perkins Bowen at cbowen@kent.edu.

While most enrollees in the master’s program for journalism educators are high school classroom teachers, other media profes-sionals have benefited from the program.

Two students in the program are working professionals who have an interest in scholastic journalism and careers that allow them to apply the skills and principles they are learning in class to their work in the field.

LORI KING, ’91, is a photographer for the Toledo Blade and teaches a photojour-nalism class at Owens Community College. Before that, her career included time in the Army and as a stringer for the Associated Press. King said she felt a calling to be in the classroom several years ago when she started working at Owens. Most of her students take photojournalism as an elective, not a career path. However, she feels compelled to bring new ideas into the classroom. That motivated her to pursue her master’s degree at Kent State. “This was exactly the master’s I wanted,” King said. “I had been searching for a long time, and I knew I couldn’t do it anywhere in a regular classroom because I work all hours.” She credits the program as a heavy influence on her teaching style and on her approach to evolving concepts like multimedia, law and ethics. She now incorporates a blogging assignment into her class at Owens in which students share photos, react to ethical situations and respond to each other’s ideas. King believes she’s teaching her students something essential. “I’m training the citizen journalists of tomorrow,” she said. “We need to pass on that ethical mind frame to the future. As respon-sible journalism teachers, we can’t let that die.”

MARINA HENdRICKS, senior manager/communications at the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) Foundation, oversees various projects relating to scholastic journalism, including Newspapers in Education, and other education-related research projects and issues. Before joining NAA, she spent 14 years serving as a teen page editor at the Charleston Gazette in West Virginia. The teen page was a monthly magazine directed at high school students. The online environment of this master’s program was a huge draw for Hendricks. The largely self-paced learning modules fit in with the travel schedule for her job. Hendricks first enrolled as a guest student three years ago in the Law of Mass Communication class, which is tailored to scholastic press law. “So many courts decisions have come down regarding scholas-tic press law since I graduated from college,” she said. “Learning about what’s going on with the law was worth the price of admis-sion to the class.” The caliber of the instructors has impressed her. “They get it,” Hendricks said. “We’re learning from someone who has gone through it. They respect what each of us brings to the class and are able to offer perspectives on day-to-day teaching. “We need to practice what we preach and stay informed. You can’t be a stick in the mud.”

(Continued from Page 11)

Jargon Fall 2011 13

Jennifer HowsareLocation: Belleville, Ill.Current Career: Illinois National Guard. Public Affairs Officer for the 126 Air Refueuling Lane.Experience: Five years in public affairs, 18 years in the military.

Why did you choose the KSU PR online master’s program?

There were a lot of reasons. I got into public relations and I really liked it. I figured it was something I could do when I retire from the military. If I need to log in at 3 or 4 in the morn-ing or midnight, I could do that. Also the fact we didn’t have to come to the campus. The flexibility of the program. Kent State’s reputation. I started my college career at KSU’s Trumbull campus. Other programs didn’t have the name that KSU had.

John (Ryan) LilyengrenLocation: Currently Portland, Ore., but originally from Orange County, CaliforniaCurrent Career: Senior Supervisor for Edelman Public RelationsExperience: Nine years

What is your reaction to the online environment?

I really like it. You would assume that the quality of interaction would be less than the traditional classroom. Not the case. The somewhat anonymity encourages people to speak their mind. The fact that you write your reaction forces you to think it through. The system is really well thought out.

Maripat BlankenheimLocation: Oconomowoc, Wis.Current Career: Media Relations Manager at CUNA MutualExperience: 20 years

Why did you choose the KSU PR online master’s program?

I was looking for an online program that was specifically for public rela-

tions professionals and didn’t include other extraneous courses that I didn’t necessarily need. By the time you get to a master’s, you are past that. I was looking for a program that related specifically to what I do. When I saw KSU’s program, it was perfect. It is what I was looking for.

Chris Hyser Location: Seven Hills, OhioCurrent Career: TV News ProducerExperience: 18 years. He graduated from Kent State in 1993 and has been working in the field ever since.

Have you been able to apply what you’ve learned in the program to your current career? To a certain extent. Working in journalism

we work with public relations professionals a lot. It gives me some perspective on the other side of the table. It’s been really interesting interacting with the public relations professionals in the program. So absolutely. It’s been interesting to see the theory behind what public relations professionals do on a regular basis.

pr program

zaga University in Washington state and the University of Missouri – offer similar online public relations master’s degrees. According to assistant professor Bob Batchelor, Ph.D., who serves as the academic coordinator for the online program, “Kent State has strengths that appeal to graduate students in an online setting, including JMC’s reputation for ex-cellence and its strong academic and alumni community.”

As a result, Batchelor noted, this degree program is preferable, particularly in com-parison with the costly, for-profit online-only degree granters. Sasso agreed.

“‘What degree do you want in the world?’” Sasso said he asked prospective students. “‘Do you appreciate Kent State’s proud 100 years of excellence, an incredible family of alumni, peers and faculty? Or do you want or need something else, like the University of Phoe-nix?’ [Online schools] are the right choice for some people. For people who are looking at the other details behind the choice of school – yes, the tangibles and intangibles offered by Kent State represent fantastic opportunities. Taken as a whole, our program is simply the best choice for many professionals.”

Stanley Wearden, Ph.D., dean of the Col-lege of Communication and Information, and JMC Director Jeff Fruit led a team of faculty and staff to create the online program, aided by colleagues on Kent State’s Distance Learning team. These leaders collaborated to establish the program’s vision and strategy. They were careful to build on the strong na-tional reputation of the public relations pro-gram while simultaneously creating a cost-effective program that would give students a valuable degree.

JMC partnered with Embanet-Compass Knowledge Group, a company that provides support for online degree programs. Embanet did market research and profiled students. It then presented Kent State with an outline of expected performance of the program with numbers based on market demand.

After the School felt enrollment numbers were attainable and other resources were available to support it, the program launched in January to a strong “freshman” class. And numbers continue to grow.

“We have far exceeded the goals for enroll-ment in the program, and my expectation is that we will continue to do that, to the point that if we don’t make heads spin exactly, peo-ple will start to pay attention to what we’re doing,” Sasso said. “The quantity is great and I love exceeding enrollment targets, but the one thing that I’m more impressed with is the quality of students. We have very remarkable people enrolled from around the country. We will continue to aggressively recruit nation-ally and internationally to meet and exceed enrollment goals. But we will always be fo-cused on student ability and the quality of the online learning environment.”

The degree is split into 12 courses taught in

seven-week periods. If a person sticks on the consecutive track, the student can graduate in two years.

“If a person needs to attend to something with work – we have people who travel in-ternationally – they can choose to sit out a seven-week course and jump back in on the next one. It’s up to them,” Sasso said. “We certainly encourage people to stick with it, but we understand that they need family and professional time.”

