/cmci/ en /cmci/2025/01/12/announcing-fall-2024-deans-list <span>Announcing the fall 2024 dean's list</span> <span><span>Regan Widergren</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-01-12T07:38:04-07:00" title="Sunday, January 12, 2025 - 07:38">Sun, 01/12/2025 - 07:38</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-01/flatiron.jpg?h=3105b90d&amp;itok=ikScaWoJ" width="1200" height="800" alt="snowy flatirons"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/134" hreflang="en">advertising public relations and media design</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/71" hreflang="en">communication</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/63" hreflang="en">critical media practices</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/437" hreflang="en">deans list</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">featured</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/53" hreflang="en">information science</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">journalism</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/77" hreflang="en">media studies</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">news</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead">CMCI students who have&nbsp;completed at least 12 credit hours of CU șù«ÍȚÊÓÆ” course work for a letter grade in any single semester and achieve a term grade point average of 3.75 or better are included on the dean’s list. They receive a notation on their transcript and a letter from CMCI Founding Dean Lori Bergen. Congratulations to all honorees!</p><div class="row ucb-column-container"><div class="col ucb-column"><ul class="list-style-underline"><li>Lucia Abdelwahed</li><li>Kit Achar</li><li>Shea Ackman</li><li>Lucy Alagna</li><li>Kelli Alexander</li><li>Ava Alms</li><li>Bridgette Anderson</li><li>Bryce Andrews</li><li>Sofia Anerousis</li><li>Vicky Angelova</li><li>Josh Archie</li><li>Jack Armstrong</li><li>Remy Arnold</li><li>Grace Atencio</li><li>Emily Badeaux</li><li>Rebecca Badeaux</li><li>John Baggs</li><li>Alexia Bailey</li><li>Elizabeth Baker</li><li>Loren Baker</li><li>Owen Balboa</li><li>Bella Baldecchi</li><li>Maddie Baldwin</li><li>Emilie Barbattini</li><li>Katie Barcroft</li><li>Tomas Barrientos</li><li>Ellena Bassoukos</li><li>Alyssa Bauer</li><li>Katie Baxter</li><li>Enya Bayaraa</li><li>Taylor Beamer</li><li>Lily Becker</li><li>Emily Beckwith</li><li>Ryan Beebe</li><li>Kayla Beebower</li><li>Savy Behr</li><li>Haya Ben Essa</li><li>Carolina Benun</li><li>Parker Berkheimer</li><li>Adrianna Bhan</li><li>Charlie Bickham</li><li>Thomas Bischoff</li><li>Tommy Bittner</li><li>Katie Bixler</li><li>Rylee Blake</li><li>Kenna Blank</li><li>Miranda Bleau</li><li>Carley Blim</li><li>Riley Blomstrand</li><li>Sophia Bobier</li><li>Anvitha Bompalli</li><li>Jack Bond</li><li>Sophia Books</li><li>Sarah Boothroyd</li><li>Hailie Borges</li><li>Jack Boruchov</li><li>Grant Bowditch</li><li>Sarah Brady</li><li>Elizabeth Brechtel</li><li>Mateo Brenes</li><li>Hannah Brennan</li><li>Audrey Brice</li><li>Logan Brinker</li><li>Erin Brinkman</li><li>Ava Brittelli</li><li>Katie Brooks</li><li>Samantha Brouhard</li><li>Addison Brower</li><li>Emily Brown</li><li>Lili Brownell</li><li>Benjamin Browning</li><li>Ryan Bruins</li><li>Morgan Bruun-Jensen</li><li>Rachel Bryant</li><li>Tessa Buchanan</li><li>Juliana Buck</li><li>Ashley Budy</li><li>Fatima Bugaighis</li><li>Harper Bunn</li><li>Ben Burleigh</li><li>Griffin Burrows</li><li>Brooke Bursteen</li><li>Parker Burt</li><li>Ella Buss</li><li>Noelia Caballero</li><li>Sophia Caldwell</li><li>Isabelle Calvanese</li><li>Carly Cambareri</li><li>Mackenzie Campbell</li><li>Abby Cannon</li><li>Sarah Carleo</li><li>Jessie Carlin</li><li>Clara Carlsson</li><li>Kaitlyn Carpenter</li><li>Juliana Carpinelli</li><li>Kelley Carr</li><li>Mitchell Carswell</li><li>Alexa Carter</li><li>Madeline Caruso</li><li>Madison Cashin</li><li>Kathryn Castanoli</li><li>Mia Castro</li><li>Zachary Chagnon</li><li>Izzie Chan</li><li>Jack Chandler</li><li>Jesus Chavez</li><li>Hayden Chedid</li><li>Avery Childs</li><li>Angelina Christos</li><li>Madeeha Chughtai</li><li>Megan Chung</li><li>Tanner Clark</li><li>Avery Clifton</li><li>Emme Clymer</li><li>Morgan Coffin</li><li>Jacqueline Cohen</li><li>Blair Coldrick</li><li>MacKenzie Cole</li><li>Sydney Coleman</li><li>Sophia Collins</li><li>Sarah Connor</li><li>Scott Connor</li><li>Breah Conradson</li><li>Ainsley Coogan</li><li>Georgia Cook</li><li>Jennifer Corley</li><li>Susie Cormack</li><li>Gilberto Corral</li><li>Maddy Corzine</li><li>Bailey Craig</li><li>Grace Crawford</li><li>Elizabeth Cropper</li><li>Gavin Crowson</li><li>Charlotte Croy</li><li>Eryn Cryer</li><li>Kelajanae Curry</li><li>Tess Curry</li><li>Evan Curtiss</li><li>Lauren Curtiss</li><li>Dana Cutti</li><li>Liz Cutting</li><li>Emma Czohara</li><li>Ella Elisabeth D'Orazio</li><li>Olivia D'onofrio</li><li>Maayane Dadon</li><li>Clara Dailey</li><li>Ava Dallal</li><li>Abikael Daniel</li><li>Lacey Daniell</li><li>Hannah David</li><li>Gabriella Davis</li><li>Katherine Davis</li><li>Sasha Davison</li><li>Weston Deaton</li><li>Hunter Dee</li><li>Lily Delgado</li><li>Ryan Dial</li><li>Zach Dial</li><li>Ben Dickson</li><li>Jacob Dilling</li><li>Sydney Dobriner</li><li>Campbell Dokken</li><li>Connie Dolati</li><li>Lexi Dolsak</li><li>Eric Donjuan</li><li>Emily Doskow</li><li>Sydney Dossa</li><li>Wylie Douglas</li><li>Daniel Doupe</li></ul></div><div class="col ucb-column"><ul class="list-style-underline"><li>Aspen Doust</li><li>Averie Dow</li><li>Brady Dowd</li><li>Veronika Drab</li><li>Baylee Drevno</li><li>Noah Drewes</li><li>Michael Drozd</li><li>Vaughn Duby</li><li>Jean Duffy</li><li>Hannah Duthie</li><li>Mattia Echchaibi</li><li>Ansley Edelbrock</li><li>Camryn Eickenberg</li><li>Jenny Ellis</li><li>Ryan Ellis</li><li>Libby Emery</li><li>Sophie Englezos</li><li>Felix Estes</li><li>Morgan Evans</li><li>Nate Evans</li><li>John Ewald</li><li>Ellie Exenberger</li><li>Reed Ezor</li><li>Sophie Faust</li><li>Trent Finnegan</li><li>Maddie Fisher</li><li>Katie Flecca</li><li>Aidan Fliszar</li><li>William Flockton</li><li>Joe Fogler</li><li>Hayley Forstot</li><li>Ellie Foster</li><li>Rhen Fowler</li><li>Helena Fox-Mills</li><li>Celia Frazier</li><li>Cayden Friedman</li><li>Isabelle Friedrich</li><li>Colette Gagliano</li><li>Evanie Gamble</li><li>Jacalyn Gamble</li><li>Bailee Gammel</li><li>Lydia Gammon</li><li>Katelyn Gardner</li><li>Prestin Garman</li><li>Audrey Geer</li><li>Carly Gelfand</li><li>Hannah Giacomin</li><li>Ellie Gianola</li><li>Tegan Gie</li><li>Peyton Gildersleeve</li><li>Lauren Gillespie</li><li>Marin Gloor</li><li>Max Goldin</li><li>Samantha Goldin</li><li>Arlie Goldman</li><li>Max Gong</li><li>William Gooch</li><li>Julia Goodman</li><li>Max Goodman</li><li>Salem Goodman</li><li>Keira Gould</li><li>Abby Graham</li><li>Chloe Graham</li><li>Nora Graham</li><li>Cj Grandi</li><li>Edson Graycar</li><li>Erica Griffiths</li><li>Leila Gurland</li><li>Darien Gyselen</li><li>Ella Hack</li><li>Marin Hackney</li><li>Max Hagen</li><li>Paxton Haines</li><li>Alisa Haley</li><li>Aedan Hall</li><li>Alsa Halquist</li><li>Norah Hampford</li><li>Roxie Hampton</li><li>Nate Hankins</li><li>Mackenzie Hanlon</li><li>Carson Hanna</li><li>Justin Hansen</li><li>Eden Harari</li><li>Greta Harder</li><li>J.T. Harland</li><li>Maeve Harrington</li><li>Myla Harris</li><li>Sabrina Harris</li><li>Alex Hartman</li><li>Kate Hartman</li><li>Nick Haseman</li><li>Ethan Hatch</li><li>Josie Hayes</li><li>Keeley Haynes</li><li>Madison Hays</li><li>Grace Heligman</li><li>Stevie Hemans</li><li>Sam Hengehold</li><li>Will Henrickson</li><li>Mel Henry</li><li>Carson Henthorn</li><li>Anna Herth</li><li>Jack Hertzenberg</li><li>Carter Hessen</li><li>Chloe Hessinger</li><li>Kainoa Hiatt</li><li>Tyler Hibri</li><li>Antonia Hidalgo</li><li>Cassidy Hill</li><li>Grace Hilliard</li><li>Norah Hively</li><li>Sophie Hodgson</li><li>Hannah Hoffman</li><li>Johnny Hoisington</li><li>Sam Hokkanen</li><li>Mira Hougen</li><li>Donavon Houston</li><li>Owen Houtakker</li><li>Emily Howard</li><li>Ava Howe</li><li>Hannah Howell</li><li>Samantha Hruska</li><li>Haley Hubbard Godfrey</li><li>Wyatt Humble</li><li>Caitlin Humphrey</li><li>Daniela Hunt</li><li>Reese Illston</li><li>Helen Ingle</li><li>Greyson Ittig</li><li>Max Jacobs</li><li>Reed Jacobs</li><li>Maren Jacobson</li><li>Emma James</li><li>Lauren Jeffrey</li><li>Alana Jenks</li><li>Aaron Jensen</li><li>Annika Jobanputra</li><li>Mia Jochamowitz-Endersby Chikhani</li><li>Andy Johnson</li><li>Carter Johnson</li><li>Casey Johnson</li><li>Liv Johnstad</li><li>Teegan Johnstone</li><li>Max Julian</li><li>Taylor Kahn</li><li>Ryan Kalin</li><li>Faith Kaplan</li><li>Peyton Karp</li><li>Bailey Karraker</li><li>Peri Kay</li><li>Vivian Keegan</li><li>Samantha Keenan</li><li>Rachel Kennedy</li><li>Rowen Kennedy</li><li>John Kerklo</li><li>Ella Kest</li><li>Amy Kibort</li><li>Hannah Kijner</li><li>Angela Kim</li><li>Andrew Kingsepp</li><li>Julia Grace Kirk</li><li>Skylar Kisiel</li><li>Charlotte Kleinert</li><li>Miles Klingbeil</li><li>Ava Knopping</li><li>Will Kopp</li><li>Julia Kramer</li><li>Riley Krane</li><li>Ella Krelovich</li><li>Katie Krochalis</li></ul></div><div class="col ucb-column"><ul class="list-style-underline"><li>Carey Kronhart</li><li>Maddie Krozek</li><li>Oona Krukowski</li><li>Maria Kuhn</li><li>Samuel Kurtz</li><li>Matt Kushel</li><li>Alex LaMotte</li><li>David LaPaglia</li><li>Amy Labontu</li><li>Ruby Laemmel</li><li>Mia Lafayette</li><li>Raymond Lamlein</li><li>Ella Landry</li><li>Skyler Landry</li><li>Jonas Larson</li><li>Simon Lauritzen</li><li>Daniel Laverty</li><li>London Lawrence</li><li>Sarah Lawrence</li><li>Camille Leach</li><li>Juliette Leclercq</li><li>Lou Leclercq</li><li>Ava Leonard</li><li>Claire Levitt</li><li>Maya Levy</li><li>Jackson Lewis</li><li>Kara Liguori</li><li>Kya Lini</li><li>Mia Lioudis</li><li>Alexander Lipka</li><li>Leif Lomo</li><li>Skyler B. Longerbone</li><li>Lauren Lopez</li><li>Deborah Loseke</li><li>Linus Loughry</li><li>Janie Ludington</li><li>Anna Lynch</li><li>Zhehuang Ma</li><li>Taylor Madden</li><li>Mel Malloy</li><li>Emelia Mantz</li><li>Ella Marrufo</li><li>Jillian Martellaro</li><li>Stella Martens</li><li>Jackson Martin</li><li>Daniel Mattie</li><li>Maya Matus</li><li>Jake May</li><li>Alden Mazur</li><li>Audrey McClure</li><li>Matthew McGovern</li><li>Maddy McManus</li><li>John McDermott</li><li>Joey McDonald-Picolli</li><li>Fiona McGinnis</li><li>Tanner McIntosh</li><li>Sophie McKeown</li><li>Oliver McKinney</li><li>Jordan McPhee</li><li>Emori McQuigg</li><li>Sam Meldner</li><li>Alex Melvin</li><li>Ella Melvin</li><li>Gabby Mendoza</li><li>Nicholas Merl</li><li>Keala Mermel</li><li>Jackson Meyer</li><li>Julia Meyer</li><li>Leah Meyer</li><li>Olivia Meyers</li><li>Kristee Mikulski</li><li>Greta Milan</li><li>Clementine Miller</li><li>Creed Miller</li><li>Ellen Miller</li><li>Maggie Miller</li><li>Morgan Miller</li><li>Skylar Mills</li><li>Ally Milton</li><li>Samantha Mims</li><li>Amanda Mitry</li><li>Macy Mohlenkamp</li><li>Camryn Montgomery</li><li>Jayla Montoya</li><li>Jack Mooney</li><li>Clare Moore</li><li>Madison Moss</li><li>Mg Moulton</li><li>Lexi Moyers</li><li>Trevor Mueller</li><li>Brad Munson</li><li>Ally Murphy</li><li>Clare Murphy</li><li>Lia Murphy</li><li>Rue Murray</li><li>Addie Myers</li><li>Jacob Myers</li><li>Aahana Nandy</li><li>Presley Nemecek</li><li>Corey Neumeier</li><li>Hailey