Journalism 18 | College of Media

Multimedia Reporting students produce stories about impact of labor shortage on local businesses

Classwork by students in JOUR 215: Multimedia Reporting, taught by Charles “Stretch” Ledford, associate professor of journalism, was featured on CU-CitizenAccess.org in May. The journalism students produced stories in Fall 2021 about how the nation’s pandemic-induced labor shortage has affected local businesses.

Farrah Anderson, a sophomore in journalism, wrote the article that gave an overview of the projects. Students interviewed people from the Champaign-Urbana businesses Esquire Lounge, Cracked, World Harvest, Black Dog, Maize Mexican Grill, and Jarling’s Custard Cup, as well as a local family seeking care for a child with disabilities. Anderson’s story about childcare was featured additionally on Illinois Newsroom from Illinois Public Media in May.

Watch the student-produced videos:

Read “As national labor shortage drags on, local businesses and workers suffer consequences of the ‘Great Resignation'” on CU-CitizenAccess.org
Read/listen to “Labor shortage leaves families of children with disabilities scrambling for care they need” on IllinoisNewsrom.org

Journalism alum Murray wins Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting with ‘Tampa Bay Times’ team

While meeting with the family of a former battery recycling plant manager whose son had lead poisoning, a Pulitzer Prize-winning story crystallized for Eli Murray (BS ’15, journalism), investigative reporter at the Tampa Bay Times.

The family had been suffering because their son was born with a lead level that creeped higher each year.

“The lead could only be coming from the factory where [the] husband worked and it had driven a wedge into their family and put them at odds with each other,” Murray said. “I could see what was at stake for this family and the hundreds of other workers’ families.”

Murray, and fellow investigative reporters Corey G. Johnson and Rebecca Woolington, received the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting for their series “Poisoned,” described as “a compelling exposé of highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant that forced the implementation of safety measures to adequately protect workers and nearby residents.”

“The investigation by the Tampa Bay Times into dangerous conditions at a lead smelter spurred immediate improvements for health and safety,” said Pulitzer Prize Board member Nicole Caroll. “This newsroom changed workers’ lives, and its reporting shows the critical importance and impact of strong local journalism.”

Murray said he’ll never forget visiting that family: “Every day since it has been a driving source of motivation to shine light into these dark corners to tell these workers’ stories and hopefully effect change.”

The investigative team had spent almost two years gathering data and reporting before the first article in the series was published in 2021. Murray spent months building a database from thousands of pages of PDFs and analyzing the results.

After their Pulitzer Prize was announced on May 9, the Tampa Bay Times reporters shared remarks. Murray acknowledged some University of Illinois journalism faculty members for helping him on his career path. (See video.)

“I wanted to thank a few of my other mentors: Brant Houston, Stretch Ledford, and Jennifer Follis, who encouraged me to follow the data and the programming side of things and to find a way to make that work in journalism and in telling great stories,” Murray said.

Murray was drawn to data journalism because of the ability to tell a story visually that resonates with audiences.

“Eli was an excellent, dedicated student who was a natural at data journalism and great to work with,” said Brant Houston, Knight Chair of Investigative Reporting and professor of journalism. “I am so pleased, but not too surprised, with all his accomplishments and the recognition he has received. I expect there will be much more to come.”

“Beyond Eli’s obvious and prodigious talents as an investigative reporter and data journalist, I think it’s important to recognize that talent can take one only so far down the road to success,” said Charles “Stretch” Ledford, associate professor of journalism. “What brought Eli to this place of international recognition are the same humanistic qualities that made him an outstanding student and vital collaborator here at Illinois—a thirst for knowledge, a restless mind, an unflinching commitment to the truth, and—I don’t know a better way to say it—a heart of gold. These qualities would have carried Eli to great things no matter his chosen field. The people of Tampa Bay, and beyond, are indeed fortunate that he found his calling in journalism.”

Murray was hired at the Tampa Bay Times as a data reporter following an internship there in 2015. As a journalism student at Illinois, he received the Glenn Hanson Scholarship in Visual Communications from the College of Media. He also worked at The Daily Illini as a reporter covering Urbana city government during his junior year, and became a web developer in charge of building the Salary Guide during his senior year.

To learn more, see Tampa Bay Times reporters win Pulitzer Prize for ‘Poisoned’ series.

