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The Department of
Media, Journalism & Film
Alumni Newsletter - December 2018
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|  Four MJF alumni -- Daniela Pierre-Bravo, Emily Kuhn, Laura Palmer Graham, and Una Hrnjak-Hadziahmetovic -- participated in an alumni career panel Thursday, Oct. 25. | |
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| If you valued your experience at Miami, considering starting a scholarship fund for students to experience study abroad or student media opportunities. To take action:
Send a check to:
Miami University Foundation
725 E. Chestnut Street
Oxford OH 45056
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| Everyone should look so good at age 59. Williams Hall was dedicated in 1959, meaning it celebrates one of those milestone birthdays next year: the big six-0. Before then, the old Broadcasting program at Miami had been in a number of places, including the Old Main building and Building D. But Williams Hall was the first purpose-built home for media programs at the university. Once the location of WMUB-FM and WMUB-TV, it now is the home of all five of the programs in the Department of Media, Journalism & Film. It’s the first time Media & Culture (MAC), Journalism (JRN), Strategic Communication (STC), Film Studies (FST), and Comparative Media Studies (CMS) all have been in the same place. That took some work. In the months leading up to the start of fall semester, Williams was full of drywallers, electricians, painters, HVAC contractors, and flooring people who created new office space for faculty and staff moving to Williams from Bachelor Hall, as well as new computer lab and classroom space. Williams Hall last underwent renovation in 1987-88, when the old building was stripped to its framing and new studios, offices, and classrooms were added. Back then, a small space (now two faculty offices) was dedicated as a computer-based writing lab. Prior to that, there had been three computers in the building – total. And networking, what of it was done back then, tied up office phone lines. Thirty years later, you literally won’t find more than a handful of rooms in the building that don’t have at least one computer (they instead have shelves or toilets.) And networking, both wireless and ethernet, have been in place for a number of years. Along with the new spaces, this year we welcome to Williams Hall new faculty: Matt Crain, assistant professor in Media & Culture; Lexi Marsh, visiting instructor in Media & Culture; Jim Timmerman and Lisa Bernard-Kuhn, visiting instructors in Journalism; and Charles Blades, producer of Stats & Stories. I’m hardly new nor deserving of a welcome, since I joined the department during the last Williams Hall renovation in 1987. The department was called Communication back then, and included programs in Speech Communication and Speech Pathology & Audiology, along with Mass Communication. But I do find myself with a new title this fall – Department Chair – and a new office. It’s daunting to follow in the footsteps of our first chair, Harry Williams, or those that followed: Jimmie Trent, Jerry Sanders, Mark McPhail, Gary Shulman, and Richard Campbell. Fortunately, people in the department and the university are being very patient. In the meantime, the excitement of renovations and new neighbors is giving way to anticipation of new courses, such as the new smartphone course in CMS; a new year of our study abroad/study away programs in Washington, Hollywood, New York, Chicago, London, Florence (Italy) and Kosovo; and professional-grade content produced for our student media outlets, including MUTV, The Miami Student, Miami Quarterly, UP and The Oxford Observer. At 59, Williams Hall is experienced. But it doesn’t act its age and, God willing, never will.
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| New MJF chair has longtime passion for media Bruce Drushel realized his passion for media at 11-years-old, an age when most people would never consider watching the nightly news over their favorite cartoon. “I would religiously watch TV newscasts and read newspapers and news magazines,” said Drushel, who took over as chair for the Department of Media, Journalism & Film this August. As he got older, Drushel said he realized the news does more than inform citizens of what’s going on in their towns; it creates a feeling of connection to the town and others living in it.Continue reading
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| Williams TV studio renamed
Rick Ludwin Studio The dedication of the new studio name will be 3:30 p.m. March 19 with a reception following. Rick Ludwin, a former executive at NBC, is a 1970 mass communication graduate. He worked at the network for 32 years, during which time he was executive vice president of late night and special programming. During this time, he was instrumental in the development of the show Seinfeld. He continues as a consultant for the network and visits Miami every Homecoming weekend to share his experience with MJF students.