Newsum</li><li>Rebecca Niewood</li><li>Maggie O'Brien</li><li>Nora O'Connor</li><li>Emma O'Donovan</li><li>Brinley O'Neill</li><li>Gabriella Olson</li><li>Sofia Olsson</li><li>MariaJoan Olugbode</li><li>Karina Opalski</li><li>Alexandra Organa</li><li>Annika Ort</li><li>Max Osterman</li><li>Alina Ouligian</li><li>Emmett Owenby</li><li>Addison Paquin</li><li>Harley Parsons</li><li>Lauren Paschke</li><li>Giovanna Pascucci</li><li>Frankie Patton</li><li>Maya Paustenbaugh</li><li>Cassidy Payne</li><li>Madelyn Payne</li><li>Alicia Payrits</li><li>Sienna Peck</li><li>Kai Pelleriti</li><li>Caroline Pellerito</li><li>Tia Pepper</li><li>Quetzal Peterson</li><li>Amy Phillips</li><li>Rachel Pilik</li><li>Gibran Pillai</li><li>Valerie Pineda</li><li>Timothy Pivero</li><li>Macy Place</li><li>Jessica Plotkin</li><li>Ryan Podber</li><li>Katharine Polep-Sawyer</li><li>Brady Pollard</li><li>Ashley Pomeroy</li><li>Elizabeth Pond</li><li>Erika Port</li><li>Bradley Pratt</li><li>Dylann Pratt</li><li>Molly Precourt</li><li>Anna Prendergast</li><li>Addisson Pribble</li><li>Trevor Price</li><li>Grace Ptak</li><li>Jaden Quinn</li><li>Noor Rajpal</li><li>Mia Ramundo</li><li>Reece Randall</li><li>Olivia Randazzo</li><li>Andrew Rauber</li><li>Maya Raulf</li><li>Marissa Rauzi</li><li>Pauline Rawson</li><li>Rachel Ray</li><li>Quentin Rebholtz</li><li>Alex Redding</li><li>Cameron Reed</li><li>Molly Reed</li><li>Katrina Reghitto</li><li>Sebastian Gray Reid</li><li>Alexandria Reilly</li><li>Skyler Reneberg</li><li>Katie Reuter</li><li>Ella Revivo</li><li>Maddy Reynolds</li></ul></div><div class="col ucb-column"><ul class="list-style-underline"><li>Conner Richardson</li><li>Lauren Riley</li><li>Tessa Ring</li><li>Emma Ritter</li><li>Eliza Roberts</li><li>Ryan Robine</li><li>Berkley Robins</li><li>Aidan Robinson</li><li>Caniya Robinson</li><li>Justin Robinson</li><li>Michael Robinson</li><li>Isabel Robison</li><li>Kate Rogers</li><li>Audrey Rolstad</li><li>Avery Romig</li><li>Jenna Rose</li><li>Maddie Rosen</li><li>Alison Rosenbaum</li><li>Miki Rosenberg</li><li>Eli Rosenthal</li><li>Sam Russo</li><li>Emme Rutherford</li><li>Jay-Henry Ryan</li><li>Tanvi Sabharwal</li><li>Jessica Sachs</li><li>Joaquin Salinas</li><li>Luke Samiee</li><li>Charlotte Sample</li><li>Yahir de Jesus Sanchez Diaz</li><li>Anya Sanchez</li><li>Kayla Sanchez</li><li>Lydia Sarbacker</li><li>Tori Sarver</li><li>Milan Sasaki</li><li>Sophie Savage</li><li>Isaiah Saya</li><li>Riley Schermerhorn</li><li>Francesca Schiavitti</li><li>Gavin Schleich</li><li>Addie Schneider</li><li>Jaimie Schoenke</li><li>Tyler Scholl</li><li>Teagan Schreiber</li><li>Emerson Schroeder</li><li>Erin Schwaninger</li><li>Jonah Schwartz</li><li>Grace Scott</li><li>Olivia Scussel</li><li>Paige Searl</li><li>Mayla Seliskar</li><li>Iris Serrano</li><li>Max Shaffer</li><li>Ruby Shapiro</li><li>Julia Sharkowicz</li><li>Shubham Sharma</li><li>Natalie Sheehan</li><li>Jenna Shenbaum</li><li>Daniel Sher</li><li>Amanda Sherter</li><li>Lauren Shindler</li><li>Kennedy Shorett</li><li>Zoe Showalter-Flowers</li><li>Anika Siethoff</li><li>Matthew Silver</li><li>Olin Silverman</li><li>Harrison Simeon</li><li>Finley Simon</li><li>Leo Singer</li><li>Abby Sinno</li><li>Ryan Sklover</li><li>Emily Sloboda</li><li>Marie Slotnick</li><li>Chloe Grace Smith</li><li>Marlee Smith</li><li>Ryan Smith</li><li>Jake Snedeker</li><li>Lucy Snow</li><li>Ava Soares</li><li>Matt Solari</li><li>Sevi Solari</li><li>Sailor Sorensen</li><li>Lainey Sparks</li><li>Jessie Spires</li><li>Emma Stanfill</li><li>Lola Stanley</li><li>Rylie Stark</li><li>Reese Starr</li><li>Ashlin Stasswender Swasey</li><li>Alexander Stein</li><li>Katie Stephens</li><li>Zoe Stillman</li><li>Braden Stirrett</li><li>Ava Stoller</li><li>Mary Strasser</li><li>Aliza Strear</li><li>Elizabeth Suffian</li><li>Lucy Suja</li><li>Daniel Sullivan</li><li>Olivia Sullivan</li><li>Livi Sweeterman</li><li>Miles Swope</li><li>Sadie Symonds</li><li>Leah Szabo</li><li>Harper Tagg</li><li>Miguel Tanner</li><li>Sarah Taylor</li><li>Cecelia Tecu</li><li>Mandi Thoman</li><li>Emma Thomas</li><li>Emma Thomases</li><li>Sage Thompson</li><li>Leslie Tingley</li><li>Grace Toomey</li><li>Zohair Toor</li><li>Clio Torrance</li><li>Rylie Trager</li><li>Katy Tran</li><li>Eliza Travelstead</li><li>Eduardo Trejo Trinidad</li><li>Clara Trezise</li><li>Ricky Tuka</li><li>Jazzy Tung</li><li>Emma Tutaj</li><li>Katelyn Tyree</li><li>Zoe Usher</li><li>Jesse Uzansky</li><li>William Vander</li><li>Celia Vargas</li><li>Sydney Venetsanopoulos</li><li>TĂ©a Giselle Villarreal</li><li>Holden Vincent</li><li>Chloe Walsh</li><li>Liam Walsh</li><li>Elsa Warlick</li><li>Ashley Warren</li><li>Luke Watson</li><li>Aaron Wechsler</li><li>Noelle Weeger</li><li>Jr Weeks</li><li>Jenna Weil</li><li>Sami Weinstein</li><li>Holly Weiss</li><li>Morgan Weiss</li><li>Sophie Wendt</li><li>William Wetzel</li><li>Regan Widergren</li><li>Owen Wiggans</li><li>Jackson Williams</li><li>Trevor Williams</li><li>Jake Williamson</li><li>Molly Williamson</li><li>Delaney Willing</li><li>Sammie Jean Willoughby</li><li>Liv Wilson</li><li>Emma Winkelbauer</li><li>Amanda Winslow</li><li>Ty Wurtz</li><li>Chloe Yearous</li><li>Ashley Yi</li><li>Hannah Young</li><li>Arwyn Zaleski</li><li>Emma Zande</li><li>Emma Zawatski</li><li>Julia Zentmyer</li><li>Elsie Zerega</li><li>Mingwei Zhou</li><li>Matt Zimmermann</li><li>Rachel Zing</li><li>Jack Ziporin</li><li>Calvin Zuschlag</li><li>Vega de la Vega</li></ul></div></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>7</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-01/flatiron.jpg?itok=EFjkY1wS" width="1500" height="1125" alt="snowy flatirons"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Sun, 12 Jan 2025 14:38:04 +0000 Regan Widergren 7189 at /cmci /cmci/news/2025/01/08/research-journalism-news-disengage-skewes-mcdevitt <span>Tuning out the news? Journalism experts empathize</span> <span><span>Joe Arney</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-01-08T11:13:31-07:00" title="Wednesday, January 8, 2025 - 11:13">Wed, 01/08/2025 - 11:13</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-01/news-disengage%20lede.jpg?h=8abcec71&amp;itok=Fx8AYF2f" width="1200" height="800" alt="A hand holds a remote control up in front of a TV tuned to the news, intending to hit the power button to turn it off."> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/105" hreflang="en">faculty</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">featured</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">journalism</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">news</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/140" hreflang="en">research</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-above"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--media paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-01/news-disengage%20lede.jpg?itok=2JyqTpXc" width="1500" height="844" alt="A hand holds a remote control up in front of a TV tuned to the news, intending to hit the power button to turn it off."> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="small-text"><strong>By Joe Arney</strong></p><p>If you’ve taken a holiday from the news after Election Day, you’re not alone—an Associated Press poll released late last year found about two-thirds of U.S. adults were limiting their consumption of political and government news.</p><p>Experts from the șù«ÍȚÊÓÆ” said the troubling trend is probably driven by a combination of exhaustion and how the media covered the presidential and down-ballot campaigns.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/2025-01/skewes-mug.jpg?itok=efBSwYOp" width="225" height="225" alt="Headshot of Liz Skewes"> </div> </div> <p>“Even if you feel that, from a civic standpoint, you need to be more engaged, you can’t live your whole life in that hyper-excited space all of the time,” said <a href="/cmci/people/journalism/elizabeth-skewes" rel="nofollow">Elizabeth Skewes</a>, an associate professor of <a href="/cmci/academics/journalism" rel="nofollow">journalism</a> at the College of Media, Communication and Information. “I think we need to breathe again. Yes, the next Trump presidency will affect our daily lives—but breathlessly reading every story doesn’t help.”</p><p>That wasn’t the tack many Americans took in Donald Trump’s first term. In his campaign and through the early years of his presidency, the “Trump bump” in ratings and circulation gave new life to legacy media outlets. But that faded as his presidency waned, and hasn’t recovered even as he prepares to be inaugurated.</p><p>“First of all, we’ve had nine years of this coverage, and it’s never stopped,” Skewes said. “Then, we’ve been through COVID, and we’re exhausted. I think people will eventually re-engage with the news, but I expect it will be at a lower level.”</p><h3>Reverting to an established pattern</h3><p>That’s something Skewes, a former staff and freelance reporter, knows quite a bit about: Some of her earliest research looked at how the media covered U.S. presidential campaigns, especially since no one—the public, the candidates, even the reporters—liked it.</p><p>Sound familiar?</p><p>“For quite a few election cycles, we’ve heard about how journalism should do this better,” she said. “But the media tend to revert to pattern—to covering whatever the outrageous thing of the day is, and the legacy media will never be able to do that as well as things like social media or podcasts, because they have less responsibility to be factually correct.”</p><p>To survive, news organizations should focus on building audience, Skewes said, instead of chasing chaos. They can do that not by focusing on being first, but on providing accuracy, context and clarity in an age of confusion.</p><p>In other words, not by breaking the news, but by putting it back together.</p><p>“We need to keep fact checking, but also cover all the other stuff—those governance stories, where quiet decisions have a huge impact on our lives—instead of just the latest thing Trump said that is too weird to believe, like trying to buy Greenland,” she said. “Instead of letting that grab the headlines, we need serious outlets to look behind the scenes and ask what’s happening while we’re distracted with the latest unbelievable thing Trump says.”</p> <div class="align-right image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/article-image/mcdevitt-mug.jpg?itok=Ubtn1DED" width="225" height="225" alt="Headshot of Mike McDevitt"> </div> </div> <p>For <a href="/cmci/people/journalism/michael-mcdevitt" rel="nofollow">Mike McDevitt</a>, a professor of journalism at CMCI, everyone has an obligation to follow the news on a regular basis—though, he said, “I sense it’s healthy for people to tune out” a polarizing figure like Trump.</p><p>“But a related interpretation to what’s happening is that if people have internalized politics as entertainment, then it’s understandable if they tune out for more appealing types of entertainment,” said McDevitt, a former editorial writer and reporter.</p><h3>The long game of retraining readers</h3><p>Getting consumers to understand that, though, is a long game, Skewes said—one that will play out against the deeper-pocketed tech industry and the social media giants.</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-white"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><p class="lead small-text"><i class="fa-solid fa-quote-right fa-3x fa-pull-right ucb-icon-color-gold">&nbsp;</i>“We need serious outlets to look behind the scenes and ask what’s happening while we’re distracted with the latest unbelievable thing Trump says.”