The William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications welcomed new students Sunday, Aug. 20, during the Academic Welcome event. Students had a chance to meet fellow classmates, faculty and staff, talk with representatives from various school organizations, and tour Stauffer-Flint Hall. Students also enjoyed snacks, games and received J-School branded gear. Students with questions about the school can check the J-School website or email jadvising@ku.edu. 

Good Morning Indian Country anchor Alyssa Noriega (left) poses with Melissa Green-Blye, assistant professor and director of Good Morning Indian Country. 

Good Morning Indian Country picks up three awards: The student-run show earned first, second and third place honors in the Native Media Awards Best Newscast Student Division at the native Media Conference in Winnipeg earlier this month. The morning talk show and information program for Indigenous audiences streams live on Facebook every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. from Media Crossroads. 

Associate professor Genelle Belmas was elected to serve as the chair of the AEJMC Professional Freedom & Responsibility Committee for 2023-24. Her duties will include managing several AEJMC (Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication) awards and managing the committee's communications and web presences.

Belmas was also appointed to a one-year term as co-chair of the Libraries Committee by the University Executive Committee.

KCTV, the Courthouse News Service, and the Voice of America all recently interviewed Belmas about the law enforcement raid on the Marion County Record.  

Professor of the practice Stephen Wolgast, Knight Chair for audience and community engagement in news, joined with three other Knight Chairs to prepare an op-ed column for the Kansas City Star on the police raid of the Marion Record. Wolgast partnered with Kathy Kiely and Damon Kiesow of the Missouri School of Journalism and John Affleck of Penn State University to co-author the piece. 

Wolgast was also interviewed about the raid on the Marion County Record for an article in Route Fifty, a Washington, D.C., news outlet that covers state and local government. 

Professor Scott Reinardy was named AEJMC Publications Committee chair at the annual conference. 

New laptop checkout option is now available. Students with financial need or other extenuating circumstances may apply to check out a J-School laptop and power cord for up to one semester at a time. Eligbibility requirements are available here. For information about all equipment checkout options, check out the J-School website. 

Associate professor Genelle Belmas presented two papers at AEJMC in Washington, D.C. The first, co-authored with Kyla Wagner (Syracuse) and Chip Stewart (Texas Christian University), is entitled "Too Many Cases, Too Little Support: How the Debate Over What Instructors Teach in Media Law Courses is a Symptom of Institutional Changes in Mass Communication Education." 

The authors interviewed 38 media law and ethics instructors about the challenges in keeping their content fresh and managing the increasing institutional pressures on their courses. 

Belmas also presented her solo-authored work "Speed the Parting Guest: Minnesota Newspaper Coverage of the 1916 Mesaba Iron Range Strike," a content and thematic analysis of how three newspapers portrayed the industrial workers of the world and the strikers during a 1916 mining strike. 

Professor Hyunjin Seo is principal investigator on a $1.6 million grant running from fall 2023 to summer 2026. The grant is from the National Foundation and is aimed at developing a sustainable ecosystem for technology education for women transitioning from incarceration. The project will be implemented through the Center for Digital Inclusion in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. 

Associate professor Mugur Geana presented his "Impact of Group Attitudes and Beliefs on Health Decision Making" talk at the Triennial Invitational CHOICE Symposium hosted by INSEAD in France. Dr. Geana's presentation was part of the Knowledge Overconfidence Workshop, attended by scholars from eight different countries exploring new paradigms on the influence of groups on people's behaviors. 

The health communication research and intervention projected initiated by Geana, "Health Empowerment for Women Involved with The Criminal Justice System," in collaboration with partners from Romania, Finland, Greece and Turkey, has been fully funded by the European Community's ERASMUS PLUS program with 250,000 Euro. The grant will allow the development of culturally tailored health information interventions focused on women's health (cervical and breast cancer, sexually transmitted diseases and mental health) for incarcerated women in these countries. 

"Communities of Knowledge in Trouble," an article co-authored by Geana with Nathaniel Rabb and Steven Sloman from Brown University, has been published in the Perspectives in Psychological Sciences journal. 

