In a ceremony this weekend, the Illinois Press Photographers Association awarded honors to student photojournalists. Earning 13 awards, SIU Carbondale brought home more awards than any other institution, including the top honor. Brooke Stevens (Grace) won first place IPPA Student Photographer of the Year.

Other awards included:

News
First Place – “Intake Day” Genna Ord; Second Place – “Waiting” Brooke Stevens

Feature
First Place – “Drag Show” Brooke Stevens; Honorable Mention – “Jacks Valley” Genna Ord; Honorable Mention – “Shotgun Season” Isaac Smith

Sports Feature
First Place – “Wrestling” Brooke Stevens

Pictorial
First Place – “Sunset on the Farm” Steve Matzker; Third Place – “Leaves” Isaac Smith; Honorable Mention – “Ship at Sunset” Danielle McGrew

Portrait/Personality
Second Place – “Doll” Brooke Stevens; Honorable Mention – “Untitled” Isaac Smith

Picture Story
Third Place – “Untitled” Brooke Stevens

Public Health Impacts of Climate Changein Palau by Jerry Bush

Daily Egyptian NewspaperBusiness and Advertising Director

• Date: Wednesday, March 7, 2012
• Time: 12:15-1:15pm
• Venue: Journalism Room – COMM 1214

Jerry Bush will give an exciting integrated presentation of the 3-part photojournalism/advertising project (photo book, advertising campaign, website) involving journalism students at SIUC.

Please RSVP Ms. Sherida Evans This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it so that she canorder enough pizzas.

The research project of a recent graduate from the Mass Communication and Media Arts Master of Science program in Professional Media and Media Management is featured on a new investigative journalism website.

Izabel Liwo who is originally Cameroonian, but born and raised in the United Arab Emirates, completed the program with a specialization in broadcast journalism. Liwo graduated from high school at 16, and then came to Southern Illinois University Carbondale at 17 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television.

Her research project focused on mental health on college campuses as part of the Investigative Journalism Education Consortium (IJEC). She created an investigative video and research that took a look at three campuses in the state of Illinois to see how they are dealing with the rise of students coming to college campuses with severe mental illness.

Liwo used a comparison between Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, to see how their counseling services measure up to the guidelines and recommendations offered by the International Accreditation of Counseling Services.

Her project shed light on the consequences that an institution could face if the quality of services does not meet accredited (IACS) standards.  It also examined what these three universities are doing to follow federal and state laws when it comes to the release or exchange of information about students who are seeking counseling services.

Her research involved an analysis of the state's recommendations for universities to implement prevention plans and threat assessment teams on campus to ensure campus safety and healthy campus cultures.

The IJEC is a network of university and college professors who work with students on investigative reporting and collaborate on stories, according to Brant Houston (title).

First proposed by Bill Freivogel, director of the journalism program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, in the spring of 2010, the idea grew into a network of Midwest university professors and students from six states who recently completed the first phase of their initial project. Liwo’s master’s research project was among those completed and posted on the IJEC website (ijec.org).

Key to the establishment of the network was a grant of $75,000 from the Robert M. McCormick Foundation in Chicago. The grant provided funds for a part-time project coordinator, Web site development, meetings among participants, and travel for project work, said Houston.

The current members of the consortium are The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (which coordinates the effort), Southern Illinois University, Columbia College in Chicago, the University of Wisconsin, Ball State University, University of Missouri, and the University of Iowa. Houston added there are plans to include many more institutions with the realization that subsets of the network may work on different stories at the same time.

Liwo’s three part series can be found on the IJEC website, or click here.

Liwo plans to seek employment at a news network or local television news station where she can report and anchor the news daily.

Beijing, a city of 22 million people and where Ferrari’s and rickshaws occupy the same streets, provides the perfect backdrop to explore life in China today.  William Babcock professor and deputy director in the School of Journalism, has just returned from a five-month stay in this city of paradox.