<br><br>Elizabeth Skewes, associate professor, journalism</p></div></div></div><p>“I don’t know how we get to the point where most of the public realizes, ‘I’m just getting stuff that is basically Twinkies for the brain, and I need to find more reliable places to get news, because accurate information matters,’” she said. “That’s a long play. We’ve got to retrain people to understand the difference between news and content.”</p><p>It’s a long game, but we’ll have to find answers quickly, because the economics of the news business continue to flounder. In 2024, 130 newspapers closed their doors, according to the Local News Initiative from Northwestern University. That’s more than two newspapers disappearing each week.</p><p>And when reporters are no longer there to ask probing questions and search for the truth—well, it puts a new spin on a bad news day.</p><p>“When people aren’t paying attention to the media, the media aren’t paying attention to the thing—and that’s when you see real changes to federal, state and local policy that dramatically change things,” she said. “Without that accountability, it’s easier to do the wrong thing.”</p><p>For all those warning lights, Skewes is hopeful that the longer-term future will be less chaotic and more civil than she expects to see in the next four years.</p><p>“I love politics—I covered it, grew up with it—and I’m more hesitant now to even say something offbeat the political world, because I don’t know how other people are going to respond,” she said. “But I think most Americans are tired of everything being so fraught. I really do believe that, eventually, things will calm down.”</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>The industry needs to play a long game to re-engage readers as political and business model challenges mount. </div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Wed, 08 Jan 2025 18:13:31 +0000 Joe Arney 7182 at /cmci /cmci/news/2025/01/06/one-club-awards-strategic-communication <span>Ad blitz: CMCI alumni sweep student awards at Denver One Club</span> <span><span>Joe Arney</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-01-06T08:58:49-07:00" title="Monday, January 6, 2025 - 08:58">Mon, 01/06/2025 - 08:58</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-12/3-Moisturizeyourmeal.png?h=d1cb525d&amp;itok=jcKxEsZd" width="1200" height="800" alt="Student advertisement for the &quot;Moisturize your Meal&quot; campaign"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/248" hreflang="en">aprd</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">featured</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">news</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-above"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--media paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-12/oneclub-lede.jpg?itok=Ds1Qf0yv" width="1500" height="844" alt="A concept billboard featuring a woman holding a sandwich."> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p dir="ltr"><span><strong>By Hannah Stewart (Comm’19)</strong></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Oliver Pollock is proof that ideas can come from anywhere.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>One night, as he was drifting off to sleep, two words popped into his head: “mayo moisturizer.” He grabbed his phone, opened the notes app and wrote it down. The next day, he wrote a pitch centering the idea and presented it to his campaign team.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>They loved it. And so did judges at this year’s Denver One Show competition, who awarded the campaign Best of Show and a gold medal at the award show. But “</span><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54594/moisturize-your-meal/" rel="nofollow"><span>Moisturize Your Meal</span></a><span>” wasn’t the only winner—in fact, CU șù«ÍȚÊÓÆ” swept the student category, with 12 CMCI students earning recognition.</span></p> <div class="align-right image_style-medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/2024-12/12-Moisturizeyourmeal.jpg?itok=WYg1LLQx" width="750" height="422" alt="Student advertisement featuring a food truck called &quot;Sandwich Spa&quot;"> </div> </div> <p dir="ltr"><span>“It felt amazing,” Pollock (StratComm’24) said. “We stayed up in the studio multiple nights grinding these campaigns out: making videos, scripts and everything as real as possible. Being recognized is so fulfilling.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>An important component of CMCI classes is hands-on project work done on behalf of real-world clients and brands, giving students access to professionals and challenging them to apply their lessons in creatively solving problems. Pollock and the other strategic communication students completed these campaigns for various classes, including a portfolio course where students are tasked with taking briefs from real life clients—such as Kraft Foods, Velveeta, Dove and NotCo—and creating campaigns.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>It’s important for students to develop relationships with their peers and professors alike when taking these portfolio classes. That’s why they’re usually taught by professors with agency experience, like&nbsp;</span><a href="/cmci/people/advertising-public-relations-and-media-design/jeff-gillette" rel="nofollow"><span>Jeff Gillette</span></a><span>, an&nbsp;assistant teaching professor who worked in advertising for more than 15 years.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Over the course of the semester, after rounds of ideation, feedback and refinement, students submit their campaigns to the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/youngones/" rel="nofollow"><span>Young Ones Student Awards</span></a><span>, a national awards competition run by The One Club for Creativity. Since the college was formed in 2015, nearly 40 student projects have claimed national awards from One Club; this year, four campaigns received merit awards: “The Beauty Inside,” “Dove’s Real Beauty Database,” "Mac Couture" and “Cheese-mation.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“I was happy for the students because it means they will have something that will help them in their job hunt and career,” Gillette said. “In the future, we want to push students and ourselves to turn these national merits into medals. At the Denver show, I was impressed that we swept the show."</span></p> <div class="align-left image_style-medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/2024-12/Beauty%20Inside%20Packages.png?itok=0QDXgT2F" width="750" height="580" alt="Student advertisement featuring a variety of Dove soap boxes with interior artwork"> </div> </div> <h3><span>Finding inner beauty</span></h3><p dir="ltr"><span>For “</span><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/youngones/-award/54278/the-beauty-inside/" rel="nofollow"><span>The Beauty Inside</span></a><span>,” students removed the branding from packaged bars of Dove soap, opting to instead showcase artwork to the inside of the box for buyers to find.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Coco Loomis (StratComm’24), who worked on “Mac Couture” and “The Beauty Inside,” said she enjoyed working on the Dove campaign “because it was completely driven by the art direction. One day, someone said ‘beauty’s on the inside,’ and suggested we take that literally. It was so amazing to take conceptual ideas and put them into play.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Both "</span><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/youngones/-award/54259/mac-couture/" rel="nofollow"><span>Mac Couture"</span></a><span> and “</span><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/youngones/-award/54258/cheese-mation/" rel="nofollow"><span>Cheese-mation</span></a><span>” leaned on nostalgia to promote Velveeta and its “La Dolce Velveeta” campaign. “Mac Couture” reimagined noodle necklaces made by kids in arts classes and as luxury symbols. Cheese-mation went a step further.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“We were just coming up with as many ideas as possible and thought about how we all grew up with Wallace and Gromit,” said Mateo Perez-Lara (StratComm’24). “While we were working on it, we heard about a clay shortage that threatened the studio, and we saw this shortage as a way for Velveeta to come in as a hero to save clay animation.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Of those three campaigns, “The Beauty Inside” and Cheese-Mation also won silver awards at the local Denver Awards. Loomis was also part of a gold-winning team, with Pollock, for&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54595/picture-perfect-partying/" rel="nofollow"><span>NotCo</span></a><span>. Pollock was also on another Dove team, the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54597/the-real-beauty-database/" rel="nofollow"><span>“Dove’s Real Beauty Database”</span></a><span>.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“It’s cool because now I’m working on Dove in my job with Edelman, in New York,” Pollock said. “In school, I was an art director, and now I’m a copywriter—so it’s a little different, but there are definitely similarities.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Loomis, an art director at Highdive, in Chicago, echoed this sentiment, saying that opportunities to compete in competitions like One Show through CMCI prepared her and her classmates for the real world.</span></p> <div class="align-right image_style-small_500px_25_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle small_500px_25_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/small_500px_25_display_size_/public/2024-12/Denver%20Awards.jpg?itok=B3p-kH0J" width="375" height="540" alt="Student awards from the Denver One Show 2024 ceremony"> </div> </div> <p dir="ltr"><span>Like in the professional world, competitions like the One Show are key for students looking to boost their resumes and prove their worth. According to Gillete, agencies and individuals alike compete to gain recognition and attract potential clients.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“Similar to agencies, students competing help CU become known as a school that can educate our students at a high level,” he said. “And if we’re known as a school that wins awards and does really good work, that helps with recruitment.”</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>As the only participant still in the Denver area, Perez-Lara—who just completed an internship with Fortnight Collective—was the only one of the award winners able to make it to the October awards show.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>“It was a lot of fun. Being able to win something as a student and be in the spotlight was magical,” said Perez-Lara, who’s looking to work in major advertising hubs when his internship concludes. “I was fortunate enough to be with really smart, creative people, and it wouldn’t have been possible without a great mentor like Professor Gillette. I love the whole strategic communication community we were able to work with, as well.”