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| Alums working in media
provide career advice Four Miami University alumni participated in the university's annual 18 of the Last 9 event appearing in a panel for the Department of Media, Journalism & Film (MJF) Thursday, Oct. 25. The four panel members were Daniela Pierre-Bravo, producer at MSNBC's Morning Joe, Emily Kuhn, director of communications at CNN, Laura Palmer Graham, associate producer at Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Una Hrnjak-Hadziahmetovic, sustainability and program manager at Gap Inc. Dozens of Miami students and faculty packed into Laws Hall to hear the distinguished speak about their time at Miami and how they found success after their undergraduate years.
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Wil Haygood with Miami provost Phyllis Callahan |
| Wil Haygood premieres book at convocation
Miami University welcomed MJF Boadway Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence Wil Haygood to campus this August in a big way. Haygood gave the convocation speech, had a street named after him on Western campus and received Miami’s Presidential Medal of Honor. “Everything was so glorious and unexpected,” said Haygood. “It really was pretty magical.” Wil Haygood drive is located on Western campus, near Peabody Hall. The decision to name a street after him was endorsed by Miami’s Board of Trustees. According to Haygood, the street was a complete surprise.
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|  |  | Ann Bainbridge Frymier (left) | |  | Faculty Teaching Ideas Swapmeet | |
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| Matthew Crain joined the MJF faculty as an assistant professor in Media & Culture. Crain’s teaching and research are centered in the political economy of media, advertising, and communications technologies. His current work focuses on the historical development and democratic implications of digital advertising and consumer surveillance. Crain received his PhD from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and his master’s degree from DePaul University. Previously he taught at Queens College, City University of New York. Patti Newberry, area director of the Journalism Program, was elected president-elect of the Society of National Journalists at its fall convention in September. She will become president of SPJ, the nation's largest press advocacy group with 7,000 members, in the fall of 2019. Mack Hagood, Robert H. and Nancy J. Blayney Assistant Professor of Comparative Media Studies, has a new book titled "Hush: Media and Sonic Self-Control." It will be published in March of 2019. Bob Batchelor, visiting assistant professor of Strategic Communication, also will write a book titled "Bourbon King: The Epic Rise and Gall of George Remus, America’s Bootleg Baron, and the Roading Days of the Jazz Age." The book will be published in the fall of 2019. Batchelor was recently interviewed for PBS Newshour and The New York Times after the death of Stan Lee. Batchelor wrote about the "Man Behind Marvel Comics" in a book published in 2017. Ron Becker, area coordinator for Comparative Media Studies, published a chapter titled "Ideology” in “Craft Of Criticism: Critical Media Studies in Practice,” edited by Michael Kackman and Mary Celeste-Kearney. Ann Bainbridge Frymier, professor of strategic communication, was awarded the Distinguished Article Award from the Instructional Development Division at the National Communication Association. She wrote the article “The Teacher-Student Relationship as an Interpersonal Relationship” with one of her master’s grad studentin communication Marian Houser ’94. Houser is now a professor at Texas State University. Rosemary Pennington, assistant professor of journalism, has published a research article in the International Communication Gazette. "Social media as third spaces? Exploring Muslim identity and connection in Tumblr" examines how Muslim bloggers in social media site Tumblr use the space to negotiate intersections of identity as well as how they connect to other bloggers in the space. Pennington has also submitted a second edited volume to Indiana University Press for publication. "The Media World of ISIS," edited by Michael Krona of Malmo University and Rosemary Pennington of Miami University, explores the ways the Islamic State uses media -- both old and new -- to maintain its caliphate, to recruit new members and terrorize its enemies. The book should be out November 2019.
