spotlights

Class of 2017: Entrepreneurs revolutionize business education

Anonymous — Fri, 12 May 2017 04:00:21 +0000

Class of 2017: Entrepreneurs revolutionize business education Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/11/2017 - 22:00

When Jake Hurwitz and Nathan Moses met, neither predicted they’d wind up as business partners.

Both are students about to graduate from CU ��«��Ƶ, but in almost every other way they couldn’t be more different.

Hurwitz is a fast-talking East Coast transplant earning a bachelor’s degree in strategy and entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business. Moses is an easygoing student from Idaho, majoring in critical media practices in the College of Media, Communication and Information.

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Meet Erin Willis

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 23:24:35 +0000

Meet Erin Willis Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/19/2016 - 17:24

Assistant Professor of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design • Studies Online Health Communities

When Erin Willis first graduated from college, she took a public relations job in Chicago. “Because I like people. Of course! Why else do you do PR?” she thought. Her degree was in public relations and she felt capable of the work, but she didn’t really know what kind of career she wanted. After a few years of work in the industry and a few more running a regional tourism magazine in Missouri, Willis gave in to her “quarter-life crisis,” as she refers to it, and returned to school for a master’s degree in strategic communications—an overarching term for the ways in which organizations use advertising, public relations and design to communicate.

There, Willis found her passion in her side job at an arthritis rehabilitation facility. While translating medical research on arthritis into news articles for general audiences, she became fascinated by how people read and understand health information. “Everyone thinks that health communication is so different from PR, but in reality health communication is just persuasive messages related to health,” she explains.

Inspired to pursue a doctorate, Willis started to explore online health communities. She wondered: were people coping with their disease symptoms outside of traditional health care organizations? “We do this all the time with other aspects of our lives,” she says. “Your car breaks and you Google it to find an online forum to help. We do this with our health too.”

“It’s so interesting to try to understand people’s motivations, to try to crack that code.”
-Erin Willis

Willis’ research shows that many patients use online communities to share methods of coping with their shared disease and to support one another. Today, she’s beginning to study how online health communities can be structured to connect patients with medical specialists, to encourage and enable members of the online community to take action to manage their disease.

But Willis has never left public relations behind. “I study health communication,” she explains, “but I think it’s really just PR in disguise. It’s so interesting to try to understand people’s motivations.” As a young professor at the University of Memphis, Willis was given responsibility for her public relations department’s struggling internship program. She brought in industry professionals to mentor students as part of the program. Motivated and informed by their discussions with professionals, Willis’s students soon secured many more internships and jobs.

Now, as a professor at CMCI, she continues to seek out new ways to get students hands-on experience with the public relations industry. “The new college and my department are finally bringing public relations to ��«��Ƶ,” Willis says. “I am thrilled to be part of this beginning. PR is a growing field and I know my students will be successful. I’m really lucky to be able to do what I do.”

An assistant professor who studies online health communities — “It’s so interesting to try to understand people’s motivations, to try to crack that code.”

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Meet Lauren Sorge

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 22:01:33 +0000

Meet Lauren Sorge Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/24/2016 - 16:01

Kyle Rini

Lauren Sorge’s summer work day began at 4:30 a.m., long before many of FOX 5 San Diego’s viewers were even awake. As an intern at the San Diego FOX affiliate station, Sorge needed an early start to write scripts, brainstorm story ideas and shadow reporters who were out covering the biggest stories in Southern California. Her work for the FOX 5 newsroom took her to the California Republican primary after-party and allowed her to meet influential figures like San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. Best of all, she was working in her hometown.

When Sorge blanketed the country with her resume in spring 2016, she had no idea where she might end up as an intern. The application process was lengthy and time-consuming but she kept at it. Eventually, a news station in her native San Diego offered her a position.

As a journalism major in the broadcast track at CMCI, Sorge hopes to eventually work for a national news network, like CNN or NBC. She saw an internship at a large local station, like FOX 5, as a great step toward that goal. “Reporting is what I want to do as a career path,” she said, “and being able to follow [a FOX 5 reporter] was really cool and gave me a lot of good information as well as an amazing experience.”

The internship also taught Sorge about some of the difficult realities of the broadcast new industry, such as strict deadlines and high expectations. “It’s a huge learning curve that’s for sure, but you know, it will be worth it one day when I’m actually applying for a job,” she explained.

When the internship ended, Sorge returned to CU ��«��Ƶ for her final year of classes, better-prepared and eager for a future career in broadcast news. For her fellow students looking for a similar experience, Sorge has this piece of advice: “if you have a passion for something, definitely care for that passion. For me, that was journalism.”

