Stelter
Company duo gives gift to enhance Drake's magazine
journalism program
11/17/2008
MEDIA
CONTACT: Tory Olson, 515.271.1834
Drake
University's nationally recognized magazine program
will grow even stronger thanks to a $1.5
million
gift to establish a faculty chair in magazine journalism from Drake alumna Peggy
Fisher and her
husband,
Larry Stelter. (more)  
Drake
Magazine won the prestigious Pacemaker
Award, given by Associated
Collegiate
Press in Kansas City, November 1, 2008 at the College Media
Convention.
Editors-in-Chief Sarah Hall and Justine Blanchard attended
the
awards ceremony to collect their awards.
Students
in this fall's JMC73 Radio News class enjoyed
a visit with Van Harden (RTV'73) and a tour
of the Clear Channel facilities October 2.
Harden
underlined the importance of radio for delivering
immediate information about such events as
weather and traffic conditions to a broad audience.
Van
serves WHO-AM and KXNO as program director.
He joined WHO in 1986 and continues co-hosting
an award-winning weekday morning program from
6 to 9.
He
advised class members to begin planning for
the day when Web sites will replace broadcast
stations trying to maintain expensive transmission
equipment.
Following
graduation, Harden worked a year in Tulsa radio
before joining KRNT-AM as mid-morning personality,
in 1975. 
Picture
yourself here: On
the Floor of the Democratic National convention
— with your camera and a press pass. Running
Rock the Vote's Fall Out Boy concert. Escorting
Madeleine Albright. Escorting Nancy Pelosi. Helping
run the Emily's List Gala where Michelle Obama
is speaking. Writing bylined news for the Denver
post. Working behind the scenes on "The Daily
Show" with Jon Stewart, at the Convention.
All
this and more was in store for the 10 journalism
and politics students who embarked on a travel
seminar to the Convention this August 2008, with
Profs. Lee Jolliffe(Journalism) and Rachel Caufield
(Politics). Drake students were joined for discussion
sessions by 22 Missouri journalism students,
with Sandy Davidson(Missouri law and journalism)
and Lillie Fears(Arkansas State journalism) as
their faculty leaders.
See
students' blogs and photos at: www.drakenationalconvention.blogspot.com
and save your pennies.
In
four years, we'll do it again, and that's a promise.
Calling
all SJMC alums and T-D staffers!
All
alumni of Drake's School of Journalism and Mass
Communication and all former staff members of
the Times-Delphic are invited to a special reunion
this fall.
Join
friends and faculty in celebration of your days
in Meredith Hall. Mingle with current journalism
students and catch up with what is going on at
Drake University.
The
reunion starts on Friday night, October 24, with
a reception at the home of director Kathleen
Richardson and a stand-up comedy act on campus
by alum Kevin Biggins, JO'01, of Fox TV's "Family
Guy."
On
Saturday, October 25, there will be tours and
presentations in Meredith Hall, a lunch, panel
discussion, and an evening party at Principal
Park in downtown Des Moines.
For
details and how to RSVP, see http://www.drake.edu/alumni/jschoolreunion.php
Society
of Professional Journalists, Region 7 "Mark of
Excellence" regional awards
presented the following Drake students at the
spring conference
early in April, 2008 for Drake Magazine, a biannual
publication. Entries are first judged
on the regional level; first-place winners
move on to the national competition.
Drake Magazine
Online Staff
Best affiliated Web site
Drake Magazine Online
Best Student Magazine
Drake Magazine
Justine Blanchard
Non-Fiction Article
A Shot in the Dark
Kayla Porter
Non-Fiction Article
Girls Gone Mild
Sara Brock
Non-Fiction Article
Pink Washed Market
Iowa caucus
news . . . journalism
volunteers
Susan
Page, USA Today, wrote, "Jill
Shesol has a big voice for a small person.
"Have you signed supporter cards for John?"
the petite, 20-year-old Drake University junior
bellows to no one in particular as Iowans in
bulky coats stream out of a John Edwards for
President
rally into a cold night.She waves a clipboard
holding red, white and blue commitment cards
over her head. "Are you going to caucus
for John?" read
more
Two Drake journalism students worked
with other area college students covering the caucuses
for the Iowa bureau of the Associated Press. Michelle
Thilges, a news-Internet senior, is at back left
in the blue sweater; Julie Ann Marra, news-Internet
senior, is in the front row in the pink shirt.
Both THiNK and 515 won Pacemaker
awards in Washington, D.C.
In
the individual design contest —
Lauren Christie,
THiNK First Place
Leah Marr, 515 Second
Place
Laura Kudia won honorable mention
for Drake Magazine
515, is
a magazine about the Des Moines area produced by
magazine seniors, and Think,
is a news magazine created by a joint news-Internet
and magazine class.
The Pacemaker competition is considered
by many to be student journalism's highest honor.
Junior
National Alumni Council hosted"Legal & Ethical
Issues of New Media"on Friday,
October 19th,in Drake Legal
Clinic.
This
was a continuing education workshop on the legal
and ethical issues of new media(including blogs,vlogs,
wikis, citizen journalism and social networking
sites). The goal of this workshop was to offer
continuing education opportunities for Drake
alumni & journalism & mass communications
professionals; increase the school's visibility
in the professional community; and provide an
opportunity for student, alumni and professional
interaction.
