University of IllinoisCollege of Media
The Media I, a monthly electronic newsletter of the College of Communications.
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2
MARCH 10, 2008
Wally Snyder, AAF president and CEO visits Illinois campus.
AAF on campus
Wally Snyder (center, in suit coat), who has been president and CEO of the American Advertising Federation for 15 years, paid an unprecedented visit to Illinois in October. With more than 200 chapters, AAF keeps him busy enough that Snyder rarely makes campus visits. He's pictured here with UI advertising students, who represent the largest AAF student chapter in the country, and advertising lecturer Steve Hall '91 BUS, MS '93 ADV (second from left). Hall is also the director of career services for the Department of Advertising, faculty adviser for the campus AAF chapter and chair of AAF's Academic Committee. Snyder plans to retire from AAF at the end of this year.
 

Alumni accomplishments

  • John Cater '97, former journalism student, recently joined WSB-TV Atlanta as a fulltime freelance correspondent. Previously he was a morning anchor on WPCW television and a reporter for KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh.
  • Dimitra DeFotis '88 JOURN is in the midst of a Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Journalism at Columbia University (New York). The fellowships were offered to 10 mid-career journalists, for whom the program provides full tuition and a living stipend for the year. DeFotis plans to return to her job as a staff writer for Barron's after the end of the academic year.
  • Matt Dietrich '87 JOURN was recently named editorial page editor for the (Springfield, Ill.) State Journal-Register. He has been with the newspaper since 1990, most recently serving as assistant editor page editor.
  • Bob Epstein '74 JOURN took home two Emmy Awards recently as senior broadcast producer for "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams." The show won Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast for "Crisis in the Middle East" and for Best Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast for "Crisis in Darfur."
  • Beth Finke '81 JOURN has written a children's book about herself and her guide dog — from the dog's point of view — titled, "Hanni and Beth: Safe and Sound."
  • Steve Friedman '69 RADIO & TV has launched a new consulting firm, Vir2L Media LLC. His partner in the new venture is Nanci Ross, former CBS News special projects editor. Until recently, Friedman was vice president of morning broadcasts for CBS News, and he is best known for devising the street-level studios for the morning programs during terms as executive producer of NBC's "Today" show and CBS' "Early Show."
  • Harry Gray '41 JOURN, MS '47 JOURN, and his wife, Helen Gray, recently provided a naming gift to the Hartford Hospital's new cancer center in Avon, Conn. The center is under construction and is expected to open next year. Mr. Gray is the former CEO of United Technologies Corp. and current chairman of Mott Corp., Farmington, Conn., a metal products manufacturer.
  • Drew Griffin. Drew Griffin '84 JOURN (right), an investigative correspondent for CNN, won the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress from the National Press Foundation. Griffin earned the award for his 2007 broadcast, "Keeping Them Honest," which reported on congressional earmarks.
  • Don Heimburger '69 JOURN recently launched Heimburger's European Traveler, a Web magazine focused on all things related to European special events and travel destinations, especially geared toward travelers from North America.
  • Kathleen Kayse '80 ADV was recently named executive vice president of digital media sales for Discover Communications. Kayse previously was executive VP, Marketing Solutions, for AOL's Platform-A organization, and she had been with Time Warner for 24 years. Discovery includes the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal planet, Science Channel Investigation Discovery and HD Theater.
  • David Kistle '71 ADV recently earned the Jack Felton Golden Ruler Award from the Institute for Public Relations. The award recognizes public relations professionals for excellence in public-relations measurement and evaluation. Kistle is senior vice president at Padilla Speer Beardsley, a national PR and marketing company in Minneapolis.
  • Julie Theisen Klassen '87 ADV recently published her first novel, "Lady of Milkweed Manor." She had been working as a fiction editor and in marketing and editorial for Christian publishers.
  • Bob Lachky '75 ADV, MS '77 ADV, Was quoted on Spotbowl.com, commenting on the impact of Super Bowl advertising.
  • Will Leitch '98 JOURN was on campus at the Illini Union Bookstore in February to talk about his latest book, "God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back)"
  • Peggy Boyer Long MS '73 JOURN retired in December 2007 from Illinois Issues magazine, which is published at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
  • Allan Loudell '77 RADIO & TV won first-place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for Best Election Coverage, Best Interview and Best Feature. He also won a first-place award from the National Federation of Press Women for Best Radio Interview. Loudell is a news anchor, interviewer and reporter at WDEL Radio, Delmarva Broadcasting, in Wilmington, Del.
  • Jana Mayfield '72 JOURN was recently appointed director of human resources for the St. Joseph health care system headquartered in St. Charles, Mo.
  • Earl Merkel '75 JOURN is about to release his third book, a suspense thriller. "Virgins and Martyrs" will debut in April. Merkel also wrote "Dirty Fire" and "Final Epidemic," and the latter became a Barnes and Noble national bestseller.
  • Kara Corso Pothier '93 JOURN earned a primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program. She was a producer on "Private Worlds: Kids with Autism," an installment of Nickelodeon's Nick News with Linda Ellerbee.
  • Heather Rosing. Heather Rosing '93 JOURN (right) recently began a term as president of the San Diego County Bar Association. She plans to focus on increasing professionalism, civility and diversity in the organization. Rosing is an attorney and chief financial officer at the Klinedinst law firm in San Diego.
  • Dennis Swanson '61 JOURN, MS '66 RADIO & TV, was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame prior to the 2008 Rose Bowl game in which Illinois played USC. Swanson is president of station operations for the Fox Television Stations Division.
    MORE ON THE ROSE BOWL HALL OF FAME ...

