News

UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media Assistant Professor Shannon McGregor joined an interdisciplinary UNC faculty panel for the discussion “Democracy & Public Discourse,” hosted by UNC’s Program for Public Discourse on Sept. 14.

by Barbara Wiedemann
A $1 million grant from the Black Community Commitment made by basketball legend Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand will boost the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting’s efforts to increase diversity in the field of investigative journalism with outreach efforts aimed at aspiring young journalists of color. The grant, announced in May, will enable the Society to expand its college internship partnerships, build a summer journalism program at a historically Black North Carolina college, and launch a yearlong high school journalism project at a majority Black and Latino public high school in that state. The Ida B. Wells Society, housed at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC-Chapel Hill and founded in 2016 to train and support reporters of color who want to pursue investigative and accountability reporting and to increase and improve reporting on racial inequality, is one of just three organizations in the country to be named as part of the latest efforts toward the pledge.

This semester, Career Services welcomes three new students to its Career Peers program, an initiative launched last year in which the students work with the Career Services team to support other undergraduate students during the job and internship search process. This year’s Career Peers are Sarah Bradley ’22, Mac Parker ’23 and Katie Sohmer ’22. Career Peers will provide support from editing resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles to offering interview tips and informal chats about students’ concerns and their own experiences and insights. The Career Peers will also assist in programming various student-focused events such as "Meet the Pros" and a student-to-student internship fair.

by Barbara Wiedemann
With the fall semester underway and class and work schedules consolidating, now might be the time for new UNC Hussman students to “find their people.” To that end, we’re profiling a series of student leaders and the interest groups they represent: UNC-Chapel Hill NAHJ Chapter President Julian Berger ’22

Building upon a robust legacy of health communication work at the school, Professor Seth Noar has launched the Communicating for Health Impact (CHI) Lab at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Noar, UNC Hussman’s James Howard and Hallie McLean Parker Distinguished Professor and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, directs the CHI Lab, which produces health communication research promoting public health while serving as a research hub that can help UNC Hussman recruit some of the best and brightest health communication minds.

by Barbara Wiedemann
UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media has a well-earned reputation for offering a powerful alumni network to its media and journalism graduates. One of the reasons: our active alumni boards. A fledgling program to fruition in 2017, pairing 10 students with alumni mentors from around the nation working in their fields of interest, has grown exponentially since then, celebrating a record 103 pairings (18 of them residential master’s candidates) in academic year 2020–21. Mentors: there’s still time to play a key role in developing the next generation of journalism and media leaders.

A vibrant and collaborative interdisciplinary research culture at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media creates new knowledge, advances scholarship and helps reinvent media.

The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media welcomes 1,059 students this fall — 915 undergraduate and 144 graduate students. Behind those numbers are faces, purposes and stories — the narratives of determination and excellence that give meaning to the mission of the school. As fall 2021 semester starts, we wanted to share a few of those stories with you.

The Radio Television Digital News Association is recognizing the work of UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media students with two of the eight national student Edward R. Murrow Awards this year. Carolina Connection — UNC Hussman’s student-produced radio broadcast — earned the Murrow Award for Excellence in Audio Newscast. Erin Jenkins ’21 won the Murrow Award for Excellence in Video Hard News. for “Child Brides? North Carolina has a problem” that she produced in the school’s Media Hub course as part of a multimedia package.

The premiere documentary screening of "Earn it The Carolina Way" will be held in the Freedom Forum Conference Center on Tuesday, Aug. 17, at 7 p.m. The documentary — created by students in the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media — showcases UNC’s 2020 NCAA national championship field hockey team.