Learn more about internships at CMCI.

A journalism major launching a career in broadcast news at FOX 5 — "If you have a passion for something, definitely care for that passion. For me, that was journalism.”

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Meet Krista Barry

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:56:38 +0000

Meet Krista Barry Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/24/2016 - 15:56

Kyle Rini

“I’ve been wanting to work in the music industry for a while, so going into college, I knew that's what I wanted to do,” says Krista Barry, who has long held a passion for music.

It’s a passion that led her to take on internships at local management groups in Colorado, such as 11e1even and 7S, to become a college representative for Warner Music and to found CU ��«��Ƶ’s student-run “Crave the Sound” music blog. Now, in the summer before her senior year, Barry took on dual internships at one of the world’s largest record companies hoping it would put her even closer to a career in the music industry.

Instead of just one summer job at Warner Music Group in Los Angeles, Barry opted for two at separate labels under the Warner brand. At Warner Bros. Records, Barry worked in the artist and repertoire department where she was responsible for talent scouting, artist development, new artist research, creating playlists and pitching new artists to her bosses. At Atlantic Records, she worked in publicity, combing the internet to find which news outlets were reporting on Atlantic’s press releases. She also researched music blogs across the country and reached out to them to see if they could publish the label’s news. “It’s been a crazy summer,” she said.

A Colorado native, Barry was thrilled to work in LA, the music and entertainment capital of the world, where she got to attend countless concerts, including informal performances by Warner artists in the company’s backyard.

As a student majoring in public relations at CU ��«��Ƶ, she was excited to work for a large music label and gain experience from the seasoned industry professionals. “I feel like it’s been a really good experience actually being able to pitch artists and getting honest feedback from my boss and that’s so helpful.”

After all the hard work and fun in LA, she returned to ��«��Ƶ for her senior year, better-prepared to take on the challenges of working in the music industry. Barry’s advice for students looking for internships: seize your chances while you can still “take advantage of being a student. Take advantage of this opportunity to intern at your dream place.”

Learn more about internships at CMCI.

A Public Relations major exploring the LA music industry with two internships — “I’ve been wanting to work in the music industry for a while, so going into college, I knew that's what I wanted to do.”

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Meet Austin Uteda

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 21:50:41 +0000

Meet Austin Uteda Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/24/2016 - 15:50

Kyle Rini

If you’ve ever watched cable television, there’s no doubt you’ve seen a bug or a snipe—small graphics and animations at the bottom of the screen that promote the channel’s other programs or inform viewers of what’s on next. For every station, those bugs and snipes need to be scheduled to best promote the channel and its programs. At Bravo, that job fell to Austin Michael Uteda in summer 2016.

Uteda, a communication major at CU ��«��Ƶ, was a summer intern at the Bravo TV network, working in the on-air promotions department. He was responsible for scheduling the day’s bugs, adjusting snipes and sending premiere times to the network’s East Coast operations.“I felt really valued while having an important role,” he said.

A native of Los Angeles (where Bravo is headquartered), Uteda was excited to find an internship that's not only close to home, but with one of his favorite TV networks. He got the internship after applying to parent company NBC Universal’s college career portal.

In addition to his daily duties scheduling snipes and bugs, Uteda also helped with video shoots and attended informational meetings about other roles within the network. “They’ve been very open to me exploring all departments at Bravo,” he said.

He relished the chance to learn valuable skills from working professionals in the broadcast field. he said. “They’ve given me so much insight into how the industry works.” Uteda hopes to use his experience at Bravo as a major stepping stone to a future career in communication.

Learn more about internships at CMCI.

A communication major and summer intern putting his major to use at his favorite TV network —
"I have been able to sharpen my communication skills within the office environment, which I know is very important,"

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Meet Nabil Echchaibi

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:27:00 +0000

Meet Nabil Echchaibi Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/22/2016 - 15:27

Chair, Department of Media Studies • International Commentator

For Nabil Echchaibi, the media have always been more than a source of information or amusement.

As a child, he used books and films to explore the world beyond his home in Morocco. As a graduate student, he studied how Arabs used radio to share the difficulties of living in foreign cultures. And as a professor, he examines many types of media to understand how Muslims shape their identities in a modern and sometimes hostile world.

“The media are ubiquitous,” he explains. “We all use these technologies, but we don’t really pause to think about what these things are doing to us, and what we can actually do to harness the power of these technologies for better causes.”

That focus on thinking about media and its impacts is at the heart of what Echchaibi and his colleagues in the Department of Media Studies do. While Echchaibi focuses on Muslim culture, other faculty members look at how media can strengthen democracy, or how media influence the way people view race, gender and sexuality.