Joe Sampson, senior clinical professor of journalism, published an article “Tougher online content regulations pose new challenges for German newsrooms” on the RTDNA (Radio Television Digital News Association) website this summer. Andrew Hunt, visiting instructor in strategic communication, is the adviser for the Speech and Debate Club, which placed fourth out of 13 teams at the University of Dayton Flyer Fling recently. Brian Johnston, visiting assistant professor in strategic communication , co-authored a book titled "Myth, Fan Culture, and the Popular Appeal of Liminality in the Music of U2," which was published this November. Wil Haygood, Boadway Professor, received several honors for his book "Tigerland." The 2018 book was named a longlist finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence and was also named a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. Shara Clark, visiting instructor in strategic communication, received an Award of Excellence for the Online Video category at the Cincinnati Blacksmith Awards through PRSSA. She also is on the Cincinnati PRSSA board as the Community Services Director, presented a LinkedIn session for the Society of Insurance Research, served as a judge in PRSSA's Bronze Anvil Awards, served as a judge for Florida Public Relations Association Golden Image Awards, and served as a judge for Cincinnati PRSSA APR panel presentations.
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| Passion for filmmaking leads to producer job at NCIS Richie Owens, class of 1995 graduate, has always known his passion was filmmaking. A native of Middletown, he began studying mass communications at Miami’s Middletown campus in hopes of one day pursuing a career in film. “I never even thought of doing anything other than movie or television making.” said Owens. After graduation, Owens headed to L.A. to pursue his film career. He took any job he could find, and started working for a commercial production company doing research. He then became a production assistant doing random jobs for film crews. Owens worked for Roswell, a show that ran from 1999-2002 and starred actors like Jason Behr and Katherine Heigl. He moved from there to a show called Providence on NBC, where he was working when he got a call to interview for a brand new TV series. Owens was told they were starting a new crime procedural show called NCIS. When he was hired to the crew, they initially believed they would only be on the air for a year or so. Fifteen years later, Owens is still working for NCIS as a supervising producer.
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| MJF alumni win awards at the 2018 SPJ Ohio’s Best Awards - Emily Williams, ’18 JRN, won first place in business profiles for a story in the The Columbus Dispatch
- JD Malone, ’06 JRN, won first place in consumer reporting, for a story she wrote while interning for The Columbus Dispatch
- Jenn Smola, ‘14 JRN, won second place in education reporting for a story in the The Columbus Dispatch
- Katie Wedell, ’07 JRN, won first place in public service journalism for a story in the The Dayton Daily News
- Tana Weingartner, MA in Mass Communication, and Maryanne Zeleznik, ’83 mass communication, won several first and second place awards for their stories on WVXU-FM
The working journalists among MJF faculty as well: - Dan Sewell won a second place in criminal justice reporting for his stories for the Associated Press
- Mark Curnutte, ’84 ENG/JRN, won two second places for minority and social issues reporting for his stories in The Cincinnati Enquirer
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| Other Alumni News - Navid McIlhargey, ’94 Mass Communication, is now president of scripted and client partnerships at Stories Media Group in Los Angeles.
- Yvette Simpson, ’00 Mass Com, was named the chief executive of Democracy for America. Simpson, a former Cincinnati councilwoman, will become chief executive Jan. 1 and will be the first woman of color to hold an executive leadership role at the progressive political action committee.
- Ally Seibert, ’12 Mass Com, is a producer of the new ABC police show The Rookie, starring Nathan Fillion.
- Taylor Dolven, ’12 JRN, left her NYC-based reporting position at Vice News to join The Miami Herald. Dolven had been at Vice for four years, and for a time worked on its HBO partnership. Dolven, who is fluent in Spanish, also worked as a reporter in Argentina.
- Danielle Antony, ’14 STC, was promoted to senior promo insights analyst at Target.
- Kathryn Saulitis, ’14 STC, started a new position as social strategist at 360i.
- Alexandra Boisselle, ’15 STC, started a new position as marketing manager, subscriptions for SourceMedia.
- Allison Gnaegy, ’15 STC, started a new position as Social Media Strategist at Spectrum - GLOBALHealth PR partner.
- Mitch Messina, ’15 STC, was promoted to sales manager at Yelp.
- Blaire Wilson, ’15 STC, started a new position as senior consultant at CVS Health.
- Natalie Durot, ’16 STC, was promoted to account executive at G2 Crowd.
- Alexis Godshall, ’16 STC, is public relations coordinator at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
- Nathan Hengstebeck, ’16 MAC, and Grace Dahlman, ’16 MAC, are field producers for a new reality series American Farmer, which will air on the History Channel.