</span></p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><div class="accordion" data-accordion-id="e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94" id="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94"><div class="accordion-item"><div class="accordion-header"><a class="accordion-button collapsed" href="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-1" rel="nofollow" role="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-1" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-1"><i class="fa-solid fa-trophy">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;Best in Show: Moisturize Your Meal</a></div><div class="accordion-collapse collapse" id="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-1" data-bs-parent="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94"><div class="accordion-body"><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54821/moisturize-your-meal/" rel="nofollow"><span>Denver One Show: Best of Show</span></a><br><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54821/moisturize-your-meal/" rel="nofollow"><span>Denver One Show: Gold</span></a></p><p><span>Olivia Bransford</span><br><span>Andrew Elliott</span><br><span>Oliver Pollock</span></p></div></div></div><div class="accordion-item"><div class="accordion-header"><a class="accordion-button collapsed" href="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-2" rel="nofollow" role="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-2" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-2"><i class="fa-solid fa-medal">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;Gold: Picture Perfect Partying</a></div><div class="accordion-collapse collapse" id="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-2" data-bs-parent="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94"><div class="accordion-body"><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54595/picture-perfect-partying/" rel="nofollow"><span>Denver One Show: Gold</span></a></p><p><span>Charlotte Garrett</span><br><span>Coco Loomis</span><br><span>Oliver Pollock</span></p></div></div></div><div class="accordion-item"><div class="accordion-header"><a class="accordion-button collapsed" href="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-3" rel="nofollow" role="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-3" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-3"><i class="fa-solid fa-medal">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;Silver: Dove Beauty on the Inside</a></div><div class="accordion-collapse collapse" id="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-3" data-bs-parent="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94"><div class="accordion-body"><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54596/beauty-on-the-inside/" rel="nofollow"><span>Denver One Show: Silver</span></a><br><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/youngones/-award/54278/the-beauty-inside/" rel="nofollow"><span>The One Club Young Ones: Merit</span></a></p><p><span>Alexis Bayani</span><br><span>Charlotte Garrett</span><br><span>Coco Loomis</span><br><span>Dahlia Nin</span></p></div></div></div><div class="accordion-item"><div class="accordion-header"><a class="accordion-button collapsed" href="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-4" rel="nofollow" role="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-4" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-4"><i class="fa-solid fa-medal">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;Silver: Dove Real Beauty Database</a></div><div class="accordion-collapse collapse" id="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-4" data-bs-parent="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94"><div class="accordion-body"><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54597/the-real-beauty-database/" rel="nofollow"><span>Denver One Show: Silver</span></a><br><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/youngones/-award/54265/doves-real-beauty-database/" rel="nofollow"><span>The One Club Young Ones: Merit</span></a></p><p><span>Charlotte Garrett</span><br><span>Kelly Haworth</span><br><span>Oliver Pollock</span><br><span>Dahlia Nin</span></p></div></div></div><div class="accordion-item"><div class="accordion-header"><a class="accordion-button collapsed" href="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-5" rel="nofollow" role="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-5" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-5"><i class="fa-solid fa-medal">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;Silver: Cheese-Mation</a></div><div class="accordion-collapse collapse" id="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-5" data-bs-parent="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94"><div class="accordion-body"><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54598/cheese-mation/" rel="nofollow"><span>Denver One Show: Silver</span></a><br><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/youngones/-award/54214/cheese-mation/" rel="nofollow"><span>The One Club Young Ones: Merit</span></a></p><p><span>Collin Kendall</span><br><span>Mateo Perez-Lara</span><br><span>Oliver Pollock</span></p></div></div></div><div class="accordion-item"><div class="accordion-header"><a class="accordion-button collapsed" href="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-6" rel="nofollow" role="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-6" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-6"><i class="fa-solid fa-medal">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;Bronze: Jubi Brand Identity</a></div><div class="accordion-collapse collapse" id="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-6" data-bs-parent="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94"><div class="accordion-body"><p><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54599/jubi-brand-identity/" rel="nofollow">Denver One Show: Bronze</a></p><p>Kate Chambers</p></div></div></div><div class="accordion-item"><div class="accordion-header"><a class="accordion-button collapsed" href="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-7" rel="nofollow" role="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-7" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-7"><i class="fa-solid fa-medal">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;Bronze: Feral Fig Brand Identity</a></div><div class="accordion-collapse collapse" id="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-7" data-bs-parent="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94"><div class="accordion-body"><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/denverstudent/-award/54600/feral-fig-brand-identity/" rel="nofollow"><span>Denver One Show: Bronze</span></a></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Kate Chambers</span></p></div></div></div><div class="accordion-item"><div class="accordion-header"><a class="accordion-button collapsed" href="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-8" rel="nofollow" role="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-8" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-8">&nbsp;<i class="fa-solid fa-award">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;Merit: Mac Couture</a></div><div class="accordion-collapse collapse" id="accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94-8" data-bs-parent="#accordion-e40e7e197cfb068317ea9861979834e94"><div class="accordion-body"><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.oneclub.org/awards/youngones/-award/54259/mac-couture/" rel="nofollow"><span>The One Club Young Ones: Merit</span></a></p><p><span>Olivia Bransford</span><br><span>Jessica Lober</span><br><span>Coco Loomis</span><br><span>Cole Nelson</span></p></div></div></div></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Recent strategic communication graduates claimed every award in the student category this fall.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Mon, 06 Jan 2025 15:58:49 +0000 Joe Arney 7180 at /cmci /cmci/news/2024/12/20/libel-abc-news-journalism-kalika <span>Settle for less: Why did ABC News avoid the courtroom in libel case?</span> <span><span>Joe Arney</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-12-20T13:21:39-07:00" title="Friday, December 20, 2024 - 13:21">Fri, 12/20/2024 - 13:21</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-12/abc%20news.jpg?h=8abcec71&amp;itok=TvtD22VE" width="1200" height="800" alt="Exterior of an ABC News building in New York."> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/105" hreflang="en">faculty</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">featured</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">journalism</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">news</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/140" hreflang="en">research</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-above"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--media paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-12/abc%20news.jpg?itok=v7TSWals" width="1500" height="844" alt="Exterior of an ABC News building in New York."> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="small-text"><strong>By Joe Arney</strong></p><p>ABC News absorbed a good deal of flak—especially from the media—for quickly settling a defamation lawsuit brought against the network by Donald Trump. But an expert at the șù«ÍȚÊÓƔ’s College of Media, Communication and Information said it may be a case of playing the long game at a time when moneyed interests are scrambling to undo protections for journalists and First Amendment rights in general.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/2024-12/kalika%20mug.png?itok=SfCNWmlF" width="225" height="225" alt="Headshot of Angelica"> </div> </div> <p>“These types of lawsuits, where you’re looking for any possible way to attack the media—if the Supreme Court chooses to take on something like this, you could see 60-year-old precedents be overturned,” said <a href="/cmci/academics/journalism/angelica-kalika" rel="nofollow">Angelica Kalika</a> (PhDJour’19), an assistant teaching professor of <a href="/cmci/academics/journalism" rel="nofollow">journalism</a> at CMCI. “This could fundamentally change how everyone does business, as well as the types of statements we’re allowed to publish and the types of stories we’re allowed to pursue.”</p><p>The precedent Kalika is referring to, of course, is the 1964 landmark <em>New York Times</em> v. Sullivan decision, which set a high bar for public figures filing defamation lawsuits. In these cases, plaintiffs must prove “actual malice” on behalf of the media. So, a news organization must have made a knowingly false defamatory statement, or make such a statement with reckless disregard of whether it is false.</p><p>“We have billionaires and well-resourced organizations and groups bringing these kinds of libel cases against the press whenever they can,” she said, including Bollea v. <em>Gawker</em>, the case brought by pro wrestler Hulk Hogan over a sex tape partially published by Gawker Media. The case, which was partly financed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, led to Gawker’s bankruptcy.</p><p>“Going to court involves blood, sweat and tears, and it costs a lot of money,” Kalika said. “And with billionaires behind some of these very notable libel cases, there may be a sense that, for ABC, you might weaken future libel defenses by giving higher courts more opportunities to get involved.