Cool Change

#NewsTTU – part of National News Engagement Day, Tuesday, October 7. Come on over to the SUB

Fall is my favorite season – get to see some awesome color changes in sunsets and in the parks across the city of Lubbock!  Get your cameras out and take some photos — make sure you send them in so we can publish them here in JEM Notes! Speaking of photography, I had the opportunity to meet and chat with Alyssa Haden last week.  She is a JEM major and a photographer at The Daily Toreador.  After our meeting, I asked her if she would mind getting all the JEM majors who work at The DT together and take a photo — she did and I was overwhelmed by the number of JEM students working there (and the picture didn’t include all who do!).  Make sure you take advantage of all the wonderful opportunities to produce content at Texas Tech!

JEM majors working at The Daily Toreador, fall 2014: l to r: Kristen Barton, Chantal Espinoza, Hannah Hipp, Kaitlin Bain, Liana Solis, Dani Copeland, Justin Gonzales, Anthony Estolano, Jacob Snow, Alyssa Haden, Anita Hamilton and Duncan Stanley

National News Engagement Day, Tuesday, October 7

The College of Media & Communication and the TTU Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists are hosting “#NewsTTU,” a panel discussion about making news a national priority in the age of social media on Tuesday, October 7 between 12:30 and 2:00 in the Red Raider Ballroom in the Student Union Building at Texas Tech University. This is part of an initiative supported by the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication called “National News Engagement Day.”  The idea behind this initiative is to try and make news a national priority again.  Topics will include:  Millennials and the News, Effects of Social and Mobile Media on News Preferences, and the Future of Local News.  Information about National News Engagement Day can be found at:  http://www.newsengagement.org.  Brian Williams from NBC News talked about National News Engagement Day last week.  He provided a great summary of what the day is about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eQd4gUu3hY&feature=youtu.be&list=UUPZZJ0_P-qhlVsLEg8JI-NQ

National News Engagement Day, October 7. Join us for #NewsTTU, 12:30 to 2:00 in the Red Raider Ballroom over at the SUB!

#NewsTTU Panelists include:

• Jeff Klotzman, News Director, Fox 34, Managing Editor, News @ Nine
• Terry Greenberg, Vice President of Audience, AJ Media
• Dr. Erik Bucy, Marshall and Sharleen Formby Regents Professor of Strategic Communication, College of Media & Communication
• Alicia R. Keene, Editor, The Hub @ TTU
• Katelynne Newman, Co-Manager, The Outpost Social Media Lab, College of Media & Communication
• Carson Wilson, Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Toreador
• Scarlett Humphries, Media Director, KTXT-FM, The Raider 88.1
• Moderator: Dr. Kelly Kaufhold, Assistant Professor, Journalism & Electronic Media, College of Media & Communication.

We will be using the #hashtag #NewsTTU for this panel.  The official hashtag for the event is #newsengagementday

Please try and use these hashtags for promotion before, during and after the panel.

The most awesome Aleesa Ross, Career Center Director in the CoMC!

College of Media & Communication Career Fair

Don’t miss the College of Media & Communication Career Fair, Thursday, October 9 between 1 and 5 p.m. at the McKenzie-Merket Alumni Center (note: this is a location change!).  Don’t miss this event – this is just for College of Media & Communication majors.  How should you dress? Professional.  What should you bring? Resume (at least).  Who should I talk to? Everyone. Meet everyone.  Talk to everyone.  Ask questions.  Need more information: Aleesa Ross – aleesa.ross@ttu.edu.

Dr. Cam Stone, JEM Assistant Professor of Practice

JEM Faculty Spotlight

JEM is fortunate to have so many faculty with so much professional experience.  One of our new professors of practice is Dr. Cam Stone.  I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Dr. Stone for a few years both as a student (now a former student) and now as a colleague.  Dr. Stone teaches several classes in both journalism and electronic media.  I asked him a few questions:

What gets you fired up about teaching?

Seeing a student hang in there and persevere not knowing exactly everything that is going on in a course and then it finally clicking for them is awesome!

What projects/activities do you have that an undergraduate student can get involved in?

My biggest project at the moment is the Society of Professional Journalists organization. So far, we have a little better than 30 students interested in being a part of this organization. For officer elections, we have nine interested parties vying for four positions. The cool thing is it’s not open only to journalism students but all majors. Graduate students are also welcome to join.

