Tag: Grady Salutes 2022

Grady Salutes 2022 honorees celebrated at in-person event

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

There was laughter and tears, but mostly a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to come together for an in-person Grady Salutes celebration April 29, 2022.

The event attracted nearly 125 Grady College alumni and friends to the Athens Cotton Press for the annual recognition of Alumni Award recipients and Fellowship inductees.

Alumni Award recipients included:

Video screen picture of Julie Wolfe
Julie Wolfe accepted her Mid-Career Alumni Award via a pre-recorded taped message. (Photo: Sarah E. Freeman)
  • Julia Carpenter (ABJ ’13), a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, who received the John E. Drewry Young Alumni Award.
  • Julie Wolfe (ABJ ’03), a news director for King 5 Media Group in Seattle, who received the Mid-Career Award.
  • Carolina Acosta-Alzuru (MA ’96, PhD ’99), professor of public relations at Grady College, was named the John Holliman, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
  • Pat Curtin (MA ’91, PhD ’96), professor and endowed chair of public relations at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, received the Distinguished Alumni Scholar award.

Wolfe was not able to attend the ceremony, but sent a video greeting noting her appreciation for the award and reflecting on lessons that David Hazinski, emeritus professor, taught her.

“Journalism is a relentless pursuit of facts, a commitment to always do the next right thing and an unwavering belief in the ethical principles of journalism,” Wolfe said in her video acceptance.

Fellowship inductees included:

  • Susan Goodenow (ABJ ’90), executive vice president, marketing & communications for the Chicago Bulls
  • Reggie Hicks (ABJ ’80), president and executive producer of Straight Street Media, Inc.
  • Bob Houghton, president, Georgia Association of Broadcasters
  • Alan Massengale (MA ’80), retired sports broadcaster

As the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Acosta-Alzuru was also inducted into the Grady Fellowship.

During the Fellowship acceptances, Goodenow reflected on how sports is more than a final score and talked about an experience a few weeks where the Chicago Bulls was able to offer Justin Hardy, a 22-year-old basketball player with cancer, an opportunity to attend a playoff game. Hardy claimed the day was one of the best of his life, and Goodenow reflected on how moments like that reminds her and all involved with sports what a privileged spot they hold.

“I want to thank Georgia and I want to thank Grady for putting me on a path that allowed me to have amazing experiences and meet incredible people, like Justin and his family,” Goodenow said.

Stevie Joe Massengale
Stevie Joe Massengale accepts the Fellowship honor on behalf of her father, Alan Massengale, as Alan’s wife, Elizabeth, looks on. Alan died March 12, 2022. (Photo: Sarah E. Freeman)

Perhaps the most moving acceptance of the night was by Stevie Joe Massengale, Alan’s teenage daughter who was accompanied by his wife, Elizabeth. Alan died of cancer on March 12, after learning he would be inducted into the Fellowship, and his daughter commented about how excited he was about the honor.

“He inspired many and of course, he inspired me,” she said.  “Your legacy lives on because you are larger than life.”

The Rollin “Pete” McCommons Award for Distinguished Community Journalism was presented to Larry Hobbs, a reporter for The Brunswick News. The award, recognizing work in 2020, was presented to Hobbs for his dedicated reporting about the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, starting the day after his murder, and continuing throughout the trial.

“Truth more often thrives in communities where newspapers abide,” Hobbs said as he accepted the award. “Those in positions of public trust are held accountable when newspapers simply do their jobs. When an ugly truth hid behind the senseless killing of Ahmaud Arbery, The Brunswick News did its job. We covered this sad story relentlessly from the day it occurred right up until justice was served in both state and federal courts. We owed that to our community, and to Ahmaud and to his family.”

Nominations for next year’s class of Alumni Awards recipients are now accepted and can be submitted on the Alumni Awards nomination form.

  • Larry Hobbs of The Brunswick News accepted the McCommons Award for Distinguished Community Journalism. (Photo: Sydney Fordice)
See our Grady Salutes 2022 Flickr album for more pictures.

Larry Hobbs receives 2020 McCommons Award for Distinguished Community Journalism

Posted on by Jackson Schroeder

Larry Hobbs, a feature writer and reporter at The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Georgia) has been named the recipient of the 2020 Rollin M. “Pete” McCommons Award for Distinguished Community Journalism.

This award, presented during Grady Salutes on Friday, April 29, recognizes Hobbs for his initial and subsequent reporting on the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. 

“I am thrilled that Larry Hobbs is this year’s recipient of the local journalism award endowed in my name by Grady Thrasher and Kathy Prescott,” said Pete McCommons, the publisher and editor of Flagpole Magazine in Athens. “Larry is a great example of the local reporter who doggedly follows a difficult story in spite of all the other assignments that compete for his time and attention.”

A Lower Alabama native and 1984 graduate of Troy University, Hobbs spent the bulk of his early career working for Florida newspapers, including the Palm Beach Daily News and the Palm Beach Post, among others. He started writing for The Brunswick News in 2014, roughly six years before the Ahmaud Arbery shooting. 