The program is taught through Blackboard Vista, a course management system used throughout the university. Faculty course developers created cutting-edge content sup-ported by senior instructional designer Ben Hollis. His team ensures consistency across the program from a technological and peda-gogical point of view. Each course uses simi-lar tools to assess student work, such as blogs and electronic journals.

“Our students are thriving in the online environment,” Batchelor said. “They are deeply committed to learning, so they read and re-read materials, interact with enthusi-asm via electronic tools and build a learning network that exceeds anything I have seen in the traditional classroom.”

Bill Sledzik, associate professor and in-structor in the new online program, said the courses are a lot of work for both the students and professors. He estimated it takes about 2.5 times the effort to teach an online course than an on-ground course.

“Our online classes cram 15 weeks of work into just seven weeks,” he said. “When you have a 2.5-hour (on-ground) class, you typi-cally have a lecture followed by discussion. Same thing online. My lectures – two each week – are presented as sound-slides. Then the discussion begins. But whereas discus-sion in class might last 60 minutes, discus-sion in the online environment is spread over 72 hours.”

The constant communication and partici-pation is a unique experience, Sledzik said.

“Everyone is on the same level. You don’t have the option of being shy or reserved,” he said. “And you don’t have the option of show-ing up unprepared. There’s no politicking, no small talk. Students are expected to do the readings, then to initiate deep and thoughtful discussions about those readings. And they do.”

Sledzik said he was skeptical about the program at first. He wasn’t sure how he could create a learning environment with students he would never meet face-to-face.

“Now that I’ve done it, I’d be perfectly happy to spend the last 10 years of my career in the virtual classroom,” he said. “It’s more work. But it’s so very rewarding.”

Sasso is hopeful about the program’s future.“We’re just scratching at the surface right

now,” he said. “We’d be silly not to be looking over the horizon and looking at it aggressive-ly. We consider ourselves in a great leadership position, and we’re not about to give that up.”

(Continued from Page 11)

Tattoos, jerseys, scandal and secrets mean more in today’s headlines than ever before, and, at the Poynter Kent State Me-dia Ethics Workshop, top sports journalists and ethics professionals discussed all of the “Foul Play” happening in athletics at the collegiate and professional levels.

The seventh annual conference on Thursday, Sept. 15 in Franklin Hall, home of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University, featured the following speakers and more:

• Rob King, senior vice president, editorial, ESPN Print and Digital Media• Terry Pluto, Cleveland Plain Dealer sports columnist• Brian Windhorst, Miami Heat/NBA reporter, ESPN, formerly of the Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal• Mike Wagner, investigative reporter, The (Colum-bus) Dispatch• Melissa Ludtke, editor of Nieman Reports at Harvard University• Marla Ridenour, sports reporter and columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal

The event streamed live on the Web and on mobile devices. All participants could contribute to the Workshop discussions and ask questions of the speakers via Twit-ter using the hashtag #ksuethics11.

King delivered the keynote address, “Anti-Social Media: The Death of Civility in Sports Journalism.” As senior vice presi-dent, editorial, ESPN Print and Digital Media, King oversees all content and video across ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Mobile, five ESPN local sites, es-pnW (the new initiative serving female sports fans) and ESPN Rise (the high school sports site).

During the panel “Buckeyes Behav-ing Badly,” Ridenour, sports reporter for Akron Beacon Journal; Pluto, sports col-umnist for the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer; Wagner, from The (Columbus) Dispatch; Paul Haridakis, Kent State professor in the School of Communication Studies, dis-cussed the controversy surrounding Ohio State University football.

This year’s Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop was sponsored by the Poynter Institute, the Media Law Cen-ter for Ethics and Access, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the College of Communication and In-formation, Kent State TeleProductions, Kent State’s Department of Educational Technology, Akron Area PRSA, the Akron Beacon Journal and the Online News As-sociation.

14 Jargon Fall 2011

poynter Workshop

Steve Fox has 25 years of experience as an editor and reporter for various print and online publications. He has been a sportswriter and editor and joined the journal-ism faculty at the University of Mas-sachusetts in 2007. Fox started a sports journalism concentration there last fall. He also moderates online discussions for NFL and college football blog networks as a freelance editor for espn.com. terry Pluto is a sports columnist for the Plain Dealer. He has twice been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the nation’s top sports columnist for medium-sized newspapers. He is a nine-time winner of the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year award and has received more than 50 state and local writing awards. He is the author of 23 books.

rob King is senior vice presi-dent, editorial, ESPN Print and Digital Media. He oversees all con-tent and video across ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Mobile, five ESPN Local sites, espnW (the new initiative serving female sports fans) and ESPN Rise (the high school sports site).

DaviD a. Craig is a professor and as-sociate dean for academic affairs in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma. He teaches journalism ethics, editing and graduate research courses.

He is the author of “Excellence in Online Journalism: Exploring Cur-rent Practices in an Evolving Environment” (Sage, 2011) and “The Ethics

of the Story: Using Narrative Techniques Responsibly in Journalism” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006).

Kelly MCbriDe is a writer, teacher and one of the country’s leading voices about media ethics. She has been on the faculty of the Poynter Institute for eight years. The world’s largest news-rooms, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, NPR and the BBC, frequently quote her expertise. Before coming to Poynter, McBride was a police reporter in Idaho. She gained national notoriety for her work as a religion reporter.

ellyn angelotti joined the Poynter Institute in 2007 and has helped Poynter explore the journalistic values and the legal challenges related to new

technologies, especially social media. Angelotti regularly teaches journalists how to effectively use interactive tools as storytelling vehicles and how their use changes the media landscape. She previously worked as a multimedia journalist in Florida and Kansas.

StePhen buCKley is the dean of faculty at the Poynter Institute. Prior to joining Poynter, he was the Digital Pub-lisher at the St. Petersburg Times, where he worked since 2001. Before moving into his current position, Buckley served in a variety of roles at the Times—managing editor, assistant managing editor/world, national reporter and city editor. Buckley has also worked for The Washington Post, where he was a metro reporter and a foreign correspondent.

MeliSSa luDtKe is the editor of Nieman Reports, a quarterly magazine about journal-ism published by the Nieman

Foundation at Harvard University. She began her career as a freelancer with ABC Sports and then worked at Sports Illustrated, CBS and Time Magazine. She is the author of “On Our Own: Unmarried Motherhood in America.”

Marla riDenouris a sports writer for the Akron Bea-con Journal. Her regular beats and areas of reporting include the Cleveland Browns and Cavaliers, Ohio State, pro golf, including the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Bridgestone Invitational, and high school sports. Before joining the Beacon in 1999, she worked at other newspa-pers in Ohio and Kentucky.

the seventh annual Poynter Kent State Media ethics Workshop, “Foul Play?”

focused on ethics and sports. if you weren’t able to join us, check out the

event website http://mediaethics.jmc.kent.edu/2011 to watch the archived

videos of all the workshop sessions.