What’s something we should know about you but don’t?

I love my music. The faster and harder the better. I jam out every day while working. If students have not dropped by and experienced this phenomenon, I urge them to swing by – especially if they are an audiophile. Professors Foster and Lowry hooked me up with a killer sound system which is sure to impress.

I had the opportunity to talk to one of our JEM majors and ask about Dr. Stone:

Professor Stone has been a revelation to my college experience. We met for the first time Fall 2013 in News Writing. I would always see him around the college but we never exchanged words so I never got to know the man with the ponytail. I remember my first time doing office hours for JOUR 2310, he was my lab instructor and I had a difficult time adjusting to writing stories and being grammatically correct but he taught me a very valuable lesson, it was okay to fail and make mistakes because it is the best way to learn. His work ethic, passion, and evident love for what he does is inspiring. He challenged my mind and character to go beyond being just a student in college to being a better man in society. Words will never be enough to describe the impact he has had on my life. — Dwayne Extol, EMC major

JEM Shout Outs

• JEM student Daniela Parraga has been named anchor/producer for KXTQ-TV, the Telemundo affiliate in Lubbock!
• Dr. John Velez, assistant professor in JEM, has a article coming out in Communication Research titled “Violent video games and reciprocity: the attenuating effects of cooperative game play on subsequent aggression.”

Dr. Robert Peaslee, new JEM Interim Chair!

New Interim Chair for JEM

I’m very excited to announce that effective October 1, 2014, Dr. Rob Peaslee is the Interim Chair for the Department of Journalism & Electronic Media.  Since arriving at Texas Tech seven years ago, Dr. Peaslee has launched programs such as the Global Lens and the International Film Series.  He will be an excellent chair and champion for JEM!  Make sure you stop by and meet him sometime!  I’m still around and am just doing some different things in the best college here at Texas Tech!  #WeAreCoMC! #WreckEm

JEM Notes – 2014 Kickoff!

What side of the camera do you plan to be on?

It’s finally here!

For me, fall semester is the best of them all! There’s something about walking around campus the week before classes start and seeing all of the excitement in the faces of just about everyone. I still get excited walking through the bookstore looking at textbooks (I’ve been known to purchase a textbook or two that seem interesting). Another fun thing for me to do is to go to an office supply store and look through all of the spiral notebooks, 3-ring binders and pencils – let me tell you, they weren’t different in 1984.

Big clouds above Texas Tech University, first week of fall 2014

This is a weekly newsletter for all Journalism and Electronic Media majors (and some who are just interested – so feel free to share with your friends). The goal of this newsletter is to communicate with you about opportunities you have to connect with different activities the Department of Journalism & Electronic Media is involved with. You will be able to stay updated on different course offerings, announcements related to MCTV, Double T Insider, Heads Up Display, KTXT-FM and The Hub, interesting projects JEM faculty are involved with, scholarship opportunities, and checking out what current students and recent graduates are doing!

Dr. Rob Peaslee, Dr. Jerod Foster and some innovative, responsible visual storytellers in New Zealand, Summer 2014.

What is JEM all about?

The goal of the JEM department is to train innovative, responsible storytellers.  Our faculty wants to help you succeed as a storyteller – please don’t hesitate to contact any of us with questions about what JEM is all about.  You should be seeing our new posters — “Which side of the camera do you plan to be on?” — and that really sums up what we are about.  With a degree in Journalism or Electronic Media, you can be prepared to work on either side of the camera.  Talk to a faculty member or your advisor and find out more!

MCTV Project Presentations

Student Organizations

The College of Media & Communication is hosting a Student Organizations Fair Wednesday, September 3 in the 3^rd floor student lounge area in the building. You can learn about all of the student organizations that are available to you in the college – make sure you look for the Tech Association for Student Electronic Media (check out this cool time-lapse video from a TASEM member) and Society of Professional Journalists! Both will have organizational meetings coming up soon! You can contact Dr. Jerod Foster (jerod.w.foster@ttu.edu) for TASEM and Dr. Cam Stone (cam.stone@ttu.edu) for information about SPJ!

