Bylines Briefs | School of Journalism and Mass Communication

SJMC bids farewell to Crystal Atkinson

Frank Kaplan, left, retired CU journalism faculty professor, chats with longtime CU and School employee Crystal Atkinson and her husband, Bill, during her retirement party held in the Armory on Nov. 3. Atkinson, a faculty support and research specialist, worked at the School for 20 years. More than 50 current and former faculty and staff members attended

We're taking names
Nominate an accomplished alumnus for the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award. This annual award recognizes alumni for extraordinary achievement and ongoing support for the School. Send nominations to Bylines@Colorado.edu before Jan. 15 with "Distinguished Alumni" in the subject line, and tell us in a few sentences why your nominee deserves this recognition. Last year we realized that there are so many wonderful alumni to honor that we decided to keep a running list of nominees. So, don't fret if your nominee isn't honored this year. He or she will stay on our list and be considered for the award in future years.

Ad profs bring tea to China
The SJMC took tea to China during an intensive, three-week Advertising a2b course at Shanghai International Studies University in May. Senior Instructor Mindy Kiger Cheval and Associate Professor David Slayden gave 50 students and 10 advertising professionals a crash-course on American advertising. By the end of the course, the students had developed a campaign to pitch Celestial Seasonings in China.

"Professor Slayden and I thought it would be interesting to give the students of SISU a project that would challenge cultural norms as well as build on their advertising skills. The students' first response was, 'You can't sell American tea to the Chinese; this will not work,' " Cheval said.

But, their students rose to the challenge. "Some chose to launch Celestial Seasonings using some non-tea aspects of the brand and positioned it as a diet drink or a wellness drink. Several groups decided to take their tea culture head-on and positioned Celestial Seasonings as a tea for the 'new China.' In all cases, the students provided us with unique insights into their culture and the rapid changes occurring in China," she said.

The SJMC is continuing its relationship with SISU through student exchanges and other learning opportunities.

Schultz donates cameras
The School received two professional-grade, nearly new digital video cameras, along with a bevy of accessories this fall from Howard Schultz, head of Lighthearted Entertainment, a TV production house that creates reality-TV programs, including "The Moment of Truth" and "Extreme Makeover." Schultz previously donated the beautiful Boulder backdrop displayed behind the anchor desk in the ATLAS broadcast studio.

CP is now CU Independent
The Campus Press is moving towards a new identity as the CU Independent. The faculty decided last year that the student publication would no longer be offered as a course within the School's curriculum. Instead, it will operate as most collegiate media do - that is, as an independent student organization. As of January, students will no longer get course credit for working on this online news source. It will continue to publish several times a day from its newsroom in the Armory, and until at least 2012 the School will continue to fund a full-time professional adviser and supply a modest operating budget.

Its new charter will create the Student Publications Board. Its principal duty will be to select the editor in chief for each upcoming semester. The board will consist of a wide array of campus citizens: student government leaders, Student Affairs administration, Pan-Hellenic leadership, CU faculty, journalism school alumni working in the media, and the leadership of the Independent itself.

Ethics among the elk
The School co-hosted a three-day meeting of many of America's best minds in media ethics this fall at the YMCA of the Rockies at the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. This year's theme is "Media Ethics & Economics: Competing Imperatives and Duties," and selected papers will be published in The Journal of Mass Media Ethics. Four Front Range journalism/mass communication programs cosponsored the event.

Media & religion conference
About 100 scholars, activists, journalists and businesspeople attended the international conference on "Media, Spiritualities and Social Change" in June. Participants explored ways in which activists, spiritual leaders and the media intersect to create social change. It was sponsored by SJMC Center for Media, Religion and Culture, Naropa University, Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies at the University of Nevada and the Fred W. Smith Ethics Seminar Series.