“Larry Hobbs and his colleagues at The Brunswick News did what journalists do: they heard of a potential misjustice, they investigated it, they demanded accountability from those in charge, and they ultimately saw one of Brunswick’s, and Georgia’s, most horrific acts to its conclusion. They performed journalism, at its finest,” said Charles Davis, dean of Grady College. 

Larry Hobbs accepts the 2020 Pete McCommons Award for Distinguished Community Journalism on the stage next to Charles Davis, dean of Grady College.
Larry Hobbs (left) accepts the 2020 Pete McCommons Award for Distinguished Community Journalism on the stage next to Charles Davis (right), dean of Grady College. (Photo: Sarah E. Freeman)

Each year, the McCommons Award, sponsored by Grady College, honors outstanding leadership, innovation and entrepreneurism in community journalism. It highlights the substantial contributions of community journalism to civic life and inspires students to pursue careers in community journalism.

In this case, Hobbs began reporting on the Amhaud Arbery shooting the day Arbery died. Hobbs’ relentless reporting was picked up by national media organizations, including Time, CNN and Poynter, among others, and depicted as a catalyst for the Amhaud Arbery trial. 

“Larry’s reporting was important in many ways, and we are glad to have this opportunity to honor him for the work he did,” explained Kyser Lough, the chair of the McCommons Award Committee and an assistant professor in Grady’s Department of Journalism.

“Even before this award, I have been using Larry’s reporting on the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in my classes as an example of the importance of local, community journalism, and I know other journalism professors have been too,” Lough added. “While this year the award went to a reporter in our home state, it’s important to remember that this is a national award and we accept nominations from across the country.”

Larry Hobbs (right) stands nest to Kyser Lough (left), the chair of the McCommons Award Committee and an assistant professor in Grady’s Department of Journalism.
Larry Hobbs (right) stands next to Kyser Lough (left), the chair of the McCommons Award Committee and an assistant professor in Grady’s Department of Journalism. (Photo: Sarah E. Freeman)

In Hobbs’ comments accepting the award, he gave credit to his team at The Brunswick News for fueling their publication. He also made a point that he doesn’t consider himself or his colleagues heroes — just people “doing their jobs.”

“Truth more often thrives in communities where newspapers abide,” Hobbs continued. “Those in positions of public trust are held accountable when newspapers simply do their jobs. When an ugly truth hid behind the senseless killing of Ahmaud Arbery, The Brunswick News did its job. We covered this sad story relentlessly from the day it occurred right up until justice was served in both state and federal courts. We owed that to our community, and to Ahmaud and to his family.”

This sentiment was also expressed by Janice Hume, the head of the Department of Journalism, while introducing Hobbs. 

“It was Mr. Hobbs’ attention to detail and dogged reporting that brought the story of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder first to local and then national attention,” said Hume. “Without the work of a local journalist who understood and cared about his community, there would have been no justice for Mr. Arbery’s family. Local journalism matters, and Mr. Hobbs’ work is a fine example of why. We are grateful for his service to the Brunswick community and beyond.” 

More details and a form to nominate a community journalist for a future McCommons Award can be found on the McCommons Award for Distinguished Community Journalism webpage.

2022 Fellowship Profile: Susan Goodenow

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Congratulations to Susan Goodenow (ABJ ’90), a 2022 Fellowship inductee.

Goodenow is executive vice president of marketing & communications for the Chicago Bulls, where she is responsible for developing and managing the team’s marketing efforts, directing and integrating all team content and communication and overseeing the team’s community engagement efforts.  

Goodenow graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in public relations (ABJ ’90) and continued her education at Georgetown University with a master’s degree in American studies. She also earned an Executive Scholar Certificate in General Management from the Kellogg Executive Education program at Northwestern University.  

Before joining the Bulls in 2012, Goodenow spent four years with the Boston Red Sox as the senior vice president of public affairs and marketing.  She has also worked for Major League Baseball/Office of the Commissioner, the American Red Cross and public affairs firms in Washington, D.C. 

Goodenow continues to serve UGA as a member of the AdPR Executive Committee and the Alumni Sports Industry Council. A resident of Chicago, Goodenow is also a member of the Gilda’s Club Chicago Governing Board, American Red Cross of Greater Chicago Tiffany Circle and the Economic Club of Chicago.

Following are excerpts from an interview with Goodenow:

Grady College: What is it about your field that appeals the most to you?  Why did you decide to enter that field? 

Susan Goodenow: My choice to enter PR was made, in part, after contemplating a role in broadcasting as a sports reporter. Soon after I started down that path, I realized being in front of a camera is not for me – I break out in hives and cold sweats! – so I decided a role behind the camera was a much better fit. I have always loved words, and it oddly brings me joy when someone lands on the perfect word choice or sentence structure. Growing up I was also intrigued by marketing – more specifically advertising – along with business news and current events, so the combination of those interests with my love of words and my aversion to being in front of the camera made PR a good fit.  