Double T Insider

Don’t Miss

After you attend the Student Organization Fair Wednesday, head over to the Student Union Building for a “Watch Party” celebrating the national network launch of Double T Insider. We will be at the TV Lounge area near the Food Court area in the SUB. Stop by between 4:30 and 5:00 for the network debut of DTI on Fox Sports Southwest. Then tune into Fox College Sports for the debut of DTI later at 9 p.m.!

Double T Insider schedule for Wednesday, September 3 (check out info “Sports show produced by TTU students”)

Students Producing Content!

Many of you are interested in producing media content. Correct? There are several opportunities for you to do news, sports, weather, entertainment and other types of content for television, radio, web and other formats!

• The Hub: The Hub@TTU is an award-winning collaborative environment for students who are interested in producing a variety of different types of content related to the Texas Tech community. Check out their website: http://www.ttuhub.net. Follow them on Twitter (@HubTTU)
• Double T Insider: The Double T Insider is an award-winning student produced television program about Texas Tech Athletics. Beginning Wednesday, September 3, 2014, the program will air on Fox Sports Southwest and Fox College Sports. Kind of a big deal. Make sure to like DTI on Facebook and follow them on Twitter (@DoubleTInsider).
• MCTV: MCTV is the college’s daily newscast. This fall, Dr. Kelly Kaufhold (kelly.kaufhold@ttu.edu), Josh Robinson (josh.robinson@ttu.edu) and Roxie Bustamante (roxie.bustamante@ttu.edu) will be managing the newscast. Guess what – they have a spot for you! In the past two years, the program has produced more than 100 episodes and this fall will expand – meaning a need for more anchors, reporters, camera operators, technical directors, audio engineers, etc….Contact Dr. K for more details!
• KTXT-FM: Calling all college radio fanatics! KTXT-FM has a place for you! You can volunteer at the campus radio station – The Raider 88.1. In fact, next time you are on the 3^rd Floor, you can watch all the cool stuff they are doing – it’s more than music. The station has opportunities for those interested in news, sports, weather – in fact the station is home to play-by-play coverage of Lady Raider Soccer, Softball and Volleyball! Contact Derrick Ginter, station manager (ginter@ttu.edu). Follow them on Twitter – (@TheRaider881)
• Heads Up Display: Heads Up Display is a video game review show that is organized by JEM student Carmen Askerneese (carmen.askerneese@ttu.edu). It’s a show that’s just a little more than a year old and continues to grow!

Evan Dixon, JOUR 2014 (second from left), with other Meet the Press interns

Student Success!

We’ve got so many students that are getting jobs and high profile internships right out of college. One of those students is Evan Dixon – JOUR 2014. Mr. Dixon earned an internship with Meet the Press for the summer of 2014. Near the end of the summer, he applied for a job as a desk assistant with NBC News in their Washington, D.C. bureau. Guess what: he starts his full-time job this week!

Carly Smith EMC major and MCTV weather

At the next home football game, be sure to cheer on our JEM students who are doing some cool stuff.  You can find EMC major Carly Smith cheering on the Red Raiders!

JEM Faculty Happenings

Make sure you say “Congratulations” to Dr. Lea Hellmueller — her book, The Washington, D.C. Media Corps in the 21st Century was published in July 2014!

Dr. Lea Hellmueller’s new book published July 2014!

We’ve got three new JEM faculty members – Dr. Marilda Oviedo, Dr. John Velez and Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez-Renteria. We are very excited to have all three here at Texas Tech. This week, I’d like to introduce you to our Visiting Professor, Dr. Gutierrez-Renteria. She’s on leave from the Universidad Panamericana at Guadalajara, Mexico for the next two years. Dr. Gutierrez-Renteria is a scholar of media management and economics who is teaching two sections of EMC 4320, Electronic Media Operations for the department this semester. I asked her a few questions….

New faculty member, Visiting Professor Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez-Renteria

New Faculty Spotlight

 

What gets you fired up about teaching?

I get life! Meaning: share with my students knowledge –in a very easy way- about how the industry works and all the challenges that they could have as a professionals. I receive more from them, because they keep me up!

Are you working on a current research project that an undergraduate could help out with?  

EVERYBODY WHO WANTS TO WORK WITH ME….WILL BE WELCOME! We will learn a lot.