‘foul play?’ explores ethics of sports journalismnotable SPeaKerS anD PreSenterS

The fourth annual, sold-out YouToo Social Media Conference brought together 160 students, alumni, profes-sionals and nationally recog-nized speakers in April for how-to discussions on social media in Franklin Hall. The 2010 conference received a coveted Diamond Award for Special Event Planning from the East Central District of Public Relations Society of America.

Students and professionals learned a variety of social media skills from blog development to search engine optimization in breakout sessions, panels and group speakers. Speakers included Amber Naslund, vice president of social media strategy at Radian6, who shared the importance of real-time communica-tion in today’s marketplace, while keynote Geoff Liv-ingston, co-founder of Zoetica, offered ways to stay up-to-date in a fast-paced industry.

Attendees had the opportunity to dive into specific topics during breakout sessions led by area profession-als including PR 20/20 Founder Paul Roetzer; Point to Point’s Dominic Litten; Jan Gusich and Ben Brugler of AKHIA Public Relations and Marketing Commu-nications; and Amber Zent, Marcus Thomas account supervisor.

Mark your calendars now for the 2012 YouToo So-cial Media Conference – April 13 in Franklin Hall at Kent State University.

From Naslund:• Organizations must adapt in order

to thrive in a world defined by speed, new expectations and vast amounts of information.

• Decentralization is the future of social media.

• Using social media is a skill.• Social media can boost an organi-

zation’s internal communication effectiveness.

• Corporate culture is critical for organizations that want to remain up-to-date.

• It’s essential to combine listening

and response when using social media with an audience.

From Litten:• It’s important to combine search

engine optimization with other social media.

• Levels of optimization are index-able, keyword, linking, smart social and content.

From Gusich and Brugler:• Things to consider before start-

ing social media program: know thyself, plan accordingly, manage time, don’t be shy, integrate.

• Post on Facebook during three peaks: early morning, after work and late night; post on Thursday and Friday; post with fewer than 80 characters, celebrate, appreciate, converse, inspire and interact.

From Zent:• Blogging brings brand aware-

ness, site traffic, new and repeat sales but know communication objectives, your audience and your organization.

• You have to have the resources, the time, the budget and the content.

Jargon Fall 2011 15

youtoo ConferenCe

Key ConferenCe TaKe-aways

amber naslund

youtoo stresses social media use in pr industry

16 Jargon Fall 2011

Country musiC fest

A country music festival in Kent. The idea was music to Jodee Hammond’s ears. A 2011

graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication master’s program in public relations, Hammond organized the festival as the capstone to her graduate work.

By Jessica Scheve

All graduate students are required to com-plete a capstone project to receive their degree. The capstone, which can include a thesis, a comprehensive exam or a project, is the culmi-nation of all that a student has learned.

“I knew I wanted to do a project from the time I entered grad school. I eventually decided I wanted to do something with country music because it’s my favorite genre,” Hammond said.

She had originally thought of doing a “battle of the bands” type of event but decided to do a festival after working at the Country Music Association’s Music Festival.

During the summer of 2010 Hammond in-terned at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville where she had two to three writing assignments daily. She even won the 2010 CMA Close Up Award of Merit, which gave her the opportu-nity to go back to Nashville in November 2010 in order to report for the CMA Awards. The award was not the only thing she brought back from Nashville.

“I realized how much fun everyone had put-ting the festival together and watching it play out, so I thought it’d be perfect for me to do a mini version of it here in Kent,” she said.

The event, which Hammond named “Rockin’ Country Festival,” took place March 31 and April 1 and featured nine performers at ven-ues all over downtown Kent. The first night’s festivities took place at the Kent Stage and the remaining acts performed at local bars.

“The bands enjoyed playing at the various venues. People were line dancing and wearing country attire. Everyone seemed to love the music,” she said.

Hammond also worked with the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank’s Harvest for Hunger program, asking festival goers to do-nate food to the cause.

Hammond played many roles while work-ing on the project, the most difficult of which was “coordinating the bands with the venues.” While this task was difficult, it also proved to be rewarding.

“I enjoyed talking with the bands and bar

owners. Their work all means the world to them, and I wanted to do my best to contribute to their success,” she said.

Hammond did have some help along the way. The record promotion classes she took played an important role in the project. “Re-cord Promotion I” provides students with the theory behind promoting an artist while “Re-cord Promotion II” provides them with hands-on experience.

“[The] record promotion [classes] put the ex-perience of (assistant) professor Gene Shelton at my fingertips. His successful career working in the music industry gave me the perfect re-source. I was able to ask questions and receive advice from a true professional,” Hammond said.

Shelton knows first-hand how difficult an event like this is. A publicist in Motown and former vice president of media relations at Warner Brothers Records, Shelton taught both of the record promotion classes Hammond took.

“[Hammond’s project] was the highlight of my semester,” Shelton said.

In addition to Shelton’s guidance, Ham-mond was also able to enlist the help of some classmates in the “Record Promotion II” class.

“I had four people who helped me with some details of the planning. Without their help, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish so much. There was no way I could have done it com-pletely by myself, so I assigned them tasks to carry out. Their assistance is appreciated more than I can ever explain!” Hammond said.

In addition to providing some helping hands,

the record promotion classes also helped pro-vide her with the necessary skills. Shelton said Hammond learned about publicity and promo-tion from the first class.

Publicity for the event was generated using both social and traditional media. Hammond used her blog, “Small Town Songbirds,” to pro-mote the event and some of the artists. Local newspapers, including the Record Courier and the Akron Beacon Journal, published articles about Hammond’s project. One of the acts from the festival, The Carter Twins, even per-formed on “Good Company Today,” a show on

Kent rocks with country music fest

Mike younGThe Carter Twins (above) and Tony Rio (opposite page) headlined the Rockin’ Country Festival at the Kent Stage March 31. Several art-ists, including Katie O. (below), played at various bars and restaurants the next evening. Grad student Jodee Hammond organized the festival for her master’s professional project.

faced the tough questions: Do you know how to do this? Can you produce? Can you write under-standable reports under deadline pressure? All these questions were answered by the quality of the final product.

After the hectic schedule and fast-paced coverage of the confer-ence, students took time for after-action meetings.

“[It was] one of the most worthwhile elements of eTech… to assess our performance, to de-termine what we did right and what we did wrong,” Idsvoog said.

Jargon Fall 2011 17

By Brianne Kimmel & Emily Carle

Ten journalism students, along with associate professors Karl Idsvoog and Dave Smeltzer, employed social media, on-site reporting and online videos to cover the 2011 Ohio Educational Technology Conference held in Columbus Jan. 31 to Feb. 2.

The students created video packages, wrote print stories and covered keynote speeches all with-in a three-day period.

“Starting from scratch was a good experience,” said Nathan Edwards, TV2 general manager and eTech Ohio reporter. “We lit-erally built our news station from the ground up.”

