Issue 4 ★ Fall 2005 VOICES FROM THE PAST. Student Media alums keep us updated on their careers and lives since their days at Vanderbilt … See page 8. ALUMNI WRVU PICTURES DJ HAL'S NEW FROM ABROAD AUTOMATION VU alum spans the WRVU's new digital globe and documents automation system tunnelvision the journey … keeps WRVU 24/7 … A publication for alumni of student media at Vanderbilt University page 6 page 5 PACEMAKER! BACK TO VANDERBILT MEDIA ALUMS MAKE CAMPUS VISIT VANESSA HOO Editor-in-Chief (SP '05 and FA '05), The Vanderbilt Hustler Vanessa Hoo holds the ACP national Pacemaker awarded to the 2004-2005 Vanderbilt Hustler in October. Hoo, an A&S senior from Houston, served as Hustler editor in 2005 and shares the award with 2004 Editor Evan Mayor, A&S ’04. Associated Collegiate Press has presented the Pacemaker since 1927. The award is often referred to as the “Pulitzer Prize” of college jour- nalism. The Vanderbilt Hustler has won three Pacemakers dur- ing the past four years. ALUMNI VISITORS STUDENT MEDIA ALUMNI: A number of tunnel dwellers from the Class of 1980 returned to campus for Homecoming and a 25th Reunion in October. Classmates, spouses and friends attended a barbecue at inaugural VSC adviser Jim Leeson’s farm in Franklin and many made time to visit the current student media offices on campus. Gathered to review a bound copy of the 1980 Hustler are (standing, from left): Bill Horne, Scott Milner, Mary Beth Pendley Ray, Kevin Barnard, Bruce Douglas, Mike Jackson, Pat Willard, Eric Etheridge, Alex Heard, and (seated, from left) Tracy Wilkinson, David Brooks and Diane Levy. Read more about these folks in the Alumni Notes on Page 8 and see a photo from Leeson’s party. NEIL SKENE Skene spends a week with Vanderbilt student media staff- ers to offer insight on profes- Journalism Education Academy Highlights sional media. page 3 New program for student media staffers offers formal training in Journalism The following speakers and events were some of the opportunities How did U.S. News & World Report speak to students about their work and offered to Journalism Academy editors select photos to appear in the other topics of interest. enrollees during the program’s issue following Hurricane Katrina? Through a special arrangement with inaugural semester last fall: How did Bob Woodward keep in touch The Freedom Forum First Amendment with “Deep Throat” before Mark Felt Center on campus, a limited number Bob Woodward, journalist and author associ- revealed himself as one of journalism’s of Academy enrollees were able to hear ated with the legendary “Deep Throat,” spoke most legendary figures? Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post at the First Amendment Center Student enrollees of the Journalism journalist and author Bob Woodward MEET US Academy, a new Vanderbilt Student speak about his recent book at an event Neil Skene, media lawyer, reporter, editor IN NEW YORK CITY! Communications education initiative, in October. Although seating was limit- and publisher, served as Editor-in-Residence, learned the answers to these questions ed, a few spots were reserved exclusively a Media Minds speaker and Writers Workshop VSC alumni in the New York instructor City area are invited to a recep- and more first-hand this fall from the for Academy enrollees to interact with tion in their honor where they principals involved. Woodward in the intimate setting. Houston Ruck, designer for U.S. News & may meet members of the VSC VSC founded the Journalism The Academy is independent of uni- World Report, was a Media Minds speaker staff and current students on Academy to give students opportuni- versity academic departments, but all March 16 at the Roosevelt ties to augment their on-campus media students who complete the program will Willy Daunic, radio talk show host, was a Hotel in midtown Manhattan at involvement with a program of struc- receive certification from VSC. While Media Minds speaker 45th and Madison. page 11. tured training the Academy and exposure is open to all John Seigenthaler, chairman emeritus of to professional undergradu- The Tennessean and founder of the First INDEX… journalists. ates, the major- Amendment Center, presented “News Media and New Media”. Director’s note 2 As for U.S. ity of current New staff 2 News’s Katrina enrollees work Rick Reilly, senior writer for Sports Illustrated, Jay Graves 3 coverage, insight at one or spoke on campus at a VU Speakers event Alumni Novel 4 ACADEMY was provided to vanderbilt student communications, inc. more student Alumni Updates 8 students by VSC publications. Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine, pre- VSC Briefs 16 alumnus Houston Ruck, who graduated A points system measures students’ sented “God’s Politics” as part of the Divinity in 2003 and now works at the national participation in on- and off-campus School’s Cole Lecture series news weekly as a section designer. media, relevant classroom learning Ruck spoke to students and inter- and attendance at writing workshops, The Southern Festival of Books, a Humanities Tennessee event held in Downtown Nashville, ested members of the Vanderbilt com- lectures and conferences. For media featured several Vanderbilt alumni writers, munity in September as part of the career-minded students, the Academy including Roy Blount, Jr., Bill Carey, Peyton Academy’s Media Minds speaker series. offers networking with industry con- Lewis, Lyda Phillips and Leah Stewart. This special series invites journalists Vanderbilt Student Communications, Inc. Celebrating 38 years and media professionals to campus to see ACADEMY, page 15 2 tunnel vision expanding the tunnel adding to the vision a director’s note… introducing our new staff members… Reinventing media by Chris Carroll, Director of Student Media By any measure, 2005 was a turbulent year for mainstream media. Whether you are employed in media or just a regular consumer, no doubt you noticed the cascade of events signaling rapid and dramatic change on the horizon. Commercial newspapers experienced the largest drop in circu- lation during a six-month period since 1991 during this past year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. According to a Pew Research Report, the percentage of people who regularly read printed newspapers fell to an all-time low. The past year was the newspaper industry’s worst year for rev- enue growth since the last recession, Goldman Sachs reported. More than 2,000 jobs were cut from major and mid-sized newspapers in 2005. Under pressure from stockholders concerned about falling circulation and poor revenue growth, Knight Ridder, the nation’s second-largest newspaper group has been placed up for sale. In spite of these sobering developments, college publications experienced a much brighter 2005 than their commercial coun- terparts. The unique and somewhat insulated dynamics of the campus environment allow student publications to enjoy rela- tively stable readership and revenue. For now. The “sky is falling” panic afflicting media on Wall Street has not yet reached student media. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t preparing for some major changes for Vanderbilt media. Each year fewer and fewer admitted freshmen arrive on cam- pus as habitual readers of traditional print media. Instead, these students are from among the 21 million U.S. teens who use the Paige Orr Clancy consults with Spring 2006 Internet. Vanderbilt Hustler Editor Sean Seelinger . More staggering, 57 percent of these online teens arrive on PAIGE ORR CLANCY campus as web-based content creators, according to a recent Pew Internet and American Life Project. These students have in effect director of educational programming joined the worldwide media before attending their first class. The future of media is clearly digital. Media consumers’ expec- Paige Orr Clancy joined the VSC staff July 1, Clancy, a Vanderbilt alumna, is no strang- tations have changed. Young readers expect news on demand 2005, in the recently created position of direc- er to VSC. Before graduating in 1998 with a — only what they want when they want it. They expect to par- tor of educational programming. Clancy primar- degree in English and Human & Organizational ticipate in the media process —to have a relationship with media ily advises students working in print media and Development, she served as managing editor of rather than have it preach to them. coordinates VSC’s new Journalism Academy (see The Vanderbilt Hustler and editor-in-chief of the Commercial media, which is driven by market pressures, is description of program on page 1). Vanderbilt Commodore yearbook. risk-adverse and focuses only one fiscal quarter at a time, has Before joining the staff with Vanderbilt Student Following graduation, Clancy, a native of been slow to react to these changes. Academic journalism, which Communications, she worked as a reporter at the Decatur, Ala., moved to New York City. There is too often entrenched in tradition and protected from market- online breaking news site NashvillePost.com and she began working in public relations with the place realities, has been slow to adapt. Business Tennessee, a monthly business and public GolinHarris agency and later joined the corporate College student media offers the freedom to experiment, and affairs magazine. In that role, she covered city and communications division of public relations firm may be the fertile ground from where the next media model state business news, with a focus on the health Porter Novelli. Clancy worked with clients includ- blooms. care industry. She previously worked as a business ing PricewaterhouseCoopers, MasterCard and the I It’s time to be bold. It’s time to turn the print/online model reporter at the The City Paper in Nashville. Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter! brand. on its head. It’s time to reinvent the newspaper and rethink tradi- tional organizational structures.