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JMS receives full accreditation
The School of Journalism & Media Studies at San Diego State University has been awarded full accreditation by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC). The Council made the favorable decision on May 1 at its annual meeting, held this year in Portland, Ore.
ACEJMC is the agency responsible for the evaluation of professional journalism and mass communication programs in colleges and universities. The SDSU School of Journalism & Media Studies joins only seven other schools in California and only 114 other schools worldwide to receive the specialized accreditation.
“We are delighted that the Accrediting Council has certified that our professional studies programs meet the highest standards of excellence,” said Diane L. Borden, director of the School. “This designation represents a significant milestone for the School and will provide many important benefits for our students. It also allows the School to become more competitive for external funding to help support such things as digital/electronic labs and paid internships for our students.”
In addition to the prestige associated with graduating from an ACEJMC-accredited program, JMS students now become eligible to compete in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, which annually offers more than $500,000 in competitive awards to students in ACEJMC-accredited programs.
Dr. Hongmei Shen joins JMS faculty
Hongmei Shen has joined the faculty of the School of Journalism & Media Studies as an assistant professor. Her teaching and research are in the field of public relations. In fall semester, she is teaching JMS 585, Professional Practices in Public Relations, and JMS 595, Seminar in Theoretical Approaches to Public Relations.
Dr. Shen received a Ph.D. in communication from University of Maryland in 2009. The primary goal of her research is to enhance theory building and measurement of public relations effectiveness, internationally. Her work ranges from an examination of the effects of culture on social responsibility strategies used by multinational corporations to a study of the crisis-response strategies used during the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007.
Dr. Shen has a professional background in media relations, marketing and journalism, both in the United States and in China. She also has helped facilitate public information campaigns and internal communication at the National Institutes of Health and currently serves as the statistical consultant for a multi-country project on the status of women in the news media.
JMS partners with Watchdog Institute
The School of Journalism & Media Studies is home to the new Watchdog Institute, an independent, non-profit organization that seeks to ensure the future of investigative journalism in the San Diego region.
Veteran investigative journalist Lorie Hearn, who most recently served as senior editor for metro and watchdog journalism at The San Diego Union-Tribune, is the executive director of the Institute.
“We are thrilled to be at the forefront of this new journalism ecosystem,” said Diane L. Borden, director of the School of Journalism & Media Studies. “We see broad and exciting possibilities in collaborating with the Watchdog Institute.”
Hearn said the mission of the Institute is two-fold: to provide data-driven investigative journalism to residents of San Diego and Imperial counties and to help train new investigative journalists at SDSU.
“We hope the Watchdog Institute will be a model for public service journalism that is collaborative, not competitive,” Hearn said. “We look forward to working with SDSU students and mentoring the investigative journalists of the future.”
The in-kind agreement between the Watchdog Institute and SDSU provides office space for the Institute in exchange for offering internships to journalism students and advising in the development and support of a new master’s degree in investigative journalism within the school. Hearn and her staff also may serve as guest lecturers in undergraduate journalism classes.
JMS collaborates to offer digital skills certificate
The School of Journalism & Media Studies has collaborated with the College of Extended Studies to create a new Professional Certificate in Digital Media at San Diego State University. The certificate program was designed to help working professionals in journalism, public relations, marketing and content production develop the practical tools they need to produce high-quality multimedia and online content.
Participants in the six-course program, which began on Sept. 10, are learning video planning, production and editing and will complete the certificate with a Web portfolio that includes a Web site, blog, podcast, slide show and video. All courses are held on Thursday evenings and Saturdays, and the program can be completed in three months.
“These skills are not intuitive to many media professionals because they did not grow up as digital natives,” said Rebecca Coates-Nee, who serves as program adviser for the new Digital Media program. Coates-Nee, who is in the educational technology doctoral program at Pepperdine University, also teaches courses in digital media for the School of Journalism & Media Studies. “This certificate program will take mid-career professionals who have not been trained in new media and bring their skills up to the level needed to compete in the marketplace today,” she said.
Several local media organizations have endorsed the certificate program, including the San Diego Press Club, the Friends of Journalism & Media Studies alumni chapter, and the local chapters of the Public Relations Society of America, Society of Professional Journalists and National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
For more information, call (619) 594-0787 or visit the program’s Web page at www.neverstoplearning.net/digital_media.html.
