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Journalism

Teaching and Learning

Bob Dittmer developed a Master�s degree proposal with two tracks, Public Relations Management and Public Relations Management in Health Care and Life Sciences. The proposal has received full support from the IUPUI campus leadership and the Dean of the School of Journalism. It has also received endorsement from the school�s public relations professional advisory committee. The proposal will be submitted in July 2007. In addition, five new courses have been developed to support the new degree program, and two additional courses are under development.
Sherry Ricchiardi participated in a major UNESCO project on journalism education. The goal: to create broad outlines of a journalism curriculum that would be suitable for use in developing countries and emerging democracies. The initiative was a response to requests for guidance from UNESCO member states seeking to establish journalism programs within their educational systems. Ricchiardi designed a course in Tier 1 Reporting and Writing for the bachelor�s degree, drawing heavily on the content and skills-oriented approach used at the IU School of Journalism at Indianapolis.
As an adjunct to the IUPUI chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of American chapter, the school supported the development and launch of Jaguar Communications, a student-run public relations agency. During the period of this report they worked with four real-world clients whom they assisted with public relations activities.
As a part of a newly developed course in Public Relations Tactics and Techniques, students in the spring semester participated in a real-world special event for the Indiana Avenue Cultural District. Working with the Indianapolis Mayor�s office, the cultural district leadership, and Indianapolis Downtown Inc., students were responsible for creating, coordinating, and executing a special event to announce the change of Stadium Drive back to its original historic name of Indiana Avenue. The event took place on March 28, 2007 and received significant media coverage.

Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

Jonas Bjork, Professor of Journalism, presented papers at the annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study in the Quad Cities in April and at the biennial meeting of the Nordic Association of American Studies in Tampere, Finland, in May. Bjork has an upcoming article in the July 2007 Swedish American Historical Quarterly and is the author of a chapter on the German press in a soon-to-be-published book, The Rise of Western Journalism, 1815-1914.
James Brown was awarded a $10,800 grant from ConocoPhillips to support his work in documenting Native American culture.
In April 2007, Professor Ricchiardi had an article published in the introductory edition of Medianali, a media journal published by Dubrovnik University�s journalism faculty. The topic: �Violence Against Journalists in Iraq and the Impact on News.�
During summer 2007, Professor Ricchiardi co-authored the second edition of Media Ethics: Case Studies for journalism professionals and students in Croatia with Drs. Stjepan Malovic and Gordana Vilovic. The first edition of this book in 1998 represented the first book on media ethics to be published in the newly independent country.
In September 2006, University Lecturer Bob Dittmer had his first book, 151 Quick Ideas to Manage Your Time, published by Career Press. In May 2007 he turned in the manuscript for his next book, 151 Quick Ideas for Decision-Making and Delegating, also from Career Press to be published in October 2007.