</p><p>“It’s the wild west, in terms of what is going to happen to speech protection in the next few years.”</p><h3>Course updates in real time</h3><p>Kalika, who has worked as an independent journalist in addition to her academic career, principally studies alternative media—everything from hyperlocal organizations like the former <em>Colorado Independent</em>, a digital publication that’s now part of the Colorado News Collaborative, to how outlets like TMZ navigate legal and ethical boundaries in producing celebrity journalism.</p><p>She also teaches a class, Media Law and Ethics, that is getting fresh updates in the current political climate.</p><p>“Now, everyone becomes a broadcaster when they go online—you’re not just liable as part of an organization,” she said. “So you need to be a mini legal scholar, essentially, to consistently keep up with your state and local laws. We can’t go into this thinking legal departments have our back, because a lot of news organizations are getting smaller, and may not have the amount of legal support they need—especially when so much is changing, and will continue to change.”</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-white"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><p class="lead small-text"><i class="fa-solid fa-quote-right fa-3x fa-pull-right ucb-icon-color-gold">&nbsp;</i>“More than ever, we need our press to be that Fourth Estate, to give a voice to the voiceless, and to protect not only the institution, but the concept of free speech in this country.”<br><br>Angelica Kalika, assistant teaching professor, journalism</p></div></div></div><h3>Why Disney settled</h3><p>Though she is not involved in the specifics of the ABC News case, Kalika has some ideas around why it settled, beyond the potential disruption to journalism that a case moving through higher courts might trigger.</p><p>“First off, we shouldn’t be saying ABC—we should be saying Disney, because that’s who owns it,” said Kalika, who interned for the company’s scripted division as a college student. “Corporations will always act in their best interest, and maybe they have a long-term agenda to not start any trouble with the incoming president,” especially when Disney fought a protracted battle with Florida Republicans over the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.</p><p>Kalika also said Disney’s lawyers may have believed Trump’s team could prove actual malice, based on the language George Stephanopoulos used on the air. Stephanopoulos did not use the exact terms set by the jury, misrepresenting the court’s findings—an error that was not corrected in real time.</p><p>Whatever the reasoning, the effect on press freedoms is likely to be chilling, especially for the smaller, nonprofit or independent outlet Kalika closely studies. She said it’s crucial that large and well-resourced nonprofits and publications like <em>The New York Times</em> continue to fight to establish, and maintain, press freedoms, because “that protects everyone’s right to free speech. I think that is something we need to always hope, that those who have the means to fight do so.”</p><p>“A movement is watching you very closely to see where and how you will trip up,” she said. “It’s a movement of saying, your voice doesn’t matter, your critique of institutional power doesn’t matter, and we’re going to find a way to eliminate your voice. We have to be better at what we do, and smarter and more vigilant. More than ever, we need our press to be that Fourth Estate, to give a voice to the voiceless, and to protect not only the institution, but the concept of free speech in this country.”</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>An expert discusses a growing threat facing the news media following Disney’s settlement with the president-elect’s legal team.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Fri, 20 Dec 2024 20:21:39 +0000 Joe Arney 7181 at /cmci /cmci/news/2024/12/02/white-outstanding-winter-graduation-beisert <span>All-star impact from the sidelines</span> <span><span>Joe Arney</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-12-02T15:12:30-07:00" title="Monday, December 2, 2024 - 15:12">Mon, 12/02/2024 - 15:12</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-12/henley-lede.jpg?h=44b879e5&amp;itok=CFsL3852" width="1200" height="800" alt="Henley Beisert stands at the Colorado Chautauqua wearing a white dress and red CMCI graduation sash."> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">featured</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">news</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/204" hreflang="en">students</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-above"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--media paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-12/henley-lede.jpg?itok=RIU2ipy4" width="1500" height="844" alt="Henley Beisert stands at the Colorado Chautauqua wearing a white dress and red CMCI graduation sash."> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="small-text"><strong>By Hannah Stewart (Comm’19)</strong></p><p>Henley Beisert has always loved sports. In her youth, the Texas native played volleyball and basketball, and her family had season tickets to the Astros and Texans. In fact, she spent many birthdays tailgating for her favorite football team.</p><p>This love of sports led Beisert to apply to CU șù«ÍȚÊÓÆ” as an integrated physiology major, so she could pursue a career in physical therapy—but midway through her first semester, she switched to strategic communication to study public relations. When she graduates this December, she’ll be recognized as CMCI’s Outstanding Graduate.</p><p>“I got the news when I was on my way to Texas for the Buffs game,” she said. “As soon as I got off the plane, I called my family, I called my boyfriend, I told my best friend. I was so excited.”</p><p>Beisert wasn’t flying to Lubbock just as a Buffs fan—since her first year, she has been a video assistant with the football team. In this role, she films the games for the football, soccer and lacrosse teams while creating other video content, as well.&nbsp;</p><p>“I literally love my job with the football team. I’m going to be so sad to leave it because it’s been one of the most fun experiences,” she said.</p><h3>’Natural leadership’</h3><p>Her supervisor, Jake Drag, called Beisert “an invaluable asset to our video team” who has developed into a reliable mentor for newcomers. The work she does behind the camera, he said, creates the tape that athletes study to improve their performances on the field.&nbsp;</p><p>“Her natural leadership qualities and dependability have helped her thrive in being the captain of our student crew,” he said.</p> <div class="align-left image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/2024-12/henley-offlede.jpg?itok=icWdG1jn" width="300" height="450" alt="Henley Beisert in a CU stole and black dress."> </div> </div> <p>Since she works so closely with the players, especially on the football team, she’s developed relationships with some of them, which helped her land a new position as an ambassador for the Colorado NIL Store. The store helps student-athletes earn money through their name, image and likeness; in that role, “it’s been so fun to dabble a little more in content creation and graphic design,” she said. “It’s been a great opportunity to work with a team and the main campus to meet more people and grow my network.”</p><p>Not surprisingly, her love of sports also inspired Beisert to add a sports media minor and critical sport studies certificate to her degree plan. She said using sports as a lens has changed the way she’s thought about everything from history to PR.</p><p>“Having taken at least 10 classes covering more critical aspects of sports has been really enlightening,” she said. “I can watch sports now and see the commodification of athletes. It’s been fun to have that different perspective open up, aside from just rooting for your favorite team.”</p><h3>Internships aplenty</h3><p>But Beisert is more than just a sports fan, or a fan of sports communication. She’s a big fan of internships—and that’s her No. 1 piece of advice for new students.</p><p>“Internships may seem like a lot, and feel stressful at times, but they’re invaluable because you grow your network and gain experience,” she said. “And it’s fun to try so many different things.”</p><p>While at CU, she has been a communications and public relations intern for companies like Sherpani, Cig Public Relations, Prim and Company, Turner and, of course, the NIL Store. She said these experiences exposed her to the array of opportunities public relations professionals can play in the real world, but were above all amazing ways to make connections.</p><p>“I’m still in touch with a lot of people from my internships, and that’s so important, because you never know who might help you in the future,” she said.</p><p>One person who was extremely helpful to Beisert was Erin Willis, an associate professor of strategic communication who ran the Bateman Case Study Capstone last year. Knowing that she’d graduate a semester early, Beisert chose to complete the course during her junior year, and it proved to be an <a href="/cmcinow/2024/03/06/culture-shift" rel="nofollow">unforgettable experience</a>.</p><p>Her team was tasked with creating and executing a campaign for Culturs magazine. Together, they planned events like a Panhellenic mixer that celebrated cultural diversity and collaborated with the șù«ÍȚÊÓÆ” chapter of PRSSA to host a seminar series. Their team was ultimately recognized with an honorable mention at the national competition.</p><p>“I learned a lot more about PR through this capstone because I was actually doing it,” she said. “And Professor Willis was so helpful. Connecting with some professors can be hard in college, but the ones in CMCI have been so welcoming and want you to succeed in the real world.”</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Henley Beisert thought she’d be a physical therapist, possibly for athletes. At CMCI, she found her real passion was creating content for them.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Mon, 02 Dec 2024 22:12:30 +0000 Joe Arney 7177 at /cmci /cmci/news/2024/10/23/journalism-feldman-award-tribune-freishtat <span>Shedding light on traffic tragedies: Tribune reporter wins Feldman Award</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-10-23T10:24:32-06:00" title="Wednesday, October 23, 2024 - 10:24">Wed, 10/23/2024 - 10:24</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/article-thumbnail/feldman24-lede.jpg?h=cd09eaed&amp;itok=N52kOqof" width="1200" height="800" alt="A busy crosswalk with a 'don't walk' signal lighted in the foreground."> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">featured</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/933" hreflang="en">feldman award</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/208" hreflang="en">journalism</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">news</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 3"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p><strong>By Hannah Stewart (Comm’19)</strong></p><p>Business reporter Sarah Freishtat is no stranger to the challenges of covering transportation in a bustling city like Chicago. So when a fellow <em>Tribune</em> reporter forwarded her an email about a journalism award centered on transportation, submitting one of her stories was a no-brainer.