—Holly Rushakoff

Media students present at 2022 Undergraduate Research Symposium

Update May 10, 2022:

Congratulations to Ethan Grinberg, sophomore in computer science + advertising (pictured above), for winning the Undergraduate Research Symposium’s Outstanding Award in the category of Numbers, Data, and Computation for his poster presentation on “The Mechanisms of Misinformation: Clustering Diffusion Networks of Low Credibility Sources by Topology.” His research mentor was Jacob Fisher, assistant professor of advertising.

Students from each major in the College of Media are participating in the 15^th annual University of Illinois Undergraduate Research Symposium, held Thursday, April 28, in the Illini Union. The symposium features presentations, posters, and performances from students across campus.

Media student poster presentations include:

“Virtual Reality and Its Immersive Capabilities: Can It Stimulate Pro-Environmental Behavior”
9–10:15 a.m., Illini Room A—Science and Technology Session

Justin Sun, Senior, Advertising
Minghao Sun, Junior, Advertising
Henry Rose, Senior, Advertising

Research Mentors: Chen (Crystal) Chen, ICR doctoral student/Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, and Ewa Maslowska, Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising

“Analyzing the Relationship between Fear and Election Violence”
9–10:15 a.m., Illini Room C—Social Science and Behavior Session

Billy Wojcicki, Senior, Advertising

Research Mentor: Tolgahan Dilgin, Department of Political Science

“Analyzing Life Experiences through Oral History Methods”
1:30–2:45 p.m., Illini Room A—Health and Wellness Session

Vivian La, Sophomore, Journalism

Research Mentor: Sana Saboowala, Program in Ecology, Evolution, & Conservation Biology

“Investigating the Influence of Parenting Styles on Children’s Online Language Intensity in the Context of Celebrity Worship: Emotion Regulation as a Mediator”
1:30–2:45 p.m., Illini Room C—Social Science and Behavior Session

Sherry Zhang, Senior, Media & Cinema Studies

Research Mentor: Chen (Crystal) Chen, ICR doctoral student/Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising

“The Mechanisms of Misinformation: Clustering Diffusion Networks of Low Credibility Sources by Topology”
3:15–4:30 p.m., Illini Room South Lounge—Numbers, Data, and Computation Session

Ethan Grinberg, Sophomore, Computer Science + Advertising

Research Mentor: Jacob Fisher, Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising

Ethan Grinberg, CS+advertising sophomore, was also a semi-finalist in the Image of Research competition with his submission “The Shape of Misinformation.” See his image and description.

Two Media students also participated in the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program to assist advanced graduate students with their research projects:

Billy Wojcicki, advertising senior, worked with research mentor Tolgahan Dilgin in the Department of Political Science
Vivian La, journalism sophomore, worked with research mentor Sana Saboowala in the Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology

View the Undergraduate Research Week program .

Houston helps preserve investigative news content of FairWarning

The University of Illinois Archives has acquired and is preserving the website of FairWarning.org, a nonprofit investigative news organization founded and edited by Myron Levin. Brant Houston (pictured at right), Knight Chair Professor of Investigative Reporting in the Department of Journalism, helped arrange the archiving of FairWarning’s content.

FairWarning produced and published the work of staff writers and independent journalists, and its archives are being added to a rich collection of communication materials preserved by the University of Illinois Archives.

FairWarning issued watchdog reports with an emphasis on public health, consumer, labor, and environmental issues, and related topics of government and business accountability. Over 11 years of operation (2010-2021), its stories were published on its website and were also co-published by nearly 200 online, print, and broadcast news organizations across the country.

“I am pleased that the wonderful work of FairWarning has found a home at the University Archives,” Houston said. “It will now be a valuable and preserved resource for all journalists, especially investigative reporters. We thank the staff at the archives for all the work they put into this project.”

The preserved copy of the FairWarning website is found in the Wayback Machine, the web archive service built by the Internet Archive. The collection is accessible from the University of Illinois Archives Holdings Database at https://archon.library.illinois.edu/index.php?p=digitallibrary/digitalcontent&id=15537. Or go directly to the archive at https://wayback.archive-it.org/16877/20210929142827/https://www.fairwarning.org/.

Levin, the site’s founder, said he was happy to see the work has found a permanent home.

“When we knew that FairWarning would be closing, it was our overriding goal to ensure that our deeply reported stories would be accessible to journalists, researchers, students, and others,” he said. “For that reason, we’re thrilled to know that our watchdog journalism will be preserved in the University of Illinois Library Archives.”

