Inside the School
Updates for Spring 2020 semester
KU will distribute $7.5 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding directly to students who have significant need and are facing financial challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more here.

Need help? The J-School has resources to help students. C ontact Professor Scott Reinardy at [email protected] . Another great resource is help.ku.edu.

Classes: The deadline to withdraw from 16-week classes has been extended to May 4. Get tech help for online classes at remote.ku.edu .

Report discrimination or harassment to [email protected] or 785-864-6414.

The Bremner Center is taking virtual appointments. Email [email protected] or call 785-864-7623.

Advising: Journalism advising appointments are by email or phone until further notice. Schedule your appointment through JayhawkGPS.

J-School Zoom backgrounds
If you miss the J-School and are looking for a Zoom refresh, this is for you! We've created some backgrounds of different locations in Stauffer-Flint that we hope is a little extra motivation for all of our Jayhawk Journalists. Download from Facebook here.
Faculty and Staff
Nominations for the John Katich Award for Creativity are due this week. The Katich award goes to a full-time faculty member who has demonstrated creativity in teaching, research, service or a combination of these areas. Please email your nomination materials by 1 p.m. May 1 to Joseph Erba ( [email protected] ) and Yvonnes Chen ( [email protected] ), our 2018 and 2019 Katich Creativity Award recipients. The award winner will be announced at the May 12 town hall faculty and staff meeting.

Do you know an  award worthy academic advisor ? Someone who continually strives to go the extra mile for their students, is dedicated to their work and continued professional development, and is a role model to their students and colleagues? Someone who  exemplifies excellence  in academic advising? If so,  nominate them today for KU Advisor of the Year.
Fox4 producer talks to students about TV web production
Lisa McLendon and Gerri Berendzen ’s sections of J419 Multimedia Editing held a joint Zoom session last week to hear from a guest speaker, Makenzie Koch, a web producer at Fox4 in Kansas City. Koch works on web posting, editing, social media and breaking news. She talked to the class about making the switch from newspaper editing to television web production, what her job entails and tips for skills students will need to edit and do news engagement work in television and any media. Koch also answered students’ questions. The session was recorded for students who could not attend live.
Research, Presentations and Publications
Research by Assistant Professor Hong Vu finds that media coverage of the plight of Rohingya Muslims shows misunderstanding can reign — with implications for how international solutions to global problems might be formed. Read the KU News story.

Associate Professor Jerry Crawford  will be a panelist for two Twitter Chats sponsored by AEJMC’s PF&R Committee. The chats are set for 7 p.m. CST April 29 and May 7. The chats will focus on “COVID-19 Pandemic and Free Speech.”  Please see the flier and join in on the discussions.

Associate Professor Jerry Crawford ’s lead author article, “Opportunities and Challenges: Professional development programming in media & communication education," has been accepted for publication in a special issue of Journalism and Mass Communication Educator. Crawford worked with  Jan Boyles (Iowa State),  Terri Hernandez (Mississippi State), Chen Lou (Nanyang Technical University/Singapore), Hong Cheng (Loyola, Chicago) and  David Perlmutter (Texas Tech). The article focuses on AEJMC’s focus on career, professional and academic programming and responsibilities the association provides for its members.

Doctoral student Nyan Lynn participated in a media talk show about the impacts of COVID-19 on the international and Myanmar media. This talk show was hosted and aired on April 24 by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a leading television channel broadcast in Myanmar language. Some issues Nyan discussed included how print media is being severely affected and safety and job insecurity of journalists.
DIAG seeks submissions for 2020 Applied Research Award
The J-School's Diversity and Inclusion Action Group invites the submission of proposals for the 2020 Applied Research Award.  The research award of $5,000 aims to promote applied research in an area of mass communication science that can directly benefit our understanding, acknowledgment, interaction with, research and/or acceptance of diversity. Proposals are due by 5 p.m. Learn more here.
Student News and Opportunities
SPJ Region 7 contest winners
KU student journalists performed well in the SPJ Region 7 contest, with 12 winners and finalists from the University Daily Kansan, KUJH-TV and the Eudora Times.
 
