Mayborn Annual Report 2013

Mayborn Annual Report

Vol. 1 Issue 1

2012-2013

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pg.....41

• The Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism reached enrollment of more than 1,000 students, and we’re growing.

• Mayborn students earned more than 20 state, regional and national awards.

• The 2013 Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference attracted writers from as far away as New Zealand.

• Our global footprint expanded to include study abroad partnerships and student trips to London and Mexico during summer 2013.

• Faculty and students continue to expand our national research profile, with Sara Blankenship earning a top poster prize at AEJMC and Dr. Sheri Broyles earning an AEJMC senior scholar grant for research in Cuba.

• Three faculty members—Dr. Jim Mueller, Dr. Koji Fuse and Neil Foote—were promoted.

• SWOOP, our student-run advertising and public relations firm, continues to grow its client base and this year launched a campaign for the UNT Health Science Center.

• Award-winning photographer Junebug Clark joined the Mayborn as a photo consultant, bringing the expertise of a family legacy of famous photography.

• The Nicholas and Anna Ricco Ethics Awards Scholarship Competition was launched, and 13 scholarships were awarded, one in each of UNT’s schools and colleges.

• Associate Dean Roy Busby celebrated his 52nd year with UNT, and Dean Dorothy Bland joined the Mayborn.

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The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Table of Contents Welcome from Dean Dorothy Bland .....pg 2-3 Celebrate Mayborn annual awards ceremony

pg 4-5

2013 Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference review

.....pg 6-7 Ten Spurs Writing Contest Young Spurs Writing Contest

pg 8 pg 9

Nonfiction Manuscript, Best American Newspaper Narrative Contest

pg 10

Archer City Writer’s Workshop

pg 12 pg 14

Mayborn magazine

pg 23

Mayborn Facts and Figures

Student Media & Clubs .....pg 24-27 Mayborn alumni updates

pg 28

Nicholas and Anna Ricco Ethics Awards Scholarship Competition

pg 30

Faculty news and updates Alumni donors

pg 33-34 pg 35

Giving Q&A with Dean Bland

pg 37 pg 38

JFK

Mayborn School Board of Advisors

pg 40

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A history of journalism carved in stone

pg 41

Symposium

Mayborn Conference Advisory Board

pg 16

TheMayborn.com

pg 17

Mayborn students abroad

pg 18

Mayborn London

pg 19

The “Heart of Mexico”

pg 20 pg 22

Mayborn Scholars

On the Cover:

From left to right: Nana Adwoa AntwiBoasiako, broadcast; Aaron Claycomb, graduate institute, Mayborn Dean Dorothy Bland; Elvia Limon, photojournalism; Jacob Hough, news.

Inside Cover:

Executive Editor, Copy Editor Jo Ann Ballantine, Marketing Specialist Magazine Layout & Design Aaron Claycomb, Graduate Student Assistant

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Mayborn interns

Contributors:

Left to right: J.P. Lugo, digital/print news; Mollie Jamison, digital/print news; Nadia Hill, digital/print news

Content Editor, Copy Writer Amelia Jaycen, Graduate Student Assistant Contributing Copy Writer Jane R. LeBlanc, former Graduate Student Assistant Contributing Copy Editor Gayle Reaves-King Photography: Junebug Clark, photography consultant Apag Annankra Gloria Chen Michael Clements, URCM James Coreas David Halloran Jun Ma Photographs and information also provided

by Mayborn faculty, staff, students and friends.

Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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“Opportunity” is the key word for new Dean Dorothy Bland

W

elcome to the first in a series of annual updates on progress at the Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism.

As the new dean, I’m proud to be part of the Mayborn legacy. Our school is a reality because of the generosity of Sue Mayborn and the late Frank W. Mayborn, philanthropists and icons in the Texas media landscape. The journalism program dates back to 1945 when C. E. “Pop” Shuford started teaching journalism classes at what was then North Texas State College.

The program has since grown to more than 1,000 students.

Mitch Land, the founding dean, and others deserve credit for providing the leadership that advanced the department to two nationallyaccredited programs—the Mayborn School of Journalism and the Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism.

The graduate program is the only professional master’s journalism program in the great state of Texas accredited by the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. After Land departed in 2011, Roy Busby served as interim

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The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

dean for the 2011-12 academic year, and Jean Keller served as acting dean for most of the 2012-13 academic year.

We greatly appreciate their service.

I joined the team in June 2013.

Students are at the heart of our goals as evidenced by the advances made during the 2012-13 academic year.

In the pages that follow, you’ll see there is much progress on the digital frontier. The Mayborn expanded its global footprint in Europe, Mexico and Japan during the summer of

Just a few of Bland’s accomplishments Pulitzer Prize Juror and former editor and reporter for USA Today President and publisher of both the Chillicothe (Ohio) Gazette and Fort Collins (Colo.) Coloradoan Earned three Gannett President’s Rings for outstanding performance McCormick Fellow in the Advanced Executive Program at Northwestern University’s Media Management Center Helped establish the Harold Dow Professorship at Florida A&M University Led campaigns to raise more than $100,000 Guest lecturer at the Poynter Institute

2013. Eighteen students, led by Associate Professor Tracy Everbach and Senior Lecturer Peter Noble, charted new ground with the Mayborn in London partnership with Regent’s University in London. They visited the BBC and were lucky to report from Britain during the week that Prince George was born.

Mayborn students also partnered with students from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico under the leadership of Assistant Professor Thorne Anderson to produce a multimedia project on life in Mexico. Dr. Koji Fuse, associate professor, also assisted President V. Lane Rawlins with establishing a memorandum of understanding with Meiji University in Japan.

The 9th annual Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, the premier literary nonfiction conference in the nation, attracted writers from as far away as New Zealand.

Thanks to the genius of George Getschow, Publisher Jim Moroney and The Dallas Morning News, the competition was expanded to include the Best American Newspaper Narrative Contest. A new Mayborn Conference website was launched in July to keep the dialogue going year-round.

The one constant in media today is change, and we’re proud that our students consistently gain valuable experience working on a variety of platforms including the North Texas Daily, the student newspaper, NTDaily.com and NTDaily TV. The “War Comes Home” series is another example of our commitment to multimedia journalism.

Eric Nishimoto’s top Society of Professional Journalists Award in the Photo Illustration category.

“There’s so much opportunity with the diverse student population, and the Mayborn is poised to be a 21st century leader in journalism education.”

In addition to our dedicated faculty and staff, another strength of our program is the hands-on experiences students gain in the strategic communications and photojournalism arenas. Clients for SWOOP, our student run advertising/public relations firm, have ranged from the UNT Health Science Center to TJ’s Pizza Wings ‘N Things. Gravitas, our UNT ad team, won awards for highest-rated presentation, best media plan and second place overall in District 10 of the National Student Advertising Competition. Our student-run photo agency is now known as Hatch Visuals, and there will certainly be -Dorothy Bland, dean many more great ideas hatched and executed in the year ahead.

Onward and Upward,

Dorothy Bland, Dean of the Mayborn School of Journalism

Our students gained valuable experience at a variety of media outlets and agencies such as the Denton Record-Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, WFAATV, the Denton TV public access channel, TracyLocke and Firehouse.

In the last year, our students have earned more than 20 state, regional and national awards, including Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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Celebrate Mayborn 2013 Awards and Recognition Ceremony

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n April 17, 2013, faculty, staff, students and alumni gathered in the Silver Eagle Suite of the UNT Student Union to toast another successful year for the Mayborn. UNT alumna and Marketwave President Tina Young announced that her company is committed to $25,000 of support to the Mayborn over a five-year period, including $5,000 this year. The 2013 Celebrate Mayborn event was officially sponsored by Marketwave.

The evening began with professional networking sessions for students, featuring professionals from the Denton Record-Chronicle, Al DĂ­a Texas, Idea Grove, Marketwave, WFAA and Pro Solutions Group. James P. Goodnight, founder of the Temerlin Advertising Institute for Education and Research at the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU, Christena Dowsett, UNT alumna and a freelance photojournalist based in East Africa, Danny Fulgencio, Advocate Media photo editor, and other professionals also participated.

Networking conversations segued into evening chats over food and drinks as the main event began: an awards ceremony announcing winners of more than $150,000 in scholarships and several prestigious awards. Twelve students were also inducted into the Kappa Tau Alpha National Honor Society at the annual April event.

Dr. Sheri Broyles, Michael Felder, Quynh Tran, and Dr. Jean Keller

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The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Tina Young, Marketwave CEO

Frank W. & Sue Mayborn School of Journalism Awards Vivian Castleberry - C.E. Shuford Hall of Honor WFAA - Mayborn Medallion Gloria Campos - Distinguished Professional Achievement Dennis D’Amico - Distinguished Professional Achievement *Chip Somodevilla - Distinguished Professional Achievement *Vinny Minchillo - Alumni Appreciation Award Simon Salt - Career Service Recognition Eric Nadel - Career Service Recognition Becky Holian Kimbro - Rising Star *Andrew McLemore - Rising Star *Sarah Perry - Super Alum *Jeff Schick - Super Alum *Danny Fulgencio - Super Alum

* Mayborn Alumni

Spring 2013 Outstanding Undergraduate Students Cinthia Campillo - Broadcast News Caren Rodriguez - Photojournalism Benjamin Baby - Print News Monica Saunders - Public Relations Megan Saint-John - Advertising

Kappa Tau Alpha National Honor Society Inductees Julie Bird Kyrsten Burroughs Beth Francesco Currie Lori Dann Stefanie Goodman Anne Harding Michelle Heath Jane R. LeBlanc Amy Lux Bradley Riddell Rachel Rutland Sammy Young II

Student Ambassadors Aria Bell Leigh Daniels Michael Felder Lauren Frock Marci Heffley Rachel Volk Victoria Waddell Camri Wyatt

