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11-1-1989 Inside Journalism Columbia College Chicago

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A Newsletter Published by the Journalism Department of Columbia College You'll hear from us again in Decem- ber and in January. -Nat Lehrman GREETINGS Chairman We've been loolcing forward lO Jourru1lism Department bringing you lhe first journalism department newsletter of lhe J-DEPARTMENT ENROLL­ semester. We've got quite a bit to tell you. MENT GROWS This is our way of communicating Enrollment at Columbia College with all j-students. We plan lO bring has hit new highs, with 6,450 sllldenlS you, as before, news about lhe depart­ registered for lhe Fall semester - an ment, news about lhc various reporting, increase of 6.5 percent over lhe past magazine and broadcast journalism year. The journalism department is ter Govermcnt Association, Ibis oppoounities, as well as scholarship keeping pace. semester joined 13 instructors from and internship possibilities, profiles Declared majors have increased 7.5 Chicago's major papers (not to men­ of instructors and studenlS, and any­ percent over last year, and since we tion four Pulill'.cr prize winners). thing else that will make our depart- began revamping lhe department in They arc complemented by a splendid group of freelance writers and editors from a variety of other publications. Students arc also increasingly turned on by lhe internship resource center, headed by full-time faculty member, Carolyn Hulse, who has spent this year compiling more than 50 samples of publications studcnis can write for. The material is in• tended to give studcnis an oppor­ tunity to look at the publications that accept interns and choose those that interest them. If you have ideas for further im­ provement, send us your cards and let­ ters. -Gayle Mitchell