I will be working with Dr. Wilkinson about the new media habits from young Hispanic audiences (Large research in USA and also others countries in Latinoamerica). Also, I will be researching the structure of the Hispanic media market in USA (challenges for Hispanic society, Hispanic media).

My research is about the new environment in the telecommunications and media industry in Mexico (facing digital convergence and the new legal aspects that impact telecommunications market).

What’s the best thing you’ve learned about Texas Tech so far? 

Trust. University environment. Great opportunity to serve society with my job. It is amazing the support that TTU give us as professors and scholars.  Environment of study! I am really excited here at TTU.

JEM shoes. Innovative? Responsible? Guess who?

Opportunities

• Check out this opportunity to submit your nature photography — Nature Photography Summit is February 19-22, 2015 in San Diego.
• Study Abroad Fair will be Wednesday, September 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the SUB Ballroom — make plans to attend and find out more info for some upcoming study abroad learning experiences!
• A TTU-affiliated organization is looking for a talented student who can help with logo design, web presence, print collateral and presentation ideas.  Let me know if you are interested.

Send me your photos!  

I would love to feature photos and videos of cool things JEM students are doing!  Please e-mail me .jpg or links to your videos at your blog, YouTube, Vimeo or other online place.  (todd.chambers@ttu.edu).  I really dig this photo from JEM major Emily Hamilton! Have a fantastic week!

JEM major Emily Hamilton working with color

Spring! Summer! Fall!

Congratulations to our amazing JEM students working at The Hub@TTU!

It’s that time again….Advising & Registration!  I wanted to touch base with you about some changes related to Journalism & Electronic Media and promote a few of our cool elective classes coming up this summer and fall!

Before we get started…just want to say Congratulations to the staff at The Hub and our JEM students who are picking up some awards this weekend at the Society of Professional Journalists Region 8 Conference!  Get this, the following will receive a 2013 Mark of Excellence Award this weekend at this conference — Hub Staff for Best Independent Online Student Publication, Alicia Keene, Abigail Arroyos and Evan Dixon for Online In-Depth Reporting (for Asbestos on Campus), JOUR 2013 alumni Sydney Holmes for Online Feature Reporting (for Watch me bare my soul and have a panic attack) and Claudia Tristan for Online News Reporting (for Surviving rape at Texas Tech University).  Congratulations to all! By the way, you can publish your work at The Hub — it’s easy

Grammar. Spelling. Punctuation.

Back in the fall, each of the departments in the college were given the opportunity to evaluate and decide about the role of the GSP for their majors. For the Department of Journalism & Electronic Media, the faculty decided to keep JOUR 2310, News Writing, as a requirement for journalism majors and maintain the GSP requirement. The faculty voted to allow electronic media and communications majors to have a choice between JOUR 2310 or a new course that will be offered beginning fall 2014 – MCOM 2320. This new class will be a course designed to teach about several area of media writing. Our faculty believes that students interested in news writing need to demonstrate the basic principles of grammar, spelling and punctuation. It is my opinion that we offer one of the best news writing course in the state — anecdotally, it blows me away every time I talk to a graduate who says something about how much they hated taking JOUR 2310 in college but how grateful they are to have had it!

Even though our electronic media and communications majors have a choice between two courses, I would encourage any student with a passion and career interests in producing, reporting, and writing for a variety of different media outlets to take News Writing. It doesn’t matter if you want to end up in sports, news, or entertainment, writing is important.

You must check with your advisor before changing your degree plan.  Also, you definitely must check about requirements related to the catalog year of your first enrollment at Texas Tech.  Advisors for JEM are:  Donald Ellis and Ryan Johnson.

JOUR 4301 – Issues in Global Journalism! Summer 2014!

Summer Coolness

JEM is offering several of our regular courses in the summer I and summer II sessions.  JOUR 2300, Principles of Journalism, JOUR 2310, News Writing, EMC 3310, Principles of Electronic Media, and more!  I did want to tell you about two special topics courses that can help you with global communication credits!  In our Journalism program, we are offering JOUR 4301, Issues in Global Journalism in Summer I — you can take this class from one of the world’s leading experts in the profession of journalism from a global perspective, Dr. Lea Hellmueller!  Its CRN is 30452 and it will meet at 10 a.m.