Student Scholarship Recipients Christina Gunlock - Alice Zipperlen Moore Scholarship Maria Sandoval - Anna Gray Ricco Journalism Scholarship Taylon Chandler - Barbara Colgrove Journalism Scholarship Mollie Jamison - Barbara Colgrove Journalism Scholarship James Walzel - C.E. Shuford Award Ashley Rose - C.E. Shuford Award Thalia Brionez - C.E. Shuford Award Nana Adwoa Antwi-Boasiako - Dave T. Lane/Belo Scholarship Taylon Chandler - Dave T. Lane/Belo Scholarship Michelle Heath - Dave T. Lane/Belo Scholarship Nadia Hill - Dave T. Lane/Belo Scholarship Alexis Wand - Dave T. Lane/Belo Scholarship Jordan Hill - DFWIMA Scholarship Victoria Waddell - DFWIMA Scholarship Michael Felder - Diana Rae Hanson Memorial Scholarship Quynh Tran - Diana Rae Hanson Memorial Scholarship Lauren Frock - Dr. James L. Rogers PR Scholarship Jennifer Meza - Foster Marketing Journalism Scholarship Bree Ray - Gannett Foundation Fund Caitlyn Jones - Goplerud-Weaver Scholarship Lindsey Bertrand - Margaret Vines Benson Scholarship Leah Grimes - Journalism Advertising Program Scholarship Alisha Henson - Journalism Advertising Program Scholarship Camri Wyatt - Journalism Advertising Program Scholarship Thomas C. Greene - Journalism School & Awards Account Michelle Heath - Junetta Davis Memorial Scholarship Sanette Ludick - Junetta Davis Memorial Scholarship Andrea Roepke - Junetta Davis Memorial Scholarship Stephen Young - Junetta Davis Memorial Scholarship Brittany Villegas - Kenneth M. Jeanis Memorial Scholarship Diana Chernyaeva - Les Dames D’Escoffier Scholarship Alexis Wand - Lina Davis Special Scholarship/SPJ Fort Worth Melissa Wylie - LynDee Stephens Integrity Journalism Award Loryn Thompson - Mayborn SWOOP Scholarship Nadia Hill - Paul Recer Scholarship William Darnell - Richard Pratt Smith Scolarship Kevin Barfield - Riley Cross Endowed Scholarship Ndukaku Okereke - Roy Kidder Busby Scholarship Miyoung Chong - William Darby Richardson Scholarship

Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute Mayborn Scholars Mearl Colaco Desiree Cousineau Shawn Gadley Samantha Guzman Matthew Jones Jo Ann Livingston Krystal Maestas

Christian McPhate Megan Middleton Annette Nevins Shreeya Rana Gayle Reaves-King Adam Schrader Jia Zhao

Congratulations to all our winners!

Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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themayborn literary nonfiction conference

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n July, the Mayborn tribe once again gathered under the hot North Texas sun and found camaraderie in writers’ struggles, learned from each other’s successes and celebrated the art of storytelling.

The ninth annual Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference honored historical narrative. The theme was “Unearthing the Past,” and the Mayborn brought in narrative nonfiction authors and literary journalists who have distinguished themselves writing historical narratives, biographies, memoirs and even nonfiction plays.

Your story starts

here.

Mayborn Conference Tweet

“Helen Benedict may just have given the best talk @MaybornConf has ever had, on her reporting about sexual assault in the military.” – John Parsley, Executive Editor at Little, Brown and Company

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The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Photos: Mayborn School of Journalism benefactor Sue Mayborn, Mayborn Conference Director George Getschow, 2013 conference keynote speaker Rick Atkinson.

“One of the nice things about the #Mayborn Conference is the Young Spurs initiative. Nurturing young writers is important & rewarding.” – Stella M. Chavez, education reporter at NPR affiliate KERA News

Keynote speakers this year represented historical narrative at its absolute best. Susan Orlean, author of Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, spoke about how she hits the road to uncover secrets of the past. Rick Atkinson, author of The Liberation Trilogy on the liberation of Europe in World War II, spoke about bringing back the dead when writing about war. Skip Hollandsworth, co-

writer of the movie Bernie, spoke about turning a nonfiction magazine narrative into a true tale for the silver screen. With them, conference guests laughed and learned, reflected and reminisced.

The conference also featured 35 other speakers and literary agents, each bringing their own hard-earned perspectives and experiences to the discussion.

Husband and wife Tom French and Kelley Benham spoke about “Learning How to Dance Between the Personal and the Outward,” a topic that grew from Benham’s struggle to write about a baby born four months too soon. The conversation was powerful, engaging and brought tears to the eyes of many in the audience.

For the Bloomberg Lecture Series in Narrative Business Journalism, executive editor of project/investigations Amanda Bennett shared her process of writing a half-memoir, half-reported narrative about the death of her husband due to cancer, The Cost of Hope – The Story of a Marriage, a Family, and the Quest for Life.

Bennett, hoping to make sense of life without her husband, dealt with her loss the only way she knew how—through writing. What started as a first-of-its-kind article in Bloomberg News, “End-of-Life Warning at $618,616 Makes Me Wonder Was It Worth It,” soon became her first memoir.

Evan Ratliff, co-founder of Atavist, Mark Bryant, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Byliner and their writers David Dobbs and Susan Orlean tackled the topic of making a literary mark in the digital age.

Great long-form nonfiction was once the province of magazines like The New Yorker, Harper’s and Esquire, but not anymore. A host of publications are now looking to grab readers with longer works published digitally. The panel was an eyeopening glimpse into what is possible and successful in digital publishing.

Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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Ten Spurs Writing Contest Each year the Mayborn’s annual Ten Spurs literary journal publishes the top 10 writing contest entries. The contest’s prizes are funded by The Dallas Morning News, Ricco Family Partners, Anna and Nick Ricco and the Mayborn. This year’s winners and runners-up, who will be published in 2014, were:

Reported Narrative

1st place —Thomas Francis, “Pennant Race”

personal essay winners

2nd place — Meagan Flynn, “Way of the Food Desert” 3rd place — Kay Hubbard, “Dark Living in the Lymelight”

Personal Essay 1st place — Naomi Arnold, “Mother’s Day” 2nd place — Lee Hancock, “Not Reading Faulkner” 3rd place — Peggy Wendel, “The Big Hitch”

Runners-Up • Bridget Kevane, “Catholic Girls” • George Newtown, “Goofy” • Dan Glenn, “If Tooth Be Known” • Sheri L. Long, “Observations on Homelessness”

Ten Spurs winners for personal essays, from left: Naomi Arnold, Peggy Wendel and Lee Hancock

Conference • • • • • • • • • • • •

Caroline Alexander Rick Atkinson Hugh Aynesworth Helen Benedict Kelley Benham Amanda Bennett Donna Britt Mark Bryant Alfredo Corchado David Dobbs Jim Donovan Kevin Fedarko

Speakers • • • • • • • • • • • •

Ben Fountain Tom French Reyna Grande Jeff Guinn Paul Hendrickson Skip Hollandsworth Jim Hornfischer Tom Huang Gregg Jones Kevin Merida Bonnie Nadell Sonia Nazario

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Susan Orlean John Parsley Ron Powers Alan Prendergast Evan Ratliff Stephen Rodrick Tony Schwalm Hampton Sides Larry K. Snider Doug J. Swanson Dave Tarrant John Vaillant

• •

David R. Patterson BJ Robbins

Literary Agents • •

Jim Donovan Jim Hornfischer

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• •

Bonnie Nadell John Parsley

The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Young Spurs Writing Contest The Mayborn also nurtures young talent with the Young Spurs writing contest, sponsored by Lee Hancock and Jim Moroney in partnership with Big Thought and the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. This year, the focus of the contest changed from biography to historical narrative, which paralleled the conference theme. The Mayborn brought in the 10 best young minds to experience the conference and make life-long connections. The selected students were: • Justin David Tate

• Anjulie Van Sickle

• Kiernan MajerusCollins

• Nicholas Bostick

• Shreeya Umashankar

• Tisha Harnlasiri

• John Brundrett • Alexis Riche

Mayborn Biography Fellowship

• Kathryn E. DeBruler • Shannon Viola

Mayborn Conference Tweet

“Overheard earlier this morning at @MaybornConf: “I better go write my talk.” Ron Powers #bestworkondeadline #thisisgonnabegood” – Keri Mitchell, senior editor at Advocate Publishing

Each year, famed biographer James McGrath Morris awards a biography fellowship to one talented writer. The winner is awarded several weeks accommodation at Morris’ secluded Santa Fe, N.M. foothills home to work on his or her biography with Morris as a mentor. This year’s winner was Mayborn graduate student Eric Nishimoto.

He was also named a National Winner in the Photo Illustration category of the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2012 Mark of Excellence Awards.

His winning illustration was published with “The Hummingbird’s Son,” Nishimoto’s profile of poet, novelist and essayist Luis Alberto Urrea in the 2012 issue of Mayborn magazine.

Young Spurs contest winners pictured with Dean Dorothy Bland and Ron Powers at the Mayborn Conference 2013

Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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Nonfiction Manuscript Contest

Awards were also given for manuscripts, sponsored by Village Voice Media and the Mayborn. The winner and runners-up were: 1st place —Tim Cloward “The City that Killed Kennedy” 1st place Runner-up — Pamela Skjolsvik “Death Becomes Us” 2nd Runner-up — Zita Arocha for “Guajira” Nonfiction manuscript contest winners Tim Cloward, Zita Arocha and Pamela Skjolsvik

Best American Newspaper Narrative Contest Mayborn Conference Tweet

“It’s true that there’s both a passion and a spirituality when it comes to storytelling.

And @MaybornConf won’t let either die. #mayborn” – Tom Huang, Sunday & Enterprise editor at The Dallas Morning News

The 2013 conference marked the debut of the newest contest: The Best American Newspaper Narrative Contest sponsored by The Dallas Morning News and its publisher, Jim Moroney. Nearly every major newspaper in the U.S. entered the new contest.

Three awards were given to the following writers and stories: • Eli Saslow of The Washington Post, 1st place for “Life of a Salesman: Selling success, when the American dream is downsized” • Kelley Benham of the Tampa Bay Times, 2nd place for “Never Let Go” • Anne Hull of The Washington Post, 3rd place for “Breaking Free”

and

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The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

The contest also awarded four writers for their notable narratives and recognized three runners-up.

Kevin Merida of The Washington Post and Kelley Benham of the Tampa Bay Times show awards earned.

Your story starts here.