</p> <div class="align-left image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/article-image/feldman-offlede.jpg?itok=PLlcIDLl" width="225" height="225" alt="Headshot of Sarah Freishtat."> </div> </div> <p>“I saw what the backstory of the award was, with Casey’s story and what her family was trying to do, and I was really inspired by that,” Freishtat said. “I really appreciated the award’s focus on transportation because it really affects people’s day-to-day lives.”</p><p>Her story, <a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagotribune.com%2F2024%2F02%2F25%2Fbike-and-pedestrian-crashes%2F%3Fshare%3Dd0ethsapemwpa2iwaewd&amp;data=05%7C02%7CHannah.Stewart-1%40colorado.edu%7Cdde9a60e82ef485d6bfe08dcefa5b85d%7C3ded8b1b070d462982e4c0b019f46057%7C1%7C0%7C638648742285439085%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=uGnOsveMkuWZo3kW6h84WYDcb9gBc5%2FHgSi2kk4FpIA%3D&amp;reserved=0" rel="nofollow">“Serious Crashes With Pedestrians and Cyclists Often Fail To Lead to Tickets or Charges: ‘We Can’t Be OK With This,’”</a> explores the issue of vehicular accidents in which victims are injured and no one is charged. It also is the 2024 recipient of the Casey Feldman Award for Transportation Safety Reporting.</p><p>The reporting award honors Casey Feldman, a Fordham University journalism student who was killed by a distracted driver in 2009. It is sponsored by EndDD.org, which was created by the <a href="https://www.caseyfeldmanfoundation.org/end-distracted-driving/" rel="nofollow">Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation</a> to end distracted driving, and by the <a href="/cmci/academics/journalism" rel="nofollow">journalism department</a> at the șù«ÍȚÊÓƔ’s College of Media, Communication and Information.</p><p>Two judges evaluated the submissions: Justin George, an editor at the <em>Cowboy State Daily</em>, and <a href="/cmci/people/journalism/chuck-plunkett" rel="nofollow">Chuck Plunkett</a>, &nbsp;who directs the capstone journalism program CU News Corps at CU șù«ÍȚÊÓÆ”. George was formerly a transportation writer at <em>The Washington Post</em>, and Plunkett was formerly the editorial page editor for <em>The Denver Post</em>.</p><p>“Sarah Freishtat’s impactful story was an example of a transportation beat reporter showing unparalleled expertise, uncovering a clearly ignored failure of justice and public safety sitting right under everyone’s noses,” George said.</p><p>Vehicular crashes involving pedestrians had been on her radar for some time when she heard about two separate pedestrian accidents where a youth was struck while crossing the street. One involved then-17-year-old Nakari Campbell, who spent so many weeks recovering that she celebrated her 18th birthday in a rehabilitation center. Ja’lon James, 11, was crossing the street with his brother one morning when he was hit and did not survive. Neither family has discovered who was behind the wheel&nbsp;of the cars that changed their lives.</p><p>“I give a lot of credit to the families I spoke with, because it’s not easy to sit down and relive what is often the worst day of their lives—and I’m deeply appreciative of them letting me into their homes and into their lives,” Freishtat said. “Sitting in Ja’lon’s family’s living room talking to his mother and grandmother really drives home why this issue is important to talk about and why we do this.”</p><p>Reporters Jennifer Gollan and Susie Neilson, of the <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em>, were recognized with an honorable mention for their project, which explored police chases. Their multimedia series looks into the statistics and methodology of police chases through storytelling, infographics and video footage.</p><p>Freishtat received a first-place prize of $3,000.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>A Chicago Tribune reporter investigated how traffic accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists rarely lead to charges, despite the deep impact on families.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/feature-title-image/feldman24-lede.jpg?itok=57ZdK-LB" width="1500" height="844" alt> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Wed, 23 Oct 2024 16:24:32 +0000 Anonymous 7143 at /cmci /cmci/news/2024/10/22/research-shepperd-public-private-media-polarization <span>Public defenders: Is the PBS, NPR model better than commercial media amid polarization?</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-10-22T15:08:50-06:00" title="Tuesday, October 22, 2024 - 15:08">Tue, 10/22/2024 - 15:08</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/article-thumbnail/shadow-lede.jpg?h=8abcec71&amp;itok=hfi8Rq0-" width="1200" height="800" alt="Close up on the band of an old radio."> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/105" hreflang="en">faculty</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">featured</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/77" hreflang="en">media studies</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">news</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/140" hreflang="en">research</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 3"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p><strong>By Joe Arney</strong></p><p>If you get your headlines from NewsHour or stream Fresh Air on your ride to work, you have a little-known Colorado experiment to thank.</p><p>In the 1930s, the Rocky Mountain Radio Council wanted to reach every student working in mountain mines, to ensure they received the same public education opportunities as in Denver. The group hit on program transcriptions that could be relayed over the air—basically, pressing shellac records—so that a student working in remote Golconda Mine, in Hinsdale County, benefited from the same curriculum as his peers in Denver.</p><p>That local consortium eventually became the Public Broadcasting Service. And the focus on public education that gave it its start continues to differentiate the mission of public news networks.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/article-image/shepperd-mug.jpg?itok=X4dtzwCm" width="225" height="225" alt="Headshot of Josh Shepperd"> </div> </div> <p>“It was just by chance that I moved out here, and so I loved finding out that the inception moment for all noncommercial media was actually the mining communities,” said <a href="/cmci/people/media-studies/josh-shepperd" rel="nofollow">Josh Shepperd</a>, an associate professor of <a href="/cmci/academics/media-studies" rel="nofollow">media studies</a> at the șù«ÍȚÊÓƔ’s College of Media, Communication and Information.</p><p>Last year, Shepperd published <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p087257#pane-3" rel="nofollow"><em>Shadow of the New Deal: The Victory of Public Broadcasting</em></a>. It’s notable as the first academic attempt to present communication studies and public broadcasting as historically connected enterprises, and it comes at a time when criticism of the media—especially related to politics—is running especially hot. Shadow has since <a href="https://www.beaweb.org/wp/2024-bea-book-award-to-josh-shepperds-shadow-of-the-new-deal-the-victory-of-public-broadcasting-by-j/" rel="nofollow">won the Book Award</a> from the Broadcast Education Association and has been a finalist or runner up for prizes from four other organizations, including the American Journalism Historians Association and Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.</p><h3>Not necessarily better—but different</h3><p>“This book isn’t about saying one mode of media is automatically better, or that public media is perfect or a corrective to commercial media,” he said. “But I do think public media is different because of its mission to provide a forum for every kind of voice.”</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-white"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><p class="lead"><i class="fa-solid fa-quote-right fa-3x fa-pull-right ucb-icon-color-gold">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;“Everyone keeps saying public media is too state based, but commercial media seems to be much more of a mouthpiece for politicians right now.”<br>Josh Shepperd, associate professor, media studies</p></div></div></div><p>That’s different from most commercial media, “where the ethics are really tertiary to how the industry works. If there’s an audience for it, it’s good,” he said. “The idea that there is a necessity for every voice to be placed equally within a community is very important, even if I’m not sure that public media is always successful.”</p><p>In some countries, “public media” raises the specter of propaganda, like TASS or Xinhua. In the United States, PBS is insulated from such a threat, since affiliate stations don’t receive direct funding from the government.</p><p>“That doesn’t mean they aren’t political, because they are,” Shepperd said. But, he said, an endless news cycle revolving around politics and partisanship has warped the relationship between government and independent media: “Everyone keeps saying public media is too state based, but commercial media seems to be much more of a mouthpiece for politicians right now.” &nbsp;</p> <div class="align-right image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/article-image/shadow-offlede.jpg?itok=lBxYR17Z" width="300" height="450" alt="Jacket art of the Shadow book"> </div> </div> <p>Spend a few minutes watching Fox News or MSNBC and you won’t disagree. For Shepperd, it’s another effect of <a href="/cmcinow/2024/08/16/poll-arized" rel="nofollow">a polarized media market</a> “where people think through the abstractions of their gatekeepers’ framing, instead of just looking at what’s in front of them in their own lives,” he said. “We allow issues of public interest to become obscured by demographic affiliations as we increasingly become categories and brands instead of people.”</p><p>How we got to that point is part of Shepperd’s next project, which will examine the history of decision-making at media industries to better understand the mechanisms radio, television and digital players use to make tough calls about programming and advertising.</p><p>It’s a different thrust, but one that still hearkens back to his interest in uncovering and preserving the history of communication studies, which Shepperd called the only discipline that hasn’t completely traced its own history.</p><h3>An accidental pathway</h3><p>“You can’t have a discipline that doesn’t know why it exists,” he said. “Understanding that history gives us a sense of why we ask and answer the questions the way that we do, and helps us answer questions about the ethics of the discipline.”</p><p>Shepperd got into this work almost by accident. He was studying theories around public life and civil society when a professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison, where he earned his PhD, inspired him to pursue his nascent interest in public broadcasting.</p><p>“She told me it was good to think about these ideas, but that you could actually have evidence, too,” he said. “In other words, the idea that how it works is just as fair of a question as how it should work.”