Tag: MSCNE

University of North Alabama’s Flor-Ala newspaper honored with Betty Gage Holland Award

Posted on by Dayne Young

The Flor-Ala at the University of North Alabama and former editor-in-chief Harley Duncan are the 2019 winners of the University of Georgia’s Betty Gage Holland Award for excellence in college journalism.

(pictured l-r: Stephanie Moreno, Grady College Scholastic Outreach Coordinator; Dr. Keith Herndon, Director of the Cox Institute; Harley Duncan; Dr. Janice Hume, Grady College Journalism Department Head; and Mike Hiestand, Senior Legal Counsel for the Student Press Law Center

The award recognizes campus journalists and their publications for distinguished service to protect the integrity of public dialogue on America’s college campuses. The annual award is co-sponsored by the James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership at the Grady College and the Student Press Law Center.

Duncan led reporting efforts to uncover why the university’s vice president of student affairs resigned and a professor was banned from campus. His staff filed FOIA requests for personnel records. The requests were initially rejected. The newspaper eventually obtained selective personnel records and confirmed a Title IX investigation of the professor.

“I feel incredibly grateful to be awarded such a prestigious and honorable award, but I will always be indebted to the staff that worked around me and my former Adviser Scott Morris for helping me do great journalism,” Duncan said.

Morris was later informed that administration was rewriting his job description to require a PhD, meaning he was no longer qualified for the job. This act prompted the College Media Association to censure the University of North Alabama.

“The Flor-Ala has spoken to truth to power, obtaining and exposing information that the school was clearly desperate to keep hidden,” said Mike Hiestand, senior legal counsel for the Student Press Law Center. “That is what journalists do — and that is their legacy.”

Duncan credits a team effort from the Flor-Ala staff for discovering truth without cooperation from the university.

Harley Duncan chronicles his investigative reporting at the 2019 Management Seminar for College News Editors

“A lot of people at the university discredited the reporting I did and the articles we published, but this kind of recognition shows that we were doing our jobs well,” Duncan said. “My hope is that this award earns The Flor-Ala more respect and can spark a larger conversation at The University of North Alabama on the topic of public records and institutional transparency.”

The award honors the late Betty Gage Holland, long-time friend of journalism education at the University of Georgia.

An award of $1,000 is presented to the winning student journalist and an additional $1,000 is given to the publication sponsoring the winning entry.

“An award such as this should inspire college journalists by showing them the outstanding work of their peers,” said Keith Herndon, director of the Cox Institute. “In the case of this year’s winner, the work reminds everyone how public institutions often fail in meeting their obligations for transparency. When this happens, journalists must hold them accountable.”

The Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership prepares students and professionals for leadership roles in the news media. It is named for the late James M. Cox Jr., who headed Cox Enterprises and Cox Broadcasting Corporation from 1957 until 1974.

The Student Press Law Center, headquartered in Washington, D.C., provides legal assistance and advocacy in support of student journalists nationwide seeking access to information from schools and colleges. The Center provides free legal training and educational materials for student journalists and their teachers on a wide variety of legal topics.

The Sunflower at Wichita State University honored for excellence in college journalism

Posted on by Stephanie Moreno

The Sunflower at Wichita State University and former editor in chief Chance Swaim are the 2018 winners of the University of Georgia’s Betty Gage Holland Award for excellence in college journalism.

The Holland Award recognizes campus journalists and their publications for distinguished service to honor and protect the integrity of public dialogue on America’s college campuses. The award is presented by the James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, and the Student Press Law Center (SPLC).

The independent, student-run newspaper’s coverage during the academic year included investigative stories that examined student housing conflicts of interest, questioned the university’s investigation of a student body president, and dissected enrollment numbers reported by university administrators. In pursuit of these and other stories, Swaim and The Sunflower filed numerous open records requests.

