Morris Chair Establishes Morris Media Fellows Program in 2019

Five Grady journalism students have the distinction of serving as the inaugural group of Morris Media Fellows, an experiential learning program established through the William S. Morris Chair in News Strategy and Management.

Miranda Daniel was the first student selected and worked during spring semester as a visual journalist at the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, part of McClatchy. Annie Campbell was the second student selected and is working in digital media with Meredith Corp.’s Food Studio in Birmingham, Alabama.

Three more students will join the ranks of Morris Media Fellows this summer. Kelly Mayes was selected as part of her reporting internship with Science magazine in Washington, D.C., while two students will explore the world of podcasting. Kendall Lake will intern with Spoke Media, a leading podcast production company in Dallas, Texas, and Rosemary Scott will join the podcasting team at Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta.

Dr. Keith Herndon holds the Morris Chair and is also director of the James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership. He is implementing the Morris Media Fellows program as a sister program to the Cox Innovation Fellows, which was established about four years ago. For information on the students selected for that program’s summer group, read here.

Herndon said the intent of
the new program is to expand experiential learning opportunities through
places that represent a variety of business models and reflect emerging
trends. “These students are exploring firsthand the increasing use of
video in community reporting, the digital shift of the magazine
industry, a non-profit model for science reporting and the emergence of
podcasting as an important story form,” said Herndon.

Daniel said the program provided an excellent start to her career.

“If
someone would have told me at the beginning of this internship how much
I would learn and how much more confident I would feel about my
abilities as a visual journalist, I wouldn’t have believed them,” she
said. “I am so unbelievably happy to be out in the community everyday
talking with people and documenting them and what matters to them.”

Daniel’s
10-week Morris Media Fellowship ended, but her experience in Columbus
continued through a video producer internship with McClatchy’s southern
region.

Campbell reported that her experience working with
Meredith’s digital team as part of MyRecipes required her to draw on all
of her training in writing, reporting, photography and graphic design.

“Working in this creative environment has allowed me to feel comfortable pitching new and unconventional ideas and to push the boundaries of my understanding of food media daily,” Campbell said. When Campbell’s Morris Media Fellowship concludes, she will continue her work in Birmingham as part of a Meredith Corp. Fellowship.