The team also created a confer-ence documentary, which the stu-dents presented at the close of the conference to 5,600 educators to recap the event. This is the second year Kent State has covered the conference; however, this year the reporters raised the stakes.

“We incorporated a lot more multimedia and quick, quality content,” Edwards said. “I wrote five stories on Monday alone, so we had strict deadlines.”

Idsvoog elaborated, “[eTech] put them under real-world dead-line pressure; there were no exten-sions. There could be no excuses. They simply had to get it done. You learn how to produce and write under pressure by doing it. That’s what eTech provides.”

WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland.“It was just amazing because

we didn’t know the impact that sending press releases and making phone calls would do,” Shelton said. “To see the Cart-er Twins on Good Company Cleveland, those were all ideas that were suggested in that class.”

Shelton hopes that Ham-mond’s work will inspire others to do similar projects.

“Regardless what’s happening to the economic model of the in-dustry, music will still be around. [Students] can look at what Jodee accomplished and say, ‘I can do the same thing’… but they would have to come up with a model of their own,” he said.

Associate professor Bill Sledzik said planning an event like the “Rockin’ Country Music Festival” is “exceedingly difficult, especially if you’ve never done it.” Sledzik was one of three faculty members to serve on the committee that reviewed Ham-mond’s work.

“The festival was a huge un-dertaking that would have chal-lenged a five-year professional,” he said. “It really sets a high stan-dard for other students who take an event focus.”

Hammond works for Akhia, a public relations and marketing communications agency in Hud-son, Ohio. But what about her future with country music?

“If I had the opportunity to work for a country musician or an agency with a few accounts with artists, I don’t think I could pass it up,” she said. “I’d absolute-ly love to work in country music, but I definitely love my current job. We’ll see where my life takes me.”

JMc students cover etech conference

Kent State broadcast journalism students will cover the next Ohio Educational Technology Conference, Feb. 13-15, 2012.

Stories were uploaded to the eTech website instantaneously so educators could stay up-to-date with the content and for outside media outlets to access conference coverage.

Because the majority of stu-dents selected as conference re-porters are involved with student media, they were used to the late hours that came with this project, Edwards said.

“The reporters also learned a few things along the way,” he said. “This was our first time working with videographers, so the col-laboration was beneficial and an overall learning experience for our future careers.”

Even with student media expe-rience under their belts, students

FroM karL iDsvooG(Above) A group of JMC students provided on-site coverage of the Ohio eTech conference in February. (Below) Graduate student Bobby Makar adjusts his camera during a shoot.

eteCh ConferenCe

18 Jargon Fall 2011

yon Kitchen and Tavern.“There’s so much enthusiasm

and hard work during those two weeks,” Perkins Bowen said. “The result is some very long-lasting connections. We have listservs that groups use for advice and support and even for bragging when every-one goes back home.”

Others from CCI and JMC were involved. Faculty mem-bers Sue Zake, Jan Leach, Rick Senften and Deborah Davis all taught, as did students Casey Braun and Stacy Stevenson. Grad student Trevor Ivan assisted with running the Institute. Stanley Wearden, dean of the College of Communication of Information, welcomed the fellows during the opening banquet.

By Emily Carle

Kent State University hosted its 10th American Society of News Editors (ASNE) Reynolds High School Journalism Institute July 10-22. Thirty-two teachers from 18 states came to campus to learn from newsroom and classroom professionals and produce their own multimedia projects.

More than 600 applicants ap-plied this year to attend an insti-tute, which are held at five loca-tions: Arizona State University; Kent State; University of Missouri, Columbia; University of Nevada, Reno; and University of Texas, Austin. From this pool, each loca-tion chooses its top 35 applicants based on the teacher’s résumé and experience and invites the can-didates to a two-week intensive program. Each ASNE Institute is made possible by a $130,000 grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

This year at Kent State, the high school teachers, also known as ASNE fellows, learned from well-known professionals such as Can-dace Perkins Bowen, director of Kent State’s Center for Scholastic Journalism; John Bowen, Journal-ism Education Association ( JEA) Scholastic Press Rights Commis-sion chair and Kent State adjunct; Susan Hathaway Tantillo, past

JEA secretary and Kent State ad-junct; H. L. Hall, past JEA presi-dent and Kent State adjunct; Jon Wile, The Washington Post lead A1 page designer and School of Journalism and Mass Communi-cation alumnus; Mark Goodman, Knight Chair in Scholastic Jour-nalism at Kent State; Frank Lo-Monte, Student Press Law Center director; Bruce Winges, editor-in-chief of the Akron Beacon Journal; Wayne Dunn, Ohio JEA mentor; Georgia Dunn, Ohio state JEA director; and Sarah Nichols, JEA’s Yearbook Adviser of the Year in 2011.

At Kent State, Perkins Bowen coordinates the Institute. She has raised more than $1 million in grants for the School of Journal-ism and Mass Communication through the institutes and research funding.

The fellows are divided into three teams that worked together during smaller group discussions and activities. J. Bowen, Hathaway Tantillo and Hall served as leaders for the teams. The four instructors have decades of combined experi-ence in high school journalism and a passion for helping other teach-ers excel in the field.

Prior to arrival in Kent, fellows received resources to use both dur-ing the Institute and in their ca-reers. This included a selection of

aSne reynolds institute promotes high school journalism education

textbooks and other journalism training materials. Also, the fel-lows received a membership in the Journalism Education Association courtesy of ASNE, as well as a membership in their state or re-gional scholastic press association and a subscription to their local daily newspaper.

The program covered a wide range of skills that are vital in the various fields of high school jour-nalism from technology, multime-dia and ethics, all with hands-on training. After a week of informa-tional sessions that cover the foun-dation of these skills, the fellows create their own online multime-dia story-telling projects using photos, video and audio.

To view and better understand the intensive projects they pro-duced within their teams, visit the Institute website at www.ksuasne.org/2011.

Outside of the intense learn-ing environment, various social activities and trips expanded their understanding of journalism. The fellows toured the Akron Beacon Journal offices and attended an afternoon news meeting with the Beacon staff. The group traveled to the Porthouse Theatre to see “The Sunshine Boys” and learned about review writing. They had the opportunity to go to Cleveland to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Blue Can-

John Bowen(Above) Fellows visited the Akron Beacon Journal to gain a better sense of real-world editorial deci-sion making. They toured the gallery of the paper’s Pulitzer Prize winners. (Right) Assistant professor Jan Leach instructs the fellows about finding sources for stories.

susan hathaway tantiLLoInstructor H. L. Hall challenges the fellows each year to memorize and recite the First Amendment for a dollar bill. Kyle Phillips of Iowa receives his dollar and a high-five from Hall.

asne institute

Jargon Fall 2011 19

The School of Journalism and Mass Communi-cation seeks to bring well-known industry pro-fessionals to speak with students each semester. Here are some who visited JMC during the past few months.