</p><p>He was able to put Wisconsin’s extensive archives to work for his thesis, which paved the way for the book project. Shepperd is now co-writing the official history of NPR and PBS for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.</p><p>It’s fitting work, as before Shepperd dove into this subject in earnest, “no one in the history of film and media studies or communication studies had ever asked where public media came from in scholarship,” he said. Commercial media, by contrast, has been widely examined by experts and thought leaders, “and the idea that we wouldn't apply the same kind of investigation to the public system, I think, is an ideological issue that we need to face within communications research.”</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>A CMCI thought leader has documented the history of public media—an important lesson in understanding how broadcasting works and could be improved amid partisanship.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/feature-title-image/shadow-lede.jpg?itok=pA0XOcq4" width="1500" height="844" alt> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 22 Oct 2024 21:08:50 +0000 Anonymous 7142 at /cmci /cmci/news/2024/10/17/research-pezzullo-plastics-climate-storytelling-awards <span>Recycle, reuse—rethink? How a fresh approach to storytelling could put plastics in their place</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-10-17T07:43:37-06:00" title="Thursday, October 17, 2024 - 07:43">Thu, 10/17/2024 - 07:43</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/article-thumbnail/pezzullo-awards-lede.jpg?h=8abcec71&amp;itok=JxZYP2VN" width="1200" height="800" alt="Disposable plastics choke a shoreline."> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/71" hreflang="en">communication</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">featured</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/77" hreflang="en">media studies</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">news</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/140" hreflang="en">research</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 3"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p><strong>By Joe Arney</strong></p><p>We’re going about environmental storytelling all wrong.&nbsp;</p><p>When Rachel Carson published <em>Silent Spring</em> in 1962, it became a rallying point for the nascent environmental movement—not because it was a scientific book (though it is), but because of its haunting opening pages that described a town where the birds and bees had vanished, fish were gone, fruit wouldn’t blossom, and disease ran rampant.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/article-image/phaedra_new.jpg?itok=BZ3eQsNr" width="225" height="225" alt="Headshot of Phaedra outdoors at Chautauqua Park."> </div> </div> <p>That scene moved people to ban pesticides and rethink humanity’s role in the larger environment. But, <a href="/cmci/people/communication/phaedra-c-pezzullo" rel="nofollow">Phaedra C. Pezzullo</a> said, until we figure out how to tell stories about today’s environmental crises—like plastic pollution and climate change—all we have are data that, alone, fail to move people to action.</p><p>“What many people are arguing is that the climate crisis is a crisis of imagination and of communication,” said Pezzullo, a professor of <a href="/cmci/academics/communication" rel="nofollow">communication</a> and <a href="/cmci/academics/media-studies" rel="nofollow">media studies</a> at the șù«ÍȚÊÓƔ’s College of Media, Communication and Information. “The idea is, we struggle to grapple with what is the climate—I can’t touch it, I can’t see it—so how do we tell stories that empower people, instead of only getting caught up in the data?”</p><h3>Interdisciplinary insights</h3><p>Pezzullo’s interdisciplinary approach to the problem of plastics—the science of microplastics permeating the human body and the way of explaining that crisis in a way that inspires people to demand action—has helped her see a need for a fresh approach to how we talk about such complex problems.&nbsp;</p><p>It’s partly what moved her to start a podcast series, <a href="https://communicatingcare.buzzsprout.com" rel="nofollow"><em>Communicating Care</em></a>, and her most recent book, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.5699303" rel="nofollow"><em>Beyond Straw Men: Plastic Pollution and Networked Cultures of Care</em></a>, which was published last year. The book has generated significant attention as the media struggles to cover the plastics problem; since the summer, it has won three significant prizes from the National Communication Association: a Diamond Anniversary Book Award, the James A. Winans-Herbert A. Wichelns Memorial Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric and Public Address and, significantly, the Tarla Rai Peterson Book Award in Environmental Communication, named for a prolific scholar who Pezzullo met years ago at a conference.&nbsp;</p><p>“It’s an honor to have this book recognized and affirmed by my colleagues with expertise in environmental studies, rhetoric, and across the entire field of communication,” Pezzullo said.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/article-image/beyondstrawmen.cover_.jpeg?itok=5WxHZ-ij" width="213" height="320" alt="Jacket art of the Beyond Straw Men book."> </div> </div> <p>In some ways, <em>Beyond Straw Men</em> and Pezzullo’s search for impactful storytelling is the kind of scholarly work that’s uniquely possible at a place like CMCI. The college was created to address the complex challenges of today’s interconnected world, which require interdisciplinary perspectives to effectively engage.&nbsp;</p><p>It’s an approach that resonates with partners outside the university. In her role as director of CU șù«ÍȚÊÓƔ’s <a href="/certificate/ej/" rel="nofollow">graduate certificate in environmental justice</a>, Pezzullo has been working with Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment to help update its quantitative database of communities most affected by environmental damage. Undergraduates in a new class she’s teaching, Advanced Topics in Storytelling, Culture and Climate Justice, are updating story maps to help the state assess how the message it’s spreading about climate impacts local communities.&nbsp;</p><h3>At CMCI, expertise in ‘how to move people’</h3><p>“These stories need to be assessed so they can figure out if they are empowering residents,” she said. “Are they rich enough, compelling enough, moving enough? Or did we lean too hard on data that maybe is too dense for this audience?&nbsp;</p><p>“And that’s why the state would love more partnerships with people in CMCI who can help them build capacity for the storytelling component, because they spend so much of their own time in the weeds. There’s a thirst for research that understands the climate science, but also brings to the conversation an appreciation for how to think about audiences, context and how to move people.”&nbsp;</p><p>Part of that is finding ways to avoid confining stories about topics like pollution and climate to negative headlines, disaster movies, dystopian fiction and the like. &nbsp;</p><p>“We’re getting to the point with climate justice where you have to change attitudes, beliefs and the culture, and that means you need a range of stories—including comedies, as my colleagues I work with across campus have shown. We have to use a whole range of human emotions to change a culture.”&nbsp;</p><p>It also means those stories need broad appeal, so they aren’t just preaching to the converted.&nbsp;</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-white"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><p class="lead"><i class="fa-solid fa-quote-right fa-3x fa-pull-right ucb-icon-color-gold">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;“There’s a thirst for research that understands the climate science, but also brings to the conversation an appreciation for how to think about audiences, context and how to move people.”<br>Phaedra C. Pezzullo, professor, communication and media studies</p></div></div></div><p>“The argument of folks who are working on climate storytelling in the industry is any film or media content created for the present or the future that does not have climate change as part of its backdrop should be considered fiction, because it is a part of life,” she said.</p><p>The desperation to find the right storytelling techniques for plastics is easy to see in the <a href="/cmcinow/rethinking-plastic" rel="nofollow">endless drumbeat of bad news about plastics</a> clogging rivers, causing floods; being burned, destroying air quality; and invading our drinking water, food supply and bodies. &nbsp;But like all good stories featuring hardship, this one has a protagonist we can easily root for.&nbsp;</p><p>“What I’m interested in right now is the idea of repair,” Pezzullo said. By that, she means material repair—in May, Colorado passed its third right to repair law, empowering consumers to fix, not flush, things like broken phones—but also repairing relationships, especially in the case of well-meaning partnerships where, say, an NGO promised a solution to a plastic problem in the global south that failed.&nbsp;</p><p>“How do we have accountability, but also find a way to forgive people for mistakes?” she said. “It’s very challenging right now to admit that people have made mistakes, and then—if they’re willing to do the work or willing to do the repair work, forgive them.</p><p>“And, of course, how do we repair the earth? That’s the most important question to me.”&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>A CMCI expert’s book has won a trio of awards for its attempt to change how we think about, and tell the story of, plastics pollution.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/feature-title-image/pezzullo-awards-lede.jpg?itok=_2oWkAPx" width="1500" height="844" alt> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Thu, 17 Oct 2024 13:43:37 +0000 Anonymous 7140 at /cmci /cmci/news/2024/10/16/events-involvement-fair-recap <span>The best way to get involved at CMCI? Just follow your nose</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-10-16T09:32:21-06:00" title="Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 09:32">Wed, 10/16/2024 - 09:32</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/article-thumbnail/involve24-lede.jpg?h=8abcec71&amp;itok=rUKzvaP5" width="1200" height="800" alt="Chip, the Buffaloes mascot, takes a turn as a DJ at the Radio 1190 booth at the involvement fair."> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">featured</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">news</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 3"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p><strong>By Iris Serrano<br> Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm’18)</strong></p><p>If you somehow missed the announcements about the College of Media, Communication and Information’s second annual Involvement Fair, there were two things you couldn’t miss coming from the CASE patio—the smell of fresh popcorn and the sight of bubbles floating around.&nbsp;</p><p> 200 students attended last month’s fair, which showcases many of the college’s clubs, organizations and academic opportunities, including study abroad options unique to CMCI.