Alumni inducted into Illini Media Company’s Hall of Fame

The Illini Media Company, which oversees The Daily Illini student newspaper, WPGU 107.1 FM radio station, and the Illio yearbook, inducted 20 people into its Class of 2022 Hall of Fame at a ceremony on April 9, 2022. Fourteen were College of Media alumni, including:

the late Nelson Algren (BS ’31, journalism), winner of 1950 National Book Award for Fiction for The Man with the Golden Arm
Susan J. Smith Cornwell (BS ’77, journalism), retired congressional correspondent at Reuters
Amara Enyia (BS ’05, journalism), Chicago attorney and activist
Jon Hansen (BS ’06, journalism), Emmy Award-winning host of WGN’s “Your Money Matters”
Paula Kamen (BS ’89, journalism), author of the book Finding Iris Chang, about her friend and Illinois journalism classmate
John J. Kim (BS ’97, advertising), photographer at Chicago Tribune and winner of 2011 Pulitzer Prize with reporting team at Chicago Sun-Times
Natasha Korecki (BS ’96, journalism), senior national political reporter at NBC News
Will Leitch (BS ’98, journalism), contributing editor at New York Magazine, founder of Deadspin, MLB.com national correspondent, and author
the late Allan R. Loudell (BS ’77, radio & TV), National Association of Broadcasters Crystal Radio Award winner
Steve Osunsami (BS ’93, journalism), Emmy Award-winning senior national correspondent at ABC News
John Paul (BS ’77, radio & TV; MS ’10, journalism), retired TV broadcaster at WCIA-TV in Champaign and journalism instructor at UIUC
Rick Sallinger (BS ’71, MS ’72, advertising), Peabody Award-winning reporter at CBS4 in Denver, Colorado
Bernard Schoenburg (BS ’76, journalism), retired political journalist
Pat Wingert (BS ’77, journalism), reporter at Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, former correspondent at Newsweek

The members were recognized for “their distinguished professional careers and contributions to Illini Media as students, professional staff, and alumni,” according to the Illini Media website.

Photo courtesy of the Illini Media Company.

Row 1 (left to right): Bernard Schoenburg, Rick Sallinger, Susan J. Smith Cornwell, Pat Wingert Kelly, Paula Kamen

Row 2: Ralph Nozaki, Jon Hansen, Natasha Korecki, Will Leitch, John Paul, Sean Long

Row 3: Ann Dwyer, Steve Osunsami, Brad Fuhr, John J. Kim

Q&A with Mike Vainisi

Mike Vainisi (BS ’08, journalism) is head of original content at ATTN:. In Spring 2022, he was part of a Media Career Night alumni panel that discussed working in entertainment and Hollywood. (Watch the recording.)

How did you go about picking journalism as your major?
As someone who loved writing in high school, journalism was a great way of turning that interest and passion into a career. It is a very versatile major and you come out of it with a very strong writing background. At first, I saw myself becoming a journalist or reporter, but as time went on, I developed an interest in politics. At a certain point, I decided I wanted to work on political campaigns, which I ended up doing after graduation. Working on political campaigns, I utilized the same skill sets I learned as a journalism major such as communication, writing, and social media. Majoring in journalism ended up being a great background for this career.

What are some of your career highlights so far?
Right now, I oversee media content at a media company called ATTN: in California. We are a combination of a publisher and production company, so we program to social media companies but also make original content, like TV shows, which we then sell to streaming services. I have worked on specials in 2020 to promote voting in the election, featuring three presidents including former President Obama. At this job, I’ve been able to merge my interests in journalism, content creation in media, and politics, which has been a very fun experience.

How do you think the College of Media prepared you for your successful career?
I think the hard skills that you develop are one of the most important skills to have. As someone who hires people, it is super helpful to know that a potential hire has strong writing skills. The same applies to editing, broadcasting, and design. When you’re in school you may not think about it as much, but you begin the process of developing these core skills. I still use the skills that I learned in my editing classes 13 years ago, which is an aspect of my education that was very helpful.

What advice do you have for current journalism students or Media students? What would you have done differently?
Be very flexible in terms of how you want to apply your skills from a career point-of-view. A good way to maintain your flexibility is by maintaining an array of skills. For example, if you are majoring in journalism, then learn how to video edit. A lot of publishers or journalism outlets want to hire writers who can also be, in a way, their own producers. Being able to have those skills to successfully tell a story with the different aspects of media you have learned is incredibly useful. Overall, trying to be as dynamic as you can and maintaining the ability to tell stories no matter what the format is, I’ve found to be vital.

