News

Ph.D. candidate Michele Meyer works with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media as senior director of research and methodologies. Founded in 2004 by Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis, the Institute works collaboratively within the entertainment industry to create gender balance, foster inclusion and reduce negative stereotyping in family entertainment media.

Picture 19th- and 20th-century kids who sold newspapers on the streets in American cities — referred to in slang as newsies. Now, picture one as female. That may not come naturally, but according to doctoral student Autumn Linford’s research, female newsies were not so uncommon, though obscured like many of the contributions women have made to journalism history. Linford, who has taught at Hussman as an adjunct professor, started her career as a local news reporter in her native Wyoming, at a regional newspaper where she covered everything from sports to local government. A desire to better understand journalism’s impact on society drew her to academia. Society’s impact on journalism, such as a devaluation of women’s professional contributions to the craft, became a focus of her academic work.

by Barbara Wiedemann
There is some headway to be made in making advertising and public relations as a profession reflective of the diversity of our nation. In 2022, five UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media students will move that needle forward with their presence. It’s all thanks to a fellowship program known as the Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) which UNC Hussman students have been enthusiastically participating in for over two decades, according to Career Services Director Jay Eubank.

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.

In honor of Black History Month and its fifth anniversary, the Ida B. Wells Society hosted a special evening with co-founders Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ron Nixon and Topher Sanders reflecting on the lasting legacy of the organization’s namesake.
The discussion, held Feb. 23, 2022, focused on what it means to have Wells as the Society’s namesake and her work as a trailblazing paragon of investigative journalism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The co-founders shared how they were deeply inspired to name the Society after her to continue the efforts that expose abuses of power, hold our government accountable and work in the interests of the most vulnerable in our society.

How do you navigate being the only journalist of color covering a game? How do you fight prejudice that a woman can’t write about sports? How do you build a network of other minority journalists to help you get ahead?
The Sports Journalism Institute program answers those questions and more during a nine-week training and internship program for female and minority college students interested in sports journalism careers — and this spring two UNC Hussman students will be attending.
Jeremiah Holloway ’22 and PJ Morales ’23 will attend the program designed to enhance racial and gender diversity in sports departments nationwide in May.

Trevy McDonald, UNC Hussman’s Scheer Term Associate Professor and director of diversity, equity and inclusion, teaches “MEJO 342: The Black Press and United States History,” which examines the foundations of Black media from the 19th century through the civil rights movement. “We look at U.S. history through the lens of the Black press. I contextualize what we’re studying with looking at what was going on in the country with regard to economic, technological and political forces at that time,” said McDonald, who has taught the class since 2013.

by Barbara Wiedemann
UNC Hussman graduates Alex Walkowski ’16 and Kelsey Weekman ’16 met at Carolina, fell in love in New York City, married in 2017 and just started new jobs as senior marketing manager at Albert and internet culture reporter at BuzzFeed News respectively. We caught up with them for Valentine’s Day 2022.

by Barbara Wiedemann
“MEJO 625: UNC Media Hub” was developed at UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media as an opportunity for students to work collaboratively and across platforms. Top students from various concentrations — generally seniors and graduate students only — work in teams of five all semester long to find, produce and market integrated multimedia stories with state, regional and even national appeal. 

y Barbara Wiedemann with Steve McGarry, AIA, Project Manager
Our new 13,000-square-foot Curtis Media Center (CMC), a three-story brick and glass beacon stretching 45 feet into the sky, will open in 2022. With double-pane, insulated exterior glass wrapping all of the fully daylit programmed spaces, the sparkling center is the first new building in the academic heart of campus since nearby Murray and Venable Halls in the Science Complex were dedicated in 2010. A cantilevered profile is both eye-catching and problem-solving. The Center widens from 2,717 square feet on the first floor to 3,600 on the second and third. The architecture maximizes space around an available (circa 1925) Phillips Annex “footprint” constrained by the complexities of elaborate underground water, storm, sewer, steam and chilled water utilities.