Student entries are more powerful with each conference. Each year, the Mayborn gives students the opportunity to apply for waivers to attend the summer conference free of charge, and eleven students were given waivers this year. The Mayborn is thrilled to help foster the future of storytelling.

Speaking of the future, next year is the 10th anniversary of the Mayborn Conference. What started as an idea between George Getschow and founding dean Mitch Land in the form of notes scribbled on a napkin has grown into the preeminent literary nonfiction conference in the U.S. The 10th anniversary conference focuses on innovation in journalism through a tradition of celebrated writers. So save the date!

The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference — July 18-20, 2014 Narratives on the Cutting Edge: Writing about Science, Technology, Medicine and Innovation Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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The Archer City Writer’s Workshop: a pilgrimage to Texas’ literary mecca

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ollowing the close of the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction C o n f e re n c e e a c h y e a r, George Getschow, the Mayborn’s writer-in-residence, leads a group of graduate students and a few nationally renowned writers from the

conference to Archer City to practice literary nonfiction in Larry McMurtry’s homeplace.

The writers move into the Spur Hotel and then, in the tradition of McMurtry’s book Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen, they disperse in all

directions from the intersection of Center and Main to chat with the locals, observe their ways of life and craft stories from their interviews and observations. Around noon each day, they head down to McMurtry’s favorite diner, the Archer City Dairy Queen, to eat fried chicken and talk about the art and craft of storytelling. To remind them of the importance of storytelling to the community, Getschow encourages his students to carry copies of Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen wherever they go.

So many great writers and great stories have emerged from the Archer City Writer’s Workshop over the last decade that it’s formed its own mythology. Just as this one-stoplight town and the windswept prairies surrounding it inspired a young rancher named Larry McMurtry to produce a crop of novels that many consider the greatest western literature of all time—The Last Picture Show, Lonesome Dove and Horseman, Pass By—Archer City has spawned a new generation of up-and-coming authors of literary nonfiction.

Among them: Michael J. Mooney, now a staff writer for D Magazine whose stories have been published in GQ, Outside Magazine and in the Best American Crime Reporting and The Best American

Sports Reporting anthologies; Sarah Perry, an associate editor at Our State Magazine who was named the first “Mayborn Fellow” for a biography about Jackie Lane, a world-class horse trainer in Archer City; and Paul Knight, now an associate editor at Texas Monthly who recently won the Mayborn’s National Book Writing Contest and secured a major book publishing contract for Devil on the Plains, a story about a Texas Ranger’s bloody battles on the western frontier.

Mooney, Perry and Knight say they found their voices in McMurtryland, and so have scores of other writers who flock to this flyspeck town each summer to drink from McMurtry’s well of inspiration and creativity.

Meeting McMurtry isn’t the only draw for students in the Archer City Writer’s Workshop. McMurtry is one of the world’s most renowned book scouts. He spent several decades filling up the downtown square with 500,000 antiquarian volumes. Today, McMurtry is down to one bookstore, but there’s still nothing quite like it on the planet.

Every book is still herded into the store

by McMurtry himself which is why Booked Up is as much a map of the author’s literary mind and tastes as it is a bookstore. Not only do Mayborn students visit with McMurtry in his store, they often leave with signed copies of his novels.

For aspiring writers, the opportunity to meet McMurtry and hang out with him in his bookstore is a highlight. But each year, Getschow also brings a carload of top-flight narrative writers and authors with him

to teach and inspire the students in the workshop; writers like Tom Junod of Esquire; Hampton Sides, editor-atlarge for Outside Magazine and author of the international bestseller, Ghost Soldiers; Erik Calonius, a former Wall Street Journal reporter turned nonfiction author and ghostwriter extraordinaire; and Jim Donovan, a literary agent and author of the Custer biography, A Terrible Glory, and The Blood of Heroes, about the 13-day struggle for the Alamo.

Students in the 2013 Archer City Writer’s Workshop enjoy a backyard soirée at the home of Jackie Lane (top) and a chance to interview Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry (pictured left) at his last open bookstore, Booked Up No.1 (bottom right).

Mayborn Magazine

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n its first six years, Mayborn magazine has won 22 awards for writing, design and photography as well as two national awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. At the 2013 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association, the magazine won the prestigious Sweepstakes Award for general magazines, racking up seven total awards —including three 1st place awards.

What is Mayborn magazine? It’s a place where graduate students get star billing alongside professionals such as National Book Award winner Bob Shacochis, New York Times best-selling author Sam Gwynne, Pulitzer finalist Kelley Benham, big-name authors Paul Theroux and Ron Powers—as well as writers from GQ, Esquire and Outside Magazine. We share stories about authors and writers and how they create an engaging narrative world from today’s headlines. It’s insider stuff you can’t read about elsewhere.

Who’s our audience? Journalists, writers, educators and storytellers from across the Southwest, especially those who attend the annual Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference.

Now, with the updated www.themayborn.com, we are expanding nationwide, leveraging our authors—known and new—to start a conversation about what makes a great story in this time of text messaging and sound bytes.

Graduate student Christian McPhate interviewed author Jeff Guinn, a newspaper man and author who wrote a biography of Charles Manson. Jeff Guinn spent weeks hanging out in McMechan, West Virginia to understand Charles Manson, pictured here as a boy.

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Alumna Jane R. LeBlanc interviewed Amanda Bennett, a hard-nosed investigative reporter for Bloomberg who compiled thousands of documents in order to measure her heartbreak and monstrous debt after her husband lost his battle with cancer.

JFK Symposium Creating dialogue on the great American tragedy

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h e Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture teamed up with The Dallas Morning News, the Mayborn School of Journalism, The Sixth Floor Museum and NPR affiliate KERA to contemplate and commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy.

Since January, Mayborn writerin-residence George Getschow has worked closely with organizers to develop a program that measures up to the magnitude of the occasion. The JFK50 symposium, titled “Understanding Tragedy: The impact of the JFK assassination on Dallas,” will be held Sat. Nov. 2, 2013, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Dallas’ Southside Ballroom.

“This is a story about an American president whose life was cut short by an assassin—an event that left the city teetering, looking for answers,” Getschow said. “The symposium pays due attention to a president, a time, a place and a trauma that shook the nation and Dallas, where the aftershock is felt even today.”

The goal is to foster a deep dialogue between symposium speakers and ordinary citizens that will explore the impact of the JFK assassination from different perspectives: journalism, politics, art and the humanities, and religion.

“It has been both exciting and illuminating to help coordinate a community-centered event involving all the major Dallas institutions that

care about honoring JFK,” he said.

“The organizing entities chose to partner with the Mayborn because they think we can contribute in a way that will elevate the quality of the symposium.”

UNT alum and mobile editor of The Dallas Morning News William Pry is editor of the iBook JFK Assassination: The Reporters’ Notes, which will be available in hard copy Nov. 1. The book is a narrative of the tragic day compiled from previously unpublished notes written by DMN reporters in the months after the assassination.

Throughout 2013, The Dallas Morning News published a yearlong series of articles related to JFK, full of bone-chilling angles on the day’s events.

For more information on the symposium, visit www. dallasinstitute.org.

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Mayborn Conference

Ron Powers

Advisory Board Amanda Bennett

Executive Editor/Projects & Investigations, Bloomberg News

Erik Calonius Author, Macmillan

John Parsley

Senior Editor Little, Brown and Company

David Patterson

Literary Agent Foundry Literary + Media

Jim Donovan

Norman Pearlstine

Byron Harris

Ron Powers

Author & Agent Jim Donovan Literary

WFAA-TV

Joe I. Hight

Editor, Colorado Springs Gazette

Jim Hornfischer

Author & Agent Hornfischer Literary Management

Tom Huang

Chairman, B Businessweek, Bloomberg, L.P.

Author

Nick Ricco

Ricco Family Partnerships

Bob Rivard

The Rivard Report

Hampton Sides Author

Sunday & Enterprise Editor, The Dallas Morning News

Sue Smith

Hannibal Johnson

Dianne Solis

Author & Attorney

Bob Mong

Writer

Senior Writer, The Dallas Morning News

Editor, The Dallas Morning News

Gay Talese

Michael J. Mooney

Dave Tarrant

Staff Writer, D Magazine

Sonia Nazario Author

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Sue Smith and Tom Huang

Author

Michael J. Mooney

Writer/Editor, The Dallas Morning News

Fran Vick Author

The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

New website promotes The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference www.

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the mayborn .com

ayborn School of Journalism staff members and students

created an online presence for an ever-growing community of narrative, nonfiction storytellers in 2013. The new website serves as the online home for Mayborn magazine, the Ten Spurs literary journal, and essays on the writing craft from the country’s most-respected journalists. In addition, the site features selected video content generated at the annual Mayborn conference and facilitates online registration for the conference and the school’s Young Spurs education initiative.

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Mayborn students abroad

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he Mayborn has made a big impact overseas, creating a name for the school on four continents.

Assistant Professor Thorne Anderson worked with a team of students to produce stories about life in the heart of Mexico as part of a partnership with The Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM).

Senior Lecturer Peter Noble and Associate Professor Dr. Tracy Everbach took 18 students to study journalism and advertising in London in July. The study abroad program was based at Regent’s University in the heart of London.

Also, Mayborn student Krystal Maestas spent 10 days in Ghana with a mission team from Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas. The trip was geared toward providing free medical care to Ghanaians. This was Maestas’ fourth trip to Ghana. Her dream is to work with people from different nationalities and cultures, whether locally in Dallas with a resettlement agency or abroad working in refugee camps.

Alumna Rachel Mehlhaff will be a missionary journalist this fall for Trans World Radio’s Asia office in Singapore. Her primary task will be to write articles about listeners whose lives have been changed by TWR’s content as well as to write about the work missionaries are doing in the field.

Dr. Koji Fuse traveled to Tokyo, Japan, to visit with Dr. Takeshi Suzuki, deputy director of the International Collaboration and professor of the School of Information and Communication at Meiji University.

To read more about the Japan delegation and other faculty/staff news see page 31.

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The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Mayborn students visit BBC, CBS, Publicis, and report royal birth in London

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n J u l y S enior Lecturer Peter Noble and Associate Professor Dr. Tracy Everbach took 18 students (17 undergraduates and one graduate student) to study journalism and advertising in London. The study abroad program was based at Regent’s University in the heart of London. Noble taught a class on International Advertising and Everbach taught a class on the British media.