&nbsp;</p><p> </p><div class="align-right image_style-medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/article-image/involve24-offlede.jpg?itok=VqUuqGdz" width="750" height="500" alt="Students lined up to ask questions about study abroad opportunities at the college. "> </div> </div> Many students were crowding around the Adobe Creative Club table, asking questions, snacking on some popcorn and signing up for the group’s next meeting. The fairly new student-led club offers an open space where students of all experience levels learn to improve their skills in Adobe applications, such as Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.&nbsp;<p>“We just want to create a space to make Adobe less overwhelming and give some creative inspiration,” said sophomore Paige Michael, a strategic communication major and co-president of the club.&nbsp;</p><p>Michael was eager to recruit new members to her club and be a part of an event that helps others find their place on campus.</p><p>“Coming to the fair allows new students to be aware of opportunities that this college brings us,” she said. “Even if you don't have time to join every single thing, it gives you a bigger sense of belonging, knowing all the communities you can be a part of.”</p><p>The event gave students opportunities to both follow their passions and discover new ones.&nbsp;</p><p>“Before coming to șù«ÍȚÊÓÆ”, I knew I’d be involved in student media—but I just found out from the tables that they do a lot of things I'm interested in,” said Colby Wyatt, a first-year student majoring in media production. “I won't be just writing articles, I'll get to work with cameras. And I get to commentate on sports and, of course, meet new people and learn new skills.”</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-white"> <div class="ucb-box-inner"> <div class="ucb-box-title"></div> <div class="ucb-box-content"><p class="lead"><i class="fa-solid fa-quote-right ucb-icon-color-gold fa-3x fa-pull-right">&nbsp;</i> “Coming to the fair allows new students to be aware of ... all the communities you can be a part of.”<br>Paige Michael</p></div> </div> </div><p>As a college, CMCI teaches a diverse range of skills that can be applied across different fields, such as computer science, the arts, marketing and political science. As such, the fair got visitors from different colleges at CU șù«ÍȚÊÓÆ”. Lesley Vazquez, a sophomore majoring in creative technology design with a minor in media production, was among the crowd at the Adobe table.&nbsp;</p><p>“I’m in a design foundations class where we had to buy Adobe—and since I have it for the year, and I want to go into a creative field where Photoshop may be used, I want to get more experience in it,” Vazquez said.&nbsp;</p><p>Students said they appreciated CMCI’s commitment to hosting events that help them feel at home in the college.&nbsp;</p><p>“All you have to do is walk up to the table, write your name and email on a sheet of paper, and, boom, you're in a new club,” Wyatt said. “It's nice to just have these tables out like this—it’s hard to miss and it’s an easy way to get involved.”&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>The college’s annual involvement fair is a showcase of clubs and extracurricular opportunities—and fresh popcorn.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/feature-title-image/be_involved_fair_kimberly_coffin_fall_2024_-17.jpg?itok=AccdB2UL" width="1500" height="1002" alt> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Wed, 16 Oct 2024 15:32:21 +0000 Anonymous 7139 at /cmci /cmci/news/2024/10/14/research-kuhn-communication-book-entrepreneurship <span>If it ain’t ‘woke,’ does it need fixing?</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-10-14T09:15:54-06:00" title="Monday, October 14, 2024 - 09:15">Mon, 10/14/2024 - 09:15</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/article-thumbnail/kuhn-corpbook-lede.jpg?h=8abcec71&amp;itok=cVPl6yNk" width="1200" height="800" alt="A clear board with sticky notes of different colors and writing on it. A business team is visible in the background."> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/71" hreflang="en">communication</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/105" hreflang="en">faculty</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">featured</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/51" hreflang="en">news</a> <a href="/cmci/taxonomy/term/140" hreflang="en">research</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 3"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p><strong>By Joe Arney</strong></p><p>Does “woke” make you broke? A new book from <a href="/cmci/people/communication/timothy-kuhn" rel="nofollow">Tim Kuhn</a> serves as a reminder that, while we might think of corporations as single-minded entities, they are in fact messy and complex—and that messiness often is where innovation takes place.&nbsp;</p><p>“Corporations often deploy purpose to create order, to fight complexity, because we typically think of a good organization as being orderly,” said Kuhn, a professor of <a href="/cmci/people/communication/timothy-kuhn" rel="nofollow">communication</a> at the șù«ÍȚÊÓƔ’s College of Media, Communication and Information.&nbsp;</p> <div class="align-right image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/article-image/kuhn-mug.jpg?itok=BIyrA5yJ" width="225" height="225" alt="Headshot of Tim Kuhn against a blank background."> </div> </div> <p>“Purpose tends to be seen as this device that produces similarity, produces unity, produces a setting or a culture where everybody is on the same page. And that is a fantasy.”</p><p>So, when you see companies posting about pride or gun control, it doesn’t mean they’ve suddenly been taken over by “woke” warriors. Rather, it’s evidence of different perspectives and new avenues of thought being pursued within a larger organization. Those can produce more humane workplaces and foster innovation—which, together, can be healthy for the bottom line, Kuhn said in the book, <a href="https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/what-do-corporations-want" rel="nofollow"><em>What Do Corporations Want?: Communicative Capitalism, Corporate Purpose and a New Theory of the Firm</em></a>.</p><p>Corporate purpose, Kuhn said, has often been framed as either producing profits or following principles. “Some versions of purpose can be a claim for morality, for your business to stand for more than shareholder maximization,” he said.&nbsp;</p><p>But believing corporations are only a single thing means “we’re missing an opportunity to understand their complexity and how they effectively serve a wide variety of purposes,” he said. “Saying that corporations just want profits, full stop, is perhaps way too simple, and does an injustice to both businesses and the good people who work in them.”</p><h3>‘Dysfunction’ as a business driver</h3><p>For businesses to pursue both purpose and profit—to walk and chew gum at once—is a good thing, because being open to multiple outcomes can help companies develop new lines of business. Chasing the idea that an organization must choose a single form of value often creates the dysfunctions managers think they need to neutralize.&nbsp;</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-white"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><p class="lead"><i class="fa-solid fa-quote-right fa-3x fa-pull-right ucb-icon-color-gold">&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;“Purpose tends to be seen as this device that produces similarity, produces unity, produces a setting or a culture where everybody is on the same page. And that is a fantasy.”<br>Tim Kuhn, professor, communication</p></div></div></div><p>By way of example, Kuhn’s book mentions Coinbase, which operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. In 2020, as social tensions heated up from the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement and a charged pre-election climate, CEO Brian Armstrong said there would be no political conversations permitted on workplace channels.&nbsp;</p><p>“And, as you can imagine, employees revolted,” Kuhn said. “Employees said, ‘This company is about shaking up the way the world works. Politics is core to who we are.’”&nbsp;</p><p>Coinbase offered severance to employees who left over the policy, and while the business was private at the time, making it hard to evaluate impact, Kuhn said this was an opportunity lost.&nbsp;</p><p>“What if you thought of strategy not as an attempt to create unity and a simple trajectory for your firm?” he said. “What if you thought of strategy as developing from the many possibilities for our future—the many voices that made up the organization? What new practices, what appeals to new audiences, might have emerged from that?”</p><p>Leaders, Kuhn said, “should be less fearful of conversations that stray from our predetermined purpose or strategy, and instead foster conversations that develop emergent, perhaps unanticipated, practices that could be considered part of our complex organization.”</p> <div class="align-right image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/article-image/kuhn-corpbook-offlede.jpg?itok=LvEaFYmZ" width="300" height="450" alt="Jacket art of Tim's new book. The text What Do Corporations Want? is visible against a patterned background."> </div> </div> <h3>Exit strategies</h3><p>That sort of adaptability is crucial for corporations charged with innovating amid change and competition. Unfortunately, they don’t always get there. As part of his research, Kuhn observed a high-tech incubator in action. While the entrepreneurs housed there had big ideas about disruption, the accelerator’s model was laser-focused on exit strategies for the startups, as that’s where their money came from.&nbsp;</p><p>“That makes sense, in that we often think that’s the only way corporations think about value,” Kuhn said. “But as I spoke with many of these startups, they were interested in a variety of other forms of value. Many wanted to fight the corporate machine, were really interested in civic values or just wanted to do something technologically cool, whether it paid off or not.”&nbsp;</p><p>Instead, he said, they were pushed to sell out in ways that didn’t always make sense for the long-term viability of their companies, “and it was telling for me that there was a corporation—the accelerator— that was doing the pushing—a form of communicative capitalism that was making these nascent firms into something they didn’t want or need to be.”</p><p>The book is a collection of theoretical deep dives into how communication, purpose and authority intersect, but there are plenty of practical takeaways for leaders looking for an edge in innovation.</p><p>“Organizations are these conglomerations of humans, practices, places, things, passions, times, histories and so on,” Kuhn said. “If managers think their proclamations will directly produce the outcomes they want, they are probably not long for their positions. Because nothing is that simple.”</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>New research suggests communications outside of a business’ core purpose can stimulate innovation and new lines of activity.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/cmci/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/feature-title-image/kuhn-corpbook-lede.jpg?itok=BRzwxMNo" width="1500" height="844" alt> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Mon, 14 Oct 2024 15:15:54 +0000 Anonymous 7134 at /cmci