The Media I archive

Watch for news about recent awards won by UI journalism and advertising students and a photo of the NYC journalism alumni reunion — all in the April issue of The Media I.

Highlighted events

  • Chicago Illini of the Year
    March 11, University Club of Chicago
    Paul Schrage MS '59 ADV will be honored as one of three Chicago Illini of the Year by the UI Alumni Association. As senior executive vice president and chief marketing officer for McDonald's, Schrage introduced the golden arches image in the company's marketing and advertising efforts. He retired in 1997, but now serves as a consultant to McDonald's.
    MORE ON SCHRAGE AND CHICAGO ILLINI OF THE YEAR ...
  • "Reporting the Arab and Muslim Worlds"
    March 12, noon-1 p.m., 192 Lincoln Hall
    Marda Dunsky, '81JOURN will speak on issues related to those in her recently published book, "Pens and Swords: How the American Mainstream Media Report the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." She previously was an Arab affairs reporter for the Jerusalem Post and a reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
  • "Spin Control: An inside look at communications strategy"
    March 12, 5-6 p.m., 228 Gregory Hall, Peterson Conference Room
    Dennis Culloton is executive vice president of Res Publica Group, an independent public affairs and public relations agency in Chicago with a focus on health care, transportation, education, environment and real estate issues. Previously he was a broadcast journalist and licensed attorney. He'll speak about his experience as a crisis manager, media strategist and corporate communicator.
  • "Sports Journalism"
    March 26, noon-1 p.m., 192 Lincoln Hall and
    3-4 p.m., 223 Gregory Hall
    WBBM Newsradio's Jeff Joniak, the voice of the Chicago Bears, and Ron Gleason, Bears announcer, will talk sports in these two seminars. Joniak has 20 years of Chicago sports broadcasting experience, and Gleason has nearly 30 years of broadcast experience. In addition to their Bears broadcasting roles, Joniak serves as the station's director of sports operations and sports anchor for the afternoon drive time, and Gleason is the director of news and programming and a news anchor.

Student and faculty honors

  • Eda Derhemi, research scholar in the Institute of Communications Research, has been invited to present a paper on "Re-dimensioning the Boundaries of Nationality" at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University, in April. Derhemi was also the recipient of a postdoctoral advanced research award from the International Research and Exchange Board, a grant that ran through January 2008.
  • Matt Doherty, advertising student and president of Illinois' student chapter of the American Advertising Federation, has won an AAF Advertising Hall of Fame Legacy Scholarship. The award includes $2,000 to be used for undergraduate tuition and fees. Students were selected based on academic achievement and volunteer efforts and will be honored during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the end of March in New York.
  • Dong Han and Yu Hong, both doctoral students in the Institute of Communications Research, have been invited to present their papers as part of a panel at the 2008 International Communication Association in Montreal in May.
  • Michael Giardina, visiting assistant professor in the Department of Advertising, has been selected to receive the 2008 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Sport Management and Media at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York. Giardina holds two degrees from Ithaca, which will present the award on April 26.
  • James Hay, associate professor in the Institute of Communications Research, co-authored the book, "Better Living Through Reality TV: Television and Post-Welfare Citizenship," with Laurie Ouellette of the University of Minnesota. The book was published in January 2008.
  • The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities awarded 2007-08 fellowships to the ICR's Lisa Nakamura, Jin-kyung Park and Victor Pickard. Kevin Healey has received an IPRH fellowship for 2008-09, as well as a summer fellowship to attend the Cornell School of Critical Theory.
  • Lisa Nakamura also wrote a book that was recently published, "Digitizing Race: Visual Cultures of the Internet," and she discussed the book at the Authors Corner in the Illini Union Bookstore in February.
  • Andrew Ó Baoill, doctoral student in the Institute of Communications Research, was recently appointed station manager at WRFU-LP Radio in Urbana and a trustee of the Champaign County Central Labor Council.
  • Kent Ono, research professor in the Institute of Communications Research, received the Outstanding Asian American Faculty/Staff Award for 2007.
  • Anghy Valdivia, professor in the Institute of Communications Research, edited a collection of essays titled, "Latina/o Communication Studies Today," which was published in December 2007. Included among the essay authors are Jillian Baez, ICR doctoral student, and Valdivia. In January, Valdivia was also invited to participate in the Geena Davis Institute of Gender and the Media in Los Angeles as part of a panel of global scholars considering issues of girls in television.
  • Melba Velez, doctoral student in the Institute of Communications Research, has written an article that will appear in the International Journal of Humanistic Studies and Literature, published by the University of Puerto Rico. The special issue is dedicated to Latin American philosophy and will be published in Spring 2008.
WILL's longtime FM music host retires

Roger Cooper graced the FM airways for 30 years at WILL. He retired on Feb. 21 but offered his faithful listeners on final classical music treat — his Top 20 favorites were aired during the afternoon broadcasts, Feb. 25-29.

Summer opportunity for faculty

The University has issued a call for proposals to faculty interested in a four-day May 2008 conference on using Web-based technologies in teaching. Registration opens March 17. SEE FACULTY SUMMER INSTITUTE DETAILS.

Special Spring Break hours for Communications Library

The Communications Library will operate with limited hours during Spring Break, March 17-21: Monday through Friday the library will be open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Regular hours will resume on Sunday, March 23 (5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays).

 

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The Media I is published monthly during the regular academic year (August-May).
Dean Ron Yates, publisher; Susan McKenna, editor in chief
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