GC:  What do you miss the most about being at UGA? 

SG: Ah, that’s easy – walking through North Campus.

Goodenow, pictured at a work-related event, has always had a passion for words.
GC:  What does this recognition mean to you? 

SG: I am a very proud Georgia Bulldog – just ask anyone who knows me, particularly during football season. I’ve been going to games since I was four years old. My sister and I both graduated from Georgia, as did my brother-in-law. My niece is a junior, and my nephew will be a freshman in the fall.  It is an incredible honor to be recognized by an institution that is so much a part of my family and helped shape who I am.  

GC:  What are your best strategies for keeping up to date with industry advancements? 

SG: The world evolves and changes, so it is important to stay current and adapt. While you may be an expert in something right now, some of your go-to knowledge and skills could someday become funny “do you remember when we did that?” topics, so always stay curious and never stop learning. PR is a profession where you provide strategy and counsel to people and organizations spanning industries and interests that can be affected by a number of internal and external factors. Staying up to date on current events and emerging trends prepares you to be ready in a crisis or when an opportunity to create value comes up. It’s easy to scroll through social and feel like you know what’s going on, but that’s just a surface look. Go beyond the “what” and find ways to dig deeper to learn the “why” and “how” by reading articles and books, listening to podcasts and seeking out interesting people and have conversations with them.  

GC:  Is there anything else you would like to share?

SG: Being in PR can mean you’re always on call, so take time for yourself when you can. Develop interests and hobbies that make you happy. Learn this lesson now, not later. It is something I only recently started to practice and am still not very good at it.  I even bought a sign that reads “Don’t forget to go outside and play” that hangs in my house to serve as a constant reminder.  

This is one in a series of profiles about our 2022 Alumni Award honorees and Fellowship inductees.
All our honorees and inductees will be honored at Grady Salutes: Celebrating Achievement, Leadership and Commitment on April 29, 2022 at Athens Cotton Press. 

 

2022 Fellowship Profile: Alan Massengale

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Alan Massengale’s Twitter profile provides a glimpse into his character: “In the sports broadcasting world my moniker is — ‘The Legend’ — which means I am old, but well loved. Proud UGA Bulldog.”

He was a legend, well loved, and a proud Bulldog, graduating from Grady College in 1980 with a degree in journalism. He was not, however, old when he died of cancer on March 12, 2022 at the age of 63.

As we celebrate the induction of Massengale (ABJ ’80) into the Grady College Fellowship, we honor an impressive career spanning some of the most watched sports including basketball, boxing, the Masters and the Indianapolis 500, among other sports competitions.

Massengale was a well-known sports reporter in Los Angeles from 1990 to 2007. His award-winning pregame, halftime, and postgame shows covered the Lakers, Angels, Dodgers and Clippers, and established national standards for local sports coverage.

Pat Harvey, an anchor at KCAL/KCBS and former colleague of Massegale, remembered him at the time of his death for his funny colloquialisms and his piano playing. Most of all, he was an “ultimate storyteller.”Massengale was one of the most watched international boxing announcers on television and was voice of the World Series of Boxing from 2010 to 2013. He called the world championships twice in Guiyang, China, and travelled extensively around the globe for Top Rank Boxing.

In 1985, he was an anchor for a new fledging network called ESPN. He was the first Sportscenter anchor to report live from the Masters, Indianapolis 500 and Boston Marathon.

In 1990, Massengale was lured to the nation’s first regional sports network, Prime Ticket. Among his duties, he hosted Press Box, a nightly 30-minute sports report and the first regional sports report of its kind.

In October 1996, Massengale joined Fox Sports Network as anchor for their new network.

Massengale received the Golden Mike Award twice for best sportscast, as voted by a panel of broadcasters in the Los Angeles market. He was also honored four times by the Southern California Sportscasters Association.

He self-reported that “he has a bunch of Emmys but he does not remember how many.“

While a student at Grady College, Massengale interned and was a fill-in reporter for The Atlanta Journal Constitution sports department. He was also on the Dean’s list all four years of his UGA career.

Massengale was aware of his Fellowship honor, which according to his wife, Elizabeth, meant a great deal to him. Family and friends will be on hand at the Grady Salutes event to celebrate this honor when he is inducted into the Fellowship April 29.

This is one in a series of profiles about our 2022 Alumni Award honorees and Fellowship inductees.
All our honorees and inductees will be honored at Grady Salutes: Celebrating Achievement, Leadership and Commitment on April 29, 2022 at Athens Cotton Press.

 

Alumni Award Profile: Julia Carpenter

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Julia Carpenter (ABJ ’13) is this year’s recipient of the John E. Drewry Young Alumni Award, honoring a graduate of the last decade who has experienced a successful early career.

Carpenter is a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. She previously worked at both CNN and The Washington Post, and has also written for publications including Glamour, Vogue and New York Magazine.