Students took field trips to London institutions including the BBC, CBS News’ London bureau, Publicis London, the British Museum and the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising. They also visited the Advertising Standards Authority, an independent agency that regulates United Kingdom advertising. In addition, students attended two West End musicals, saw Pride and Prejudice performed in an open-air theater and made a sidetrip to Paris.

The students were in London during the time Prince George, the royal baby, was born. They participated in blogging about the frenzy surrounding the royal birth, interviewed observers at the scene and were interviewed by international media. The Denton Record-Chronicle ran a front-page story about their experiences.

“If there ever is a question in my mind, then I have to explore every avenue in order to find the right answer.”

“This course has given me the tools to go out into the world and be fearless with my curiosity,” wrote sophomore E.J. Stancil about the study abroad experience. “If there ever is a question in my mind, then I have to explore every avenue in order to find the right answer.”

And junior Parnia Tahamzadeh wrote, “This course has given me the tools I need to keep myself informed and up to date with news and current events. I now feel like a much more cultured individual who is no longer just a citizen of the U.S. but also a citizen of the world.”

— Study abroad sophmore E.J. Stancil

The students’ blogs and a class blog can be read at: www.maybornlondon.wordpress.com.

Your story starts here.

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I

The “Heart of Mexico”

n June, 10 Mayborn students ventured into the “Heart of Mexico” to discover true stories little known in America through a debut study abroad program in narrative storytelling.

The documentary project culminated in the publication of a bilingual multimedia website, www.HeartOfMexico2013.com.

Held in collaboration with the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM), the five-week course included a three-week immersion in two small towns, Tenancingo and Malinalco, led by assistant professor and photojournalist, Thorne Anderson.

Tom Huang, The Dallas Morning News Sunday & Enterprise editor, also accompanied the students and cotaught the course. Huang called the project ambitious and said: “The project was amazing to me on several levels.”

“Human beings are hard-wired for story. We need to tell stories to make sense of the world and of our lives.”

—Tom Huang “I told the students that human beings are hard-wired for story. We need to tell stories to make sense of the world and of our lives,” Huang said. “The students—across cultures, across languages, across disciplines—seemed to understand this, and even be driven by it.”

This was the first study abroad program since the foundation of the Mayborn School of Journalism, which also sent a group of students to London later in the summer.

“This project was like a moon landing for the Mayborn,” Anderson said, “and the students nailed it. The success of this project changes how we perceive our journalism program and where we will boldly go from here.”

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Mayborn students and UAEM students worked on teams including a writer, a videographer, a still photographer and a translator. They lived in the communities they covered, mostly in the homes of Mexican families.

The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

After three weeks in the center of Mexico, the teams uncovered rich stories straight from the heart. In the website’s introduction, co-writers Jason Yang and Thorne Anderson write: From the outside looking in, Mexico can seem like an intimidating place. The Mexican drug war has taken more than 60,000 lives since 2006. From 2005 to April 2013, the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) has documented 84 journalists killed and 20 disappearances of media workers.

These are the dramatic statistics behind the sensational headlines. But they only tell a small part of the story of Mexico. The violence is localized and shallow. The vast majority of the country is peaceful, and Mexican life experiences and culture run deep.

Determined to challenge stereotypes, Heart of Mexico‌students spent hours upon hours, day after day with their subjects encountering tradition, compassion, redemption, hope, empowerment, transformation and change. The characters you meet here are more than the sum of their struggles. Their stories demonstrate the richness of their experience. These people are more than statistics. They are the hearts of Mexico.

Read more: www.heartofmexico2013.com

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Mayborn Scholars

F

ourteen years ago the Frank W. and Sue Mayborn Foundation presented a generous gift to UNT and the journalism department to build a premier educational program on the foundation of journalism excellence. The result was the creation of the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism.

Frank W. Mayborn was the longtime editor, publisher and owner of the Temple Daily Telegram and the Killeen Daily Herald in Central Texas and owner of KCEN-TV, Temple NBC affiliate. After her husband’s death in 1987, Sue Mayborn assumed his duties as editor, publisher and owner of the Temple Daily Telegram and the Killeen Daily Herald. She also served as owner and president of KCEN-TV until 2009.

That same year the journalism department became a free standing school: The Mayborn School of Journalism.

The graduate institute became a division of this school and offers the only nationally-accredited professional master’s degree program at a Texas college or university.

The Mayborn Foundation endowment annually

provides graduate scholarships of $10,000 each to students who intend to pursue careers in journalism.

According to the agreement, this gift will foster professional and academic excellence rooted in the core values of good journalism—accuracy, fairness and truth—promote a continuing commitment to journalistic ethics and provide additional learning opportunities for students, professionals and the community at large.

One-hundred fifteen students have graduated with master’s degrees from the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism since 2001. Sue Mayborn has continued to support the initiatives of the program and all those who have chosen to pursue a graduate degree in journalism at UNT. In the last year, eight Mayborn Scholars graduated from the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism.

They have pursued careers at newspapers, magazines, screen writing, teaching, non-profit agencies and design firms. This spring, 14 students were awarded the Mayborn Scholarship for the upcoming academic year.

Left to right, back row: Associate Dean Roy Busby, Shawn Gadley, Christian McPhate, Jo Ann Livingston, Krystal Maestas, Annette Nevins, Adam Schrader, Jia Zhao, Gayle Reaves-King Left to right, front row: Matt Jones, Shreeya Rana, Samantha Guzman, Mearl Colaco and Desiree Cousineau (not pictured, Megan Middleton)

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The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Mayborn Facts and Figures The Mayborn School of Journalism has: • 19 full-time faculty • 13 staff members • 24 adjunct faculty • Close to 5,000 alumni • Alumni living in 43 states – primarily Texas – and on four continents • Nearly 1,000 students in the undergraduate program • Approximately 75 students in the graduate program – 7 of which are international • Retention rates for undergraduate students that run 3-5% higher than UNT overall.

• Retention rates for graduate students that run 10-20% higher than UNT overall.

Mayborn has writers, among them: • Eight alumni Pulitzer Prize winners • One alumni who was a Pulitzer finalist • One faculty member who was a Pulitzer finalist • Two faculty members who were Pulitzer jurors • One graduate student who is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Pulitzer Prize winner

Mayborn stands out: • The Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference gives twelve prizes and cash prizes of $23,000 annually.

• Mayborn is in the 5th largest media market in the country.

Dean’s Office Dorothy Bland, Dean Roy Busby, Associate Dean Jo Ann Ballantine, Marketing Specialist Junebug Clark, Independent Contractor and Consultant Brenda Fanara, Director of Development Brandee Hartley, Administrative Coordinator Maureen Landers, Budget Officer Julie Scharnberg, Graduate Academic Advisor

Peter Noble, Senior Lecturer Gwen Nisbett, Assistant Professor Clay Rivenbark Visiting Lecturer

News Thorne Anderson, Assistant Professor Mark Donald, Visiting Lecturer Tracy Everbach, Associate Professor Cornelius Foote, Jr., Principal Lecturer George Getschow, Principal Lecturer Kathie Hinnen, Senior Lecturer

Jacqi Serie, Director, North Texas Daily

Nann Goplerud, Principal Lecturer

Cathy Turner, Administrative Assistant

Nikhil Moro, Associate Professor

Advising

James Mueller, Professor

Erin Day, Assistant Director Jennifer Porras, Academic Advisor Monique Scales, Academic Advisor

• Mayborn is one of the 13 colleges within UNT, and UNT is the 25th largest public university in the country.

Strategic Communications

• Mayborn gives approximately $150,000 in scholarships to students annually.

Sheri Broyles, Professor Samra Jones Bufkins, Lecturer Koji Fuse, Associate Professor Bill Ford, Senior Lecturer

Michelle Redmond, Lecturer David Tracy, Lecturer The personnel in Mayborn’s advising office work with students in all phases of their academic careers to develop goals and objectives. They help students generate strategies to achieve those goals, offer opportunities for student engagement and guide students through the academic process.

The members of the Mayborn faculty support students any way they can, whether answering research questions or giving advice about how to handle the pressures of the news room. Faculty collaborate to develop ideas and help students get the most out of the Mayborn experience.

Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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Student Media & Clubs Hatch Visuals

O

nly at the Mayborn School of Journalism do student photographers have the opportunity to run their own photographic services agency using a stateof-the-art cloud-based archive and client services system.

Hatch Visuals produces real work for real clients both within and outside of the university. In 2012 Hatch Visuals staff were the official photographers for Denton’s Thin Line Film Festival. Student editors negotiate terms with clients and manage student photographers in the field.

Photographers adapt to all manner of assignments and file from location.

Photographers’ assistants work their way upward in the agency organization through a mentorship and

training program. The agency has proven itself as a fasttrack training ground for entrepreneurial, management and photographic skills.

Photography

HATCH VISUALS

Hatch Visuals has developed partnerships with PhotoShelter and Graph Paper Press, the industry leaders among professional photography studios and agencies. All funds raised by Hatch Visuals are used for ongoing photography and small business training plus student scholarships.

Assistant Professor Thorne Anderson is the founder and faculty advisor to the agency.

Students Samantha Guzman, Desiree Cousineau, James Coreas and Jun Ma serve on the executive staff.

Left to right: Jun Ma, Desiree Cousineau, Samantha Guzman and James Coreas

Magazine Production

DENTON LIVE

major Denton events with a friendly, “welcome to Denton” feel. The class offers the opportunity for students to taste the publication world including the demands of a publisher, editor, design director and deadlines.

The students edit and illustrate the stories as well as provide the layout and design using state-ofthe-art software, and their content is published in the magazine and its website.

Left to right: Kim Phillips, VP of the Denton Convention & Visitors Bureau, associate dean Roy Busby and adjunct professor Cathy Booth Thomas A hands-on magazine production course allows students to write magazine

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and website content for Denton’s tourist magazine, Denton Live, highlighting

The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

The Mayborn Graduate Institute publishes Denton Live in cooperation with the Denton Convention & Visitors Bureau. The magazine is distributed at many tourist locations around the state.