PRSSA students co-host national conference
The SDSU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America co-hosted the PRSSA National Conference in San Diego Nov. 6-10. More than 1,100 students from across the country came to San Diego for several days of professional development seminars and networking with public relations practitioners, who were attending the correlating International Conference of the Public Relations Society of America.
Bey-Ling Sha, APR, faculty adviser to the campus PRSSA chapter, said SDSU students represented the campus well. “According to PRSA staff members, who do this conference every year, the 2009 National Conference in San Diego was one of the most well-run student conferences that they had seen in many years,” she said.
Conference committee members included JMS students Jemalyn Chavez, Cammy Duong and Kristin Loe. In addition, dozens of JMS students volunteered at the conference to help things run smoothly.
JMS alum receives prestigious award
The Public Relations Society of America has inducted Diane Gage Lofgren, senior vice president of brand strategy, communications and PR for Kaiser Permanente, into its College of Fellows. The lifetime career award was presented at a ceremony on Nov. 7 during the 2009 PRSA International Conference in San Diego. Membership in the College of Fellows is one of the highest honors bestowed by PRSA.
In the mid-1990s, Gage Lofgren taught public relations classes at San Diego State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in mass communication. She continues to guest lecture in the School of Journalism & Media Studies. She is a past president of the San Diego Chapter of PRSA, and became accredited in public relations through PRSA in 1989. Currently, she is a member of the PRSA San Francisco Chapter.
Gage Lofgren has been in her current position at Kaiser Permanente for three years; she is responsible for managing national communications, issues and brand management; and public relations functions. She also has served as senior vice president of marketing and communications at Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, and as vice president of customer and market strategy for Catholic Health Initiatives' national office in Denver. In addition, she owned and operated The Gage Group, a full-service public relations and marketing agency in San Diego, for 10 years.
Faculty, alumni gather at PSFA conference
JMS alumni and faculty attended an informal continental breakfast at the 2009 PRSA International Conference in San Diego on Nov. 10. The College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts and the School of Journalism & Media Studies co-hosted the event. Among the attendees were MaryLee Sachs, chairman of Hill & Knowlton USA; Diane Gage Lofgren, senior vice president at Kaiser Permanente; Bill Trumpfheller, president of Nuffer Smith Tucker Public Relations; Scott Pansky, managing partner of Allison & Partners, Southern California; Sara Wacker, director of Allison & Partners; Laura Walcher, Cupener/Walcher Company; Aaron Ellis, American Association of Port Authorities; Patricia Krebs, Industrial Environmental Association; Henry DeVries, UCSD; Jack Berkman, Berkman Company; Joyce Gattas, dean of the College of PSFA; Diane Borden, director of the School of JMS; faculty members David Dozier, Bey-Ling Sha, Hongmei Shen and Kenn Ulrich; emeritus faculty member Glen Broom; and current public relations students Kimberly Harter and Michelle Lew.
Dr. David Dozier named Research Fellow
The Board of Trustees of the Institute for Public Relations has elected JMS Professor David Dozier as an Institute Research Fellow. The designation has been awarded to only seven scholars since the Institute was chartered in 1956. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to “bridge the academy and the profession, supporting PR research and mainstreaming this knowledge into practice through PR education.” Dr. Dozier has served as a member of the Institute’s Commission on Public Relations Measurements and Evaluation for several years. The criteria for selection as a Research Fellow include an international research reputation in either academia or practice and a commitment to work with the Institute to identify and address broad research needs in the public relations field.
Dr. Schmitz Weiss presents paper in Switzerland
Amy Schmitz Weiss, JMS assistant professor, presented a research paper at the Media Interactivity: Economic and Managerial Issues International Workshop, which was held Oct. 30-31 in Switzerland. Dr. Schmitz Weiss paper was titled, “Collaborative management practices in the digital workplace: The 21st century newsroom.” The University of Neuchâtel and Jönköping International Business School hosted the workshop in Neuchâtel.
Scholars and media practitioners from Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Germany, Finland, Hungary and the United States gathered for the two-day event. The workshop examined current challenges in the interactive media industry, including issues related to management, value creation, economics, business models, e-learning, social media and intellectual property.
Dr. Schmitz Weiss’ presentation explored collaborative group work in the digital newsroom and how management nurtures this work environment through a variety of virtual, digital and collaborative technologies and processes.