The goal, Echchaibi says, is to help students become knowledgeable consumers—and producers—of media.

One of three children from a middle-class Moroccan family, Echchaibi describes himself as a “cultural rebel.” He came to the United States on a graduate scholarship and by 2001 was thinking about his career.

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 determined that course. In the days after the attacks, mentions of his Moroccan heritage were often followed by critical questions about religious extremism. Realizing the questions that now surrounded his religion, he turned his focus to what it means to be Muslim and modern.

“We live in a world where people are moved through vigorous discourse.”
- Nabil Echchaibi

His research covers many geographic areas and media formats. While studying televangelists in Egypt, for instance, he found that the Islamic tradition of sermonizing is well suited to television and the Internet. In Colorado he teamed up with historians, filmmakers and journalists to chronicle the history of Muslims in the mountain states.

Echchaibi writes often for international and national publications, including The Guardian in the United Kingdom andThe Huffington Post. As experts on the media’s impact, he says, he and his colleagues have an obligation to inform public discussion.

“Media studies allow you to see things beyond what they appear to be on the surface,” he explains. “The research I’m doing, hopefully and humbly, allows me to reveal something about a certain world that normally gets reduced to a caricature. I want people to see things differently.”

A professor who studies the media and publishes in the media. — “We live in a world where people are moved through vigorous discourse.”

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Meet Griselda San Martin

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:24:36 +0000

Meet Griselda San Martin Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/22/2016 - 15:24

(MJour’13) • Visual Journalist • Co-founder of Transborder Media

Not long ago, Griselda San Martin travelled to Mexico City to claim a second-place award for her short film, Soldiers Without a Nation, in a competition sponsored by the Mexican government and the United Nations.

The film tells the stories of permanent U.S. residents who fought for the American military only to be deported to Mexico for later criminal offenses. The deported veterans feel lost in the middle and San Martin believes their stories are too.

San Martin, originally from Spain, lived in several countries and always enjoyed taking pictures of the people and places she saw in her travels. When she came to CU-��«��Ƶ to pursue a master’s degree in journalism, she wanted to tell stories–a certain type of story. “I don’t like hard news,” she says. “I like in-depth stories.” Some of the stories San Martin wanted to explore in-depth were the lives of immigrant and their communities in the United States.

“We’re trying to tell stories from beyond the mainstream.”
- Griselda San Martin

San Martin’s favorite class in her first year at CU-��«��Ƶ was Media and Diaspora, a media studies class that explored how media portray and impact immigrant communities. After learning how the mainstream media reported on marginalized immigrants, San Martin completely changed her own approach. Rather than talking about immigrants, as many in the media do, she realized the best way to fight stereotypes and report a more truthful story was to let immigrants tell their own stories.

San Martin teamed up with classmate Elaine Cromie and travelled to Tijuana, Mexico to meet and interview many of the deported U.S. veterans living there. The duo have since returned many times and have produced several short videos about the veterans. “We’re not activists. We’re not taking sides,” says San Martin. “We’re trying to tell stories from beyond the mainstream.”

To further that goal, San Martin, Cromie and a third collaborator—Biana Fortis—have founded Transborder Media, a company dedicated to producing written and visual media that crosses borders. Currently, San Martin is documenting the Garifuna community in New York City in portraits and a documentary. Because the Garifuna immigrated from the Caribbean and Central America, they speak English, Spanish and their own language. San Martin is translating her work into all three, as part of her dream to tell stories “that transcend borders.”

A graduate of the journalism and media studies programs who tells stories that cross borders — “We’re trying to tell stories from beyond the mainstream.”

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Meet Tyler Rollins

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:23:20 +0000

Meet Tyler Rollins Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/22/2016 - 15:23

Media Studies Graduate Student • Researches Government Surveillance Programs

Tyler Rollins got his master’s degree in sociology at a school that, as he puts it, “has a reputation for being a somewhat radical campus.” Environmental activists sometimes slept in tree canopies to deter loggers. Others drove metal spikes into trees, ensuring any trespassing chainsaws would snap. The sociology department placed a big emphasis on social movements and their organization.

But “one of the things I always found lacking,” Rollins remembers, “was an understanding of the role the media played in these social movements.”

That type of understanding—the ability to think about and analyze the role and the impact of the media in society—is just what CMCI’s Department of Media Studies offers, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

“There’s always something fun about disrupting people’s preconceptions.”
- Tyler Rollins

Rollins came to CU as a doctoral student. His research focuses on American domestic surveillance projects between the end of World War II and 1975. Unknown to most Americans, U.S. intelligence agencies during this time intercepted and read the mail and telegrams of many citizens. Rollins uses historical and legal techniques to discover how these covert, questionably legal projects were operated, justified and criticized at the time.