Covering stories on gender, culture, finance, technology and everything in between, Carpenter has received several awards for her reporting. In 2019, she was honored with the Excellence in Business Coverage Award from The Association of LGBTQ Journalists for her story “When Work Puts You Back in the Closet,” published in CNN Business. In 2020, she received a Front Page Award in the Personal Service category from the Newswomen’s Club of New York for her reporting in WSJ’s “The New Rules of Money” series.

In addition to reporting, Carpenter also publishes a daily newsletter, “A Woman to Know,” and mentors aspiring writers through Girls Write Now.

Following is a brief interview with Carpenter:

GC: What is it about your field that appeals the most to you? Why did you decide to enter that field?

JC: I’m a big talker and an obsessive journaler. As soon as teachers saw those two things, they started recommending I think about studying journalism. In my career now, those two things — my chattiness and my note-taking — are huge strengths of mine. As a student, I loved the idea that journalists could ask anyone about anything and spend all day learning about everything. Even today, I’m still marveled that I will think “I wonder how that’s going to work?” and then I’ll call someone and say, “You’re the expert, and I’m a journalist — can you tell me how that’s going to work?”

Carpenter is currently based in New York City, where she reports for The Wall Street Journal (Photo: submitted).
GC: Looking back at your time at Grady, is there anything you wish you had done (classes you had taken, skills you would have liked to have learned, clubs to be involved with) that would help you with what you are doing today?

JC: As a college student, I was so intent on double-majoring (in English and in journalism) and excelling at the student newspaper. I wish I had taken more classes just for fun! Looking back on my time at UGA, I can truly think of only a handful of classes I took that weren’t fulfilling a requirement or adding to some other part of resume. If I could go back, I like to think I would do that differently. I know I would be a better writer for it, that’s for sure. 

GC: What would you tell your 20-year-old self?

JC: There’s no “right way” to build a career and a creative life. Stop trying to find it! Go to Marti’s and eat some pita chips.

Carpenter graduated In 2013 with a degree in journalism (Photo: submitted).
GC: What motivates you?

JC: The day after I publish a piece, I set aside time to read all the tweets, emails and comments responding to it. Sure, some of them are negative, and many require an eye roll or, in bad cases, a block and report. But I save all the emails that say, “you put words to what I was experiencing” or “thank God someone finally said this!” or — this one most of all — “I thought I was the only one.” Those motivate me. 

GC: Is there anything else you would like to share?

JC: I have spent countless hours, therapy sessions and fat baby tears stressing over finding a mentor. Everyone kept telling me “Do you have a mentor? You need a mentor!” and at all these different points in my career, I resolved to find a mentor who (I presumed) could shepherd me to career enlightenment. But here’s the thing: my strongest advocates and best advice-givers and most generous sounding boards have always been people at the same level as me. Some of them I met at The Red & Black, some of them I met at internships and some of them I met during my early days at my first job. But we’ve all come up together, and grown together, and I want future students to know that building those connections is enough. Now, these peers are worth more to me than any idea I had of some “Fairy GodMentor.”

This is one in a series of profiles about our 2022 Alumni Award honorees and Fellowship inductees. 
All our honorees and inductees will be honored at Grady Salutes: Celebrating Achievement, Leadership and Commitment on April 29, 2022 at Athens Cotton Press. Please visit our Grady Salutes registration webpage for more details. 

 

Alumni Award Profile: Julie Wolfe

Posted on by admin

Julie Wolfe’s (ABJ ’03) path to the news director’s chair at Seattle’s legacy television station KING 5 started at the University of Georgia, where she was president of DiGamma Kappa and news director at WUOG. She started her career as a reporter at KGWN in Cheyenne, WY, WGRZ in Buffalo, NY, and WXIA in Atlanta. When social media bloomed as a publishing platform, Wolfe turned her attention to digital journalism, taking on the roles of social media manager and then digital director at WXIA, before becoming the assistant news director. 

She took over as news director at WHAS in Louisville in 2018, leading the team through award-winning coverage of the Breonna Taylor case and launching its Emmy-winning investigative unit, FOCUS. Wolfe has been the news director at KING 5 in Seattle since June 2021. She served as a board member of RTDNA and is a graduate of The Carole Kneeland Project for Responsible Journalism and the Center for Creative Leadership.

Following is a brief interview with Wolfe:

GC: What skill(s) should graduates and young alumni focus on to have success early in their careers? 

JW: Relentless optimism. You need both. Optimism without relentlessness is just wearing rose-colored glasses. Young journalists need to remember that what they do is important, and when done well, has a lasting and positive impact on their community.

Wolfe organizing live wall-to-wall coverage as news director at WHAS in Louisville. (Photo: submitted)
GC: What is it about the broadcast news field that appeals the most to you? Why did you decide to enter that field?

JW: I’m one of those people who knew what I wanted to do from the time I was young. The idea of telling important stories that helps people make more informed decisions was something I felt I could dedicate a career to pursuing. Every day is different, and there is nothing that compares to the energy and adrenaline of a group of journalists working together on a big news day. 

