Bylines Briefs

Student work aired on KUSA-Channel 9

KOA sports director Larry Zimmer, KWGN-Channel 2 sports anchor Chris Riva and Dave Plati ('82), CU sports information director, talk about sports journalism at the School's annual Career Day in April. Zimmer, an adjust instructor at the School, was selected Colorado Sportscaster of the Year for 2001. It was the fourth time Zimmer, the voice of the Colorado Buffaloes, has received the award.

Through a new cooperative agreement with KUSA-Channel 9 in Denver, the work of broadcast news students is enjoying a wider audience. Stories shot by students in “NewsTeam Boulder” have aired on Channel 9 several times during the spring semester. Abbey Baker, a graduating senior and Columbine High School graduate, appeared on the station’s morning news program on April 20 to share a story she had reported on the third anniversary of the Columbine shootings.

“This is an exciting new outlet for our students’ work,” Assistant Professor Lee Hood (’01 Ph.D.) said. “It’s the first time in my memory that a Denver station has put our students’ video on the air, and we’re grateful for the opportunity.”

The School has been working most closely with alum Randy Barber (‘00), along with assignment editor Cindy Sheopner, on the KUSA project.

Doctoral students screen documentary

Ph.D. students Helga Tawil and Zala Volcic screened their documentary on Palestinian refugees titled “Not Going There, Don’t Belong Here” on the CU-Boulder campus in January. The two shot the documentary last fall in Lebanon.

IMC program rated one of top 15 in U.S.

The School’s graduate Integrated Marketing Communication program has been named one of the top 15 “Premier” public relations graduate programs in the country in a directory titled “Graduate Study in Public Relations: Profiles of the Country’s Best College Programs.” It was compiled by Bill Baxter, Marquette University professor emeritus.

Also, five students from the program were invited to participate in the Direct Marketing Seminar for Graduate Students held in February at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City.

The all-expense-paid scholarships were awarded by the New York-based Direct Marketing Educational Foundation.

Students from 12 schools were invited to participate. Only the University of Alabama had as many students receiving this honor, said Professor Sandra Moriarty, interim director of the IMC program.

The CU students were Sara Gulbas, Patricia Kelly, Allison Kent, Kellie McIlhon and Kristen Meador.

Broadcast students win Boulder honors

Broadcast students won first place in three categories at the 2002 Boulder Community Media Awards in February with three programs in the “Non-Professional Categories” of Sporting Event, Demonstration and Informational-Magazine Format.

Winning students are Robert Scheid (‘01) for “En Flambe – The Boulder Cooking Show,” Marshall Zelinger, broadcast news, and Luke Howell, broadcast production, for “CU Sports Magazine,” and Mike Palmrose, broadcast production, and Ian Cohen, broadcast news, for “CU Women’s Volleyball – Live.” The En Flambe show consists of six 30-minute shows that feature a chef from a local restaurant cooking a specialty and Scheid cooking a side dish.

KVCU-AM reporters honored by BEA

In April, three CU students working at KVCU-AM won awards in the radio competition at the recent Broadcast Education Association convention in Las Vegas.

Broadcast production student Nina Grabowski and recent graduate Tim Covi, an English major, won second place in feature reporting, and broadcast news student Angela Gasperini won an honorable mention in hard-news reporting.

Also, KVCU was selected “Best Radio Station of 2002” in Denver Westword’s “Best Of Denver” issue. Details can be found on the Web at www.westword.com/issues/2002-04-04/bestpeople71.html/1/index.html.

“This is the third year in a row KVCU-Radio 1190 has been awarded in the radio category,” said General Manager John Quigley. The School oversees the station’s operation for the University.

Survey says class of 2000 grads average $28,250 out of college

Graduates of the School’s professional sequences in the year 2000 working full time eight months after graduation reported an average salary of $28,250. More than 83 percent of the respondents were working full-time in a journalism-related job. Master’s graduates reported an average salary of $32,600.

Undergraduates working full and part-time said they searched for an average of five weeks before they found jobs. They rated their happiness with their positions at 5.47 on a 7-point scale.

They rated the School at 4.83 on the 7-point scale when asked how adequately they’d been prepared them for their positions.

The respondents said they had performed an average of two internships.

The survey had a 34 percent response rate.

Advertising students reported an average salary of $28,515 and a job search of nearly six weeks. They rated their happiness with their first jobs at 5.56 on the 7-point scale and gave the School 4.81 on the 7-point scale for preparation.

Broadcast news and production graduates’ average salary was $27,935. They rated their preparation at 4.14 on a 7-point scale. And they put their happiness at 5 on the 7-point scale. Their job search took about 7.5 weeks.

News-ed graduates reported an average salary of $26,567 eight months after graduation. Their job search took just two weeks. They rated their preparation at 5.33 on a 7-point scale, and they rated their happiness with first jobs at 5.67 on the 7-point scale.