Really cool special topics class coming Summer II!

In Summer II, the electronic media program will offer EMC 4301, Audio Storytelling: Global Voices.  This course is designed to help students do long-form audio storytelling — and create content for a new program we are trying to get started called Global Reach!  The class meets at 10 a.m. in Summer II and its CRN is 64050.

JOUR 4301 — Sports Reporting — This Fall!

Fall Awesomeness

Fall is really going to be awesome.  JEM will be offering courses ranging from “technology touches” (JOUR and EMC 2000) where you can earn academic credit by ‘doing’ journalism and/or electronic media at MCTV, Double T Insider, KTXT-FM or The Hub to excellent electives about Analyzing Television, Public Opinion and Propaganda, Photography and….

EMC 4301: Understanding Video Games. Really cool class! Take it!

EMC 4301, Understanding Video Games (CRN 30923, MWF 10 a.m.).  Really going to be a cool class!

JOUR 4301, History & Practice of Sports Reporting (CRN 31508), MW 4 p.m.).  Thinking about going into sports journalism? This class is a MUST TAKE!

Check with Advising!  Advisors for JEM are: Donald Ellis and Ryan Johnson.

MCTV New Opportunities!

Get involved. Get an internship. Get a job.

We’ve had ALOT of recent student successes and cool stuff happening that I wanted to share —

• Lauren Estlinbaum, JOUR (May 2014) has been selected to be a Morris Management Intern.  Morris Communications is a media company based in Augusta, Georgia with a portfolio that includes newspapers, radio stations, magazines, books, broadband services, and event marketing.  Congratulations Lauren!  She represents the first TTU student to ever be selected into this internship program!
• Another first — A producer with Meet the Press notified Evan Dixon, JOUR (May 2014), that he had been selected as an intern for this long time staple of broadcast journalism!  Evan starts the internship this summer.  Congratulations!
• Remember that Texas Association of Broadcaster’s workshop?  Well, one of our EMC majors attended the workshop, networked and is now a reporter at KCBD-TV!  Congratulations Ashlyn Tubbs, EMC (2014)!  Ashlyn has been working with MCTV this semester.  In the past, she has worked at The Daily Toreador and interned with KLBK-TV.
• And…for you #SXSW fans….EMC major JB Felipe worked with Google on the #IngressReport #RecursionAustin project! 

 

SCHOLARSHIPS

• Please make sure you apply for a Texas Association of Broadcasters scholarship!  Deadline is coming up!

 

This camera needs someone to take an award-winning photo

Mark your calendars!

Texas Association of Broadcasters (www.tab.org)

No matter what your career plans are, March 8 may provide you with an opportunity to interact with some of the nation’s top broadcast journalists at the Texas Association of Broadcasters Regional Broadcast Newsroom Workshop!  The College of Media & Communication and the TAB are hosting this ‘first time ever at Texas Tech’ event on Saturday, March 8.  Here are just a few highlights —

• Excellent opportunity to learn about broadcast news from some of the nation’s best television journalists!
• Have award-winning, professional journalists critique your work!
• 18 Sessions include: Storytelling Mastery, Investigative Reporting, The Purpose Driven Stand-Up, The Write Stuff, A Network Photographer’s Tips and Tricks from the Field and more!

You can find out more about this event at https://www.tab.org/member-services/newsroom-workshop

There is a reduced rate for students ($25 – this will include lunch).  Make sure you register online as soon as possible.  I will be honest, these types of events really don’t happen all the time and I really want you to consider making plans to attend.  It doesn’t matter if you are an aspiring journalist or filmmaker, these types of events provide excellent networking opportunities!  Give me a shout if you have any questions or would like more information (todd.chambers@ttu.edu).

Dr. Kelly Kaufhold

 

JEM Faculty Spotlight:  Dr. Kelly Kaufhold

You’ve probably seen him around – teaching a lot of different types of courses and somehow finding time to walk with an individual student to teach them how to cover a story.  Dr. Kelly Kaufhold brings years of professional experience into the courses that he teaches and in dozens of mentoring moments each and every week.  I asked Dr. Kaufhold a few questions:

What’s the best thing about teaching at Texas Tech University?

