CONVERSATIONS A publication for College of Communication alumni Animator Philo Barnhart and Professor Paul Booth at the seventh annual DePaul Pop Culture Conference, “A Celebration of Disney.” See page 8. Fall 2019 IN THIS ISSUE 2| CJIE and Excellence 4| Talking Health Care 6| Media Engagement Lab CJIE | CONVERSATIONS CJIE | CONVERSATIONS AMPLIFIED IMPACT the beginning—we get ‘9-1-1’ calls: ‘Oh, CJIE’s mission includes honoring journalists my God, my news director wants me to do “It’s the atmosphere whose work exemplifies integrity and something that I don’t think I should do. excellence. In 2019, New York Times What should I do? Am I going to lose my of a mission and THE ETHICAL PURSUIT OF Executive Editor Dean Baquet received the job?’ So we remain an ethical sounding board for them after they’re gone.” Distinguished Journalist Award, and WGN- responsibility and TV news anchor Lourdes Duarte (CMN Behind everything is DePaul’s Vincentian ’99) was honored with the Distinguished mission. “You see it in the selection of great work. We Alumna Award. Previous recipients of the stories our students have done for ‘Chicago Distinguished Journalist Award are Lester Tonight.’ You see that mission. The inequity couldn’t be happier. Holt of “NBC Nightly News” and Jane of marijuana sentencing, what happens to Pauley of “CBS Sunday Morning.” Ben medical DACA students. Giving voice to the –Carol Marin Welsh (CMN ’04), data desk editor for voiceless,” Moseley observes. the Los Angeles Times, and Ann Pistone EXCELLENCE (CMN ’90), investigative producer for ABC7 “DePaul is more than just a school,” Marin The Center for Journalism Integrity and Eyewitness News in Chicago, are past says. “It’s the atmosphere of a mission and Excellence prepares students for the recipients of Distinguished Alumni awards. responsibility and great work. We couldn’t be happier.” Pointing to a wall of CJIE’s office, Marin real world of journalism says, “Over there in the red frame with the little statuette beside it is Ben Welsh’s first national award. Ben was our very first Everybody talks about the news, but process that we accept them. The critical intern. He was the kid who was kind of nobody does anything about it. thing is that they have curiosity and always hungry, didn’t always make eye dedication—they have to know that this is contact, but was eclectic and a great writer While news may not be quite as universal the job that they want,” he says. and thinker. He won his first Pulitzer just as the weather, it certainly is on everyone’s about three years ago.” minds—and not always in a flattering light. Once they are accepted, students get classroom instruction in investigative In 2018, the center launched its first In 2015, when talk of broadening the journalism from Marin and Moseley. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Fellows existing DePaul Documentary Project They have the opportunity to hear from program. The two-day program offers to become a center within the college’s and ask questions of accomplished guest training and mentoring for early-career journalism program first began, “fake lecturers, who have included news anchor journalists who work at small news news was not really a term in the lexicon,” Jane Pauley and syndicated columnist organizations (see page 8). With a recent Don Moseley, the co-director of the Center says veteran journalist Carol Marin. Yet Clarence Page. U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says federal for Journalism Integrity and Excellence the college and former DePaul President agencies can deny FOIA requests for and current Chancellor the Rev. Dennis They also get hands-on experience. “We’ve confidential data about their contractors, H. Holtschneider, C.M., wanted to do brought them to NBC, where they have such training is more important than ever. something to fortify ethical journalism worked on gubernatorial forums, mayoral and burnish its reputation among an forums, election night,” Marin says. “Some New in 2019 is the Visiting CJIE Fellow. increasingly skeptical public. of them want to do the work we do, but The inaugural fellow, Dan Sinker, was the they don’t spend time watching it and director of OpenNews, which “connects Fr. Holtschneider said that he wanted sometimes they don’t necessarily read it. a network of developers, designers, students to know “that giving squabbling They still have a view of journalism that journalists and editors to collaborate on parties equal time is not the same as needs bringing into careful focus. Part of open technologies and processes within giving the public the truth.” With this They come into what we try to do is shoot them into the journalism.” Marin says, “He teaches principle in mind, the Center for Journalism real world.” not just the students, but he teaches us Integrity and