The University of Memphis Meeman Matters Newsletter of the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media April 2019 WHAT’S Documentary examines INSIDE issues, activism in Memphis Accreditation renewed once more ❱❱ 2 Ad award named for Utt ❱❱ 3 Students earn online news honors ❱❱ 3 Waters joins Institute ❱❱ 3 JRSM awards a big hit ❱❱ 4 WUMR gives PHOTO BY WILL SUGGS radio skills for Journalism student Caleb Suggs interviews professor Otis Sanford as part of the documentary students ❱❱ 5 Once More at the River: From MLK to BLM. The film premiered in January 2019. BY WILLIAM SUGGS Museum and found colleagues to collab- Jemele Hill orate at the UofM. They included journal- packs in a The documentary film “Once More At ism professor Joe Hayden and Department crowd ❱❱ 6 The River: From MLK to BLM,” which exam- of History chair Aram Goudsouzian. “Ev- ined activism in Memphis since the Civil erything happened pretty quickly,” Coche Rights Movement, premiered on Jan. 22 to said. She decided on the theme in late 2016, 'A Spy in a full house at the UofM’s UC Theatre. and by early February 2017, the group had Canaan' gets Roxane Coche, the film’s director and one submitted its first grant proposal. notice ❱❱ 7 of its producers, said the idea for the docu- Faculty and students of the University of mentary came in 2016 upon the realization Memphis’ departments of Journalism and Student ad that the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther Strategic Media and History helped produce King, Jr.’s assassination was approaching. the film, which also received a grant and team scores “Social justice and civil rights are such support from organizations including the high ❱❱ 8 an important topic that I decided to pitch National Civil Rights Museum and Human- the idea for a full-length documentary in- ities Tennessee. stead of a single class,” Coche said. Coche talked to the National Civil Rights ❱❱ CONTINUED PAGE 8 FROM THE CHAIR Meeman Matters Department again gets top April 2019 marks with reaccreditation Vol. 3, Issue 3 n late April, I flew to Chicago for memphis.edu/jrsm the meeting of the Accrediting David Arant, Ph.D. Council for Education in Jour- A publication of the I Chair, nalism and Mass Communication. Department of Journalism and The accrediting council reviewed Journalism and Strategic Media, 300 Meeman, the report of a four-person site Strategic Media University of Memphis, 3711 team, which visited our campus in Veterans Ave., Memphis, TN, January. After spending four days After measuring many indi- 38152. examining our faculty, students, cators of learning outcomes, the budget and facilities, Professor Joe faculty reviews them each year Foote, the site-team leader, con- to see how well our curriculum is cluded that our department was preparing our students for the me- Department Chair “playing in the big league.” The dia professions. When we discover David Arant council affirmed the site-team’s weaknesses, we implement cur- finding that our undergraduate ricular changes to strengthen our Assistant Chair programs were in full compliance programs. Sandra Utt on all nine standards and voted for In addition to ACEJMC accredita- our reaccreditation. The Department tion of all three majors, our public Administrative Asst. of Journalism and Strategic Media relations program undergoes a Teri Hayslett has been accredited by ACEJMC since separate examination as part of its 1971 and undergoes a reaccredita- Public Relations Society of Amer- Faculty tion process every six years. ica certification. In February a Robby Byrd, Tori Cliff, Teri Del I appreciate the reviewers’ affir- two-person PRSA site team spent Rosso, Pam Denney, Matt mation of what I already know: we three days with our public relations Haught, Joe Hayden, Tom have a talented, hard-working and faculty and students. The Universi- Hrach, Melissa Janoske, Kim dedicated faculty leading dynamic ty of Memphis is one of only a few Marks, Michael Robinson, Otis programs that are graduating excel- public relations programs that has Sanford, Ruoxu Wang, Jin Yang lent media professionals equipped earned both ACEJMC accreditation for success in their jobs. As part of and PRSA certification. Adjunct faculty our assessment, we measure student Two of our professors, assistant Brittany Block, Audrey Chaney, outcomes. Each semester we ask chair Sandy Utt and internship co- Casey Hilder, Megan Mallicoat, outside professionals to review the ordinator Matthew Haught, led the Joel Nichols, Andrea Wiley portfolios of our graduating seniors. yearlong self-study of our under- We survey recent graduates about graduate programs that yielded in Graduate assistants job placement and perceptions of a 200-page analysis of all aspects of Louis Asser, Javari Burnett, how prepared they are for their me- our undergraduate programs. I am Dana Cooper, Addie James, dia positions. grateful for their leadership of our Garrett Pilgrim, Will Suggs As part of program assessment, assessment program. we also survey internship