The
link for the podcast is...
itpc://dtcpodcast.drake.edu/weblog/sjmccontinuingeducation/?flavor=rss2
'First
lady of the press' Helen Thomas visited Drake
Des Moines, Iowa — Longtime Washington reporter Helen Thomas talked
with Drake University and area high school students
about finding her voice as a woman and journalist.
Thomas, known as "the first lady of the press"
for her decades in the Washington press corps,
spoke informally and responded to questions at
Sheslow Auditorium beginning with Drake
alum Erin
Kiernan, news anchor for WHO-TV in Des Moines.
Kiernan moderated the discussion, which was open
to members of the Drake community and area high
school
journalism students.
The appearanc was sponsored by Drake's School
of Journalism and Mass Communication, Students
for Women's Issues and the Office of Admission.
Thomas was brought to Des Moines by the Chrysalis
Foundation, a local organization whose mission
is to develop strong women and girls through education,
advocacy, grant-making and philanthropy.
Longtime Washington journalist Helen Thomas with
Kate Baier, at left, a news-Internet junior, and
Niki Jobst, a news-Internet senior, during Thomas'
visit to Drake campus September 27, 2007. Kate
and Niki were on a panel of fellow Drake students
and area high school journalism students.
Thomas grew up in Detroit, the daughter of Lebanese
immigrants. She was one of the few female reporters
who covered the federal government when she joined
United Press International in 1943. Thomas began
covering the White House with the Kennedy Administration
in 1961, becoming known for her front-row seat
at presidential news conference and her conclusion
of conferences with the tagline "Thank you, Mr.
President." She became a correspondent
and columnist for Hearst Corp. in 2000.
Thomas has written four books, including her most
recent, "Watchdogs of Democracy," published
in 2006.
*************************************************************
SJMC alums will visit campus this fall to deliver
public lectures as part of the School of Management
and Communication's "Executive in Residence"
series.
Larry Fish,JO'66, chairman of the Royal Bank of
Scotland, America unit, spoke September 11.
Screenwriter John August, JO'92, whose credits
include the films Big fish, Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory, Corpse Bride and the Charlie's Angels
movies, will give a public lecture in Sheslow Auditorium
on October 4 at 7 pm.
DRAKE'S
SCHOOL OFJOURNALISM ANNOUNCES
SHIFT
IN LEADERSHIP
Patricia Prijatel,
director of Drake University's School of Journalism
and Mass Communication and the E.T. Meredith
distinguished professor of journalism, has retired
at the close
of the 2006-07 academic year. Kathleen Richardson,
associate professor of journalism, has been
named the school's new director. David Wright remains
associate dean and associate professor. "Teaching
at Drake and helping lead the J-School have
been extremely rewarding, so leaving will be
bittersweet," Prijatel
said. "Looking back on more than two decades
worth of excellent colleagues and students,
it has truly
been a marvelous way to spend a career." Drake
will conduct a national search during the 2007-08
academic year to find a successor for head
of the magazine program. Rick Tapscott, former
managing
editor of the Des Moines Register, will join
the SJMC as a visiting adjunct professor in
the news-Internet
program. Angela Renkoski who heads the Meredith
Service Journalism Apprenticeship program and
directs the E.T. Meredith Center for Magazine
Studies, and Lori Blachford, former managing
editor of Country Home magazine,
will
continue
to
teach magazine courses. "Under
Prijatel's leadership, the magazine program
has grown from fewer than 20 students her first
year
to more than 120 magazine majors now," said
Dean Charlie Edwards. "She has turned the magazine
sequence into an award-winning program of national
prominence
and has brought extensive resources to the
School of Journalism, not least of which is
development
of the E.T. Meredith Center for Magazine Studies." Prijatel's
23-year career at Drake has been marked by
accolades such as receiving Drake's Madelyn
M. Levitt Teacher
of the Year Award and the Burlington-Northern
Junior Teacher Award, both University-wide
honors for
classroom excellence. She was named the E.T.
Meredith distinguished professor of journalism
in 1997 and
director and dean of the SJMC in 2005. Prijatel
is co-author of "The Magazine from Cover to
Cover," a
textbook used in more than 70 universities
throughout the world. Prijatel and her collaborator,
Sammye
Johnson of Trinity University, recently published
a second edition of the book. "As much as we
are indebted to Prijatel for her service to
Drake and
the School of Journalism and Mass Communication,
both she and I, along with the journalism faculty,
are confident that Richardson will do wonderful
job as the new director," Edwards said. "The
school is in good hands." Richardson succeeds
Prijatel with more than 20 years of professional
experience
working at the Des Moines Register as copy
editor and copy desk chief, wire editor, news
editor,
features editor, book reviewer and columnist.
She received a bachelor's degree in journalism
from
Drake in 1976 and a law degree from Drake Law School
in 2002. Richardson began teaching at Drake
in 1997 and also serves as executive secretary
of
the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, which
is headquartered in Drake's Meredith Hall. "I
look forward to working with the rest of the
SJMC faculty
to build on our tradition of innovation and
excellence," Richardson
said.
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