—Interview by Daniela Mejia, New Voices Intern

Media faculty and TAs make list of teachers ranked as excellent

Congratulations to all of the College of Media faculty, instructors, and teaching assistants who were ranked as excellent by their students!

This list is based on Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES) questionnaire forms completed by students during the Fall 2021 semester and Winter 2021-2022. Only those instructors who distributed ICES forms at least once during this time period and who released their data for publication are included in the list. View the complete list.

Note: * denotes that the instructor ratings were outstanding

ADVERTISING

BRITTANY DUFF – ADV 284

JACOB FISHER – ADV 283, 305

STEVE HALL – ADV 150

CHANG-DAE HAM – ADV 460, 587

JACQUELINE HITCHON – ADV 283

TERRY KASDAN – ADV 409

AMANDA MABRY-FLYNN – ADV 283

EWA MASLOWSKA – ADV 460

* SHACHAR MERON – ADV 498

* MARISA PEACOCK – ADV 350, 491

SELA SAR – ADV 550

LEONA YI-FAN SU – ADV 581

JOURNALISM

CHRISTOPHER BALL – JOUR 101, 451

STEPHANIE CRAFT – JOUR 505

ALISON DAVIS – JOUR 210, 340

KEN ERDEY – JOUR 217

CHRIS EVANS – JOUR 200

CAROL LOMBARDI – JOUR 220

STEPHEN WARREN – JOUR 453

MEDIA & CINEMA STUDIES

AMANDA CIAFONE – MACS 317

CL COLE – MACS 351

JOSH HEUMAN – MACS 264, 320

JON KNIPP – MACS 282

DEREK LONG – MACS 261, 503

JENNY OYALLON-KOLOSKI – MACS 203

STRATEGIC BRAND COMMUNICATION

JACQUELINE HITCHON – SBC 503

SHACHAR MERON – SBC 500

TEACHING ASSISTANTS

* A. CANO – MACS 100

C. CHEN – ADV 460

J. PYO – MACS 100

College of Media faculty appointed to Associate Dean positions

April 8, 2022 | Holly Rushakoff

Two faculty from the College of Media have been appointed by Dean Tracy Sulkin to associate dean positions starting August 16.

Announced in January, Stephanie Craft, currently professor and head of the Department of Journalism, will serve as the College of Media’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Announced in March, Jason P. Chambers, currently associate professor and associate head of the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, and Dean’s Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion, will serve as the College of Media’s inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

“I am pleased to welcome Professors Chambers and Craft to their important new roles, and I look forward to working closely with them,” Sulkin said. “Their strong administrative skills, commitment to the college and our mission, and consultative approach to decision-making make them both excellent additions to the College of Media leadership team.”

Craft, a scholar of news literacy and journalism ethics, joined the Illinois faculty in 2013. She has taught courses such as History of American Journalism, Introduction to Journalism, and Journalism Ethics & Diversity. She has served as head of the Department of Journalism from August 2018 until January 2022. Last summer, the third edition of her book Principles of American Journalism: An Introduction, coauthored with Charles N. Davis, was published.

“I have appreciated the opportunity to help my department colleagues work toward their goals but am now looking forward to the chance the associate dean role offers to take a broader view of the work we do in the college and how it connects to the rest of campus and beyond,” Craft said.

While on sabbatical this semester, Craft has continued her work to create a news literacy scale, and has been developing a summer media literacy workshop for high school teachers along with other faculty in the College of Media and the College of Education. She has also begun a new research project.

“The new project involves delving into the archives of one of the first major journalistic collaborations, called the Arizona Project,” Craft said. “I’m hoping to get a better sense of how the collaboration worked and how it set the stage (or didn’t) for future large-scale projects involving journalists from competing news organizations.

In her new position, Craft will facilitate college-level promotion and tenure processes; mentor Dean’s Fellows; liaise with campus offices on college participation in strategic initiatives; facilitate policy discussions among unit leadership; and coordinate professional development programming for junior and midcareer faculty; among other responsibilities.

“I am eager to work on the college’s professional education initiatives and think about how we can serve a variety of different kinds of students, both on campus and online,” Craft added.

Chambers joined the Sandage Department of Advertising faculty in 2001 and the Institute of Communications Research faculty in 2003. He is a scholar of advertising history, particularly the contributions of African Americans to the industry. He has taught courses including Classic Campaigns, Advertising History, and Multicultural Advertising.

In his new position, Chambers is excited about working with his colleagues “to drive change and link our faculty, staff, and students to all of the opportunities that diversity provides.”

