The application for 2026-27 JMC scholarships is open! Current JMC undergrads can apply by going to ku.academicworks.com. Click the red “Sign In” button at the top of the page, then log in with your KU online ID and password. 

You may be asked to complete a general questionnaire before moving to the School of Journalism and Mass Communications Undergraduate Scholarship Application. Please be sure to complete the correct application, as there are two versions in the system right now. Please do not complete the application for incoming students. The application deadline is Jan. 25, 2026. 

The Recruiter-In-Residence program at the University Career Center offers students a chance to meet one-on-one with an industry professional to network and learn about careers. Spotlight will be on campus on Monday, Nov. 17. Go to the event page to learn more and reserve your time slot today! 

Mocktails and Mingle: Media and Communications is happening on Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Jayhawk Welcome Center. This informal networking event helps students connect with working professionals and KU alumni from across media and communication industries. It is open to all majors and class levels. Check out all the Mocktails and Mingle events. 

Billy Mills on set with GMIC Anchors Allison Levering and Shia Blackcloud and reporter Caden Baird. | Photo courtesy of Melissa Greene-Blye. 

Olympic gold medalist and KU alum Billy Mills visited with members of the Good Morning Indian Country team during a recent visit to Lawrence. Mills and his wife, Pat, were in town to attend a concert at the Lied Center, where he was the subject of an original composition honoring his athletic legacy and KU connection. Mills, who is Oglala Sioux, is also the co-founder and national spokesman of the Running Strong for American Indian Youth Foundation, which supports the KU Native Storytelling Workshop.

JMC students host rural journalism event: Students Brooke Wagner, Haley Brunner, Evelyn Vigil and Quincy Wohl (pictured) hosted an event to encourage students to consider jobs in rural journalism. About 30 people attended last Thursday night.

Long-time Fox NFL TV sideline reporter Laura Okmin joined members of the Sports Media and Society Club via Zoom on Monday, Nov. 3. Okmin shared the story of her career path and answered students' questions about how best to launch their careers in sports journalism.

From left to right: Vaibhav Diwanji, Douglas Ward, Kevin McCannon, Angie Hendershot, Yvonnes Chen, and Alyssa Appelman. 

Congratulations to Dr. Angie Hendershot, professor of practice in Digital Marketing Communications, who successfully defended her dissertation on Oct.  31. Her dissertation, titled "Ad astra per aspera: First-generation college graduates’ use of digital and social media for career growth and financial literacy," described the pressure and challenges of first-generation identity and the pride that results from successfully navigating through challenges to success. Participants described first-generation identity as salient and prefer online content created by those from similar backgrounds who have recently successfully navigated career and financial difficulty, indicating the potential for social media to facilitate online community and social support from relatable role models. The dissertation offers scholarly and practical implications, discussing areas of media, message, and messenger insights to guide higher education, human resources, and financial professionals to better serve the career and finance information needs of first-generation professionals. Read more about Hendershot's journey. 

Assistant Professor Melissa Greene-Blye recently attended the Indigenous Journalist Association board strategic planning meeting, where she was named co-chair of the association's education committee. In that role, she will help support the association's ongoing education programming and initiatives, while working to grow future educational opportunities and initiatives for students and early career journalists.

A paper co-authored by first-year doctoral student Hailong Peng and researchers from the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, Beijing, has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Public Opinion Research. The study, "Attribute and Network Agenda Setting on Chinese Environmental Issues: Examining the Interplay between News Media, Government, and the Public on Twitter," investigated agenda attributes and attribute networks in discussions on Chinese environmental issues on Twitter, exploring interactions among various user types. The results highlight the contrasting roles of centralized and decentralized systems in agenda-setting processes, emphasizing the need to analyze agenda-setting effects at both the attribute and network levels. 

Assistant Professor Megan Denneny and Assistant Professor Elizabeth Cox (pictured above) went on the Mini Wheat State Tour of Atchison, Kansas, with KU's Hall Center for the Humanities. The group made stops at Independence Creek, the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, and St. Benedict's Abbey and heard from KU faculty who have research aligned with the trip stops and community members in Atchison. 

WE are DMC lunch and learn Dec. 2: Don't miss this great chance to connect with industry professionals. Free lunch will be provided. 

PRSSA PR Crawl in KC Nov. 14: Students, if you are interested in attending the PR Crawl in Kansas City on Nov. 14, please fill out this form. 

JMC alum Matt Gardner, vice president of growth at YinzCam and former vice president of innovation and digital strategy at the St. Louis Blues, was a recent guest on Cheers to Careers. 

The Office of Governor Laura Kelly is currently accepting applications from students interested in an internship for the Spring and/or Summer months of 2026. Applications are being accepted through Nov. 18. View the job description here.  To apply: Email a completed application (attached or available in the posting), resume, and cover letter to libby.t.keogh@ks.gov

Internship and student jobs

Job opportunities

Join us for our fresh-from-Adobe-Max workshops. You have two opportunities to learn - in person and virtual. Please reserve your spot here.

We will be looking at: 

Premiere (Beta) - Object masking: You can use this to put text behind an object within a video. You can also use it to create special lighting features within sections of a video. 

InDesign - Flex layout, InCopy editing: Flex Layout moves content around using media intelligence without you having to resize. You can use it to change a design from vertical to horizontal automatically. InCopy is a way to share a page so collaborators can edit copy but not design. Amazing for copy editors!

Photoshop - Generative Upscale: Helps improve quality of smaller/low-resolution images. Great for archival images!

Illustrator (Beta) - Turntable: Generates 3D creations from 2D art. 

Alumni Job Updates

Scott Reinardy
Interim Dean

Mugur Geana
Interim Associate Dean
Research & Faculty Development

Lisa McLendon
Interim Associate Dean
Student Success

Calendar

William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications
journalism.ku.edu

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