| Director's Note | We’re nearing the halfway point of the semester with spring break right around the corner. We have two student trips planned for break. SJMC instructor, Kevin Ripka, and students in the Online News Association student group will be attending the 2024 NICAR conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Visiting associate professor, Brett Johnson, and a group of students will be visiting Washington, DC for a media law trip. Visit our social media and read our March newsletter for a recap of these experiences.
We have three featured stories this month.
First, we have a recap of our Chicago Sports Media Experience course. This new SJMC experiential learning course taught by Wayne Drehs over the winter term involved online coursework and a week in Chicago where students visited the Chicago Wolves, Big Ten Network, Chicago Bulls, and CHGO, learning about the inner workings of sports media in Chicago. Students coved a Bulls game, worked on projects with the Chicago Wolves, and gained real-world experience in a major media market.
Chicago Sports Media Experience class
Second, we are excited to collaborate with The Daily Iowan to jointly operate the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun and Solon Economist. The Daily Iowan recently purchased the two community papers and has been publishing them since February 8. Opportunities for collaboration include supporting interns at the papers, incorporating community reporting into SJMC classes, working on audience and readership research, and building a sustainable model for local news that serves the communities and students. Stay tuned for updates on this exciting venture.
Finally, our 100th anniversary dinner is fast approaching. The event on April 13 will feature remarks from SJMC alum and keynote speaker, Maudlyne Ihejirika on the future of journalism and storytelling. Join us to learn about on-going initiatives in SJMC and see the exciting work happening on campus and in our community. Registration is required by April 3.
If you have a story to share, please send it to sjmc@uiowa.edu.
Melissa Tully, Director | |
Professor Meenakshi Gigi Durham and Professor Melissa Tully will participate in an online panel to discuss Ms. magazine’s new book, 50 Years of Ms. The book showcases the most startling, most audacious, most norm-breaking of the magazine’s groundbreaking pieces. This virtual event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
Assistant professors Sang Jung Kim, Alex Scott, and Bingbing Zhang invite those interested in the field of visual communication to discuss current challenges and opportunities that synthetic media pose for the contemporary media environment, and how we can utilize visuals as data to answer social scientific questions. Check out the full schedule to learn more about the event speakers. This virtual event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. | | | Graduate Student News | Munachim Amah received a T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Research Fellowship for this summer. He will explore the perspectives of Nigerian journalists on the intricate dynamics between journalistic ideals and the reality of covering poverty.
Md Sazzad Hossain published “Has Journalism Education Kept Up With Digital Transformation?” in Journalism & Mass Communication Educator. | | | Undergraduate News | 
Event Management students at Chase Field
Tracy Hufford and Heather Spangler took a group of 21 students on a spring semester professional trip to Phoenix. The trip was sponsored by FlyCID. Highlights included a networking dinner with local alumni, and visits with event professionals at the convention center, zoo, 360 Destination Group, the Phoenix Suns, and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Pictured from left to right Neely Goerlinger, Lainah LaFollette and Kelly Chinn
Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy students Neely Goerlinger, Lainah LaFollette and Kelly Chinn attended the Better Together 2030 Excellence in Action Awards to help celebrate the accomplishments of nonprofits making positive impacts throughout Johnson County.
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Emily Delgado chatting with David Fine
SJMC held its first Strategic Communication Speed Networking event on February 13. During the event, 17 professionals met one-on-one with 17 students, to discuss careers, organizations, types of roles available and to exchange contact information for future networking.
SJMC students and Chantel Jennings
Senor Writer on Women's Basketball for The Athletic, Chantel Jennings visited the Student Center to chat with SJMC students about covering women's basketball and careers in journalism and sports media. | | | SJMC Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary in 2024 | As an alum, student, faculty, staff, and friend of SJMC, you’ve experienced what it means to be part of this school, and we hope you’ll consider supporting us as we start our next 100 years. To do so, I’d like to invite you to contribute to the 100th anniversary fund and attend the anniversary dinner on April 13, 2024 in Iowa City. Contributions to SJMC support student experiences, including trips to professional conferences and media companies, networking events, workshops, study abroad, internships and research. | | | |