Student Newspaper

NT DAILY

T

he North Texas Daily and NTdaily.com are the student-run newspaper and website. The North Texas Daily has been providing news and entertainment to the UNT community since 1948.

A non-profit newspaper, the Daily provides information, commentary and entertainment and promotes a quality, realworld experience for journalism students.

The newspaper’s mission is to create a professional business atmosphere wherein students can experience and learn the ethics, challenges and professionalism of the business community along with the ideas, tools and solutions needed to meet the challenges they will encounter in future careers.

This is accomplished by providing training and consultation during the course of the students’ tenure at the North Texas Daily, as

Top: Nadia Hill and Tyler Owens

well as encouraging them to make their own decisions and solve everyday business, personnel, customer service and production problems. The North

Bottom: James Rambin and Matt Wood

Texas Daily won third place for Best Student Newspaper at the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ) 2012 Region 8 Mark of Excellence awards.

Student Organization

stronger, smarter and more ethical reporters.”

S

PJ UNT is a student chapter of the national Society of Professional Journalists organization. At UNT, professional journalism means upholding the canons of our craft—record seeking, fact checking, resource collecting and savvy use of tips and tools—as well as establishing valuable relationships with professional journalists.

“We’re bringing journalists straight off their beats into contact with students. What better way to learn the skills you really need and make connections in the field you’ll work in?” UNT SPJ President Amelia Jaycen said. “We want to take students outside academic journalism training and expose them to skills and practices that will make them

Engagement with the professional community of journalists at a variety of metroplex publications and media organizations keeps the SPJ UNT group in touch with the cutting edge in effective journalism skills.

The student group offers events including tours of newspapers, networking mixers, research bootcamps, training in records requests, and panels of speakers on anything from investigative to sports reporting.

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Student Media & Clubs Broadcasting

Denton Community TV (DCTV), a UNT partnership with the City of Denton Students in the Mayborn School of Journalism get excellent hands-on opportunities to produce newscasts, sports programs and talk shows to air on Denton Community TV (DCTV).

Operated by the Mayborn School of Journalism, DCTV is a partnership between the Mayborn and the City of Denton to operate the city’s public access channel. The collaboration was developed two years ago by the head of the Mayborn’s broadcast team, Nann Goplerud and a group of staff and faculty.

Students and Denton residents produce programs in the DCTV studio at the Mayborn, which includes state-of-the- art equipment.

The TV station operation Broadcasting

NTDaily TV is available on Denton Community Television (Charter channel 25/Verizon Fios channel 39). Students interested in television may

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is supported by funding from the city as well as additional funds from grant applications.

Goplerud serves as DCTV station manager. Jacqi Serie is operations manager and Chuck Weatherall is production manager. A board of community advisors provides input to the DCTV staff. practice skills learned in journalism classes by working on NTDaily TV programs.

Students have the opportunity to produce, write, report, shoot, edit and anchor using the latest technology and software under supervision of faculty with extensive experience in the broadcast industry. Students may also create and produce other programming of interest to the university community and residents of Denton.

The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Collaboration

This year brought a new and exciting direction to Mayborn student media in the form of the “War Comes Home” project. Produced through collaboration between Mayborn students of all disciplines, “War Comes Home” is a multi-media project with text, photographs and video news stories.

Faculty and students wanted to gauge the impact of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on North Texas, a subject they discovered was not well understood by the community.

Led by professors Thorne Anderson, who worked as a photojournalist in Afghanistan, and Nann Goplerud, who teaches broadcast courses, the students published a series of articles documenting the different struggles the wars have caused.

The goal was for every course in the spring 2013 semester to have some component related to this theme. In most cases, content was first submitted to the North Texas Daily and earmarked for publication on the site as well. Nearly all contributions were placed on the website, www. warcomeshome.themaybornproject. com, designed by North Texas Daily Director Jacqi Serie, which served as a master archive of the project.

“I think it helps students realize the impact war has on our community, especially the younger veterans coming home,” Serie said.

UNT AD CLUB

UNT Ad Club G etting your dream job is tough these days.

Getting your dream job in advertising is even tougher.

That’s where Ad Club comes in.

Members have opportunities they wouldn’t get from simply attending classes. Ad Club helps

connect students to employers through guest speakers, career workshops, and visits to advertising agencies.

By joining, students will also receive membership to Ad Club’s national organization, the American Advertising Federation

(AAF). Besides being recognized by industry professionals, the AAF provides many networking and career-building opportunities to students as well.

Interested in learning more about Ad Club? Visit www. untadclub.com.

S WO O P

SM

A STUDENT-MANAGED ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCY

S WOOP, the student-managed advertising and public relations agency, is getting attention in a big way at the Mayborn School of Journalism. SWOOP works on real projects for real clients with real results. SWOOP is the vision of Dr. Sheri Broyles, professor in the Department of Strategic Communications in the journalism school. Broyles, a former copywriter, started the agency in 2011 with the help of Senior Lecturer Bill Ford, who ran his own agency for 15 years in Dallas.

Clients began lining up when word of the agency got out.

SWOOP SWOOP faculty director Bill Ford (back row, middle) and the 22 members of Swoop, the studentmanaged advertising agency.

SWOOP gives students the chance to interact with clients, build and execute campaigns and work together in a team environment.

SWOOPers, as they call themselves, meet with clients,

set project deadlines and solve client problems in a fast-paced environment—just as they will do as professionals after graduation.

They have the opportunity to learn various aspects of the industry while creating impressive results for their clients.

Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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Mayborn Alumni

W

hile Mayborn students are still trained in strong traditional journalistic canons and practices, a successful candidate in today’s job market will have a wide variety of skills. Website design, social media management and blogging; photography, videography and editing; reporting, research, and copy writing; public relations, marketing and advertising are all skills today’s journalists use. Jobs can land them working for a non-profit in Kenya or a zoo in Dallas, and hundreds of places inbetween.

Take a peek into the careers of Mayborn alums across the country and see how they put modern skillsets to use in making innovative career choices!

Stephanie Chan (’11) knew what she wanted and went after it; now she is in New York City fulfilling her dream. “This has been my dream job since I decided to major in public relations, and yes, it feels surreal to achieve it.”

While researching for a class assignment, she began following SHIFT CEO Todd Defren’s blog. Chan reached out to several companies, and SHIFT responded warmly with great advice for the new professional. She never forgot their embracing attitude.

Chan completed her bachelor’s degree in strategic communications at the Mayborn in 2011 and then became the public relations coordinator for Moody Gardens, a family theme park in Galveston, Texas, that includes a recreated rainforest, aquarium, museum, hotel and golf course. In her 18 months with Moody Gardens, Chan worked across the state doing promotions, media relations, internal communications, tours and handling special events. She was also interviewed by Fox News about the park’s spring break campaign.

Stephanie Chan This summer, Chan scored her dream position and will be leaving Moody Gardens for the big city of New York, where she has accepted a position as an account coordinator with SHIFT Communications.

“This company is different in that they share their success with others,” Chan said. “The nowemployee-owned company takes care of their clients and, more importantly, their employees.

Every company should know their biggest brand ambassadors are their employees. Some take it for granted, but SHIFT embraces it.”

Craig Skistimas (‘06) runs ScrewAttack.com, one of the largest and most respected video game websites on the internet. Reaching over 20 million gamers a month, ScrewAttack has made a name for itself with its personality-driven video content and focus on community.

“One of the biggest things I learned while studying at UNT was to be comfortable with who I am, how I write, and what I’m like on camera, and technical skills helped too,” Skistimas said. “ScrewAttack is essentially the culmination of all my skills prior to starting the company.”

Skistimas also served as an emcee for Coca-Cola at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, worked with the NBA’s Development League Ft. Worth and Austin franchises and competed professionally in the madefor-TV sport Slamball.

Craig and his wife, Kristen have a daughter, Mackenzie. They look forward to adding a new baby to the family in June of 2014.

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The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Craig Skistimas

Alumni Updates • Tricia Dameron is working for the Oklahoma House of Representatives in Oklahoma City.

• Lena Dirbashi is an International Media Specialist at Encompass Digital Media, Inc.

Graham Douglas Graham Douglas (’05) was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in Marketing and Advertising for his award-winning work as creative director at the New York City-based ad agency Droga5.

Since his hire in 2010, Douglas has pushed Droga5 from a 75-person operation to a 162-person team and launched highly successful campaigns for organizations including Spotify, Adidas, Sony, Kraft, Activision, Coca-Cola, Ford and the UNICEF Tap Project to raise water-crisis awareness.

“In order to go from mediocre to great, look for those projects that are as much brands as they are ideas,” Douglas said. “What is important is to create a dialogue and start a conversation around the subject.”

Douglas also designed a campaign that resulted in tripling of the national bone marrow registry. Touched and inspired by his twin brother Britton’s fight with leukemia and a bone marrow transplant, Douglas joined pharmaceutical company Help Remedies and DKMS, the world’s largest marrow donor registry, in a creating a package of bandages that doubles as a simple bone marrow registry kit. The unique product won the 2012 Cannes Grand Prix for Good award and landed Douglas on Creativity’s list of “Creatives You Should Know.”

Douglas earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism with a concentration in advertising and a double minor in marketing and Spanish. He grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. Douglas has been awarded a 2014 UNT Alumni Award, which he will accept April 11, 2014 at the alumni awards program.

• Christena Dowsett is a freelance photojournalist based in East Africa.

• Ryan Durr is a senior copywriter at Innocean USA. • Kali Flewellen is a marketing coordinator for the City of Denton.

• Theresa Gage works for National Sales & Sponsorships at Pandora Media, Inc. • William Hogue just completed a year as a speechwriter for Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken (now a candidate for Governor) and is now a press specialist with the Texas General Land Office.

• Spike Jones is a freelance photographer based in London and Houston. He works on humanitarian documentary projects.

• Austin Keith is a web content editor for marketing at CheapCaribbean.com.

• Rachel Mehlhaff is a missionary journalist for Trans World Radio’s TWR-Asia office in Singapore.

• J.K. Nickell writes for TIME, the Christian Science Monitor and The Dallas Morning News. Born in Dallas, he currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with his wife, where he is studying human rights law.

• G. Morty Ortega is a freelance visual and narrative journalist.