Babcock was a visiting professor at the Beijing University of International Business and Economics as part of a teaching exchange program. Faculty members from SIU Carbondale and UIBE have been participating in the program since the 1950s. Babcock taught classes in media ethics, reporting, and Hollywood and Journalism.

He and his daughter Lillian stayed in a modest apartment that was part of the university’s student housing. According to Babcock, their apartment was considered luxurious because it had two air conditioning units and a small refrigerator.

Lillian attended high school classes at the Beijing World Youth Academy during the pair’s stay, working on an international baccalaureate in taking classes with students from China, Tibet, South Korea, Russia, Egypt, and other nations.  This was her second trip to Beijing and she had studied Mandarin for nearly five years.

Babcock talked about how Chinese students often would swarm around Lillian so that they might have their picture taken with an American teenager.  Such "photo ops" were a regular part of most outings in Beijing, Babcock said.

In a recent presentation to faculty, students and friends of the School of Journalism, Babcock discussed his teaching and living experiences.

“I had very bright and talented students in my classes,” said Babcock. “They were eager to learn and discuss media issues from a Western perspective.”

Babcock said he approached the classes in a manner that engaged and involved the students, rather than just lecturing. This teaching style was not what the students are accustomed to, but they enjoyed it and class discussions added a great deal to the courses.

“There was always the party presence [communist] in the class,” Babcock said. “There were note takers and minders in each class, who would report back to the party.”

Babcock said while the minders did not identify themselves, it was often easy to recognize them, especially in discussions.

Despite the presences of minders, Babcock led discussions on a wide variety of media topics. His media ethics class discussed how Western media cover China and how Chinese media could cover the government’s involvement in everyday life.

During his Feb. 1 presentation Babcock compared the historical Great Wall of China, to great cyber wall of China today. Both were designed to keep foreign influence out of the country, and neither has been successful.

“There are certain words and names that cannot be found in a Google search when you are in China,” said Babcock. “People learn to be creative when searching and they can find what they are looking for.”

Babcock said that it is very difficult to find any information online, and off, about the events of 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. A search on this subject would usually result in a “this topic does not exist” message. One could search the phrase “tank man,” though, and get results for images.

“Students are aware and curious of the things that are blocked online, such as the ethnic cleansing in Tibet and Tiananmen Square,” said Babcock. “Students, and others would most often ask me about the events of Tiananmen Square.”

Babcock, who was the senior international news editor for the Christian Science Monitor during the 1989 protests, had a unique perspective to share with those who asked. He said people of all ages were curious to hear what he had to say on the topic.

Many of the students in Babcock’s classes were not yet born when the protests occurred. The parents of current students are the generation that took part in the event.

Even though the Chinese government does everything it can to expunge the events surround the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, people in China still can find out what happened, Babcock said.  “Students both around the world and in China are exceptionally good at using the Internet to find out what is happening in their own countries.  Their curiosity can’t be silenced.”

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Two photojournalism faculty members in Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s School of Journalism will serve in positions with the nation’s leading organization for visual journalists.

Mark. J. Dolan, an assistant professor, recently earned a three-year term on the board of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA).  In addition, Phillip W. Greer, a photojournalist-in-residence at SIU Carbondale, received another two-year term as Region V chair for the not-for-profit organization.

Established in 1946, the NPPA represents the interests of professional photojournalists, videographers, visual editors and multimedia producers and plays an active role in protecting their rights.  Along with advancing the goals of working photojournalists the organization also holds numerous workshops and seminars throughout the year.  The NPPA also provides mentoring opportunities for student journalists and has several student chapters, including one at SIU Carbondale.

“We're very proud of Mark Dolan and Phil Greer and their involvement with NPPA, the nation’s leading organization for professional photojournalists,” said Gary P. Kolb, dean of the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.  “The fact that our two photojournalism faculty are officers in this notable organization brings added credibility and attention to our photojournalism program here at SIU Carbondale.  They both contribute immeasurably to what we believe is the best photojournalism program in the state of Illinois.”