Excellence (CJIE) emerged the class wanting to because he’s the kind of digital thinker who following year with Marin and longtime An important part of their real-world has the ability to look at (social media), television news producer Don Moseley, exposure is developing news segments give voice to the what it really is doing and how it can be who helmed the Documentary Project, as for the WTTW-TV public affairs program manipulated.” its co-directors. It has accomplished a lot in “Chicago Tonight.” “They have to come voiceless. That’s the span of only three academic years. up with story pitches. Then they refine them and pick one story,” Marin, a regular MISSION-DRIVEN pretty evident in all Journalism has never been under the A THIRST FOR REPORTING contributor to “Chicago Tonight,” explains. microscope more than it is right now. Twenty-four students per year rotate “Then they start figuring out how to the story pitches Thus, integrity in journalism has never through CJIE’s two-quarter intensive course. produce it. Who does what? Who do we been more important. “A huge component Marin and Moseley interview candidates interview? What are the issues? So they they do.“ in virtually every class is they have to suggested by other faculty in the journalism do it from conception, to research, to consider an ethical problem they might program. “The students come to us pretty setting up the interviews, to shooting the meet on the street. The kids love it the –Don Moseley much as fully formed reporters, producers interviews, doing all the B roll, writing and best,” Marin says. or writers,” Moseley explains. They answer editing.” She adds, “With Don and me some questions in writing and then are heavily fluttering around.” “They go off, they graduate, they get a job, interviewed. “It’s through that interview and Don and I—this has been true from CJIE Co-director Carol Marin oversees students enrolled in the intensive investigative journalism course. 2 | | 3 Health Communication | CONVERSATIONS Health Communication | CONVERSATIONS to say, ‘Can we just take a minute to list my concerns, and then we can prioritize what needs to be done?’ If you want to be satisfied and for quality care to happen, that conversation has to happen upfront. Who is your typical student? I have two groups of students. At the undergraduate level, I teach a basic health communication class, and it is 50% health sciences THE TALKING CURE: students who are doing either public health or the bioscience track, so these are future practitioners. Then 50% are communication students who see health comm as an interesting elective. Usually they are surprised—they either just get a lot out of it personally and A CONVERSATION WITH become more empowered patients and consumers or they decide that they want to do more study. We only have one health comm undergrad class, so they go into the MA program. Those MA students tend to have an interest in health and promoting health. Often they have a dramatic health story in their background. They tend to go either into working directly with health care delivery organizations or into more of the ELISSA FOSTER public communications side, writing for patients or internal communications. What needs to happen to make health care more effective? Professor Elissa Foster is passionate about improving communication Part of the struggle is that, particularly here in the United States, in health care settings. She is the director of the college’s graduate organizing health care as a business around a service delivery model just doesn’t work because the people who don’t have programs in health communication and is active as a researcher and access to health care also don’t have access to health education or to communities where they can walk safely. They don’t have the in working with health care professionals to improve the quality of time or the energy to prepare fresh food. All of these things stack up against certain groups within the population. We’re going to their communication with patients, families and other practitioners. remain, as a country, spending more and getting less if we don’t Here she shares her thoughts about problems, progress and careers “If you want to be start to think in terms of health promotion and interrupting cycles of poverty and violence. in health communication. satisfied and for quality Would you say that health communication is Qimproving? care to happen, that From the perspective of health care systems, there have been massive breakthroughs, particularly with respect to things like the conversation has to patient portal so that patients have more direct access to a care How do you define health communication? What would you say constitute some of the provider and nurse triage, can schedule their own appointments, can see their own test results.