• Brian Rash is the new managing editor of the Graham Leader in Graham, Texas.

• Jacob Straka is a graphic designer at the Dallas Zoo. • Tasha Tsiaperas is a reporter at The Dallas Morning News.

• Chip Somodevilla won first place in the 70th Pictures of the Year Campaign 2012 Picture Story Category.

He works for Getty Images and has taken numerous photos of President Obama.

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Ricco Ethics Awards Scholarship Competition promotes a valuable dialogue

T

he Mayborn has established a new scholarship award made possible by Anna and Nick Ricco. The couple, longtime UNT donors, have pledged $50,000 to stimulate research and promote the discussion of ethics as it applies to students’ areas of study.

“Ethics need to be part of the educational fabric for navigating life,” Dean Dorothy Bland said.

“We applaud Anna and Nick Ricco for providing the financial incentive to raise the level of dialogue about ethics and critical thinking. This award is interesting and valuable because students in all UNT schools and colleges can apply.”

The Nicholas and Anna Ricco Ethics Awards Scholarship Competition distributes $1,000 scholarships offered annually to one student in each of UNT’s 13 schools and colleges. Students are asked to identify, research and analyze ethical dilemmas in their field of study and skillfully write up their findings.

The award, facilitated by the Mayborn, is judged by students’ respective colleges at UNT. Applicants are encouraged to reference notable research to support their views and explain what they believe to be the epitome of ethical behavior in their fields of study.

The Riccos believe that ethical discourse can help build a foundation for society’s greatness.

“Ethics is one of the most important concepts of a civilized society,” Nick Ricco said. “Ethics verification and identification can be far reaching and significantly

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Nick and Anna Ricco pledged to support the Mayborn by creating the Nicholas and Anna Ricco Ethics Awards Scholarship Competition, because they believe that ethics is a great foundation for a great society.

add to the values of our students and to society as they implement what they discover.”

Anna Ricco and her husband, Nick, a former UNT business undergraduate and journalism graduate student, have been longtime supporters of the journalism program at UNT. In addition to this scholarship, the Riccos give money to writing contest winners at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference and to other scholarship programs on the UNT campus.

Nick Ricco serves on the advisory boards for the University of North Texas School of Music and the Mayborn School of Journalism and is past advisor to the College of Business. He is also a member of the Applied Genetics Council of the UNT Health Science Center.

Ricco spent seven years in the U.S. Air Force active duty as a navigator, bombardier and instructor and 17 years in the Air Force, Navy, and Army reserves.

The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

He obtained a BBA in banking from the University of North Texas in 1959. UNT gave him the tools to understand business and analytical concepts by which he could evaluate himself and his performance. His approach and the support of his wife Anna led to success and a keen awareness of ethical considerations, which he said must expand and adapt.

“The elements of ethical behavior are simple: truth, trust, reliability, completeness of actions as proffered and expected. Ethics exist universally.”

For more information on the Ricco Ethics Awards Scholarship Competition, contact Jo Ann Ballantine via email at joann. ballantine@unt.edu or by phone 940/565-4778.

Faculty & Staff News Mayborn faculty research and relationships abroad In early summer 2013, Dr. Koji Fuse traveled to Tokyo, Japan to visit with Dr. Takeshi Suzuki, deputy director of international collaboration and professor of the School of Information and Communication at Meiji University. They exchanged ideas for future research and teaching collaborations between the Mayborn School of Journalism and his school. Fuse’s trip was part of the UNT Japan delegation to strengthen university partnerships with Japan.

Dr. Suzuki then visited UNT in July to follow up on the university-level memorandum of understanding signed in Japan in May by President Fukumiya (Meiji) and President Rawlins (UNT).

Dr. Suzuki made a presentation to introduce Meiji University and the School of Information and Communication to the Mayborn faculty and staff and guests from UNT International in July 2013.

Mass Communication (AEJMC) senior scholar grant, Dr. Sheri Broyles went to Cuba in October 2013 for a project titled “Nation Building Through Advertising.”

Dr. Tracy Everbach is on faculty development leave for the fall 2013 semester, conducting a research project about the experiences of women journalists who cover the Texas-Mexico border.

She and her research assistant will conduct the project in the cities of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Principal Lecturer Neil Foote and a graduate assistant will partner with social sciences researcher Dr. Lenin Martell and others at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) to examine the challenges that exist in attracting Hispanics both to the UAEM and to the Mayborn Journalism program at UNT.

AEJMC News The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) 2013 conference was held in Washington, D.C. August 8-11, and the Mayborn School of Journalism was well represented.

At the conference, Dr. Tracy Everbach presented two papers: • A research paper co-authored with Mayborn master’s candidate Sara Blankenship, “The 2012 ‘Women’s Olympics’: Striving Toward Equality in Major News and Sports Magazine Coverage.” This presentation won first place in the Outstanding Poster Display from the Critical and Cultural Studies division of AEJMC. • A research paper co-authored with two TCU professors, Aaron Chimbel and former Mayborn faculty member Jacqueline Lambiase, “Fuzzy, Transparent and Fast: Journalists and Public Relations Practitioners Characterize Social Media Interactions.”

Left to right: Mayborn Dean Dorothy Bland, Dr. Takeshi Suzuki and Dr. Koji Fuse In other news, four faculty members have secured grants in Cuba and Mexico. Thanks to an Association for Education in Journalism and

Everbach also served as the head of AEJMC’s Commission on the Status of Women and held a seat on the AEJMC Board of Directors during the 2012-13 academic year.

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Faculty & Staff News Dr. Sheri Broyles worked with Jan Slater of the University of Illinois to organize and moderate a full-day teaching workshop for the Advertising Division for the eighth year at the 2013 AEJMC conference. She also presented a paper titled “Lost in Space: Advertising Agency Employees’ Perceptions of Work Space,” which is co-authored with advertising faculty from University of South Carolina, Louisiana State University and Jenny Mumah, Broyles’ student research and teaching assistant for 2012-2013. During the AEJMC Scholars’ session, Broyles gave an interim report on AEJMC-funded research titled, “National building through advertising: A look inside Communist Cuba.”

Promotions Faculty Promotions Dr. Jim Mueller – professor Dr. Koji Fuse – tenured associate professor Neil Foote – principal lecturer

Staff Promotions

Accomplishments & Awards • Samra Bufkins, lecturer in strategic communications, received the UNT Soaring Eagle Award for providing exemplary customer service to the UNT community.

• The photography of Thorne Anderson, assistant professor, was featured this past summer at the de Young Museum of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The museum completed an exhibit of Anderson’s groundbreaking Iraq war photography, “Eye Level in Iraq.”

• Cathy Turner, administrative specialist, was named a UNT Star Performer Award winner in August for her exemplary work on the journalism internship fair and the annual Celebrate Mayborn awards and recognition event.

Book News

Erin Day – assistant director for advising Brandee Hartley – administrative Professor James assistant to the dean E. Mueller’s newest

New Faculty and Staff Junebug Clark – consultant

Dave Tracy – lecturer in news

Mark Donald - visiting lecturer in news

Clay Rivenbark – visiting lecturer in strategic

Presentations

communications

Dean Dorothy Bland spoke on a panel about the accreditation process June 4, 2013 during the Scripps Howard Academic Leadership Academy at Louisiana State University.

George Getschow was honored with the task of writing a commercial story for Coca-Cola before the 2013 Super Bowl. His article, “What the Iliad, the Odyssey and ‘Mean Joe’ Have in Common,” sheds new light on Penny Hawkey’s famous CocaCola commercial in which the towering Mean Joe Greene is offered a Coke by a boy.

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book is titled “Shooting Arrows and Slinging Mud: Custer, the Press and the Little Bighorn.”

It will be published by the University of Oklahoma Press. In the book, Mueller draws on exhaustive research of period newspapers to explore press coverage of the famous Battle of Little Bighorn.

Dr. Jim Mueller

Dr. Koji Fuse, Dr. Jim Mueller and former Mayborn dean Dr. Mitch Land and alum Bill Hornaday collaborated on the forthcoming book, “Contemporary Media Ethics: A Practical Guide for Students, Scholars and Professionals in the Globalized World,” published by Marquette Books.

Alumna Nicole Holland Pearce, and alumna and former Mayborn faculty member, Jacqueline Lambiase also contributed to the book.

The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Mayborn Internships Graduate student internships for 2012-2013 Fall 2012 Felicia Davis, Northwest ISD Brittany Flocken, Southwest Airlines Jane R. LeBlanc, Dallas Observer Christian McPhate, Dallas Observer Garret Randle, Cumulus Media, The Ticket

Spring 2013 Amber Arnold, AIM (Allied Integrated Marketing) Amber Freeland, Tucker & Associates PR Jane R. LeBlanc, Spirit Magazine (Southwest Airlines)

Sahar Mehdi, National Breast Cancer Foundation Tiffany Sanders, Dallas Observer Shambhu Sharan, Camp Fire Andrew Welch, Dallas Observer

Summer 2013 Alicia Auping, Dallas Observer Annette Nevins, Spirit Magazine (Southwest Airlines)

Mayborn Internship Fair

Each year the Mayborn works with the UNT Career Center to host an internship fair, bringing metroplex employers and students face-toface to explore opportunities that are mutually beneficial.

Businesses and organizations such as Allied Integrated Marketing, CAMP TV Media, FC Dallas Soccer, Social Media Delivered, Southwest Airlines, the City of Mesquite, and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine visit the fair. Some come consistently because they find great value in interns from the Mayborn program.

“A lot of these businesses are setting up a social media presence and a website, and they are looking for people who have the skills to help them be competitive in their market,” Administrative Specialist Cathy Turner said. “So much can happen when you network—both expected and unexpected—and it’s good for students to make those contacts, get their feet wet.”

