School News

Environmental Heroes

2009-06-29T15:38:58+00:00

A documentary produced by the school's science documentary TV course will air Saturday, July 4 at 11 p.m. on UNC-TV.

“Environmental Heroes” TV documentary to air on UNC-TV July 4

A documentary produced by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication science documentary television course will air Saturday, July 4 at 11 p.m. during the “North Carolina Visions” film festival on UNC-TV (North Carolina Public Television).

The 22-minute program – “Environmental Heroes” – profiles three N.C. people who have worked to protect and improve the state’s environment.

The three “environmental heroes” include Dean Brooks of Goldston, Gary Grant of Tillery, and Todd Miller of Newport.

Brooks, a former dairy farmer, started and runs one of the largest compost businesses in the southeastern United States. He and his family turn organic waste into profit while reducing garbage

Alumnus biking coast-to-coast to raise awareness of affordable housing crisis

2009-06-22T16:20:09+00:00

May 2009 school graduate Andy Ives of Efland, N.C., is biking from Nags Head, N.C., to San Diego, Calif. to raise awareness of the U.S. affordable housing crisis.

Ives is a member of Bike and Build, which organizes cross-country bicycle trips to benefit affordable housing groups.

Read more at indyweek.com and bikeandbuild.org.

Students to document Galapagos

2009-06-17T15:53:23+00:00

Twenty-one UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication students will travel to the Galapagos Islands June 18-July 17 to document the effects of the rapidly growing human population on the islands.

Associate professor and executive producer Pat Davison is leading the project with four professional coaches, and students will spend two weeks gathering audio, video, still photographs and text on the three main islands of the Galapagos – San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Isabela. The team will create a multimedia Web site documenting sustainabilty, immigration, pollution, invasive species and traditional lifestyles on the islands.

Davison said a common misconception of the Galapagos is that it is a “pristine laboratory of nature.”

“There are 30,000 people who live there,” he said. “The hand of man has dramatically impacted the islands.”

This trip will mark the first time anyone has approached the Galapagos from a multimedia standpoint,

Atlanta Press Club honors 2003 graduate

2009-06-16T15:27:16+00:00

The Atlanta Press Club named Joe Rauch, a 2003 graduate of the school its 2008 Journalist of the Year in the Small Print category. Rauch is a reporter for the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The club presented seven awards to journalists in print, television, radio, photojournalism, opinion and an overall Journalist of the Year award.

Atlanta Press Club Journalist of the Year winners:

Carrie Teegardin, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Large Print Reporting
Joe Rauch, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Small Print Reporting
Richard Belcher, WSB-TV
Local News Reporting
Wes Sarginson, WXIA-TV
Feature News Reporting
Odette Yousef, Public Broadcasting Atlanta
Radio Reporting
Joeff Davis, Creative Loafing
Photojournalism
Maureen Downey, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion

Teegardin won the overall Journalist of the Year award.

More information at www.atlantapressclub.org.

Adkisson takes third in Hearst championship

2009-06-09T14:00:09+00:00

J-school junior John Adkisson placed third in the Hearst National Photojournalism Championship. Winners were announced June 6 at the final awards ceremony in San Francisco.

From June 2-4, 24 finalists, who won monthly competitions, demonstrated their writing, photography, radio and television skills by participating in on-the-spot assignments. Assignments were chosen and judged by media professionals who judged the monthly competitions during the year.

For his third-place finish, Adkisson received $3,000.

Seniors Lauren Cowart and Carly Swain were semi-finalists in the photojournalism championship and television broadcast news championship, respectively, and each received a $1,000 scholarship.

Carolina placed fifth overall in the intercollegiate competition – third in the photojournalism and broadcast news categories.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program is funded and administered by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

Vaccine campaign launched

2009-06-04T23:19:50+00:00

Faculty and students in the school's health communication program help launch a campaign to reduce cervical cancer in North Carolina.

Vaccine campaign launched

Faculty and graduate students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Interdisciplinary Health Communication (IHC) seminar are working with the South Central North Carolina Partnership for Public Health (SCPPH) on an HPV vaccine campaign with the message, “Vaccinate today. Protect her tomorrow.”

The campaign, launched June 1 in four N.C. counties, encourages mothers to take action against cervical cancer by getting their adolescent daughters vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) – a common virus that can cause cervical cancer.

The school’s students and faculty designed a communication strategy for the campaign after conducting focus groups and surveys with mothers in Cumberland, Harnett, Richmond and Robeson counties. The school will remain involved by analyzing and evaluating

School finishes fifth overall in Hearst

2009-06-02T19:35:41+00:00

The school placed fifth overall in the 2008-2009 Hearst Journalism Awards Program, considered the Pulitzers of collegiate journalism. The school was third in the photojournalism and broadcast news categories.

The winners in each category will receive cash prizes and medallions during the national championships in San Francisco at the Intercollegiate Awards Presentation on Friday, June 5.

Top student winners from the school in this year’s Hearst competition included Andrew Stiles, who finished third in editorial writing; John Adkisson, who finished second in news and sports photography; Lauren Cowart, who placed fourth in the picture stories/series category; and Carly Swain, who took home second place in the television features category.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program is funded and administered by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

School wins Horizon Interactive Awards

2009-06-02T19:30:21+00:00

The UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication won four 2009 Horizon Interactive Awards for work on photojournalism and multimedia projects from the last year.

“Cape Fear to Down Here,” a multimedia Web site created during the 2008 Carolina Photojournalism Workshop that documented stories from Wilmington down the coast into South Carolina, won Best of Category in College and University.

A multimedia documentary site about post-tsunami Thailand, “Andaman Rising,” won a gold medal in the College and University category, and “Nuevas Fronteras: Stories of the Latino Experience in North Carolina” won a silver medal in the same category.

CarolinaPhotojournalism.org earned a gold medal in the blog category.

In its eighth year, the Horizon Interactive Awards were created to recognize excellence in interactive media production worldwide. The judging process involves a Horizon Interactive Awards advisory panel, end user panel and a worldwide panel of judges consisting of industry

Phillips Ambassadors

2009-05-14T19:03:34+00:00

Three J-school students have been selected as Phillips Ambassadors for summer and fall 2009 study abroad programs in Asia.

Phillips Ambassadors

Three students from the UNC School of Journalism and Mass have been selected as Phillips Ambassadors for summer and fall 2009 study abroad programs in Asia.

Wyatt Bruton and Hannah Thurman, both from Raleigh, will study in Beijing this summer. Ariana van den Akker of El Dorado Hills, Calif., will study in India this summer.

The Phillips Ambassadors scholarship program is designed to broaden awareness of Asia on and off campus. The scholarship combines an award for study in Asia with an academic course that puts the experience in greater global context and challenges students to share their experiences of Asia upon their return.

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Bechtel elected to ACES executive committee

2009-05-13T19:28:33+00:00

Andy Bechtel, an assistant professor in the school, has been elected to the executive committee of the American Copy Editors Society (ACES).

As a member of this 10-member board, Bechtel will help guide the organization’s direction. His main responsibilities will be to organize ACES contests in headline writing and to serve on its research committee, which will focus on connecting professional journalists and academics.

“I’m looking forward to being a bridge between the newsroom and the classroom,” said Bechtel, who has taught editing at the school since 2005.

Bechtel's three-year term on the ACES executive committee begins in June.

ACES is a national organization made up of copy editors at newspapers, magazines, Web sites and other journalistic organizations.

The organization’s first national conference took place in Chapel Hill in 1997, and the school served as host for an ACES regional conference in