GC: What do you miss the most about being at UGA?

JW: I made lifetime friends during my time at UGA. Now, more than 20 years later, we’re spread around the country, but still support each other and cheer for the Dawgs. 

Wolfe with a group of KING 5 journalists outside KING 5 studios in Seattle, WA. (Photo: submitted)
GC: What would you tell your 20-year-old self?

JW: It’s okay to take a breath, a moment, a year. I was in such a hurry to get to the next step at every phase of my career, I look back and realize I didn’t always get the most out of where I was before moving to the next chapter. Right now, at 20 years old, you’re building who you ARE. There’s plenty of time to build what you’ll DO.

GC: What does this recognition mean to you?

JW: When Dean Davis called me about the award, I was so overwhelmed. It’s a difficult time to be a journalist. As a leader in journalism right now, I feel a huge responsibility to leave our industry in a better place: a place where we can continue to do important and vital work, dedicated to facts. A recognition at mid-career is a nod that you’ve done some things but have a lot more to do. It’s a position I’m embracing, and this celebration, to me, is a reminder that there is so much work left to be done. 

GC: What are your best strategies for keeping up to date with industry advancements?
Wolfe with Sr. Assignment Editor Kendra Gilbert KING 5. (Photo: submitted)

JW: Consuming news on all platforms exposes me to up-to-date information, but also creative and interesting ways to communicate that information. I’m an avid podcast listener so I can multitask. I also consume much of my news on mobile, and I think there’s still a lot of interactive presentation work to do on how we present news on the platform where people are consuming on the go. With Neilson now including BBO homes  (Broadband Only), we’re better poised to understand how viewers are watching local news on those platforms. While it’s important to keep searching for the best ways to use technology to collect, understand and deliver news, it’s also important to me that LOCAL JOURNALISM remains at the center of those advancements.

GC: Is there anything else you would like to share?

JW: Grady College of Journalism will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s where the seeds of this career, this life, were first planted. Because of the great professors and great experiences I had then, I’ve built a fulfilling journalism career on that foundation.

This is one in a series of profiles about our 2022 Alumni Award honorees and Fellowship inductees. 
All our honorees and inductees will be honored at Grady Salutes: Celebrating Achievement, Leadership and Commitment on April 29, 2022 at Athens Cotton Press. Please visit our Grady Salutes registration webpage for more details. 

 

Alumni Award Profile: Carolina Acosta-Alzuru

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Carolina Acosta-Alzuru (MA’ 96, PhD’ 99) is this year’s recipient of the John Holliman, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring a graduate for sustained contributions to the profession throughout a career.

Acosta-Alzuru is professor of public relations at Grady College. She teaches courses in public relations campaigns and cultural studies, specifically focusing on links between the media, culture and society. She has also published multiple articles and books on telenovelas – a subject she has been studying for over 20 years. 

She has won several awards for her teaching and research, including the 2015 AEJMC-Scripps Howard Foundation Journalism and Mass Communication Teacher of the Year for the United States and University of Georgia’s Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professorship. Her career has also taken her abroad to the United Kingdom, Chile and most recently Turkey, where she has conducted research on the tensions between the domestic and global markets for Turkish dramas.

Following is a brief interview with Acosta-Alzuru:

Grady College: What lessons learned from your time as a Grady College student have most helped you succeed in your professional life?

Carolina Acosta-Alzuru: Everything I needed to learn to become a professor and scholar I learned in our College, where I received both my M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. I learned how to turn my intellectual curiosity into rigorous research because I was taught by great researchers. I learned how to be a better teacher because I had fulfilling classroom experiences that challenged and nurtured me. I learned that mentoring is part and parcel of being an educator because I was superbly mentored. Most importantly, I learned in our College that having faith in the person you are teaching and mentoring is essential for their professional and personal development. I learned this because so many of my professors and fellow graduate students surprised me by believing, when I had no clue of this possibility, that I could become a good scholar and a good teacher. I am particularly appreciative of the lessons learned from my major professor and advisor, Dr. Elli Lester Roushanzamir, and from Dr. Pat Curtin, who was then a doctoral student. Their wisdom has guided me throughout my career, and I am extremely happy that Pat is also honored this year with the Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award.

Acosta-Alzuru with Dr. Elli Lester Roushanzamir hooding her as a new Ph.D in 1999. (Photo: courtesy of Carolina Acosta-Alzuru)
GC: What is it about your field that appeals the most to you? Why did you decide to enter that field?

CA: Understanding and unraveling the links between media, culture and society is what I do and what appeals the most to me.  I do this by studying some of the most consumed and, at the same time, most deprecated television genres: Latin American telenovelas and Turkish dramas. My preoccupation with the connections between media, culture and society is consonant with the way I see public relations, a field that has been traditionally viewed from an organizational perspective, but whose relationship with society is mutually transformative. I’m a believer in the many possibilities that public relations has of effecting positive societal change and I bring that belief into my classroom every day. 

GC: What does this recognition mean to you?