This is the first time for Dolan on the NPPA board. In 2009, Dolan received the organization’s John Durniak Mentor Award “for his work to continually raise the bar for photojournalism education … and for being a champion for his students, setting a tough standard and building their confidence.”

Prior to coming to SIU Carbondale in fall 2008, Dolan was a senior associate professor within the Department of Visual and Interactive Communication in Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Journalism for eight years.  Dolan’s work also included positions as photojournalist, photo director and photo editor at various newspapers, including The Providence Journal, The Anchorage Times, The Gainesville Sun, and Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Dolan teaches photojournalism and new media classes, including how to combine audio with video and still photography for multimedia story telling for websites.  Dolan’s efforts recently included a third workshop for students with mentors from throughout the United States in chronicling Carterville, Crainville, and Cambria.  Prior workshops focused on Murphysboro, and Alto Pass and Cobden.

“I’ve been involved in many of their training events and workshops, so it’s good to give back,” Dolan said.  “I appreciate what the NPPA does for photographers and photojournalists and I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to give back to the organization and to the profession.”

Dolan hopes to provide input regarding the organization’s future direction, including how it reaches out to help the media.

“Hopefully I can bring in some ideas and suggestions that will help the NPPA further its mission,” he said.

Greer, meanwhile, represent members in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, in addition to several countries in the West Indies, including Aruba, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cuba and Jamaica.  He first earned a two-year term in 2009.

Greer came to SIU Carbondale a decade ago at the urging of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, founder of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, and Mike Lawrence, former Institute director.  At the time Greer had spent more than two decades in a variety of photojournalism capacities at the Chicago Tribune, including senior photographer, chief photographer and director of photography.  While at the newspaper Greer assisted in the switchover from film to digital production with what was then the world’s largest electronic darkroom.  Prior to going to the Tribune in 1979, Greer, who began his photojournalism career in 1966 at the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, was a photographer for 12 years with The Morning Courier in Urbana.

In the early 1980s, Greer earned the George Day Service Award from the Illinois Press Photographers Association.  Photojournalists “are extremely tight knit and band together” in a desire to help one another, he said.  The internships and mentoring programs that NPPA provides help to keep the profession strong.

Work from many of Greer’s photojournalism students is part of the “The Cairo Project,” a multi-media effort that documented life in Cairo.

William “Bill” Freivogel became the director of the School of Journalism in the spring of 2007.  In this position he has been able to enhance student education and contribute to the J School program by using the practical knowledge he has gained from a stalwart career in journalism.

Freivogel is originally from Kirkwood, Mo. where he still lives. He graduated from Stanford University with his Bachelor’s degree in political science. While at Stanford he was the editor of the Stanford Daily, the student newspaper.

After graduation, he and his wife Margaret moved to the east coast where he planned to attend law school. However, as someone starting a family Freivogel put aside his aspiration to become a lawyer and took a job at the Washington, D.C. bureau for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. The Freivogels actually shared a reporting position, which allowed them to continue their careers and raise a family. The couple covered a variety of beats and issues during their time in D.C. The Reagan shooting, Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Supreme Court were some of the larger topics.

In 1992 Freivogel returned to the St. Louis area to work locally with the Post-Dispatch. After working in the editorial department for a few years, he was made the Deputy Editorial Editor in 1995. He continued in this role until 2005. He provided editorial series about civil liberties violations by John Ashcroft, the plan to keep desegregation moving forward in St. Louis schools, and the lack of proof for weapon of mass destruction in Iraq.

Freivogel was able to finally fulfill his aspiration to go to law school while he was at the Post Dispatch. He graduated from Washington University School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree in 2001.

In June 2005 Lee Enterprises purchased the Post Dispatch. As part of their restructuring on the newspaper several senior employees were offered contract buyouts. The Freivogels were both a part of this group. They left the newspaper in December 2005.