Rita Cosby, special cor-respondent for CBS’s “Inside Edition,” visited northern Ohio in February to promote her new book “Quiet Hero: Secrets from my Father’s Past.” He was a WWII resistance fighter and prisoner of war. While here, she visited students at Roosevelt High School in Kent, met with JMC broadcast ma-jors and delivered a community address in the

FirstEnergy Auditorium in Franklin Hall.

Tim Harrower, noted designer formerly of the (Portland) Oregonian and textbook author, keynoted the Ohio Scholastic Media Associa-tion’s fourth annual state convention in April. He also met with the design staff of the Daily Kent Stater and inspired the staff with ideas for a redesign of the publication that debuted this fall. He advocated finding innovative ways to reach audiences in the digital age.

Rebecca Hamilton, special correspondent on Sudan for The Washington Post and Pulitzer Center reporter, visited campus in March to talk about her reporting from that country. Her multi-year investigation into the genocide in Sudan was recently compiled into the book

“Fighting for Darfur: Public Action and the Struggle to Stop the Genocide.”

John Kaplan, Pulit-zer Prize-winning photojournalist, came to campus in April for a screening of the film “Not as I Pictured” about his struggle with cancer.

Caesar Andrews of Arizona State Univer-sity was the 2011 recipient of the Robert G. McGruder Award. Leon Bibb, an anchor at WEWS Channel 5 in Cleveland, received the Diversity in Media Distinguished Leadership Award.

faCulty notes

The work of GARy HARWOOd, in-structor and lead university photogra-pher, was featured in an exhibit at the Joseph Saxton Gallery of Photography in Canton earlier this year. “Life Behind the Lens: A 30 Year Retro-spective” highlighted Harwood’s work with powerful imagery from Ohio’s migrant community, the indefatigable spirit of Cuba, photographs produced for the Associated Press, and Har-wood’s visual essay on aging.

The exhibit opened Feb. 4 with a special one-night event featuring live music and signing of Harwood’s book “Growing Season: The Life of a Migrant Community,” as a part of Canton First Friday event series and ran through May 21.Harwood has received more than 70 awards for his work including 2001’s University Photographer of the Year as well as placing in the 2010 Canton Luminaries Photography Competi-tion.

Associate professor GARy HANSON and CCI Senior Instructional De-signer BEN HOLLIS received the Best of Competition Award in the Faculty Interactive Multimedia Competition’s Education category and the Best of Festival Award at the 2011 Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts in April for their Media, Power and Culture Online course.

Assistant professor JAN LEACH was a presenter during a session titled “The Ethics of Data Mining” at the annual convention of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. Her topic focused on ethical problems that can arise when journalists use easily available databases. STACy STEVENSON, ’10 and current doctoral candidate, moderated the panel.Leach was also featured in the book “Good Enough is the New Perfect: Finding Happiness and Success in Modern Motherhood.” The book features research on modern working women and a number of firsthand accounts from working mothers balancing their lives in the office and at home.

Assistant professor MITCH MCKEN-NEy spoke at the Spring 2011 Gradu-ate Student Development Series, “Globalizing Learning for Success” in April at Kent State. He detailed the recently completed International Storytelling experience in which 16 students traveled to China to collabo-rate with English-speaking students from Shanghai.

Assistant professor BOB BATCH-ELOR, Ph.D., was appointed to the Executive Planning Committee of the Popular Culture/American Culture Association by the president of the 9,000-member organization. In addition to his role on the Planning Committee, Batchelor was also named head of the Marketing Committee for the organization, which focuses on increasing the brand presence of PCA/ACA.

Adjunct instructor PHIL TRExLER authored his second book, “Ballparks: Yesterday and Today.” It was published in January. Trexler, also a reporter for

the Akron Beacon Journal, received a first place award for Best News Writer by the Associated Press Society of Ohio and a second place for Best En-terprise reporting for newspapers with circulations of more than 75,000.

CANdACE PERKINS BOWEN, assistant professor and director of the Center for Scholastic Journalism, and gradu-ate student TREVOR IVAN co-authored the paper “Law books for school administrators: Do they present the same Tinker and Hazelwood we know?” They presented their research during the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communica-tion’s convention in St. Louis. The paper examined the content of text-books used to train school administra-tors about student First Amendment rights and press law. Already teachers in California have used the findings to bolster their case with the Adminis-trative Services Credential Advisory Panel to require stronger training for accrediting K-12 administrators in that state.

CHERyL KUSHNER, ’73, master’s student and adjunct faculty in news, is co-authoring a textbook on arts jour-nalism/criticism with two Cleveland State University professors. “Referee of the Muses: A Theatre Criticism/Arts Journalism Primer” will be published by Peter Lang Publish-ers in late 2012. Kushner, a former entertainment editor at The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Newsday (New York), created an arts and entertain-ment reporting course that she taught last spring. Kushner, who has been a JMC adjunct since January 2009, also teaches Newswriting and Print Beat Reporting.

Associate professor KARL IdSVOOG has teamed with NewsiT, a mobile social network that specializes in crowd-sourced news, to help develop a university network that will provide students with practical experience and national exposure. NewsiT, created by award-winning journalists, has been working with Idsvoog this past semester as it fine-tunes its citizen/mobile journalism content model. Idsvoog’s students reviewed assign-ments, produced assignments and provided highly valuable feedback on site usability. NewsiT plans to provide equipment (iPhones, Droids, and iPads) to partner universities al-lowing professors to tailor journalism reporting projects using totally mobile technologies. He is also training journalists for Radio Free Asia and helping the U.S. State Department develop a multimedia training module that can be used by press information officers at U.S. embassies.

An article by MARK GOOdMAN, pro-fessor and Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism, will appear in the book “Teen Rights and Freedoms: Free Press,” to be published in October 2011 by the Gale Group.

Assistant professor dANIELLE SARVER COOMBS, Ph.D, presented her paper “Consumer insights, clients, and cap-stone campaigns: Teaching research in advertising curricula” during the Association for Education in Journal-ism and Mass Communication’s convention in St. Louis. She is also co-editing a three-volume series with assistant professor BOB BATCHELOR, Ph.D, titled “American History through American Sports: From Co-lonial Lacrosse to Extreme Sports.”

guest Speakers

20 Jargon Fall 2011

LINdSAy KUNTzMAN, ’06, ’09, has joined the university’s Alumni Relations team as assis-tant director for marketing. As a graduate student at Kent State, Kuntzman served as a member of University Communications and Marketing’s PR/Marketing team. She wrote news articles for print and online publications. Most recently, she oversaw all marketing campaigns and managed the website and social media accounts for Max-Wellness. SANdI GOULd LATIMER, ’65, published her first book in February. “Poodle Mistress: An Autobio-graphical Story of Life with Nine Toy Poodles” details the time she and her husband spent raising poodles. Visit http://poodlemis-tress.com for more information. dEBORAH PRITCHARd, ’09, works as a communications specialist at Shure, Inc., an audio innovation company in Chicago. She is responsible for planned internal communications, which includes writing brochures, newsletters and articles for the company intranet. EMILy VINCENT, ’97, received the President’s Excellence Award from President Lester Lefton for her work as Kent State University’s media rela-tions director. Before assum-ing that position in 2009, she worked for various public rela-tions agencies in Cleveland.