Oh, that’s easy, it’s the earnestness and industriousness of the students. No, wait, it’s the ability to do a radio show with students; no, it’s the daily newscasts; maybe the ability to pitch and quickly teach out-of-the-box courses? Wait, it’s having hands-on, real-world outlets like MCTV Weekday Update, KTXT, Double T Insider, TTUHub.net. Or the ability to teach great undergraduate and graduate students? …oh man…

 What’s your favorite course that you teach? Why?

Dr. K is always teaching

Storytelling by Smartphone, a special topics course. Students are already immersed in their mobile devices so when we can take that raw interest and craft it into good, skilled news gathering and reporting it gets them thinking in a very professional way about what used to just be social and fun. And it still is! Except it might get them hired now. Plus, it’s a scream when they post something like “Prof wants us to tweet in class. Unreal.”

 How should a student prepare for a job in journalism?

Fundamentals + multimedia + initiative. We can teach you two out of the three and our College of Media and Communication, more than ever, can “lead a horse to water” with all of our student media outlets. Any student with that initiative has all the tools they need here to set themselves apart and get hired.

 What research projects are you working on?  How can a undergraduate or graduate student get involved?

I’m building on an experimental news game that gets young adults more interested in news – it’s about to launch in some high school classrooms, which will be a first. I also plan to run a national survey this semester and there may be room for some grad students to piggyback some questions onto my panel! And I’m increasingly interested in pedagogy – improving the art of teaching.

And speaking of “teaching” and “Dr. K” (he told me about one of his former students and her recent success!)

Virginia Stille (JOUR 2012) headed to finals!

JEM Alumni Spotlight

Check this out: Virginia Stille (JOUR 2012) will be competing in the Final Round of Nuestra Belleza Latina, a television program on the Univision Television Network!  Tune in February 16 and find out what is next!

Virginia Stille (JOUR 2012) will appear on Univision February 16!

Get Creative.  JEMLive!  

Take a look around – there are new initiatives and opportunities to get creative everywhere.  You can get involved with any of the following —

• The Hub (ttuhub.net) Photos, videos, stories, blogs, you name it — you can get published! In fact, we would love to see more photos that are TTU related!
• MCTV – this daily newscast (Monday through Thursday) meets in CoMC 355 at 2:00 — feel free to contact josh.robinson@ttu.edu and ask how you can help (everything from anchor to graphics, we need help!)
• Double T Insider – weekly sports program broadcast in Lubbock and Amarillo television markets!  Production meetings are Thursdays at 5 p.m.
• KTXT-FM, The Raider 88.1 – campus radio station – always seeking volunteers!  AND, we need someone to do play-by-play (as soon as this spring!). Please contact DG asap!  (derrick.ginter@ttu.edu)
• Heads Up Display – Video Game Show!  Yep, go to The Hub and look at the HubTV options (carmen.askerneese@ttu.edu)
• Hubcast – brand new student-volunteer project – get in on the ground floor of a really cool media project!  (evan.dixon@ttu.edu, alicia.r.keene@ttu.edu or abigail.arroyos@ttu.edu).
• These are just a few of the opportunities that exist.

Get Social. #JEMTTU 

As you create and post your photos, videos, etc…feel free to tag the department when and where appropriate — use #JEMTTU.

Finish Strong and Merry Christmas!

Career Development Conference

Here’s hoping that you find whatever it takes to finish fall 2013….STRONG!  When you feel you can’t study or proofread any more, take a quick break and do it again!

On behalf of the faculty in the Department of Journalism & Electronic Media, I just want to share how proud we are of the students in both majors.  You consistently impress us on a daily basis in and outside of class.  Keep up the good work!

Hey students from DFW area….

The College of Media & Communication is sponsoring a Career Development Conference in Dallas on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 (it’s during winter break).  So, if you are in the DFW area over the holidays, please make sure you make plans to attend.  You must register before December 20.  Go to http://www.ttucareersdallas.com to register.

Opportunities to build that resume….

Keep in mind that the spring 2014 semester provides dozens of opportunities for all JEM students to build their resume.  Look for opportunities to earn academic credit or volunteer at The Hub, MCTV, KTXT-FM, Raider Vision and others!

I’m going to keep this one short, because….you need to Finish Strong.

Talk to you next week!