Pros ‘come home’ for second annual event
The Friends of Journalism & Media Studies alumni chapter hosted about 100 current JMS students for “The Pros Come Home 2: Speed Mentoring for Success” on Oct. 28 at the new Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center on campus. After a panel discussion featuring SDSU alumni, current students received mentoring from industry veterans in a speed-dating format, allowing students to have one-on-one time with each media professional.
Panelists and speakers included Cliff Albert, program director, AM 600 KOGO radio; Dean Elwood, news director, KFMB-TV; Tom Johnson, president, Johnson Media Group; Eric Longabardi, TV producer/i-journalist, TeleMedia News Prods; Salvador Rivera, communications and media relations, Sycuan; Audra Stafford, producer, KGTV 10 News; Linda Rosas Townson, publisher, San Diego News Network; J.W. August, managing editor, KGTV 10 News (moderator); Gayle Falkenthal, APR, president, Falcon Valley Group; Sam Hodgson, digital journalist, voiceofsandiego.org; Andrew Kleske, principal content producer, San Diego Union-Tribune; Fred Norfleet, independent broadcast producer, Norfleet Video; and Joe Schneider, freelance journalist.
Dr. Glen Broom wins Andy Mace Award
The San Diego Press Club presented the Andy Mace Award for Outstanding Contribution in Public Relations to Glen Broom, JMS professor emeritus, at the club’s 36th annual awards ceremony on Oct. 20. Larry Thomas, the prior year winner of the Mace Award and one of the founders of the San Diego Press Club, presented the 2009 award to Dr. Broom at the event, which was held at the San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.
Dr. Broom earned a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Wisconsin and joined its faculty in 1975. He joined the faculty at San Diego State University in 1979 and later served as chair of the Department of Journalism. He was named Outstanding Educator by the Public Relations Society of America in 1991 and was named outstanding professor and commencement speaker for the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts in 1993. In 2008, he received the Otto Bos Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Diego chapter of the PRSA.
JMS alum, profs receive NCA award
An article in the Journal of Public Relations Research co-authored by a former JMS graduate student and two JMS professors won the 2009 Article of the Year Award from the Public Relations Division of the National Communication Association.
Titled, “Use of Scanning Research in Decision Making: An Examination of the Environmental Imperative and Power-Control Perspective,” the article was based on the master’s thesis of Masako Okura, who is now a public relations practitioner in Japan.
JMS faculty members David Dozier and Bey-Ling Sha contributed to the article, as did C. Richard Hofstetter, a faculty member in political science at SDSU.
PAO alums win research competition
The work of two graduates from the JMS accelerated master’s degree program for military public affairs officers received recognition from the Educators Academy of the Public Relations Society of America during the PRSA International Conference, held in San Diego Nov. 7-10.
Tamara Lawrence, APR, and Mike Kafka co-authored a paper titled, “Impression Management and the Relational Approach: The Concept of Self-Presentation and the Military Public Affairs Practitioner,” which was the winner of the Betsy Plank Graduate Student Research Competition Award. The paper grew out of Lawrence and Kafka’s work in JMS 780: Seminar in Public Relations Research, which they took in spring 2008, just prior to completing their M.A. in mass communication and media studies.
Student/professional SPJ event gets big turnout
More than 80 students and media professionals attended a panel discussion on niche media on Oct. 14 on the SDSU campus. The event was co-sponsored by the San Diego Pro Chapter and the San Diego State University Student Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Amy Schmitz Weiss, JMS assistant professor, moderated the program, which was titled, “The Upstarts: Will San Diego's niche media be the new face of local journalism?”
Panelists included Miriam Raftery, editor of East County Magazine; Jack Crittenden, editor in chief of OurCity San Diego; William Yelles, managing editor of San Diego News Network; and Ron James, editor in chief of San Diego Uptown News.
Wulfemeyer/Nee paper presented at conference
JMS Professor Tim Wulfemeyer presented a research paper on new media at the 8th annual Convergence and Society Conference, Nov. 4-6, at the University of Nevada-Reno. The paper, “For love or money: Case studies of two models for journalistic survival,” was co-authored with JMS lecturer Rebecca Coates-Nee and fit the conference theme—“The Changing Media Landscape.”
The Wulfemeyer/Nee paper examined the operations of two of the recent online-only media startups in the San Diego area—Voice of San Diego and the San Diego News Network. Voice of San Diego is a non-profit organization that focuses on investigative journalism, and the San Diego News Network is a for-profit organization that offers news, entertainment, sports and “conversations.” The conference featured 40 research presentations, including seven “virtual” presentations from as far away as Great Britain.