NOELLE PENNyMAN, ’09, is a public relations coordi-nator at thunder::tech, an integrated marketing agen-

cy located in Cleveland. As a public relations coordinator, Pennyman works with clients to develop communication strategies and tactics including brand messaging, media rela-tions and social media.

Prior to joining the team at thunder::tech, she served as the marketing assistant at Kent State University’s College of Communication and Information as well as an account executive intern at the university’s student public relations agency, Flash Communications.

She is an active member of the Greater Cleveland chapter of Public Relations Society of America’s Young Pros group and serves as the membership co-chair of the New Professionals’ executive committee. OLIVIA MIHALIC, ’08, was promoted to account executive at Akhia Public Relations and Marketing Communications in Hudson, Ohio. JIM KING, ’85, ’99, has been elected to Keep America Beautiful’s Board of Directors. ERIN GALLETTA, ’06, is a photo editor and designer at the Chicago Tribune. ALLISON HALCO, ’09, operates the site www.fashionablycleveland.com, which is geared toward Northeast Ohio’s fashion and style community. The site has more than a dozen contributors. She created the initial idea for the site for her master’s project at Kent State. A print counterpart to the site, also called Fashionably Cleveland, was released in May and is available for free at local boutiques, coffee shops, salons and other places. NORA JACOBS, ’73, ’76, joined Hennes Paynter Com-munications in Cleveland as vice president. The firm specializes in crisis communications.

STEVE BOSSART, ’90, was named director of develop-ment for Akron General Health System in June.

BARBARA SNELL dAVIS, ’51, authored the book “Roses to Retail” about her life growing up in Men-tor, Ohio. She authored an earlier book in 2005 titled, “Who Says You Can’t Change the World?” It details the educational journey of a boy with Down Syndrome.

BROOKE SPECTORSKy, ’69, received the John Hill Award from the Greater Cleveland Chapter of PRSA. He is the president and general manager of WKYC-TV. The award recognizes a Cleveland-area executive for outstanding understanding of and sup-port for communications. KELLy PICKEREL, ’09, is an assistant editor at Benjamin Media in Peninsula, Ohio. The focus of her duties is two magazines: Alternative Power Construction and Trenchless Today. She is also a contributing editor on Benjamin Media’s six other magazines. Before accepting this position, she served as office manager in the Office of Student Media at Kent State. RON HESS, ’72, is co-leading a workshop, “Social Media as a Catalyst for Employee Engagement,” at the Public Relations Society of America’s 2011 inter-national Conference in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 15-18.

Hess, who is president of Motiv8 Communica-tions, an employee communications firm based in Port Orange, Fla., will team with two communica-tors from a large medical system provider, Orlando Health, to present the material. Hess and company will discuss Inspire Wire, Orlando Health’s successful online idea sharing website for employees. He is also an executive board member of PRSA’s Employee Communications section.

JMC alumni JAMIE WARd, ’04, and SANdy KLEPACH, ’06, celebrated their one-year wedding an-niversary June 18.

SHANON LARIMER, ’00, accepted a position as vice president of global marketing for Baker Barrios Architects.

Kiss’ Gene Simmons, K e n n y Chesney, Alan Jack-son, Reba McEntire, Tim Mc-Graw, Jack J o h n s o n , AC/DC’s A n g u s Y o u n g , Jack White, Mariah Carey, Usher and many more.

Although his career is always en-tertaining, Rodgers still has a few most memorable moments.

“Watching the Rolling Stones in New York City set up everything from production, dressing rooms and their stage from start to finish was a career highlight,” he said.

Rodgers believes “anytime you interview stars, you’ll have stories to tell.” From a one-hour phone conver-sation with Bon Jovi, who was killing time in Tokyo, to Phoenix resident Alice Cooper sharing his story like a regular “blue-collar guy,” Rodgers enjoys asking rock stars anything but “the typical, surface-level questions,” he said.

As a musician, Rodgers can ask more technical and insightful ques-tions.

“I play and sing, so hopefully I can ask questions that musicians can re-late to,” he said.

Rodgers’ stories are featured in nearly 100 papers nationwide through the Gannett News Service and two of his worldwide entertain-ment scoops have been featured in-ternationally.

could use a warmer climate after his ninth Ohio winter in 1983.

Rodgers began at The Arizona Republic as a news copy editor where he wrote sporadic music reviews. As Rodgers moved up in rank, reorgani-zation at the newspaper in 2000 led to a full-time music-writing position.

Rodgers became the national pop music writer and began covering a wide range of genres from country to hip-hop to his favorite, rock n’ roll.

As a music writer, Rodgers has seen it all.

“I’ve been fortunate to attend hundreds of concerts and interview some of the largest names in music,” he said.

Rodgers has interviewed rock leg-ends like David Bowie, Ringo Starr, Paul Simon, Ray Charles, Tom Petty, Yoko Ono, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler,

By Brianne Kimmel

Larry Rodgers, ’78, asks rock legends like Jon Bon Jovi and Alice Cooper the tough questions.

As a music writer for The Arizona Republic since 2000, Larry Rodgers spends his work week interviewing musicians, reviewing concerts and album releases and covering other entertainment-related news.

He credits his success in journal-ism to his experiences with The Daily Kent Stater. During his senior year Rodgers served as the entertainment editor. “I still tell anyone who asks, getting involved with student media is incredibly valuable,” he said.

After interning at the Tribune Chronicle in Warren, Ohio, Rodgers continued his career at the newspaper upon graduation. Rodgers decided he

Alumnus makes living interviewing music legends

alumni notes

Jargon Fall 2011 21

By Raytevia Evans

There I was last fall, sitting in one of my first graduate classes, Ethics of Mass Communications, unknowingly being prepared for what would become a controver-sial spring semester.

After spending all of fall se-mester learning about the every-day ethical dilemmas journalists face and how to make an ethical decision, I had to deal with a di-lemma of my own—no sample scenario was necessary.

In Spring 2011, I became the editor of Fusion Magazine, Kent State University’s student-pro-duced LGBT publication.

After my staff and I spent four months working on the magazine, three local printers refused to print Fusion. Some because the F-word appeared in large, boldface type. Some because of photographs in-cluded in the fashion spread, or a combination of the two.

Once the art director and I got past the initial shock of the print-ers’ denial and subtle requests to change the content, we talked about what we should do to stay on schedule and get the magazine printed and distributed before summer vacation. We reviewed everything in the magazine from

cover-to-cover and sought advice from the business office, faculty and staff in the School of Journal-ism and Mass Communication and other Fusion staff members about the best way to settle the issue.