- Maria Leone, ’16 STC, started a new position as community lead, sales at WeWork.
- Rachel Livingston, ‘16 STC, was promoted to senior account executive at SparkPR.
- Emma Strupp, ’16 STC, started a new position as business operations associate at NIKKI MARTINKOVIC Design Studio.
- Reis Thebault, ’16 JRN, won a 2018 Excellence in Journalism award from SPJ for a special project he did while a grad student at UC Berkeley. Thebault is now working for The Washington Post, where he is part of a team that launched a politics newsletter called Power Up.
- Juanita Gonzalez Valencia, ’16 STC, was promoted to junior art producer at 72andSunny.
- Allison Abrams, ’17 STC, started a new position as multimedia sales executive at Dispatch Media Group.
- Reagan Bennett, ’17 STC, was promoted to assistant account executive at FleishmanHillard.
- Alicia Di Scipio, 17 MAC, has been promoted to music supervisor at The Burnett Group in Los Angeles.
- Rachel Duncan, ’17 STC is now an account associate at News America Marketing.
- Mary Jane Fisher, ’17 STC started a new position assistant account executive at Havas Tonic.
- Jessica Jelinek, ’17 STC, was promoted to account executive at FCB Chicago.
- Abby Kelly, ’17 JRN, International Business & Economics, left her job as a reporter at DCMilitary.com to work for Susan Davis International, a PR firm in the D.C. area that has many clients in the military and nonprofit sectors. Earlier, Abby interned twice for the Truman National Security Project in D.C.
- Caroline Kunetz, ’17 STC, started a new position as assistant events director at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center.
- Kaitlyn Norton, ’17 STC, started a new job at Reynolds and Reynolds, a company that develops software for automotive retailers. Its headquarters is in Dayton, Ohio.
- Kai Parker, ’17 STC, was promoted to senior sales development representative at Okta, Inc.
- Allie Prosinski, ’17 MAC, started as a broadcast associate for MLB Network.
- Angie Riffle, ’17 JRN, will start a new job as a social media marketer for Travel Incorporated in Atlanta.
- Ryan Schneider, ’17 STC, started a new position as account coordinator at Point to Point, Inc.
- Dalton Ulm, ’17 STC, is now the marketing coordinator at Mike's Hard Lemonade in Chicago.
- Gracie Winstel, ’17 STC, was promoted to community manager at Ipsos SMX.
- Ellie Apfelbach, ’18 STC, started as project coordinator at StudioNorth.
- Elizabeth Carpenter, ’18 STC, started a new position as account & strategy apprentice at Yamamoto.
- Kelly Gallagher, ’18 STC, was promoted to marketing coordinator at Gannett in Milwaukee.
- Kathryn Greenstone, ’18 STC, is associate content manager at MRM/McCann in Detroit.
- Peter Guiffre, ’18 STC, started as assistant strategist at OMD USA.
- Isabelle Hanson, ’18 JRN, started as a reporter at KFVS TV (NBC) in Cape Girardeau/Paducah (DMA market #82).
- Hannah Jolly, ’18 JRN, is working at Ford Motor Company as a manufacturing communications specialist.
- Ryan Mitchell, ’18 STC, started a new position as clearing and execution specialist at INTL FCStone.
- Meg Rux, ’18 STC, started as a writer at VSA Partners, Inc.
- Claire Stratton, ’18 STC, started as producer associate at Gallagher.
- Paul Van Walleghem, ’18 STC, was promoted to Frito-Lay sales associate at PepsiCo.
- Emily Williams, JRN ’18, who was editor of The Miami Student, interned last summer at The Boston Globe and now works as the tourism reporter at the Post & Courier in Charleston, S.C.
- Rachel Zetwick, ’18 STC, started as a SHINE Marketing and Communications Associate at Deloitte.
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| 120 Williams Hall • 350 S. Oak St. • Oxford, OH 45056
Phone: 513-529-3521 • Email: mjf@MiamiOH.edu
© 2018 Miami University. All rights reserved.
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