Civic Engagement

More than 80 high school journalism students from eight Indianapolis area high schools attended the first Mary I. Benedict Critical Issues Seminar at IUPUI Friday, March 23, 2007. This daylong program of interactive workshops and seminars was created in the memory and honor of long-time high school journalism teacher and mentor Mary Benedict. Diversity was a main session topic.
Sherry Ricchiardi directed a session titled �Reporting and Writing with Impact� for reporters and editors at the Indianapolis Star, Wednesday, March 21, 2007.
Ricchiardi also conducted a web chat on May 22 for the U.S. Department of State on Threats to Journalists and Media Professionals. During the hour-long web chat, participants from around the world submitted comments about press freedom and the increasing danger to journalists from repressive governments, organized crime and violence in conflict zones.
The IU School of Journalism at Indianapolis co-sponsored a first-of-its-kind workshop titled �Globalization and Localization of Media,� May 11 � 13, 2007, in Boka Bay, Montenegro, a newly independent state in the Balkans. The collaborative project, co-sponsored by IU, Dubrovnik University and the University of Podgorica in Montenegro, brought together 10 students from neighboring Croatia and Montenegro to share research on the impact of globalization of media on local media outlets. Sherry Ricchiardi was one of three professors who helped to coordinate the conference, present sessions and lead discussions. The students� research with comments from professors will appear in the fall edition of Medianali, a media journal published by Dubrovnik University�s journalism faculty.
On May 14 � 15, 2007, Professor Ricchiardi conducted a workshop on �Writing with Impact and Conducting Investigations� at the newspaper Slobodan Dalmacija in Split, Croatia, a city on the Dalmatian coast. She worked with one of the top editors and about 20 young reporters who have had little skills-oriented training. The sessions were interactive and touched on practical newsroom skills, such as storytelling techniques, mapping out complex stories and the investigative reporting process.
(Ricchiardi first visited this paper during a particularly bleak period in January 1993, when she was working with the International Media Fund to develop journalism education and newsgathering skills at Croatian newsrooms and at Zagreb University, where she had a Fulbright that same year. The war was still on in some areas and Serbian forces occupied around 1/3rd of the country.)
From May 7 � 11, 2007, Ricchiardi worked with journalism majors at Dubrovnik University on four topics: global influence of American media, Internet as reporting tool, storytelling techniques for news, and journalism and trauma. This is one of the newest journalism programs in Croatia and, during her visits, she has discussed the IUPUI journalism school�s core curriculum with the faculty as well as the description and design of courses.
As a part of a course in Public Relations Tactics and Techniques, students in the spring semester created a real-world special event for the Indiana Avenue Cultural District. Working with the Indianapolis Mayor�s office, the cultural district leadership, and Indianapolis Downtown Inc., students were responsible for creating, coordinating, and executing a special event to announce the change of Stadium Drive back to its original historic name of Indiana Avenue. The event took place on March 28, 2007 and received significant media coverage.
The major project for the student-run public relations agency, guided by faculty advisor Bob Dittmer, was to conduct an extensive Communication Audit for the Boy Scouts of America Crossroads Council. Completed in May 2007, the audit included extensive background research, management and volunteer leadership interviews, a detailed online survey of adult Boy Scout leaders, and the presentation of an exhaustive and detailed analysis with recommendations.

Diversity

(See Mary I. Benedict item in Civic Engagement.)

Best Practices

The Sagamore, the IUPUI student-run weekly news publication, working with the School of Journalism, now requires students who want to work on The Sagamore or JagRadio on a continuing basis to enroll in journalism classes. For two years, students involved in student media and the school have worked together to refine and define this move toward the classroom. The effort first began with practicum classes but now has expanded and this fall will for the first time involve one of the core curriculum classes. Feedback on the process from both students and faculty has been quite positive. Much of this positive feedback is because the new process:

Enables far more students to participate in student media because they now receive credit. IUPUI students�who have a higher rate of employment than most students�found it difficult to volunteer or to devote time to low hourly wages.
Puts the infrastructure completely in the hands of the faculty and staff and removes that headache from students, who found the associated tasks an extra burden instead of a learning experience.
Emphasizes the practice of journalism and reinforces the Principles of Undergraduate Learning.
Enables students to build portfolios that are vital for job-hunting.

One of the major concerns of this change in procedure was to protect the independent student voice. To ensure that independence, students may prepare content for their classes that also will be published in student media, but the two paths never cross. Work for classes goes to the instructor and is graded by the instructor. Work for publication goes to student editors, who make all content decisions. It is possible for a student to submit content for a class and receive an A but find that the student editors rejected the content. Or, it is possible for student work to be published but receive a low grade in the class. Student editors assign, edit and publish all content.

The faculty began an extensive curriculum review process that will allow 20 percent of the work in each course required for the major to be related to publication in one of the four Sagamore publishing platforms: print, web radio, magazine and web.

External Awards and Appointments

Deb Perkins was awarded the Boy Scouts of America district Award of Merit for her high-quality leadership. She also served as the Good Citizens Chair of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Perkins manages an essay contest for high school students.
IUPUI Student Photographers Jessica Bowman and Chris Bucher swept the Indiana News Photographer Associations Student Shootout. Judging was held on the IUPUI campus on February 24, 2007. The three winners were students of John Gentry, an adjunct faculty member in the School of Journalism.
The Hoosier State Press Association honored Dr. James W. Brown, Executive Associate Dean of the School of Journalism at IUPUI, with its 2006 Distinguished Service Award on January 24 at its Annual Meeting at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. The award was presented to Brown for his long and distinguished service to HSPA, professional journalists and college students. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels presented the award.