News

Scott Fowler ’87, a columnist for The Charlotte Observer, recently wrote about a Saturday Night Live sketch co-written by another alumnus of the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media — Bryan Tucker ’93.
The sketch — that skewered Charlotte, Charlotte Hornets rookie LaMelo Ball and his proud papa LaVar Ball — aired during the Feb. 27, 2021, “Weekend Update” segment and featured SNL star Kenan Thompson’s take on LaVar Ball, a character Thompson had already portrayed several times during the life of the show.

To commemorate the last week of Black History Month, the Carolina Association of Black Journalists (CABJ) invited NC Media & Journalism Hall of Fame inductee Professor Emeritus Harry Amana for an intimate conversation. On the evening of Thursday, Feb. 25, the retired professor sat down (virtually) with eight current UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media students, and Hussman Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Associate Professor Dr. Trevy McDonald, to talk about his journey to becoming UNC’s first Black journalism professor and about laying the foundation for 30 years of CABJ.

One strategic communications competition, 24 hours and over 70 enterprising students adds up to a weekend of resume-building experience benefiting students and local businesses alike.
Must be time for the Crash Campaign!
The weekend of Feb. 26 - 28, 2021, saw the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media’s annual student-led Crash Campaign competition turn virtual as 16 teams of 74 students combined marketing, advertising, public relations and design skills to produce campaigns for local businesses — under time pressures that mirror what they will encounter in their careers.

Politicians and political movements are leveraging the power of social media more than ever, and the effects on civil discussion and debate can be dramatic and consequential.
UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media faculty and alumni on the front lines of examining media and politics joined Dean Susan King for the virtual conversation — “The Changing Landscape of Social Media and the Influence on Politics” — on Feb. 25, 2021, to explore the issues.

by Barbara Wiedemann
UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media graduate Jason Kilar ’93 has been a sought-after interview lately, making headlines as the new CEO behind WarnerMedia’s decision to release its 2021 feature films in theaters and streaming on HBO Max simultaneously.

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) at UNC-Chapel Hill along with the Hussman School of Journalism and Media and the Carolina Latinx Center invited Mexican-American journalist Maria Hinojosa for a campus wide event on February 23. The virtual event on Zoom allowed close to 100 attendees to hear Hinojosa’s personal take on how journalism has changed over the years to bring diversity in the industry.

A vibrant and collaborative interdisciplinary research culture at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media creates new knowledge, advances scholarship and helps reinvent media.

UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media graduate Isabella “Bella” Courtenay-Morris ’19 and some creative colleagues turned ad agency opportunities lost to the pandemic into an idea — Indoor Recess — that Adweek called one of the “Ten Projects That Made the Industry Better in 2020.”

Four UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media faculty members were awarded a total of $20,000 in seed grants supporting promising projects in visual communication, documentary production, investigative journalism and crisis communication. Associate Professor Spencer Barnes, Professor Pat Davison, Assistant Professor Erin Siegal McIntyre and Assistant Professor Eva Zhao are the 2021 recipients of the $5,000  school-sponsored grants to help faculty conduct formative, exploratory or innovative research projects that match with the funding priorities of external funding agencies and programs.

Angelica Edwards ’22 and fellow UNC Hussman student Julian Berger ’22 co-founded a student chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists at UNC in August 2020. At the organization’s inaugural event on Feb. 23 at 6 p.m., Edwards and Berger will moderate a discussion with Emmy Award-winning Latina journalist Maria Hinojosa for a virtual discussion on her career and recent memoir “Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in Torn America.”