SOC ACCOMPLISHMENTS – APRIL 28, 2023
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Patricia Aufderheide gave a presentation, "Putting the Public in Public Broadcasting," for the board of the part of the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation that funds public broadcasters, on April 25.
On April 28, Patricia presents "Can Public Broadcasting Be a Bulwark against Disinformation?" at the Reflection on the History of American Broadcasting conference at the Library of Congress.
On April 29, Patricia presents "The Copyright Claims Board, One Year In," at the Radio Preservation Task Force conference at the Library of Congress.
John C. Watson was the scheduled guest last Friday on the NPR-affiliated radio station WDET’s program “Detroit Today” hosted by Stephen Henderson. Watson focused on the ethical and legal implications of last week’s $787 million settlement of the libel lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News.
Jill Olmsted was quoted in a Newsweek story, ‘The Rise and Fall of Don Lemon.’ “Jill Olmsted, a journalism professor at American University, told Newsweek that she "never thought that Lemon's apology for his foot-in-mouth sexist comments about women in the workplace was sincere, and afterwards his tone and pompous body language on air with female colleagues convinced me his time had come and gone."
CNN leadership continues to mix up its programming. Variety magazine spoke with investigative broadcaster in residence Chris Halsne about news-oriented shows redesigned to pull in younger audiences.
Joe Campbell recently signed a contract with University of California Press to publish an expanded soft-cover edition of his critically well-received 2020 book, Lost in a Gallup: Polling Failure in U.S. Presidential Elections. The soft-cover edition is to be out in 2024, in the runup to the presidential election.
CNN's chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, spoke by Zoom to the semester's closing session of Joe Campbell's "Foreign Policy and the Press" midday Tuesday. Ward's memoir, On All Fronts, was the centerpiece of a book review assignment in "Foreign Policy and the Press," which Joe has taught many times since the late 1990s, after inheriting the course from then-SOC Dean Sandy Ungar. Helping to arrange Ward's appearance was Sydney Baldwin, an SOC alum (2016) and former student of Joe's. Sydney is senior publicist at CNN.
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CNN's Clarissa Ward on screen during her talk to Joe Campbell's Foreign Policy and the Press class.
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Joe Campbell speaks to the students during the taping of his "American 1990s" class for C-SPAN.
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Whitney Harris Christopher hosted Candice Cole, a former colleague who is now a Washington Correspondent for a digital network called TYT News, for a discussion with graduate students in the Backpack Journalism class and undergraduates in Digital Media courses this past Saturday, April 22. Candice has covered the White House, the Supreme Court (including the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson) and she has been covering the fallout of the ousting and reinstatement of the Tennessee Three. She candidly discussed everything from what it's like as a woman of color covering Congress, to how to make career pivots as a journalist.
Harris Christopher will also be hosting another colleague, JJ Burton, this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. JJ is a dayside reporter at ABC Action News in Tampa Bay. He is a funny guy and a very dynamic reporter, and I look forward to our discussion with students.
Aram Sinnreich premiered a short film called “Out of Our Shells,” co-directed with Dunia Best, at the Humanities Truck Film Festival. The film documents their efforts, along with SOC PhD student Neil Perry, to use the truck as a mobile recording studio last year, offering free recordings and promotion to 14 diverse music acts from around the DMV. More information is available at outofourshells.com.
Aram Sinnreich and his partner Dunia Best gave a talk about their recent Humanities Truck project, for incarcerated students at the DC Jail's Correctional Treatment Facility. The talk was sponsored by the Prisons and Justice Initiative at Georgetown University. This was Sinnreich’s second time lecturing for this program, and he highly recommends that other SOC faculty consider sharing their expertise with these passionate and dedicated students.
Aram Sinnreich organized and hosted a talk at SOC by Dr. Larisa Kingston Mann of Temple University, who discussed her recently-published book Rude Citizenship. The event was co-sponsored by Communication Studies, SOC’s DEI Committee, and Kogod.
Caty Borum's new book, The Revolution Will Be Hilarious, received a positive review in the DC Trending literary magazine, which wrote in part: "Borum’s message is deeply important...The Revolution Will be Hilarious should be required reading for activists and ordinary people looking to expand the reach of social movements."
Kurt Braddock authored a chapter in a book published by the United States Institute of Peace Press. The book, titled Researching Violent Extremism: Considerations, Reflections, and Perspectives, was organized by the USIP's RESOLVE Research Network. Kurt's chapter is titled Experimentation and Quasi-Experimentation in Countering Violent Extremism: Future Directions of Inquiry, and will be in print later this year.
Claudia Myers' feature film "Above the Shadows," starring Olivia Thirbly, Alan Ritchson, Megan Fox and Jim Gaffigan, was recently licensed for streaming by Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Peacock, in addition to its run on Hulu. It is currently available on 14 streaming platforms.