SUN-TIMES HONORS J­ ment a more visible and cohesive Spring '87, there has been a 48 per­ STUDENT community. cent growth in credit hours. Mary Johnson, a Columbia j-stu­ Inside J ournalism is produced by The department's surge is attributed dent, is lhe proud recipient of lhe first studenlS - nine of them, this to lhe addition of new concenuations, Chicago Sun-Times Minority semester. The newsletter can be like broadcastjoumalism- bolh radio Scholarship and Internship. taken for credit. It's a good way for and television-and magazine edit­ She credilS this honor to lhe mentor­ studcnlS who have completed their ing. Word about lhe increasing quality ship of her instructor, PJ. Bednarski basic journalism courses lO apply lhis of our teaching staff is also getting (Introduction 10 Mass Media). knowledge lO a real publication under around. Rosalind Rossi (Sun­ "At the end of the semester, we all lhedirect supervision of the chairman Times), Clarence Peterson and began lO lalk about our individual of the journalism depart­ Manuel Galvan (I'ribune) and Terry goals. P. J. encouraged me to get a ment. Brunner, executive director or lhe Bet· job on a newspaper-and then he promptly recommended me fo r the Tribune. He works with eight other the students," says Grekoff, also a Sun-Times program." board members to express the view­ coordinator for the marketing com­ The intemship, an opportunity to poinlS of the paper. But as an instruc­ munication, management, fiction writ­ work directly with the city editor and tor of the new course, Opinion Writ­ ing and dance departmenis. "I uy to various staff reporters, begins June, ing, Galvan works with SIUdenlS to coordinate these areas and provide 1990. It pays $408 per week for the help them express their viewpoinlS service by helping employers fi nd the 12 weeks. The scholarship, in two al­ clearly and logically. right student and by helping a student lounenis ofS 1.500. will be awarded StudcnlS develop skill by writing connect with the employer." during bolh her junior and senior editorials, broadcast commentaries, She also helps j-studcnlS learn how years. c<>lumns and reviews. to research a company, prepare Before attending Columbia full­ Galvan says the addition of the resumes and develop gOOd interview­ time, Joltnson worked for ten years as course is characteristic of a j-dcpart­ ing skills. an administrative assisiant at a pres­ mcnt that is modifying its curriculum Grekoff graduated from Indiana tigious law fmn in downtown to better prepare studenlS for the real Chicago. Apart from her courses, she world. Galvan, who also teaches writcS for the Columbia Chronicle News Reporting at Northwestern University says, "A lot of schools don't even have an opinion writing course." He describes Columbia as "one-stop shopping" for serious j-stu­ denis. Galvan says that most columnislS and editorial writers worked for their positions by starting in the news busi­ ness as reporters. Before serving as a member of the editorial board, Gal­ Employment counselor Jan GrtkofT van covered City Hall for the Chicago Tribune. He joined the University with B.A. in Fine Arts. newspoper in 1980 as a general as­ a She will complete her Master's in signment reporter specializing in Communications at Purdue Univer­ Hispanic affairs, politics and local sity in May, 1990. Award winner Mary Johnson government His work included a Prior to coming to Columbia, series on vote fraud, which won him a Grekoff completed a two year and The Star Sentinel, Proviso a William H. Jones Award for investiga­ graduate assistantship at Purdue Townsllip publication. tive journalism. University's placement office. She "Mary is a really spectacular stu­ Galvan says that it is important for dent, a hard worker, willing to learn. also had various jobs prior to that, in­ journalism s1udenis to undersiand the cluding teaching junior high school She pushed herself toward exeel­ work ofeditorial writers, reaJi,,e how art and proofreading for a technical lcnce," Bednarski says of the 40-year­ they do it, and know when they are publications finm . . old mother of four. doing a gOOd job. Grekoff encourages j-slUdcnis to Johnson has advice for other stu­ Senior j-s1Udent Charles Bernstein seek jobs, either part or full-time, in­ denis. "Get to know your teachers says about Opinion Writing, "It's im­ ternships or volunteer work, so they and talk to them about your aspira­ portant to have an opinion and to be can have a full package of experience tions and goals. able 10 express it." before they graduate. "Come in "Seek their help, and lake on exlra -Arlene Furlong assignments to Show them how anytime. Don't feel as if il's toO hungry you are for success. late," says Grekoff. " Use us and help Columbia's teachers care and will us to help you as well as other s1u­ JAN IS OUR NEW JOB denis." help you ll)eel your aims." -~1uriel Whetstone COUNSELOR Grckoff is located in the placement office, Suite 300 in the Wabash build­ Need exlra help fmding a part-time ing. On Thursdays, she is available 10 or full-time job? Are you having a j-s1uden1S from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.­ difficult time making your career STATE YOUR CASE au other weekdays from 9 a.m. until 5 decisions? Whether you're a fresh­ Are you ever curious about the p.m. man or senior, Jan Grekoff, a new -Svetlana Lalic writers behind the anonymous placement coordinator for the j­ editorials in the Chicago Tribune? deparunen, will help you make the Now one of those writers is reveal­ right decisions and get the job you LEHRMAN ADDRESSES ing bis identity, and his expertise, to j­ want WRITER'S SYMPOSIUM studenis at Columbia. "As a placement coordinator, it's MBnuel Galvan is a member of the Nat Lehnman, J-department chair, my job to serve as a link between the gave the keynote address at the editorial board of the Chicago deparunen, jobs on the outside, and < second annual Aspen Writers Sym­ at WFLD, began working in Chicago Hearne plans to treat Students with posium at Aspen, Colorado, in late as a writer with WBBM. After receiv­ two guest lec1urers-anchor Robin AuguSt. ing a master's degree in brooocaSt Brantley and a news director, as yel Lehnnan, former president of journal.ism from the Univcrsity of unnamed-in early Novcrnber. Those Playboy Publishing, sllared his exper­ Missouri, sl1c reported at KONU in two weeks will give the soon-to-be­ tise on this year's topic, Professional Columbia, Mississippi, and did inves­ wed Hearne a chance to honeymoon. Magazine Writing, with several tigative worlc in Terre Haute, Indiana, - Julie Stein prominent editors and more than 40 at WTHI. She has also toiled in radio, freelance writers. written TV news in New York and re­ THE ALTERNATIVE The focus of the lal.k was, "You can searched videotapes for ABC Spons. never learn too much about market­ Hearne says she became motivated PRESS ing." To illustrate this point he out­ to teach when she was an under· Sailing of[ the mainstream lined the freelance writing process, graduate journalism major, because 'The mainstream press gives an ob­ from choosing a publication to sign­ students weren't being exposed to jective aocount of eventS, but very sel­ ing a contraet and beyond. ''Think of some of the information needed to dom does it offer unconventional your idea as something that will fit work in the real world. She says views," says j-instructor Salim perfectly with one particular teachcrs taught students to write per­ Muwakkil. magazine," Lehnnan said, "and fectly grammatical sentences without Muwakkil teaches The Alternative develop an appropriate marketing giving any thought to the way people Pless, a new j-department course. Stu­ plan." speak. "No one ever told me that I dents are inuoduced to non-estab­ According to Lehnnan, in Older for would have 10 listen to a person's lishment views concerning ethnic and a writer to be taken seriously he mUSt style, the way they tallc, and adapt my political and culturally radical publi­ research the target publication. "Read writing 10 it!' cations. These include, among the current issue of the magazine you Hearne injects realism into the others, The Guardian, a socialist select and be prepared to comment on classroom. "I could say, that Story is newspaper, and Windy City Times, a something in it when you communi­ fine, but could you imagine if Robin newspaper for Chicago's gay com­ cate with an editor," he told the Brantley read this?" She adds that munity. writers. "Browse a do:zen copies of good news writers tailor their copy to The radical publications don't the magazine, so that you don't un­ specific anchors. "Walter Jacobson pretend to be objective. Instead, sub­ knowingly repeat ideas that have run likes his sentences shOrt, clear and jects and issues are covered from a recently." concise. If you have more than two point of view of advocacy. Writers should also familiarize subjectS in a sentence forget iL He's Traditional j-instructors don't need themselves with the names on the not going to read i~ he's going to to panic though. ''The Structure of the masthead, in order to determine to changeiL course is not intended 10 deviate from whom manuscripts sllould be sent. "A lead that will grab you and hold objectivity." Muwakkil comments, Lehrman suggests writing a shon, in­ your attention and bring you al.I the "but to show the limitations of the formative query leuer-in the Style way to the end of the story in a mainstream approoch." or a news lead-to the appropriate coherent and flowing way is essential Muwakkil says that although the editor. "Toll him who you are and to a TV news story," Hearne says. mainstream media frequently covcrs what you've done. It's okay to send a She also StresSCS style. "I would like issues in the black and gay com­ clip of your best worlc. It will reveal to pick up a student's Story and know munities. they cover "a very narrow to the editor how you'll be handling who wrote it without seeing his or her spectrum." the piece for him." name." Though some may not agree with Smart writers will ask for a leucr of assignment after the editor agrees to the story idea. It will detail the length, deadline, pay, kill rec and other essen­ tials. Remember this bit or wisdom from chairman Lehrman: 'TruSt is good. Contraets are beuer." -Julie Stein

WFLD PRODUCER TEACHES TV NEWS WRITING Columbia welcomes Geri Hearne, Writing TV News instructor, to its part-time faculty. Hearne, an associate news produccr J·ln.struct0< Salim Muwakkll and an alttrnadve pubtl

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