“By looking under the hood, by questioning those assumptions, by crunching their own numbers, these folks did the highest duty of investigative journalism—they held the power accountable,” said Frank LoMonte, senior legal fellow at the SPLC and director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. “They paid quite a price for doing that. Their funding was threatened, their livelihood was threatened, but they did not let that stop them.”

“It’s a real honor,” said Swaim, after accepting the award during the 23rd annual Management Seminar for College for College News Editors. “I’m hoping people look back at our coverage this year, and how we handled it, to learn new ways to cover things at their schools.”

(l.-rt.) Keith Herndon, Cox Institute director; Stephanie Moreno, MSCNE coordinator; Matt Kelly, current editor in chief of The Sunflower; Chance Swaim, former editor in chief of The Sunflower; Amy DeVault, adviser of The Sunflower; and Frank LoMonte, senior legal fellow at the Student Press Law Center.

Swaim’s detailed research is the biggest asset in his reporting, according to Amy DeVault, adviser of The Sunflower.

“These stories did not land in Chance’s lap. He’s an incredibly good reporter,” she said. “What that means is he does his research, he’s constantly reading.”

DeVault hopes The Sunflower, which operates on an annual budget of under $200,000, will inspire other campus publications of varying staff sizes. “It doesn’t take a lot of money to do good journalism,” she said.

Swaim will receive a $1,000 award and The Sunflower also will receive $1,000 as the sponsor publication.

The annual award honors the late Betty Gage Holland, long-time friend of journalism education at Grady College.

The Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership prepares students and professionals for leadership roles in the news media. It is named for the late James M. Cox Jr., who headed Cox Enterprises and Cox Broadcasting Corporation from 1957 until 1974.

The Student Press Law Center, headquartered in Washington, D.C., provides legal assistance and advocacy in support of student journalists nationwide seeking access to information from schools and colleges. The Center provides free legal training and educational materials for student journalists and their teachers on a wide variety of legal topics.

Submissions open for 2018 Betty Gage Holland Award

Posted on by Stephanie Moreno

The award recognizes excellence in college journalism

The University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is accepting submissions through June 1, 2018, for the Betty Gage Holland Award for excellence in college journalism.

The Holland Award recognizes campus journalists and their publications for distinguished service to honor and protect the integrity of public dialogue on America’s college campuses.

The annual award is co-sponsored by the James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership at Grady College and the Student Press Law Center headquartered in Washington, D.C. It honors the late Betty Gage Holland, long-time friend of journalism education at UGA.

An award of $1,000 is made to the winning journalist(s) and an additional $1,000 to the sponsoring news organization. The prize and winning entry are featured at the annual Management Seminar for College News Editors, which will be held July 22-27, 2018.

Of special importance to judges are news stories, institutional editorials, personal commentaries or columns that single out for public examination any act that results in distortion or pollution of the public discourse. Use of open records or “sunshine” laws is deemed particularly meritorious if the result shows the people’s business being done.

Nominations for the award may be made by or on behalf of any journalist(s) regularly enrolled in a university or college at the time of publication and also by or on behalf of any campus news organization-whether independent or university supported-that published the pertinent material.

Nominations for the 2017-18 academic year must be submitted no later than June 1, and should include an endorsement of no more than 300 words and three (3) links to all news stories and commentary submitted for consideration (or PDF duplicates, if not published online).

Send nominations and supporting materials Stephanie Moreno at s.moreno@uga.edu.

Previous winners and additional information may be found at www.grady.uga.edu/holland-award.

Investigative report on sexual misconduct on college campuses wins 2017 Holland Award

Posted on by Don McClain

For demonstrated commitment to investigative, in-depth reporting, Nicole Ares of the College Heights Herald at Western Kentucky University is the 2017 winner of the University of Georgia’s Betty Gage Holland Award for excellence in college journalism.

The Holland Award recognizes campus journalists and their publications for distinguished service to honor and protect the integrity of public dialogue on America’s college campuses. The award is presented by the James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, and the Student Press Law Center (SPLC).