Claudia was also interviewed about "Above the Shadows" by David DaSilva, a French author of numerous published textbooks on American cinema. DaSilva will publish part of Claudia's interview in his upcoming book on martial arts and the movies.
Jane Hall interviewed Eugene Daniels of POLITICO and moderated student Q&A and engagement with him around important issues in politics, media and democracy, including the importance of diversity of voices and representation in political journalism. Here’s the link to the SOC You Tube playlist. The whole show is listed under “Eugene Daniels in Conversation with AU Students.” There are also 8 brief (2:20) excerpts, three of which— are also being posted on Twitter. There are several excerpts here on topics that were inspiring and may be useful in our teaching.
Daniels, who is White House correspondent for POLITICO and co-author of the influential Politico Playbook, is Black as well as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. He talked with Jane and students about encountering discrimination as a young journalist and being a role-model to Black and LGBTQ+ young people on TV today. He also addressed the question among some editors in the past about whether racial or gender identity makes a journalist unable to report a story. He came down squarely on gender, racial or other identity as important expertise along with reporting fairly and accurately.
Daniels, who has focused on vice president Kamala Harris in his coverage, talked about covering her recent trip to Africa and media coverage of her overall, as well as whether she will be Biden’s vice-presidential running mate. He also talked about Trump and the Republicans in 2024 as well.
Thanks to Jeffrey Madison, Jacob Audoin, Kati Vera, Tia Milledge, Grace Ibrahim, Veronica Castro, Amy Eisman, Dillin Bett and Dean Fulwood. Also Joe Graf and Joe Walsh. This event was a co-production of American University’s School of Communication and the Kennedy Political Union.
Jane Hall was also interviewed on BBC TV UK about possible impacts of the Fox/Dominion settlement on the upcoming 2024 election.
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Special Feature: SOC Journalism 2023 Awards
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Journalism students were honored last week at our annual ceremony, which includes the induction into the Kappa Tau Alpha honor society; the Rodger Streitmatter Journalism Award for Excellence; and the Rodger Streitmatter Journalism prizes. Professors Lynne Perri and Terry Bryant oversaw the selections and hosted.
Eleven students were sworn into AU's chapter of KTA, which recognizes academic excellence in journalism and mass communication. The new members are: Isis Sekai Amusa, Abigail Sarah Bender, Bonnibelle Bishop, Ruby Eve Fair, Gabriel J. Ferris, Olivia Kozlevcar, Natasha LaChac, Grace F. Nowak, Sydney Ruth Soka, Sophia Elizabeth Thomas, and Sydney Alice Wender. Perri, who serves as AU's KTA faculty representative, administered the oath and presented each student with a certificate and an honor cord to be worn at graduation.
Professor Emeritus Rodger Streitmatter presented the top journalism award to Gabe Ferris, a broadcast senior already working as an ABC News production assistant on Capitol Hill, who read his winning essay. Gabe was selected by judges Amy Eisman, Perri and Streitmatter. Gabe’s name will be engraved on a trophy and he will receive $2,300, thanks to the generous donation from Rodger’s husband, Thomas Grooms, in honor of Rodger.
Rodger and Tom also provided financial gifts to the top undergraduate journalism students. First place recipients received $300. Second place recipients received $150. They are:
Best Story from COMM 320: First place, Mariana Trujillo Vandez; second place, Jane Fusco and Francine Worsoff
Best Story from COMM 425: First place, Joe Reberkenny; second place, Isis Amusa and Kate Corliss
Best Audio Story: First place, Maddy Gerber; second place, Maegan Seaman
Best Video Story: First place, Gabe Ferris; second place, Maegan Seaman and Hallie Brannick
AU alums and journalism professionals volunteered their time to judge the student work. They include: Paul Albergo, retired from Bloomberg and an SOC adjunct instructor; Luz Lazo, Washington Post; Neil Augenstein, WTOP radio; Fenit Nirappil, Washington Post; Michael O'Connell, Patch editor; Marisha Goldhamer, AFP; Rob Roberts, digital strategy consultant; Katrina Kincade, reporter at Boston WBZ; Whitney Harris Christopher, SOC Professorial Lecturer; Jill Olmsted, SOC professor; and Streitmatter, SOC emeritus professor.
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All the new KTA inductees and Streitmatter award winners, along with Rodger Streitmatter and his husband, Tom Grooms.
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Gabe Ferris poses with his Streitmatter Award trophy, along with Tom Grooms, TerryBryant and Rodger Streitmatter.
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Journalism Division Director Amy Eisman speaks at the annual KTA induction ceremony and the Streitmatter Award and Prizes ceremony.
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Dr. Filippo Trevisan Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs
Associate Professor - School of Communication American University 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC - 20016
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