Over the past several years, the College of Media has prioritized expanding its programming in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the projects that Chambers facilitated during his two-year term as Dean’s Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion will continue to be part of his portfolio. The Alumni Mentoring Program, which connects students with accomplished alumni to share perspectives and advice, will continue to grow. The pilot focused on Black students and Black alumni, and then expanded to Latinx students and alumni. Chambers will also continue his involvement in the New Voices Internship Program, which provides opportunities for first-generation students and those from underrepresented groups to work with College of Media faculty and staff on communications projects.

He will also work with colleagues across the college and on campus to coordinate workshops on diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism that are relevant to Media faculty, students, and staff, and will seek ways to further the college’s capacity in this area.

“Leadership at the department, college, and campus levels have put real resources behind diversity initiatives,” Chambers said. “I want to ensure that the College of Media continues to take advantage of all the grants and other funding sources that the campus is making available for diversity-related topics.”

Chambers’s latest book Positive Realism: The Life of Advertising Pioneer Thomas J. Burrell has been submitted to the publisher for final review, with an expected publication date of 2023. He is also the author of Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African Americans in the Advertising Industry and Building the Black Metropolis: African American Entrepreneurship in Chicago.

Meyerson’s Chicago Public Square named best free daily roundup in your inbox by ‘Chicago Reader’

Charlie Meyerson (BS ’77, MS ’78, journalism), who creates ChicagoPublicSquare.com was named in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago edition for “Best free daily roundup in your inbox.”

“Square reflects all facets of Meyerson’s rich personality, his ear for news, his eye for finding interesting takes on that news, and his taste for quirky bits of human interest,” wrote Chicago Reader critic Jack Helbig.

Chicago Public Square is an email newsletter that Meyerson began producing in 2017. He has spent four decades as a journalist, working in Chicago newsrooms at various radio stations, as well as at the Chicago Tribune.

King to serve as inaugural director of Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media

After a successful run as the executive producer for MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Brian Williams, Colleen King decided to shift her career focus from broadcast TV news to education, pursuing her master’s in journalism and mass communication.

Her new path has led her to become the inaugural director of the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media and a clinical assistant professor of journalism.

King, who joined the College of Media in February, looks forward to providing students with “front-row seats” to professional journalism today as programming ramps up at the Frank Center.

She hopes that students will be able to hear from high-profile speakers, get connected with internship opportunities, and learn from professionals directly through panels, workshops, and symposia.

“I want to fulfill the Franks’ mission of making Illinois a top choice for all future journalists and I want every media professional to think of UIUC graduates as the best potential talent for their newsrooms,” King said.

King, who spent 17 years at news outlets from CBS News to Fox News, has produced political news about such high-profile events as presidential elections, inaugurations, and Supreme Court nominations, as well as other national news stories such as the Parkland, Florida, school shooting and several devastating hurricanes.

Colleen King in control room — Colleen King works in the control room during *The 11th Hour.*

During her time at The 11th Hour, King helped the show transform from what was supposed to be a six-week, half-hour news digest to a permanent full-hour program that became the number one rated cable newscast in the 11 p.m. time slot.

“I loved my time in television and I am so proud of all of the time and effort I put into that work,” she said. “Some of my most rewarding moments in journalism were working with younger team members and staffers and watching them learn and develop skills that helped them rise through the ranks in journalism, so [the transition] was a natural progression for me,” she added.

After leaving MSNBC in 2019, King earned her master’s degree from Kent State University, concentrating on journalism education. That time allowed her to consider how to apply her newsroom skills in the classroom.

“I can [provide] students with my firsthand experience of being in multiple newsrooms for all hours of the day and all days of the week covering a range of stories,” King said. “I’ve experienced firsthand what they’ll be walking into and I hope that my knowledge and skills can be an asset for them—both in learning how to navigate their roles in journalism and introducing them to professional opportunities that can help them develop their own career paths.”

This semester, King is teaching JOUR 494: Navigating the Job Market. She feels that it is the perfect way to begin her career in education and she is excited to equip and prepare students for their own journalism careers.

“It’s incredibly inspiring to be surrounded by student journalists because they have the drive and passion that makes us remember why we got into this business,” King said.

Students can look forward to more Frank Center programming later this spring. Past panel discussions can be viewed on YouTube:

—Story by Faith Lee, Communications Intern. Headshot of Colleen King by Isabella Pennebaker, Photography Intern.