supervi- After teaching for 35 years at the Institute for Public sors to learn how well the students University of Memphis, Dr. Utt is Service Reporting are prepared for their work. Our stu- retiring this semester. Her dedica- Marc Perrusquia, Katrina Smith, dents are getting excellent intern- tion to the department and to the David Waters ships in Memphis and throughout advertising program are without the nation. This year our students equal. We will miss her. The only Daily Helmsman have had great internships in Mem- good thing about her departure Candy Justice, Chris Sheffield, phis (for example, AutoZone, Inter- is that we have hired an excellent Sharon Whittaker national Paper, Commercial Appeal, replacement to teach advertising ALSAC/St. Jude) and beyond Mem- for us, Joel Nichols. I’ve asked Dr. Meeman Matters Editor phis (including Chicago, New York, Haught to assume that Dr. Utt’s Tom Hrach Spain and Cambodia). For many role as assistant chair. [email protected] students, these internships turn into David Arant is chair of the Department permanent positions. of Journalism and Strategic Media. 2 I MEEMAN MATTERS I APRIL 2019 NEWS BRIEFS AEJMC SOUTHEAST COLLOQUIUM Retiring Sandra Utt Grad student takes high honor gets name on ad award at conference; two others present In honor of the decades of ser- Three graduate journalism stu- vice to the Department of Journal- dents were recognized on March 8 ism and Strategic Media, Sandra at the 2019 AEJMC Southeast Col- Utt was honored with the naming loquium in Columbia, South Caro- of an award in her name. lina, for their research work, and Utt, who is retiring in spring one student took a top award at 2019, is now the namesake for the the conference. Outstanding Advertising Student Garrett Pilgrim was recognized award, which is given each spring for submitting the top student re- to the best student in the advertis- search paper in the Visual Com- ing major. The award is now the Dr. munication Division. He present- Sandra Utt Outstanding Advertis- ed his research paper titled “Holy ing Student Award. Smokies! Information Design, Hu- mor, and Trail Safety.” Students take awards The paper examined the role hu- UofM graduate student Garrett Pilgrim for online news reporting mor can play in creating informa- is recognized for his research by the tional graphics to educate people University of South Carolina’s Tom Six UofM journalism students about how to safely enjoy national Reichert at the AEJMC Southeast were honored for their online mul- parks. Colloquium on March 8. timedia reporting work on April Also presenting research was 27 in Nashville as part of the 2018 Jordin Howell. Howell presented Tennessee AP College Contest. her research paper titled “Out of designs on how to convey the seri- Recognized as finalists were Alex the Shadows: Female Representa- ousness of hurricane warnings. Talley and Maisa Jabi for “March to tion in ‘Shadow of the Tomb Raid- Also participating in the con- the Polls: Activists Focus Energies er.’” The research examined how ference at the University of South on November’s Midterm Ballot” in the main character Laura Croft of Carolina were faculty members the online multimedia package cat- the new Tomb Raider video game Matt Haught and Tom Hrach. egory. In the online investigative/ is portrayed much differently Haught presented research about in-depth reporting category were than in earlier games. visual communication degree cap- Jurnee Taylor and Collins Peeples The third student, Will Suggs, stones and Hrach presented work for “With Few Options, Homeless presented his research paper from his book about the Kerner Women in Memphis Struggle with “Come Wind or High Waters: Commission report. Lack of Shelter.”As top online Re-imagining Hurricane Reorga- The UofM will host the same re- multimedia journalists were Bailey nization.” The research offered gional research event on March 19 Clark and Kim Rix for “Memphis some new insights into graphic to 21, 2020. Skaters Look for a Way to Bring Creativity Back to the Sport.” 2 advertising students Top journalist joins UofM reporting institute earn national honors Award-winning Memphis jour- mercial Appeal. Jennifer Nichols and Cynthia nalist David Waters The Institute was started in Castor, two advertising seniors, joined the staff of 2018 to provide independent in- were honored Feb. 13 at American the Institute for vestigative reporting and in-depth Advertising Federation’s “Building Public Service Re- explanatory journalism on issues Bridges for Our Future Luncheon” porting on March 1 of importance while also provid- at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York as assistant direc- ing hands-on training to UofM City. tor. students. Sponsored by the AAF, the Most Waters, 60, joins Waters work, along with the Promising Multicultural Students the institute after WATERS work of the rest of the Institute, is program recognizes the top 50 ad- a 35-year career in published in The Daily Memphian, vertising students in the country.