General News Reporting (Large) 10,000+ Students
Rylie Koester , winner: Phoenix Woodworking launches Kickstarter to continue employing people in transition
Taylor Worden , finalist: The Raven Book Store owner Danny Caine receives Midwest Bookseller of the Year award
In-Depth Reporting (Large) 10,000+ Students
Corey Minkoff, finalist: ‘It destroys you’: KU ‘legal dreamer’ fights to stay with family in U.S.
Feature Writing (Large) 10,000+ Students
Courtney Bierman , finalist: ‘Back in the flow’: After historic Oscar win, Willmott returns to teaching
Sports Writing (Large) 10,000+ Students
Braden Shaw , finalist: ‘Rollercoaster’ season for KU comes to a crashing halt in season-ending loss to Auburn
Best All-Around Non Daily Student Newspaper
The University Daily Kansan staff, winner
Television Breaking News Reporting
Keely Drew McCormick , finalist: Will rezoning work?
Television General News Reporting
Keely Drew McCormick , finalist: On the streets
Television In-Depth Reporting
Keely Drew McCormick , winner: Recovering from disaster
Best All-Around Television Newscast
KUJH staff, winner: Dec. 11, 2019, news show
Online News Reporting
Riley Wilson , finalist: Eudora resident honored for bravery in saving local woman’s life
Online In-Depth Reporting
Riley Wilso n, finalist: District manages school lunch debt with donations
Great Plains Journalism Award winners
The Great Plains Journalism Awards were announced online this morning, and the J-School has several honorees.
Keely McCormick was named Great Plains Student Broadcaster of the Year for her work at KUJH.
The Kansan was the winner of the Student Newspaper of the Year and was a finalist for Student News Website of the Year.
Other finalists were:
Savanna Smith for student editor-in-chief of the year, Kansan
Becky Phelps for student broadcaster of the year, KUJH
KUJH was a finalist for student broadcast of the year
Student selected for Report for America
DeAsia Sutgrey was selected as one of 225 journalists for Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities through its reporting corps. It is an initiative of the nonprofit news organization, The GroundTruth Project. Sutgrey will be a reporter for the Belleville News-Democrat. The highly selective national competition drew more than 1,800 applications.
Hearst award finalists
Congratulations to Malik Jackson and Keely Drew McCormick for placing in the top 15 of the national Hearst Journalism Awards competition. Watch their award submissions here.
Senior sendoffs
We invited our Class of 2020 graduates share their memories and reflections about graduating, KU or the J-School. Read Aubrey Goscha 's senior sendoff here .
Awards and Scholarships
Thanks to our generous donors, the J-School has awarded $600,000 to students in scholarships and awards this year. See the entire list of recipients and funds.
Application period open for summer and fall Kansan positions
Applications are open for summer and fall editor and business manager at the University Daily Kansan. The editor is the leader of the Kansan's newsroom and all journalistic content operations. The business manager oversees advertising sales, creative/design and marketing functions, working closely with the business office on billing and financial reporting. Together, these two leaders oversee a staff of dozens and a budget exceeding $300,000.
 Applications should consist of an introductory cover letter from you to the Kansan Board of Directors, followed by a report outlining your plans if you were to serve in either of these roles. Applications are due by 5 p.m. CDT May 4 to [email protected] .
Questions? Contact spring editor Nichola McDowell ( [email protected] ) , spring business manager Grace Fawcett ( [email protected] ) and general manager/news adviser Rob Karwath ( [email protected] or 218-343-9418).
Kansas Association of Broadcasters scholarships
The deadline to apply for Kansas Association of Broadcasters' scholarships is May 1. The KAB offers up to $16,000 annually in scholarship awards (for tuition and books). Learn more and apply here.
Jobs and Internships
Find career and work opportunities on the J-School s jobs and internships web page. You can filter by job or internship and full or part time. And don t forget that our career and outreach coordinator, Steve Rottinghaus , can help you with your search. See more job and internship opportunities on the J-School's website and check out the University Career Center’s job and internship board .
JOBS
Editorial specialist, VMLY&R (Kansas City)
Public relations manager, Western Governors University (Lawrence, Kansas)
Marketing assistant, KU Engineering Career Center (Kansas City)
Research strategist, VMLY&R (Kansas City)
Communications specialist, CooperVision (San Ramon, California)
Communications specialist, Evergy (Topeka, Kansas)
Communications specialist, Aetna (Overland Park, Kansas)
INTERNSHIPS
Writer/editor intern, American Century Investments (Kansas City)
Marketing and communications intern, TBK (Dallas, Texas)
JSchool Tech
JSchoolTech is still here! Miss stopping by the JBar? No worries! Email Heather for a Zoom meeting. It is like the JBar, but you might see a cat. Ask a quick question or get tech help. 

Get job-ready: Need help with resume or portfolio? Contact  Heather Lawrenz  for a digital critique or feedback. 

Suggestion box: Heather is working on new tutorials. Anything you want to see on  jschooltech.org ? ​Let her know. 

Take a creative break: Tune out the bad news for a few minutes and practice some mindful motivation: The JST Creative Break is a short daily challenge designed to help you cope by creating.

Three new JST workshops

Using Spark: April 28, 2-3 p.m.
April 28, 2-3 p.m.
Spark is Adobe’s free tool set. With Spark, you can create social media posts, posters, videos and web pages. Additionally, you can build your own branding within Spark.​ Sign up here.

Mobile Tools Workshop, May 5, 10-11 a.m.
Pop in for a tutorial on how you can use Adobe’s mobile tools to help you with creation. We will be doing overview of Rush (mobile video editing), Capture (creation machine. Imagine looking through your camera to see patterns, vectors, and even fonts), Spark Post (social media posts), and Lightroom (photo editing). This is a great way to develop some mobile technology skills.​ Once you sign up for any event, you will receive a Zoom calendar invite (as well as reminders).​
Alumni Update
Allison Mazzei , 2008 J-School graduate, has been named president and executive director of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. Before her move to the KAB, Mazzei was senior vice president at Pennington and Company. Read the news story.

Brian Hanni , 2002 J-School graduate and Voice of the Jayhawks, recorded this video to offer the Class of 2020 a few words of support and encouragement.
In Memoriam
Bruce Kirk Gerecke , 1993 J-School graduate, died April 23 in Wichita, Kansas, at the age of 69. Read his obituary.
Calendar
May 8: Stop day         
May 12: Faculty/staff town hall meeting, 3:30-5 p.m., Zoom
May 15: Last day of finals        
William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications
1435 Jayhawk Boulevard
Stauffer-Flint Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045
785-864-4755

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