What I learned in ethics class rushed back to the forefront of my memory, and I considered all of the options. As editor, I had to make a decision, and the thought of being the one editor who didn’t get the magazine published in time kept me up pacing the floor some nights.

The art director and I agreed that by declining to print the magazine because of a word or a photograph, the printers were defying everything Fusion repre-sents. We decided that changing the word and content was not the way we wanted to go.

The last thing we needed after months of hard work was to be censored and have someone tell us we couldn’t use our words—profane or otherwise—to tell unheard stories that we thought needed to be brought to our audi-ence’s attention.

Because of what I learned in ethics the semester before, I was able to analyze the situation and make a decision that I thought

Fusion’s editor reflects on last spring’s printing controversy

was best for the staff, the maga-zine and the magazine’s audience. In the end, we stuck with our de-cision, and a fourth local printer agreed to print our publication in its original form.

Dealing with this controversial issue allowed me to apply what I learned in class and to gain first-hand experience about dealing with ethical issues in the media.

With the support of JMC, the Student Media Business Of-fice and the entire university, the staff and I were able to stand our ground and still present content pertaining to the LGBT com-munity that was important and needed to be told.

stuDent aWarDs

JMC students earned nu-merous awards and accolades during the previous semester. Here is a sampling.

The Kent State Chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) earned the University’s Or-ganization Excellence Award at the 2011 Leadership and Honors Awards Ceremony.

Kent State advertising stu-dents Isabelle Jones and Ben Langdon, ’10, received second place honors at the Ameri-can Advertising Federation Cleveland’s 2010 Students of Advertising Awards (So-fAs) during the annual AAF Cleveland ADDY Awards.

The Office of Student Me-dia sales staff has won five national awards from Col-lege Newspaper Business and Advertising Managers (CN-BAM). The team received the awards in Nashville at the annual convention for sales training, brainstorming and idea sharing.

Fusion won general excel-lence honorable mention in the AEJMC student maga-zine contest. Justin McCraw was the fall editor. Brandi Shaffer and Simon Husted won individual awards for ar-ticles they wrote for Fusion. Joey Pompignano and Mark Haymond won individual awards for articles they wrote for The Burr.

Kent State student publica-tions won 12 awards in The Society of Professional Jour-nalists’ Mark of Excellence Awards competition. The Burr earned first place and Fusion earned second place in the Best Student Magazine cat-egory. The following students earned awards for individual and team projects on various student media: Phil Botta, Dawn Einsel, Kristine Gill, Tessa Bargainnier, Jackie McLean, Amanda Hinds, Jackie Valley, Laura Torchia, Taylor Rogers, Emily Inver-so, Sierra Guterba, Jeannette Reyes, Rich Pierce and the KentWired staff.

Scholarships JMC awarded more than $40,000 at its annual Scholarship and Awards Ceremony in April. These are just three. The School is grateful for the generous support of all of its donors.

Students earn awards

Kathryn Sumpter received the Jaminet-Shutterbug Founda-tion Scholarship, presented by Michelle Jaminet.

Cassandra Beck received the William R. Martin Public Relations Award, presented by William R. Martin.

Julie Sickel and Rich Pierce received the Wallace H. & Peggy V. Stroud Award, presented by Christine Isenberg.

22 Jargon Fall 2011

By Emily Carle

The Professional Advisory Board of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, formed in 1997, includes 23 prominent Kent State alumni and mass communication experts who provide the School with a link to industry leaders and media professionals to ensure the ability to pre-pare students for 21st-cen-tury careers in media on paper, on air and online. The board wel-comes two new members.

The Profes-sional Advi-sory Board welcomes new member, Eliz-abeth Bartz, ’80,’82, to its membership. The president and CEO of State and Federal Communications, Inc. in Akron, Ohio, Bartz has had a successful career in public affairs, starting at Campaigns and Elections and then at State and Federal Associates in Washing-ton, D.C.

She returned to Ohio after purchasing the publications department from S&FA and re-naming her portion of the company to State and Federal Communications, Inc.

After she returned to Northeast Ohio for “the higher quality of life and cheaper prices,” she has worked with the WKSU Community Advisory Council, the National Alumni Association at Kent State and the board of directors of the Ak-ron Roundtable.

Bartz resides in Akron with her husband and her newly married daughter.

Bartz is looking forward to working with the

Professional Advisory board because she said it will help her “understand what training the new students are receiving, and it’s good to know there are publications students can write for and different student media.”

She is also a supporter of alumni/student mentorships and believes “professionals should help out anyway possible, especially in this tough economy.”

Todd Mesek, ’90, is also new to the Profes-sional Advisory Board. He is the vice president of marketing and communications for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleve-land. Mesek became involved with the advisory board after active board member and friend Brian Tucker, ’75, suggested it.

Mesek jumped at the opportunity to lend a hand to students recently graduating from school.

“I’ve benefited from people taking me under their wing,” Mesek said. “I think it’s important to give my support to the students and give back to the u n i v e r -sity. I feel like there is an obli-gation for the Rock Hall to be part of our com-m u n i t y and offer its assets to help educational institu-tions.”

Before working at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mesek worked at numerous agencies including Marketing Directions, Wyse Ad-vertising and Vantage One. He has experience in research, planning, advertising, marketing communications and digital space. Mesek lives in Cleveland with his wife and two sons.

LUELLA d. (HEUPEL) CORdIER, ’45, passed away in June. Cordier was a former editor of the Record-Courier in Portage County from 1982-1990. Before her time as editor she served as a reporter, features writer, as-sistant city editor and city editor. During that time she received

several awards from the Ohio Press Women. In 1980 she received JMC’s Taylor Award for alumni who have made significant contributions to the profession. Under her editorship, the Record-Courier received the R. K. Brown Award for being the top newspaper in Ohio for 1988. She also re-ceived the John S. Knight award in 1996 from the Society of Professional Journalists for exemplary contributions to her community through journal-ism. She was 89. Donations may be made in her name toward a scholarship for journalism students. Contact Christine Isenberg at cisenber@kent.edu.

LORIS TROyER, ’37, passed away in December 2010. He was the recipient of the Outstand-ing Journalism Graduate Award, a precursor to the Taylor Award. He worked for more than 65 years at the Record-Courier in Portage County, including more than 30 years as editor. After his retirement from that position in 1982, he contin-ued his career with the publication by writing a weekly column, “Portage Pathways,” until 2002. He was 96.

EARL SWANEy,’54, passed away in February in Fresno, Calif. Swaney was a photojournalism major at Kent State and served as a photographer for the Chestnut Burr. He was also a member of both Sigma Delta Chi and Kappa Alpha Mu pro-fessional fraternities. Upon graduation, he worked for the Akron Beacon Journal, the Chagrin Valley Herald, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Business magazine, Associated Builders and Con-tractors Association and in the public information department of Blue Cross of California. Swaney had an interest in aviation. He was a private pilot and owned a 1940 Fairchild monoplane. He was 83. Adjunct instructor BILL WEISINGER, ’93, a broad-cast engineer in the Cleveland/Akron area, passed away of cancer in November 2010. He was 61.