CA: The fact that weeks after the announcement of this award I’m still processing the news says how big and unexpected this recognition is for me. I remember watching with admiration John Holliman’s reporting from Bagdad in 1991, I was still in Venezuela then. I was a Ph.D. student in 1998 when the College was saddened and stunned with the news of his death. A year later he received, posthumously, the Lifetime Achievement Award. Soon after that I graduated and began my faculty life here.  These moments have been playing on my mind as I process the deep feelings of gratitude and surprise that this recognition elicits in me. 

Acosta-Alzuru (right) with fellow Grady Ph.D Usha Raman (left) in Hyderabad, India at the IAMCR conference in 2014.
GC: What motivates you?

CA: I love learning, and both teaching and research go hand in hand with learning. The fact that I love my work so much is one of my biggest treasures and the best motivator, of course. I enter the classroom every day in a good mood, ready for the experience of being both teacher and learner with my students. As for my research, I approach it every day with the same fascination it produced on me on day one, more than two decades ago. 

GC: Is there anything else you would like to share?

CA: I’m always looking at what’s ahead: my next class, my next research study, the next conference, and the next time I enter the Journalism building, a place where I’ve always been happy. This recognition, however, has made me stop and look back at the many wonderful people that have walked with me throughout the years: my professors, my students, my colleagues and the staff. All of them have embraced me, all of them have been my teachers, all of them have made this Lifetime Achievement Award possible. 

This is one in a series of profiles about our 2022 Alumni Award honorees and Fellowship inductees. 
All our honorees and inductees will be honored at Grady Salutes: Celebrating Achievement, Leadership and Commitment on April 29, 2022 at Athens Cotton Press. Please visit our Grady Salutes registration webpage for more details. 

 

2022 Fellowship Profile: Reggie Hicks

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Congratulations to Reggie Hicks (ABJ ’80), a 2022 Fellowship inductee.

Hicks is president and executive producer of the non-profit Straight Street Media, Inc. where he produces documentaries, podcasts and digital stories that affect change in the lives of the underserved.  His current project, the documentary film “If You Are My Brothers,” chronicles the journey of a UGA fraternity brother who was diagnosed with an advanced stage of prostate cancer.  This documentary hit home when Hicks was also diagnosed three years into filming.

Hicks’ public broadcasting journey began on the campus of UGA at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education while he was a journalism student.  During his junior year, he served as technical director at the Atlanta PBS affiliate WGTV Channel 8.  Since that time, his career has encompassed every facet of public radio and television including roles as general manager and development/fundraising at stations throughout the southeast United States including Georgia, Alabama and Texas, among others.

Hicks created and served as executive producer for “Power Point,” the first weekly national call-in program on public radio addressing issues relevant to the Black community.  The two-hour weekly call-in program aired for seven years on national public radio in 50 markets and on Sirius Satellite Radio (now SiriusXM).

Reggie has also served as the associate development director for the UGA Annual Fund, director of membership for Georgia Public Broadcasting and adjunct professor in mass communications at Clark Atlanta University and the University of Tampa, among others.

Reggie Hicks and his wife, Anita, at the National Championship game in 2018.
Reggie Hicks and his wife, Anita, at the National Championship game in 2018.

Hicks, a native of Savannah, Georgia, is married to Anita Stokes-Hicks, and they have one son, Armondi.

Following are excerpts from an interview with Hicks:

Grady College: What lessons learned from your time as a Grady College student have most helped you succeed in your professional life? 

Reggie Hicks: Of course, the excellent academic training I received at Grady College is first and foremost. It was there that I began to understand the importance of being a good writer. From a more practical perspective, the hands-on opportunities I experienced through Grady College’s internships and part-time opportunities helped hone skills that I have used every day of my career.

GC: What would you tell your 20-year-old self? 

RH: Spend more time learning about what’s on the horizon for the future. Read more about innovations and trends and use that information to become your own boss. Don’t be afraid to try new things, and don’t be scared to fail. I know this sounds a bit cliché but when you fail, learn from it, embrace it and move on. Live your dreams, and don’t be quick to conform to the norm.

GC: What motivates you?
Reggie Hicks wearing headphones at a sound board as he promotes his documentary, You Are My Brothers.
Hicks promoting his documentary, “You Are My Brothers.”

RH: Being the change that I want to see motivates me every day. That’s why I have worked primarily in the non-profit sector with organizations whose mission it is to make this a better place.

GC: Are there any books or podcasts that you would recommend to young professionals?

RH: Yes, there are two books I would recommend to young professionals: Ray Dialo’s “Principles” and “Leader’s Eat Last” by Simon Sinek. These books are about leadership and understanding that the greatest resource of all is the human resource.

Also, I would find something visual that motivates you, especially during challenging times. As a senior at UGA, I found an unknown author’s poem titled “If.”  I remember buying the poster in a small gift shop on Tybee Island, Georgia. I was going through some real challenges at the time, and looking at the poem helped to keep me motivated. I later found the poem on a plaque, and it hangs in my office today.