Margie went on to found the St. Louis Beacon, an online newspaper. Freivogel is a member of the board of directors for the Beacon and an occasional contributor.

After departing the Post Dispatch, Freivogel became a visiting professor at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at SIUC. He would provide presentations, guest lectures and write for the Institute’s blog.

In the summer of 2006 he become the interim director of the School of Journalism, which later transitioned into a permanent position. According to Freivogel, he has worked with J School faculty and staff to modernize the curriculum by adding more audio-visual, online and multimedia courses. There has also been an increase in courses for new media news production and news websites.

“We are trying to teach students all the tools of storytelling,” said Freivogel. “We want them to be able to work in a multimedia format. We have even incorporated new photojournalism projects to allow students to develop professional skills in that area.”

The recent photo books and websites for the communities of Murphysboro, Cobden and Alto Pass, along with books on Cairo and the Shawnee National Forest are examples of this new approach.

According to Freivogel, during his time as J School director, the school has regained full accreditation as a journalism program. In 2010 the School of Journalism assumed publishing responsibilities for the Gateway Journalism Review. The student newspaper, The Daily Egyptian, which is produced through the School of Journalism, has won multiple awards and published several special editions. These are just a few of the accomplishments of the students, staff and faculty of the School of Journalism in the past few years.

Recently, in collaboration with other journalism schools and professional organizations, the SIUC School of Journalism has helped to form a consortium for investigative reporting. The project is funded by a $75,000 grant from the McCormick Foundation. The goal is to train students in print or broadcast on the skills to be investigating reports and to conduct student projects in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.

“My favorite part of the job is working with the students,” said Freivogel. “We have terrific students and I enjoy being involved in the projects.”

Freivogel has four children; three of who are chamber musicians and the other a physics professor.

The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, School of Journalism, Department of Radio-Television, and the Global Media Research Center are pleased to present:

The Other Afghanistan: From the Ground Up

Thursday, October 6, 2011
6:00-7:30 pm
Communications Building, Room 1032
SIU Carbondale

Please join us for a conversation with Pulitzer Center journalist Anna Badkhen as she describes her immersion in Afghan villages, telling the stories of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.

Anna Badkhen writes about people in extremis. She is a journalist and the author of Peace Meals: Candy-Wrapped Kalashnikovs and Other War Stories and Waiting for the Taliban. She has covered wars in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Her writing has appeared in many publications, including The New Republic, Foreign Policy, the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Boston Globe. Her wartime journalism won the 2007 Joel R. Seldin Award for reporting on civilians in war zones.

Badkhen has spent the past year and half traveling in northern Afghanistan on a grant from the Pulitzer Center on a project called "Afghanistan by Donkey". She felt that she could only understand the country if she slowed down and lived at an Afghan pace. She spent time doing the everyday things - laundry, preparing food, doing dishes- to give her an inside glimpse into the people and the challenges they faced.

The Pulitzer Center promotes in-depth engagement with global affairs through its sponsorship of quality international journalism across all media platforms and an innovative program of outreach and education.

FREE Event – Open to the Public

For more information, please visit www.gmrc.siu or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 618-459-6876.

The School of Journalism received a grant from Liberty Tree to host a seminar on April 12 to focus on journalism ethics and the First Amendment issues.

The panel discussion asked “Are the traditional media tools of accountability – ombudsmen, newsroom ethics codes, journalism reviews, news councils and public journalism – able to keep up with the mushrooming ethical issues of a Twitter, Facebook, WikiLeaks world?”

According to William Freivogel, School of Journalism director, the panel was comprised of Alicia Shepard, NPR’s ombudsman, Jan Schaffer, executive director of J-Lab, Margaret Wolf Freivogel, editor of the St. Louis Beacon, and Gary Gilson, former head of the Minnesota News Council.  Bill Babcock, SIUC ethics professor and editor of the Gateway Journalism Review, moderated.