LISA KATz, longtime Professional Advisory Board member, passed away in September after a lengthy struggle with cancer. Katz was one of those highly engaged alumni who kept in touch and built re-lationships with current faculty and students. She gave the School the full benefit of her experience and expertise.

CARL HIRSCH suffered a heart attack and passed away in February. Hirsch contributed more than $500,000 to JMC to equip and furnish the Carl E. Hirsch Media Convergence Laboratory.

JOHN GORMAN, his longtime Cleveland associate, called Hirsch “the driving force in the success of WMMS Cleveland, Z100 New York, WMJI Cleveland, and other Malrite, Legacy and OmniAmerica radio properties over three decades.”

GARy FRIES, former CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau, told Radio-Info.com that “Carl was a

legend in the radio business” and “the consummate dealmaker...His death is a real loss to the industry.”

In 2000, Hirsch took on the role of executive chairman of NextMedia and stayed there until 2007. But it was at Milton Maltz’s Malrite Com-munications that Hirsch first made his national mark, at rock WMMS and then top 40 Z100/WHTZ. He was Malrite’s President/COO from 1974 to 1985, then President/CEO of Legacy Broadcasting from 1986 to 1990, and President/CEO of OmniAmerica for most of the 1990s, from 1991 through 1999.

His own personal vehicle was Legacy Management Group, which he opened in 1996 and had continued up to the present time. Gorman, who programmed “Buz-zard” rocker WMMS, said Hirsch “recognized talent, provided every-one a wide berth to succeed, and had only two rules: Don’t make the same mistake twice, and don’t jeopardize the license.” Gorman said, “Those of us who worked with him know how fortunate we were.” He was 64.

Two join advisory board

JMC benefactor Carl Hirsch has passed away

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Jargon Fall 2011 23

By Emily Carle

For many graduates, Kent State University will always be the home to many memories, but for Stepha-nie Smith, ’79, Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communi-cation is true North on her compass in life.

“In times of acute strength, I go to Kent State; I go to the Student Center, the Rathskeller, Taylor Hall. When others refer to Kent State, they know ‘my compass points there,’” Smith said. “It is one of my chief joys in life.”

Smith is the 2011 William D. Taylor Award winner. The Taylor Award is the highest distinction given by JMC to alumni who are nationally and/or internationally recognized for preeminent contribu-tions to their professions or life’s work as they relate to the field of journalism and mass communica-tion. She will be honored during this year’s Homecoming celebration Oct. 14-15.

Throughout the last 27 years, Smith has worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as one of the organization’s top executives.

She has received numerous awards and honors, including the CIA’s Director’s Award, Distin-guished Intelligence Medal and the CIA Certificate of Distinction, but Smith said receiving the Taylor Award is the greatest honor she could receive.

“There is no professional equiva-lent,” she said. “There is no award I value more highly or an award that is more prestigious to me. Not in my wildest imagination would I be a candidate for this honor, but it tells me that Kent State understands communication happens in all professions.”

Smith said her degree was directly applicable to her work at the CIA.

“In every career path in the CIA and national security, I was able to draw directly upon what I learned in the J-School,” Smith said. “I always tell my colleagues that the education I received at Kent State was the best possible preparation. The principles of communication and real strategic communication are so essential for every executive. I can trace this back to Taylor Hall. I had the skills and experience and confidence to

develop strat-egy, to set goals, to posi-tion my thoughts well in a market-place of ideas and persuade people to my point of view.”

While working in a stressful, high-profile, high-security position, Smith was constantly tested by crises and situations that demanded a strong set of communication skills.

“If the CIA was making a decision on a policy or procedure, we had to think upfront how that would play out not just when a crisis has occurred,” Smith said. “We had to consider every executive, every risk, every opportunity, and how the American people would interpret it.

“If you don’t have very strategic skills, you will not succeed. I had an enormous competitive advantage from writing press points and talk-ing points and looking at how we would say that to the Washington Post.”

Because of Smith’s strong com-munication background, she was able to have a rewarding first career and looks forward to starting her second career in Northeast Ohio.

OSMA hosts 4th annual convention

Former CIA executive tapped for Taylor Award

The Ohio Scholastic Media Association (OSMA), under the direction of assistant profes-sor Candace Perkins Bowen,

hosted its fourth state conven-tion in Franklin Hall April 8 and 9. More than 400 students from across the state attended the two-day event, which featured more than 50 learning sessions, on-site contests and a banquet that included a keynote address from publication designer Tim Har-rower and an awards ceremony.

Dave LaBeLLe(Above) Tim Harrower, publication designer and textbook author, keynoted the event. He worked with students on the importance of becoming better multimedia journalists. (Below left) Georgia Dunn, Journalism Education Association director for the state of Ohio, presented John Sisser of Findlay High School with the Ohio High School Journalist of the Year Award. Kim Maples, another Findlay student, was one of the runners-up.

wayne Dunn(Above right) Graduate student Stacy Stevenson and student office worker Amanda Papcun answer students’ questions and distribute programs during registration. (Above) Students congregate in the second floor of Franklin Hall as they decide which sessions to attend.

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october 1412 to 4 p.m. – JMC Professional Advisory Board Meeting4:30 to 6:30 p.m. – JMC Alumni Reception and Awards ProgramSilent Auction sponsored by PRSSAoctober 1510 a.m. – CCI Parade Tent, corner of Lincoln and Main streets 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. – JMC Luncheon, PRSSA Raffle2 p.m. – CCI Tailgate Party, North corner of Dix Stadium. Game ticket & meal price is $20/person.3:30 p.m. – Homecoming Football Game: Kent State University vs. Miami University

Join us for hOMecOMing!

SMITH

P.O. Box 5190 Kent, OH 44242-0001

100164School of Journalism and Mass Communication

A record number of graduate students com-pleted their respective master’s programs in the School of Journalism and Mass Com-munication this year. JMC offers master’s degrees with concentrations in reporting and editing, media management, public relations and journalism education. The School’s partnership with Shanghai Inter-national Studies University allows Chinese students to obtain their master’s degrees at Kent State.

Several graduate students gathered for a picture at their annual end-of-the-year party in April. Those who have graduated this year have an asterisk* by their name. Front row: Jodee Hammond*, Yiwei Ruan*, Margaret Stahl, Wei Lu, Ruoyun Wang, Ran Christina Tao Back row: Justin Parsons, Wu Cong*, Jared Slanina*, Gina Conley, James Starks*, Erin Perkins*, Trevor Ivan, Raytevia Evans and Cheng Zhang*

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For more information about master’s programs in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, contact graduate coordinator Tim Smith at tdsmith@kent.edu.