GC: What are your best strategies for keeping up with industry advancements?

RH: Read, read and read. Devote time during your week dedicated to reading about innovations in your field. Learn about trends and predictions about what’s on the horizon. Subscribe to digital sources like newsletters and podcasts. Join social media groups to connect you with individuals in your field of interest who effect change in real-time.

This is one in a series of profiles about our 2022 Alumni Award honorees and Fellowship inductees.
All our honorees and inductees will be honored at Grady Salutes: Celebrating Achievement, Leadership and Commitment on April 29, 2022 at Athens Cotton Press. Please visit our Grady Salutes registration webpage for more details.

2022 Fellowship Profile: Bob Houghton

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Congratulations to Bob Houghton, a 2022 Fellowship inductee.

The Grady Fellowship is a recognition honoring friends of the college whose accomplishments, friendship and service to the industries they serve have made a positive impact on the college and its students.

“It is a personal honor and career highlight to be named a Grady Fellow at my adopted college, the University of Georgia,” Houghton said.

Houghton has served as president of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters since 2012 and is a part-time instructor of the Sports Broadcast and Production course through the Carmical Sports Media Institute.

During his career, Houghton has served as a play-by-play announcer for college football, basketball and baseball; worked in national radio sales for CBS; and served in a variety of management positions for radio stations throughout the country and in Georgia.

In 1992, Houghton moved to Georgia to serve as general manager WGST Radio, the Georgia News Network and the Atlanta Braves Radio Network, before being moving to Georgia Public Broadcasting as general manager.

For the past several years, Houghton has served on the Grady College Board of Trust.

Houghton earned his bachelor’s degree in business from Illinois Wesleyan University  and a master’s degree in communications from Northwestern University. A retired Navy captain and Vietnam veteran, he was awarded the prestigious Legion of Merit upon his retirement.

A picture of Vivien Houghton, Kimmie Wilson and Bob Houghton at Kimmie's wedding in 2022.
Vivien and Bob Houghton at the wedding of their daughter, Kimberly, on Feb. 19, 2022. (Photo: courtesy of Bob Houghton)

Houghton and his wife, Vivien, have a daughter, Kimberly Wilson.

Following are excerpts from an interview with Houghton:

Grady College: What skills should graduates and young alumni focus on for early success?

Bob Houghton: Be flexible, be curious and be forward thinking. Always do what you were hired to do as your first priority, then find time to do more.

GC: What appeals to you most about broadcasting?

BH: I wanted to be involved in sports and with limited athletic skills, announcing sports was a way to do that. I believe I was a pioneer in sports talk, co-hosting a Saturday morning program in 1975. I soon learned that broadcasting was a business and the importance of sales. While I loved being on the air, I was better at sales and sales was the fast track to leadership in the broadcast industry in the 1970s and 80s.

I also believe that broadcasters continue to serve the communities they live and work in. We continue to be a reliable, trusted resource that a majority of the country depends on. This is especially true in smaller markets. Local broadcasting is more important than ever. We need Grady students and graduates to bring their perspective and their skills to our ensure the future of our most valuable industry.

GC: What does this recognition mean to you?
As president of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters, Bob Houghton helps oversee the E. Lanier Finch Scholarship, of which Grady College student Colin Ochs was a 2022 recipient. Monica Pearson (MA ’14) was the emcee for the GAB awards luncheon. (Photo: Sarah E. Freeman)

BH: As a non-Grady alum, it is hard to put into words how honored I am to be joining the Grady Fellowship. I was at the first induction ceremony in 2008 and never thought I would someday be included in this group of outstanding journalists, educators, leaders and broadcasters. I was introduced to Grady almost immediately upon my arrival in Georgia in 1992. I joined the GAB Board and began attending Career Day and the glory days of the Winter Institute. On 2012, Dean Davis gave us a home and put the prestigious name of Grady College on what I still believe is my most important accomplishment: the seven year run of the GAB Radio Talent Institute.

There are so many professors and staff members I need to thank but I will leave too many out. My one exception is to thank Vicki Michaelis for allowing me to work with the students in the Carmical Sports Media Institute certificate program. To see the development of the program and the students has been a personal honor and accomplishment. Vicki has lots of help from the team, but she is a powerful force who has built one of the crown achievements of the great Grady College.

GC: What are best strategies for keeping up with day to day advancements in broadcasting ?

BH: Self serving plug: be a member of the GAB or take advantage of the member services we provide. We keep you abreast of industry opportunities and challenges.

Bob Houghton talks with students at a game.
Bob Houghton talks with students in his Sports Broadcast and Production. (Photo: Courtesy of the Carmical Sports Media Institute)
This is one in a series of profiles about our 2022 Alumni Award honorees and Fellowship inductees.

 

All our honorees and inductees will be honored at Grady Salutes: Celebrating Achievement, Leadership and Commitment on April 29, 2022 at Athens Cotton Press. Please visit our Grady Salutes registration webpage for more details. 