Ultimately, he hopes that his work will help Americans grapple with recent revelations that the National Security Agency continues to collect the personal information of many American citizens. “If you can understand what was truly going on in the past and then compare that to our present issues, it gives you a new perspective,” he explains.

A graduate student who studies the history of government surveillance programs — “There’s always something fun about disrupting people’s preconceptions.”

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Meet Jordyn Siemens

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:16:10 +0000

Meet Jordyn Siemens Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/22/2016 - 15:16

Class of 2017 • Co-Editor-in-Chief of CU Independent

Jordyn Siemens sat nervously on an old, green couch in a crowded newsroom. Only three days earlier, she had moved from her family’s home in Fort Collins into her freshman dorm.

At a friend’s insistence, she had agreed to attend the first staff meeting of the semester for the CU Independent (CUI)—a 24/7 student-run news site.

Journalism wasn’t new to Siemens. She had learned to edit video in high school and had come to CU-��«��Ƶ to study broadcast news. But she had never written for a news publication. If she was going to be a journalist that needed to change, she decided.

Her first article wasn’t published.

“My very first assignment was a cross-country meet and my story didn’t get put up because it was so bad,” she remembers with a laugh. With coaching from her editors, her fourth story—a profile of a cross-country runner—went up on the site. “I was really impressed with all the older kids who took me under their wing and showed me what to do,’’ she says.

Now, Siemens leads staff meetings from the front of that newsroom.

As CUI’s co-editor-in-chief she heads a staff of writers, photographers, audiovisual producers and programmers who publish an award-winning news site. Siemens and the other editors encourage staff members to pick assignments and media formats that interest them. Students from the campus sports show produce a podcast, a student from the business school sells ads, and computer science students maintain the website.

“The resources are endless. I can try any and every idea that pops into my head.”
- Jordyn Siemens

In her CMCI classes, Siemens focuses on broadcast news, gaining hands-on experience with video editing, studio production and field videography. She also develops public exhibits for the library and writes online content for the athletics department. In each of these experiences, Siemens sees potential journalism careers. “That’s how this journalism department is set up,” she notes. “You may major in one area, but you dabble in everything.”

As Siemens continues to explore her future, the CUI offers a chance to build her leadership skills, to add to her professional portfolio and—as it has for many previous students—ultimately pave her way into the media industry. And as co-editor-in-chief, she aims to ensure that other students have the same opportunities. “Students here take on projects. When they leave, they can say ‘I started this column, this video series, this podcast,’ ’’ she explains. “It’s an entrepreneurial experience.”

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Meet Paul Voakes

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:11:59 +0000

Meet Paul Voakes Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/22/2016 - 15:11

Former Chair, Department of Journalism • Amateur Jazz Musician

When Mardi Gras rolls around, Paul Voakes grabs his tenor saxophone and joins a party band. His horn brings a New Orleans vibe to the music. Musical performance is a new experience for him. He’s a longtime fan of the saxophone—especially in jazz—but just started lessons two years ago. “It’s a struggle,” he admits, “but I need to be a student of something all the time in my life.”

Just as learning and improvisation are key to Voakes’ jazz, they are key to his journalism. As a reporter and editor for the San Jose Mercury News in the 1980s, he often followed new information in different directions in his stories. Like jazz, it was a bit of a performance, with tight deadlines and an audience of hundreds of thousands.

As a child, Voakes loved being the first person to learn something new and tell others about it. As a college freshman, he planned to become an actor, but his curiosity and knack for writing drew him to journalism.

“Journalism is like jazz—improvisation and performance.”
- Paul Voakes

Next, as a professor, he remained a student, eagerly adopting the industry’s new tools while applying journalism fundamentals such as accuracy and ethics to new media platforms.

In a recent ethics class, for instance, he explained the rules of publishing people’s pictures. His students brought up the case of a college football player who sued a video game manufacturer for using his image without permission. The students’ debate over whether athletes should be paid when their images are used was Voakes’ favorite discussion of the semester.

“The great thing about teaching is that I get to work with intelligent, young, media-savvy people,” he says. “I’m never sure what direction any class will take us. Quite often my students end up teaching me as much as I teach them.”

Paul Voakes retired in December 2017.

Emeritus professor, former journalist and amateur jazz musician — “Journalism is like jazz: improvisation and performance.”

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