Philanthropy in action

On September 23, the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media announced a new executive-in-residence program established to honor alumnus Frank Daniels Jr. ‘53, the legendary president and publisher of The News & Observer based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media Professor Seth Noar has received a five-year, $3.35 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to lead a national study to develop and test messages that discourage adolescents from using electronic cigarettes.

Founded in 1992, the Sports Journalism Institute’s (SJI) fellowship program for minorities and women seeks to diversify sports journalism by training and then placing select students into internships. Sixteen students make up SJI’s class of 2020, including UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media student Landon Bost ’21, a Harrisburg, North Carolina, native. Bost just returned from the program’s weeklong sports journalism boot camp that began on June 1. It was held remotely — thanks to coronavirus health concerns — rather than at the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

UNC Hussman students, along with the entire Carolina community, have faced challenges during the COVID-19 crisis, and have met many of them with innovation and ingenuity. On the week of the last day of classes (follow #UNCLDOC2020 on social media), we’re sharing some of those stories. Below, UNC Hussman Ambassadors Program Manager Vanessa Agunobi explores a campaign started by a Hussman student to celebrate women of color on campus — virtually.

UNC Hussman doctoral student and Roy H. Park Fellow Kirsten Adams has received a prestigious P.E.O. Scholar Award.

Roy H. Park Fellow and doctoral candidate Deborah Dwyer has been selected for a 2020-21 fellowship at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, headquartered at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Experts at UNC Hussman, which continues to be at the forefront of health communications research and education, have received a major new $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study warnings about hookah smoking.

UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media doctoral alumna Johanna Cleary ’04 (Ph.D.) honors her father’s legacy by supporting a national media law student paper competition administered by the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy — a collaboration of UNC Hussman and the UNC School of Law.

Three UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media faculty members were awarded a total of $15,000 in seed grants for promising research projects.

Senior Courtney Decker’s Fall 2019 Cause Communications project didn’t come with a map.

Carolina Covenant Scholar Patsy Montesinos ’21 was named one of five ProPublica Emerging Reporters for the 2019–2020 school year. In its fifth year, the nonprofit newsroom’s program, which aims to lower barriers to investigative journalism for college journalists from diverse backgrounds, gave Montesinos three days to network and learn from reporters in their native habitat: newsrooms at The New York Times, Buzzfeed, WNYC and ProPublica. The program also paired Montesinos with ProPublica’s Emmy Award and Edward R. Murrow award-winning filmmaker and journalist Katie Campbell, providing the Hussman junior with $9,000 in seed money to produce a video on immigration and family dynamics which she pitched last fall and plans to finish this summer under Campbell’s tutelage. As a ProPublica Emerging Reporter, Montesinos will also have the opportunity to attend the 2020 NICAR Conference devoted to data journalism this March in New Orleans.

Creating a campaign in two weeks, implementing a full plan from concept to strategy to creative, with a full slate of social media including multiple videos — on zero budget? That would be a tall order for even a professional communications firm. But one class at UNC Hussman overcame that challenge masterfully this semester.

UNC-Chapel Hill offers its students a global guarantee, aiming to ensure that all students — even those who never travel abroad while at UNC — receive a substantive combination of knowledge, experiences and skills to be engaged and dynamic global citizens. UNC Hussman’s growing Global, Immersive and Professional (GIP) programs team furthers that guarantee for the school. Over half of Hussman’s most recent graduating class (2018) took part in a global experience either by studying or working abroad, interning for an international organization or participating in courses and projects with a global component.

A vibrant and collaborative interdisciplinary research culture at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media creates new knowledge, advances scholarship and helps reinvent media.
Below is a list of recently presented scholarship by UNC Hussman faculty and students, including Park doctoral fellow Jordan Morehouse (right), who presented an award-winning paper at the NCA Convention.

Objectivity, impartiality, integrity and truth-seeking: On Homecoming weekend, Carolina honored those core journalistic values and took a step into the future of journalism and media education, with a day celebrating the new UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. At a standing-room-only ceremony, the school assumed its new name, and honored the transformational contribution of Walter Hussman Jr. ‘68 and the Hussman family.

In September, Carolina announced a historic moment for the school — a Campaign for Carolina gift of $25 million from alumnus and Arkansas native Walter E. Hussman Jr. ’68, his wife Ben, their son Palmer Hussman, and daughters Eliza Hussman Gaines ’12 (M.A.) and Olivia Hussman Ramsey. The gift is the largest single gift ever made to the school and the largest donation in the history of the Hussman family.

Printed on the second page of each of the 10 daily newspapers that Carolina alumnus Walter Hussman Jr. and his family own are the core values that his publications adhere to: objectivity, impartiality, integrity and truth-seeking. Those values are being embraced enthusiastically at Carolina and will serve as a driving statement behind the newly named University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. With a $25 million gift to the school, the Hussman family is investing heavily in the future of journalism and the media professions and reinforcing those values for the next generation of media leaders being trained at Carolina.

Printed on the second page of each of the 10 daily newspapers that Carolina alumnus Walter Hussman Jr. and his family own are the core values that his publications adhere to: objectivity, impartiality, integrity and truth-seeking. Those values are being embraced enthusiastically at Carolina and will serve as a driving statement behind the newly named University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. With a $25 million gift to the school, the Hussman family is investing heavily in the future of journalism and the media professions and reinforcing those values for the next generation of media leaders being trained at Carolina.

With these core values, the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media is positioned to help rebuild the bond between the public and the media.