Alumni Award Profile: Patricia Curtin

Posted on by Sarah Freeman
This is one in a series of profiles about our 2022 Alumni Award honorees and Fellowship inductees. 
All our honorees and inductees will be honored at Grady Salutes: Celebrating Achievement, Leadership and Commitment on April 29, 2022 at Athens Cotton Press. Please visit our Grady Salutes registration webpage for more details. 

Patricia A. Curtin (MA ’92, PhD ’96) is this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award, honoring a graduate for excellence and sustained contributions to scholarship in journalism and mass communication education.

Curtin is a professor and endowed chair at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. After receiving her Ph.D. at Grady in 1996, she took a tenure-track position at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she received early promotion and tenure to associate professor and directed both the master’s and the doctoral programs. She then received an endowed chair and early promotion to professor at the University of Oregon.

Her research encompasses cross-cultural public relations, public relations history, and development of critical/postmodern approaches to public relations theory. She has won top research awards at international conferences and is the author of two books and numerous peer-reviewed book chapters and journal articles.

Following is a brief interview with Curtin:

Grady College: What does receiving the Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award mean to you?

Pat Cutin: The short answer is a lot. The long answer is that I came to Grady’s graduate program in my late 30s as a working mother of two. You don’t put yourself in the position of working full-time as a master’s student, raising tweens, and doing a graduate program unless you’re pretty motivated. My motivation was to get the best education I could so that I could demonstrate how the stories we tell, and how we tell them, make a difference. My research agenda has never been trendy, but instead has been driven by trying to give voice to disenfranchised groups and create shared understandings that allow us to develop better relations among diverse peoples. Part of telling those stories is to put them in the larger socio-political-economic context of the times. Grady gave me the broad knowledge base and tools to be able to do that. To have Grady recognize the work that I’ve done over the years to ensure we hear those voices in context is validation not only of what I’ve tried to accomplish but of the broad diversity/equity/inclusion perspective that Grady values, as well. My current work is centered on how the U.S. public relations profession developed in relation with organized labor. Grady’s recognition of my work is an immense honor at this point in my career.

Pat Curtin (second from right) with other Grady College Ph.D. students Usha Raman (MA ’83, PhD ’96), Melinda Robbins, Pat Curtin and Carolina Acosta-Alzuru (MA ’96, PhD ’99) at a IAMCR conference in Dublin, Ireland, in 2013. (Photo: courtesy of Carolina Acosta-Alzuru)
GC: Why is a cross-cultural perspective important?

PC: The research study I’m proudest of to date is one I completed while a Grady doctoral student in Dr. Wally Eberhard’s Media and War class. It told the story of the Japanese-American troops in World War II—how the media portrayed them in order to promote U.S. government objectives and how the media-savvy 442nd Regimental Combat Team used the media to advance its goals of recognition and acceptance. After the piece was published, I was contacted by a Japanese-American soldier who had served in the war who told me I “nailed” the story. In 2005, 10 years after that study was published, I sailed as an instructor on Semester at Sea, the experiential-learning study abroad ship that takes students to 10 different countries to experience comparative cultural insights. The cross-cultural term embraces a variety of levels, including not just international boundaries but also those of cultures within the United States, which are important to recognize and embrace. I think any good communicator needs to authentically connect with an audience—the ability to empathize, to see others’ perspectives, to realize the commonalities that unite us as well as the rich diversities that complement us and fully realize our humanity and potential.

GC: What are your favorite memories of your time at Grady College?
From L-R: Dale Harrison, James Rada (PhD ’97), Margie Morrison (PhD ’96), Elfriede Fursich (MA ’94, PhD ’98), Carolina Acosta-Alzuru and Pat Curtin. (Photo: courtesy of James Rada)

PC: When I think back to my time at Grady, it’s the people who stand out. Grady attracts top scholars from around the world, and the opportunity to learn from them is immense and priceless. My professors, across the board, exposed me to a rich variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, and my own research is so much better and stronger for that. Grady professors didn’t give us a hammer and tell us the world was a nail. We were given a toolbox and the knowledge from which to choose the appropriate tool for the job. Additionally, Grady attracts an amazing cohort of graduate students to its competitive program. I also fondly think of the staff, who supported even lowly graduate students and made us feel part of the larger Grady family. My fellow students pushed me, supported me, and remain my close friends after all these years. I am honored beyond words to be sharing the awards ceremony this year with one of those people, Dr. Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, who is receiving the John Holliman, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award.

GC: What advice do you have for someone considering getting a Ph.D.?

PC: Pick a program not for the one professor you want to study with simply because they study just the precise area you think you want to. Instead, be open to having your intellectual horizons widened to include areas you never considered before. Pick a program for its breadth and its rigor. Pick a program for the foundation it will give you to explore new areas of interest and for its ability to push you to become the best scholar you can be. Grady made me question many of my long-held beliefs, expand my conceptual and methodological breadth, and learn how to never back down from the hard questions.

Editor’s Note: the above has been edited for length and clarity.