Brianne Pfannenstiel, who is currently the Des Moines Register Chief Politics Reporter, will speak at the Dole Institute of Politics on Aug. 31 at 5:30 p.m. when it hosts its kick-off event "Party on the Patio: All Eyes on Iowa," moderated by SAB coordinator Allie Haggar. Pfannenstiel will give an inside look at her experience covering past presidential races. 

SJMC Diverse Students Organization will hold its first meeting on Sept. 20 at 5:30 p.m. in the Clarkson gallery. The William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications' Diverse Students Association (DSA) is an organization where individuals of any background can learn to navigate the school and careers in journalism and mass communications. You can follow their Instagram for updates  @kujpoc.

Drop-in advising available: If you have any questions or need to meet with someone to discuss your classes or goals, an advisor is available from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in Stauffer-Flint Hall, Room 117.  

Start the semester with Doughnuts with the Dean: Students are invited grab a doughnut Thursday, Aug. 24, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the lobby of Stauffer-Flint Hall. 

As an audio and video intern with Southwest Airlines, Emily Baldwin was responsible for creating all video, audio and animation content for trainings sent to over 70,000 employees. "During my internship, my team completed over 75 projects ranging from short 30-second videos to eight-hour live events and everything in between," Emily said. She also assisted with video shoot days at the hangar, airport, flight simulators, cabin simulators, studios and many other places. 

Job opportunities

Internship and student jobs

Nicole Carros, talent acquisition specialist for Gray TV, will be on campus the afternoon of Oct. 18, a day before the journalism career fair. Carros is looking for opportunities to speak to classes with broadcasting students. If you would be interested in allowing her into your classroom, email Steve Rottinghaus, career and outreach coordinator, at steve_rottinghaus@ku.edu.

The William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications is hiring a student assistant to work with the communications coordinator. Learn more and apply here. 

JMC 101 is hiring three student hourly teaching assistants for the fall semester. Candidate interviews will take place next week. View the job listing for more information on how to apply. 

JSchoolTech is hiring: Work on campus, develop your skills and collaborate with a great crew. 

Learn Adobe skills: Check out our design team. This creative experience will give you a great way to build your portfolio and learn skills. Sign up here.  JSchoolTech will be hosting a series of workshops this fall as well. If you are a student, fill out our survey for feedback on topics.  If you faculty/staff, a graduate student or alum, we also would love to hear from you. 

Work with Heather or Natalie on tech projects: You can find them at the JBar in the Clarkson gallery. 

Lean Adobe Skills: Build your portfolio with JSchoolTech. Make sure to visit the Class Hub. 

Buy creative Cloud: Available at the KU Bookstore for a discounted rate of $150 for the year. 

Alums Rustin Dodd and Mark Dent co-authored the book "KINGDOM QUARTERBACK."  The book, which releases Aug. 22, tells the story of Patrick Mahomes and the history of Kansas City and its pathway to the center of professional football. Dodd is a senior writer at The Athletic and previously worked as a sportswriter at the Kansas City Star from 2010 to 2017. Dent is a journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Texas Monthly, Vox, Wired, The Kansas City Star and elsewhere. Both journalists grew up in the Kansas City area. 

Alumni job updates

Bob Giles died Aug. 7 at age 90. Read his obituary. Giles was a legendary Jayhawk journalist who spent decades shaping newsrooms across the country. He led the Detroit News to a Pulitzer Prize, the highest honor in journalism, as editor of the paper. He was a senior vice president at the Freedom Forum and was eventually appointed to curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University in 2000. He briefly taught journalism classes at KU early in his career and was the University Daily Kansan advisor in 1977. 

Bob Giles (left, center) returned to Lawrence for Susanne Shaw's retirement festivities in April 2018. While at KU, the Kansan staff dubbed Giles "Bullet Bob."

R Steve Dick died July 6 at age 76. Read his obituary. 

Calendar

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

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university's programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and are the Title IX coordinators for their respective campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, civilrights@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY (for the Lawrence, Edwards, Parsons, Yoder, and Topeka campuses); Director, Equal Opportunity Office, Mail Stop 7004, 4330 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Fairway, KS 66205, 913-588-8011, 711 TTY (for the Wichita, Salina, and Kansas City, Kansas medical center campuses).

The University of Kansas is a public institution governed by the Kansas Board of Regents.