Left to right, graduate student interns: Jane R. LeBlanc, Southwest Airlines Spirit Magazine and Dallas Observer, David Halloran, American Way Magazine, and Alicia Auping, Dallas Observer

Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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Undergraduate student internships for 2012-2013 Fall 2012

Summer 2013

Katherine Aurelio, Agency Entourage Andrew Begay, Produce Results Francine Friedman, Slingshot, LLC Blake Manfre, Dallas Cowboys Football Club Shirley Mok, The Richards Group Alicia Warren, Moroch Clare Cawley, Safety Control Alexandra Cheatham, Ward Welding and Supply, Inc. Sarah Gifford, UNT - University Union Mackenzie Yelvington, Power PR Ashley Chimal, Social Media Delivered Kaylin Durmick, City of Denton Nicole Jordan, Lauren Publications Sharon Lynn, The Chronicles Magazine Finley Rodgers Southwest Airlines Holly Harvey, The Dallas Morning News Sean Gorman, The Dallas Morning News

Baharan Kishi, DMA Solutions Jessica Stanley, Dallas Cowboys Football Club Laura Salazar, Mojo Media Labs Syndnie Summers, Experience Arlington Crista Hankins, MM2 Public Relations Loryn Thompson, Firehouse Agency Stefanie Goodman, Hill Country News Rachel Ladner, Square 205 Lauren Frock, Edelman Anne Crivelli, Infite Agency Jonna Miller, Vivanti Group Jonna Miller, Katz Media Grouyp, Clear Channel Communications Jennifer Garza, Moxie Chick PR Lea Grimes, Mary Kay Inc. LeQuence Jones, Keep Denton Beautiful LeQuence Jones, Enversa Companies Kelsea Gibson, Alumno Studios Katelyn Pena, United Way of Denton County Woody Lawson, Allied Integrated Marketing Nadia Hill, National Athletic Trainers Association Mallory Scudder, Social Media Delivered Stephen Young, Central Track Lauren Williamson, Social Media Delivered Jayda Fisher, Fashion News Live Elvia Limon, Surrentum Magazine

Spring 2013 Mendy Puckett, GolinHarris Sarah Clement, UNT Press Bree Ray, Social Media Delivered Erica Connolly, The Marketing Arm Shante Clinton, United Way of Denton County Jeanette Silva, Denton County Friends of the Family Amy Lux, BizCom Associates Marc Hutchinson, The Compass Group Wylee Wooldridge, Complete Landsculpture Caitlin Moses, Concussion Jessica Roth Guerrero, The Nancy Campbell Agency Marcie Heffley, GCG Marketing William Merkel, Core Publishing LLC Danielle Barr, UNT Baptist Student Ministry Kathleen Day, Denton Presbyterian Church Emily Fred, MojoMedia Labs Adam Bertholdi, The Loomis Agency Nicole Bell, The Richards Group Elisa Dibble, The Hall Agency Rosi Sanchez, Univision Communications Inc. Kirstie Turney, AMS Pictures Jennifer McElroy, Cash Hyde Foundation Jarah Wright, WFAA Rachel Rutland, WFAA Lauren Peek, Social Media Delivered Zane Turner, The Stayton at Museum Way Caren Rodriguez, D Magazine Bryan Cytron, North Dallas Vandals Hannah Weehunt, Sower of Seeds Natalie Gunn, Kilgore News Herald Michael Yates, OK State House of Representatives Benjamin Baby, The Old Coach Magazine Aimee Pass, D Magazine Eleanor Sadley, The Dallas Morning News Julie Bird, The Dallas Morning News Mikel Galicia, Central Track Haley Rush, KTVT Erika Lambreton, Central Track Crystal Vasquez, UT Arlington Athletics Oscar Casanova, NBC-DFW Ethan Healy, Dallas Advocate Ana Fernandez, Dieste

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Elvia Limón

Elvia Limon completed a summer internship May 26 - Aug. 3 for Surrentum Magazine in Sorrento, Italy. “I would recommend doing an internship abroad, not only because it looks good on a resume but also because it can be tough. The security blanket that a home, parents and friends create is gone and that is when people discover if they are a fighter or a fleer.”

Austin Mayrath, CBS Radio Tabetha Cain, CBS 11/TXA 21 Korynthia Powell, Austere Magazine India Wilkerson, Paradizo Exclusive Travel Maria Alvarez, CBS Radio Bryan Mangan, ScrewAttack Entertainment Jonothan Soto, 1310 The Ticket Amira Ansari, YFS Magazine Cassandrra Rodriguez, Service Broadcasting Group, LLC Meagan Hatton, Austere Magazine Chelsey Cox, Brazos Valley Insite Magazine

The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Mayborn alums give back to the foundation that shaped them

T

his honor roll gratefully recognizes graduates, faculty, friends and other colleagues who contributed from September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013, to the Frank W. & Sue Mayborn School of Journalism through the University of North Texas Foundation, the preferred channel for private support of all areas of the University.

Your gifts help the Mayborn School of Journalism deliver extraordinary opportunities for learning and discovery for our students and faculty. Our donors are a diverse group with uniquely personal reasons for supporting the Mayborn. They come from all walks of life – united by their belief that the Mayborn transforms lives, engages in leading-edge technology and research plus enriches our community.

The Mayborn School of Journalism gives special recognition to annual contributors. The Mayborn Leaders Circle honors those alumni, faculty and friends who contribute $10,000 or more per fiscal year (September 1 through August 31). Those who provide support for $5,000 - $9,999 are recognized at the Developers Circle. Those who provide support of $1,000 to $4,999 are recognized at the Builders Circle.

Contributors at other levels are recognized as the Friends Circle.

The University of North Texas honors individuals who give at certain levels through membership in lifetime giving societies, including the McConnell Society, the Matthews Society, the Kendall Society, the Chilton Society, the 1890 Society and the President’s Council.

Media representatives visit with Mayborn School of Journalism students during the professional networking session at Celebrate Mayborn 2013.

Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

35

Donor Profiles Mike Whitehead (’81) has had a successful career in daily newspapers spanning more than 40 years, and the veteran journalist still credits his UNT professors for instilling in him the rigor required in professional journalism.

“This is not about me, it’s about my university and the journalistic foundation that shaped my career and life.”

Whitehead has bequeathed in his will a $100,000 planned gift to the Mayborn School of Journalism to create the C.

Michael Whitehead Scholarship. The endowed scholarship awards $4,000 a year to one journalism student attending UNT full-time.

Whitehead worked for the media giant Gannett Company, including stints as the managing editor for the local newspaper in San Bernardino, Calif. and later as executive editor for the Salem Statesman-Journal in Salem, Ore. and The Times in Shreveport, La. Whitehead also worked in various editing positions for The Orange County Register and The

Mike Whitehead Dallas Morning News.

Whitehead is currently publisher and editor of SB Magazine and is less than a

State (now Texas A&M Commerce). Foster was then recruited as Sports Information Director at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana-Lafayette).

George Foster Following graduation from North Texas State University in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, George Foster began a short stint as a sportswriter at the Waco TribuneHerald covering prep sports, Baylor and the Dallas Cowboys while working on Texas Football.

He was named Sports Information Director at East Texas

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Foster is now CEO of Foster Marketing, the world’s largest oil and gas marketing communications firm. He is a Certified Business Communicator and spends most of his time among the firm’s offices or personally consulting, advising and encouraging clients and employees. He has three adult children – Denise Whited, Danny Foster and Dena Foster – and two grandsons.

Foster’s support of the Mayborn funds the Foster Marketing Endowed Journalism Scholarship. He is also a member of the UNT President’s Council.

Tina Young Tina Young (’91) is president and founder of Marketwave, a successful strategic public relations and digital marketing firm in Addison, Texas. Young and her company generously committed to $25,000 in support to the Mayborn over a fiveyear period, including $5,000 this year to support Celebrate Mayborn.

The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

year from becoming a deacon in the Diocese of Shreveport where he lives with his wife Martha. They have four daughters.

“Marketwave’s STAR sponsorship brings a whole new level of professionalism to the Celebrate Mayborn event. Now it truly is stellar!” said Brenda Fanara, Mayborn’s director of development.

Young graduated from UNT with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Now a marketing and public relations veteran, Young has more than 20 years of experience in branding, advertising, marketing, and a broad spectrum of digital strategies. Young and her team at Marketwave celebrated the firm’s 15th anniversary in June 2013. Outside of work, Young enjoys spending time with her daughter, Emma, and husband, Mike.

Founder’s Club Lifetime giving of $500,000 or greater to the Mayborn School of Journalism Sue Mayborn UNT McConnell Society member

Mayborn Leaders Circle $10,000+ Kay and Junebug Clark Cmdr. Nicholas D. (BA ‘61) & Anna

Ricco, Matthews Society First Command Educational Foundation Bloomberg L.P. Adbongo The Dallas Morning News Belo Corporation Ricco Family Partners

Developers Circle $5,000 - $9,999 Anonymous Marketwave/Tina Young (‘91)

Joe Dealey, Jr. Burle Pettit

William Randolph Hearst Foundation Brenda Fanara Cathy Rene Turner Charles Arnett

Marilyn Pippin

Brittni Rose Barnett

Roy K. Busby

MBA ‘66, 1890 Society BA Jour ‘60 BA Jour ‘75

Paul Recer BA Jour ‘61

Wendi Ellen Strong MA Jour ‘90

Douglas Adams BA ‘87

Samra J. Bufkins MA Jour ‘86

Andrew Vracin

Friends Circle $999 or less Joseph Edward Murray BA Jour ‘61

Cornelius F. Foote George Getschow C. Cragg Hines BA Jour ‘67

Builders Circle $1,000 - $4,999

Kathrina M. McAfee James M. Morris Julie Ann Bowman

George Foster

Ellen Ann Rossetti

BA Jour ‘89

BA Jour ‘72 President’s Council Lifetime MA Jour ‘08

Central Kia Plano Central Kia Lewisville-Carrollton C.V. Starr & Co. Inc. Voice Media Group Ted Simmons Central Kia Irving Nora M. Crosby Dallas Ft. Worth Interactive Marketing Association Vick Family Foundation, Inc. Austin Community Foundation Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc. Coca-Cola Enterprises Dorothy M. Bland Raymond E. Miles

Julie Scharnberg Kerry Ray Stanhope

Jo Ann Ballantine

BA Jour ‘74

MBA ‘58

MS LIS ‘08, 1890 Society

William R. Ford SPJ Fort Worth Chapter TJ’s Pizza Wings ‘N Things Axxess Technology Solutions