The panel was followed by a lunch with a second panel discussion, which reacted to the morning’s discussion.  The afternoon group included Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center, David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, Carolyn Kingcade, a journalism professor and former Reader's Advocate at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Mr. Freivogel.

“Additionally, we have solicited student essays of up to 1,000 words on the topic of the conference, with the winner’s essay to be published in the Gateway Journalism Review,” said Freivogel. “The winner will receive a $300 award.”

Comments and discussions will be published in the following issue of the Gateway Journalism Review.  The cover story of the journalism review will be on the subject of the conference.

The Liberty Tree Initiative is aimed at building awareness of the First Amendment through education and information. The goal is to bring enlightening and thought-provoking programs to college campuses across the country. The Liberty Tree Initiative campus program is made possible by the support of the McCormick Foundation, American Society of News Editors, the First Amendment Center and the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida.

 Visiting Researcher in the School of Journalism, SIUC

Monday, April 25^th, 2011 at 1:00-3:00 pm in the Communications Building, Room 1032

The contemporary Nigerian movie culture, Nollywood, experienced a lull in Production and Marketing activities in the last three years. This state of inactivity is largely the result of several factors including the proliferation of movies with sub-standard production quality, poor marketing and distribution infrastructure, lack of professionalism in acting, directing and producing, and piracy.  New trends in the industry, however, suggest fewer productions with improved quality, drastic changes in narrative structure, and a more effective marketing/distribution system. This presentation will examine how the lull in Nollywood has compelled a new direction in production and marketing/distribution approaches.

Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo is the current Editor of a Nigerian newspaper, The Guardian on Sunday. He has worked as an Actor, Director and Culture Journalist for over 25 years. His projects on film include: Lagos (Nigeria) Cinema Carnival; iREP Documentary Film Festival (Nigeria); African Screens Touring Project. Anikulapo also served as a consultant to GMRC’s Nollywood Project (2006).

Free Event – All Welcome

Cary from Centralia - M.S. Professional Media Management

I'm Cary Bryant. I'm from Centralia, Illinois and I'm an alumni from SIUC's School of Journalism.

Currently, right now I'm a first-year grad student in the College of Mass Communication and my focus is MS - Professional Media Management with an emphasis in New Media and Social Media. 

  In my undergrad, I did Journalism Digital Communication.

When I came into the program there were not very many students going into it and I was really interested in doing web design and doing online journalism and writing for a newspaper.

I got into web design, graphic design, shooting video, shooting photos, pretty much becoming a well-rounded multimedia producer for a newspaper.

When newspapers hire reporters these days, they want them to do it all.  They want them to shoot video and take photos, and be able to write a great story.

Probably the most beneficial class that got me on to the track of being in my future career was MCMA 396.  It was offered through Journalism professor Anita Stoner and it taught you the basics of web design and writing for online journalism.

The summer before I graduated from SIU with my undergrad I was currently working on the Shawnee Forest Project through the School of Journalism.  It was a project that sent students out in to the Shawnee Forest to get stories and video and photos of how beautiful the forest is. It was great for me to get into the project. I helped design the website and maintain it and get students to work together to get stuff to put on this website and also the book.

For my final undergrad project before I could graduate, I redesigned the School of Journalism website, and it was great to learn more about each specialization and work with students from each area to get enough content for the web site that would make it more beneficial and attractive to future students.

Currently, I'm a webmaster for the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute on campus. We're a non-profit organization that brings speakers to campus and work on important issues in the community and at the state level.

I believe my undergrad degree here provided such a great stepping stone to go for my master's. 

I came into the program fully advanced, I actually didn't have to take some classes because I was so proficient to go past the basic classes.

When I finish with my master's from SIU, I plan to go on and either  start my own online graphics company and web design company or I plan to work in media relations.

Social media is becoming very popular with companies now and I would love to handle that for a local company or somewhere in Illinois.