Ares’ winning entry—”In the Dark: Records Shed Light on Sexual Misconduct at Kentucky Universities”— “took enormous journalistic courage, charging into a legal battle over documents that image-conscious colleges fight obsessively to keep secret,” offers Frank LoMonte, executive director of the SPLC and Holland Award juror.

“Shining a light on misconduct by college employees who occupy positions of public trust and authority is the highest duty of campus media, and few have done it better than the Herald,” he noted. “Nicole Ares and her team at the Herald showed real insight and ambition by broadening the scope of their investigation to look at comparable colleges across the state, which yielded the revelation that not every college was as secretive as Western Kentucky with these same records and thereby exposing the fallacy of their university’s privacy argument.”

Added LoMonte: “Most impressively, the Herald continued its aggressive coverage even after being sued by the university in an obvious attempt to keep the story from being told. This is the kind of determination that the best public-service journalism requires.”

(l.-rt.) Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center; Keith Herndon, director of the Cox Institute; Nicole Ares, 2017 Holland Award winner; Nsenga Burton, digital editor of Grady Newsource and Holland Award juror; Carrie Pratt, College Heights Herald adviser

In addition to Ares’ strong investigative work, her storytelling drew the attention of the judges, according to Nsenga Burton, Digital Editor of Grady Newsource and Holland Award juror.

“Nicole’s writing is excellent,” Burton said, “and her decision to include multimedia elements to visually support her data gave her work the edge over other candidates.”

Ares will receive a $1,000 award and the College Heights Herald also will receive $1,000 as the sponsor publication.

The annual award honors the late Betty Gage Holland, long-time friend of journalism education at Grady College.  It was presented during the 22nd annual Management Seminar for College News Editors.

“We are pleased to recognize excellence in college journalism each year through the Betty Gage Holland Award. In presenting this award, we intentionally shine a spotlight on deserving student journalism,” said Keith Herndon, director of the Cox Institute. “We want to inspire other college journalists to do great work by showing them what is possible.”

The Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership prepares students and professionals for leadership roles in the news media. It is named for the late James M. Cox Jr., who headed Cox Enterprises and Cox Broadcasting Corporation from 1957 until 1974.

The Student Press Law Center, an Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit, provides legal assistance and advocacy in support of student journalists nationwide seeking access to information from schools and colleges. The Center provides free legal training and educational materials for student journalists and their teachers on a wide variety of legal topics.

Grady College to host 22nd annual Management Seminar for College News Editors

Posted on by Don McClain

More than 50 college journalists from across the U.S. will learn leadership, management and content development skills at Grady College July 23-28, 2017, during the 22nd annual Management Seminar for College News Editors (MSCNE).

Sponsored by the Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership and directed by Nsenga Burton, the seminar will be led by nearly 20 educators and industry professionals. The late Conrad Fink started the program in 1996 to better prepare campus news editors for top management positions at their news organizations.

Featured presenters this year include: Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center; Butch Ward, senior faculty at The Poynter Institute; Akili Ramsess, executive director of the National Press Photographers Association; Selwyn Crawford (ABJ ’81), team leader/special writer for The Dallas Morning News; Mark Fomil, mobile content specialist at The Weather Channel; Kim Wilson, founder & CEO of Social News Desk; and photojournalist Billy Weeks, among others.

On Wednesday, the group will travel to Atlanta and meet with reporters, editors and producers at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in the morning and at CNN in the afternoon.  Rodney Thrash, AJC’s Atlanta Now coach, and Paul Crum, CNN’s vice president of U.S. news operations, will host and help lead these sessions.

On Thursday afternoon, student editors will gain hands-on multimedia experience and participate in a simulated news event that involves UGA public safety and communications officials.

Pictures will be added throughout the week to UGA Grady’s Flickr account. Follow along on social media with #MSCNE17.