The first in his immediate family to graduate from college, Rickie David Willis ’75 built a 50-year career in radio and television at stations throughout the country, spending the last half of his career as a news executive in the Triangle area of his native state. Under the auspices of the Campaign for Carolina at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Willis and his wife have created the Rickie David & Joy P. Willis Scholarship Fund with a goal of helping students attend the UNC School of Media and Journalism, particularly qualified community college students who want to transfer to Carolina but could use some financial assistance. It’s the type of support that Willis himself benefited from as a student at Carolina in the early ’70s. He and his wife are paying it forward, in a very generous way.

Story by the UNC Office for Diversity and Inclusion | ​Originally published July 24, 2019, on diversity.unc.edu

The UNC School of Media and Journalism granted more than $526,343 in the 2018-19 academic year, making a difference in the lives of more than 240 undergraduate and graduate MJ-school students.

Another round of fellows will complete internships in Washington, D.C., in Summer 2019 thanks to the Sharoky Fellowship Program. This year, 14 scholars will contribute their talents to companies ranging from NBC News to the John F. Kennedy Center.

The 2019 Lookout Fellows are Brandon Callender ’20, Jeremiah Rhodes ’20, Stella Shon ’20 and Julia Slawek ’20.

The UNC School of Media and Journalism has announced the 2019 participants of the Bloomberg-UNC-Berkeley Journalism Diversity Program, and will partner with the City, University Department of Journalism in London to extend the program overseas this year.

The CBC-UNC Diversity Fellowship Program selected 12 top students from universities across the nation to engage in a hands-on workshop in March 2019 led by professionals of WRAL-TV and faculty members of the UNC School of Media and Journalism. Two of the selected dozen are MJ-school students — Kimothy Jones ’19 (M.A.) and Maryam Mohamed ’19.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced today that the Curtis Foundation is investing $10 million to build a state-of-the-art media center and fund immersive learning experiences for UNC School of Media and Journalism students.

Story by The News & Observer | Originally published Nov. 2, 2018, on newsobserver.com

Story by The Daily Tar Heel | Originally published Nov. 2, 2018, on dailytarheel.com

Story by University Communications | Originally published Nov. 2, 2018, on uncnews.unc.edu

Thanks to the Sharoky Fellowship Program, 14 students and recent grads from the UNC School of Media and Journalism are living and interning in Washington, D.C., in Summer 2018.

“Students often learn as much outside the classroom as inside. Clearly the Don and Barbara Curtis awards give students the chance to learn from the pros, to explore and network, and to accelerate their careers,” said Susan King, dean of the UNC School of Media and Journalism.

The UNC School of Media and Journalism granted $534,390 through private funding in the 2017-18 academic year for scholarships and awards. More than $1.46 million was also awarded to graduate students through the Roy H. Park Fellowships alone, made possible by private support from the Triad Foundation.

Four UNC School of Media and Journalism students have begun dream internship experiences this summer thanks to The Lookout Fellows Program, established by UNC alumni Lee and Sunny Burrows.

A philanthropic Campaign for Carolina fund established by Robert “Frank” Andrews IV ’90 for the UNC School of Media and Journalism fosters and celebrates entrepreneurialism at the school. Distinguished Professor John Sweeney, a mentor during Andrews’ undergraduate days at the MJ-school, leads The Frank Andrews Fund for Aspiring Agency Entrepreneurs. He is planning a series of events, competitions and outreach efforts to nurture entrepreneurial thinking in students and to shine a light on innovation by MJ-school faculty and alumni.

The 2018 Bloomberg-UNC-Berkeley Diversity Program begins Monday, May 14, with 11 university students competitively selected from across the country arriving at the UNC School of Media and Journalism.

Follow #MJSB18 on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the MJ-school spring break experience.

Students in Associate Professor Daniel Kreiss’ “MEJO 490: Washington Experience” course are headed north for their second trip to Washington, D.C.

Through the Lookout Foundation, the Burrows family has committed $200,000 over the next four years to support The Lookout Fellows Program. The program supports undergraduate students with funding for summer internships.

UNC School of Media and Journalism master’s graduate and Park Fellow Liz Schlemmer ’17 (M.A.) began her two-year run as WUNC’s next Fletcher Fellow for Education Policy Reporting in August.

The UNC School of Media and Journalism granted more than $2.01 million total in undergraduate and graduate scholarships, awards and Roy H. Park Fellowships in the 2016-17 academic year.

Thanks to the Sharoky Fellowship Program, 14 students and recent grads from the UNC School of Media and Journalism are living and interning in Washington, D.C., in Summer 2017.

From covering the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro to being invited to Super Bowl Media Week in Houston, students traveled to 19 cities across four different continents in 2016-17, reporting on local news, learning about the international media markets and networking with alumni.

On Monday, May 15, university students from across the country will arrive at the UNC School of Media and Journalism to take part in the first-ever Bloomberg-UNC Business Journalism Diversity Program.

Eight news organizations in North Carolina have been selected to participate in a program launched by the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative in partnership with the UNC Center for Innovation & Sustainability in Local Media.

Riley Reid, an advertising senior in the MJ-school, spent two weeks in Cannes last summer, with his friend and one of his co-producers Stuart Schrader thanks to the MJ-school’s John Sweeney Experience Award.

Chris Wallace, anchor of Fox News Sunday, will give this year’s Roy H. Park Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, April 6, at the UNC School of Media and Journalism. The lecture — America Under President Trump: A View From Washington — will be held in the Carroll Hall auditorium beginning at 5 p.m.

UNC School of Media and Journalism alumni Bill and Leigh Goodwyn are expanding the school’s advertising and public relations reach into fashion media and product development with a $1 million gift.

Twenty-nine students traveled to Brazil with the UNC School of Media and Journalism to cover the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in partnership with the Olympic News Service and the University of Memphis.