Med ‘08

Joan Donaldson Michel Hiatt BA Jour ‘71

Colleen M Hines Northeast AR Advertising Federation Michael Clements Sheri Broyles Sarah Perry MA Jour ‘10

Kathleen F. Hinnen Irene L. Abrego MA Jour ‘96

Stephen R. Davis Phyllis G. Forehand BA Jour ‘55

Myron Glenn Johnson Med ‘11

Larry G Smith BA Jour ‘61

PhD ‘94

BA Poli Sci ‘12

Katy Marie Barr BA Jour ‘10

Paul Richard Claus MBA ‘08

Clyde Journal Erin Nicole Day Med ‘08

Tracy Everbach Tzu-Wen Fu BA Jour ‘82

Laquita L. James BA Jour ‘83

Jillian L Jordan BA Jour ‘05

Cassondra K Posey BA Jour ‘06

Toni T Prachick BA Jour ‘76

Michelle M. Redmond Danielle E. Ricketts BA Jour ‘06

Clydene Shields BA Jour ‘47

Rita M. Vinson Bobby Da’Vale Lewis BA Jour ‘12

Robyn Fae Sicking BA Jour ‘10

Kathlyn Auten BA ‘76

James Goodnight Joel W. Bird BA Jour ‘78

Clint D. Bourland BA Jour ‘48

Misty J. Hoyt BA Jour ‘91

Peter Noble Heidi Marie Murphy BA Jour ‘89

Diane Michelle Raczynski BA Jour ‘99

Joseph Sepulveda Marissa Ann Bates BA Jour ‘01

Brandee Hartley Communities Foundation of Texas Jackie Grace

Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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“Opportunity” is the key word for new Dean Dorothy Bland

I

n June, The Mayborn School of Journalism welcomed its new dean, Dorothy Bland. Bland was a Pulitzer Prize juror and former editor and reporter at USA Today.

performance and was a McCormick Fellow in the Advanced Executive Program at Northwestern University’s Media Management Center.

“I look forward to working with the Mayborn team to increase the school’s visibility in the digital age and take it to the next level.”

“I was attracted to the Mayborn because I think this is a program with tremendous potential.”

Bland led a successful reaccreditation of Florida A&M University’s Division of Journalism, where she helped establish the Harold Dow Professorship.

She was a guest lecturer at the Poynter Institute and was president and publisher of both the Chillicothe (Ohio) Gazette and Fort Collins (Colo) Coloradoan.

Bland has led campaigns to raise more than $100,000, earned three Gannett President’s Rings for outstanding

— Dorothy Bland

Graduate alumna Jane R. LeBlanc sat down with Bland to find out what she brings to the program, how she plans to capitalize on our digital future and what it means to be an “artsy kind of chick.”

Jane: Based on your professional experience, what do you bring here to the Mayborn that no one else can?

Dorothy: Energy! I’m very excited about this opportunity based on my professional experience—I’ve been a

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The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

reporter, editor, publisher, media consultant, and I’ve worked in every department of a newspaper.

But I’ve also managed online startups. I’m not a digital native, but I’m very much an advocate of using the technology. I think mobile is huge as an opportunity.

J: What do you see yourself doing with technology for the Mayborn?

D: Well, I think there is tremendous opportunity with storytelling on multiple platforms for the Mayborn.

J: Do you think your business degree helps in running a journalism department that also caters to strategic communications students?

D: Oh absolutely. One of the growth areas in media has been strategic communications. I think it’s important that we understand that the m in journalism is “money matters” from my perspective. And I understand that the role and the function of the dean is to help expand resources for our program here, and part of my job is to help with fundraising in a big way.

J: Going back to the digital future—what direction should we take the journalism field in the new digital age?

D: We need to embrace the technology. I think that mobile, social and digital are unstoppable forces. I think that there’s a lot to be learned from successes with social media. I think that needs to be enhanced as part of our portfolio with regards to storytelling. I’m not suggesting that everyone go out and simply do Tweetdeck or only look at Twitter feeds, but there are opportunities for crowdsourcing with social media and Facebook and Twitter. There are also new platforms that are emerging constantly.

I think there’s lots of room for user-generated content. But at the end of the day, there will still be a need for folks to edit, slice and dice, and synthesize and analyze information. So, data mining will be huge, as well, I’m also intrigued by the marriage of journalism and IT. There’s a whole debate going on right now in regards to coding, and I haven’t decided how that will impact our program. But I think there’s clearly opportunity.

And I also think that online learning is a huge opportunity, if done right.

J: How would coding affect the journalism industry?

D: Well, there are several schools of thought. I’m not suggesting that all journalists become coders.

But there could be potential collaborations and partnerships with the IT and computer science units here on campus.

J: So what does it mean to you to be dean of the Mayborn School of Journalism, a named school that’s in a diverse metropolitan area?

D: I think it’s a tremendous honor, a tremendous privilege. There’s also a lot of hard work that goes with it…a huge responsibility. I think that I’m a good fit for the position, in part because I have been a working journalist. I do have substantial experience running a very diverse program at Florida A&M University. It’s the largest historically black university in the nation. At the same time, the state of Texas is a very diverse state. It’s the most diverse state in the union. And when you look at the demographics for the Mayborn students, I think that I’m a good fit. I’m an African-American woman…women are half the population. When you look at the changing demographics of America, there are clearly more people of color who are interested in media. And I think that this will be a good marriage.

J: Why the Mayborn?

D: I was attracted to the Mayborn because I think this is a program with tremendous potential.

You have the full complement of student media, and that’s the NT Daily; SWOOP, a student-run public relations firm; Gravitas, a student-run ad team and even photography and photo editing with Hatch Visuals. That’s wonderful. And I still think there are tremendous opportunities for students who are interested in broadcast journalism. And we know that the Mayborn isn’t just one silo, and it’s incredibly important that we prepare students to perform well on multiple platforms.

I just got an email over the weekend from a colleague who’s managing the start up of Soul of the South. It’s a network, and he’s looking for freelancers in major markets all over the country.

And I think this is an opportunity for our students at the Mayborn. I also think I was attracted to the Mayborn because of Frank Mayborn and Sue Mayborn, newspaper publishers. So I have clearly a deep respect for the printed word, and I’ve also been a newspaper publisher. I feel very comfortable with the fact that we do have a nationally ranked nonfiction literary conference that draws talent from all over the nation and, indeed, with the power of the web, all over the globe.

J: I’ve heard you referred to as a resultsoriented person. What does that mean?

D: If you develop a plan, you work the plan and you measure the results. Pretty simple. I believe in teamwork. I think that’s incredibly important.

I don’t have all the answers... But I believe in working with a team—and that’s faculty, staff and students.

Annual Report 2012-2013 | The Mayborn

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Mayborn School of Journalism 2013-2014 Calendar

of Events

•

Nov. 2, 2013 – JFK Symposium in Dallas

•

Nov. 9, 2013 – UNT Homecoming

•

Nov. 23, 2013 – Fall Preview for Prospective Students

• January 13, 2014 - Spring Semester Begins • March 2014 - NT Daily Reunion •

March 2, 2014 – Spring Preview for Prospective Students

•

March 20, 2014 - Barbara Jordan Media Awards Luncheon

•

April 16, 2014 – Celebrate Mayborn

•

May 12, 2014 – Summer Term Begins

•

July 17, 2014 – Mayborn Scholars Reception

•

July 17-24, 2014 – Multimedia High School Journalism Workshop

•

July 18-20, 2014 – Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference

• Aug. 25, 2014 – Fall Semester Begins

Mayborn School Board of Advisors Doug Adams Consultant Nelson Clyde IV Publisher, Tyler Morning Telegraph

Ana Christina Reymundo Editor, American Airlines Nexos

Joe Dealey, Jr. Consultant

Nick Ricco President, Ricco Family Partnership

David Dunnigan Dunnigan Public Relations Tony Fay Principal, Fay + Sawers Productions

Steve Soltis Director, Executive Communications, The Coca-Cola Company

George Foster CEO, Foster Marketing Theresa Gage National Sales & Sponsorships, Pandora Media David Hadeler Consultant Johnnie King Owner, KG Concessions

Kevin Sullivan Founder, Kevin Sullivan Communications, LLC

Fran Vick University of North Texas Press (retired)

William Lace Adjunct Instructor of Journalism, Tarrant County College Sue Mayborn Owner, Temple Daily Telegram and Killeen Daily Herald John McCaa News Anchor, WFAA-TV Burle Pettit Editor Emeritus Lubbock Avalanche- Journal

The Mayborn | Annual Report 2012-2013

Wendi Strong Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications, USAA

Brian Sweany Deputy Editor, Texas Monthly

Delva King Owner, KG Concessions

2013-2014 Graduation Commencement 40

Marilyn Pippin President, Hopkins & Associates

Keven Ann Willey Vice President / Editorial Page Editor, The Dallas Morning News Jodi Williamson Consultant Anthony Zapata Digital SMC, The Dallas Morning News

•

Dec. 13-14, 2013 – Fall

•

May 9-10, 2014 – Spring

•

Aug. 8-9, 2014 – Summer

A history of journalism, carved in stone

U

NT’s Scoular Hall, which was the home of the original UNT journalism department from 1945 until 1979, was demolished at the end of September 2013. But the Frank W. and Sue

Mayborn School of Journalism hopes to rescue a piece of its history from the rubble. The journalism sign, a beautifully carved stone door surround, will

be cleaned, restored, and brought home to the Mayborn to rest outside the General Academic Building (GAB), which now houses the journalism school.

“I think it would look great in the shade of a tree with a bench for students to enjoy it,” Dean Dorothy Bland said. “It is a beautiful sign and interesting piece of the department’s history, and it needs refurbishing.”

The final location is not yet determined, but whether decorating the first floor courtyard or a grassy spot on the ground level, the stone sign will signify to passersby that UNT journalism, with a rich history and exciting future, happens here.

“

It is a beautiful sign and interesting piece of the department’s history...”

The Mayborn school is in discussions to determine the - Dean Dorothy Bland estimated cost of cleaning and refurbishing the sign for display. To give to the Historical Journalism Sign fund, please contact Brenda Fanara at brenda.fanara@unt.edu or 940/369-7420.

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Mayborn School of Journalism 1155 Union Circle #311460 Denton, TX 76203-5017

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