Virginia Communications Hall of Fame to honor five new inductees in April

In 2008, the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame continues its tradition of excellence with the induction of five new members: Rick Boyko, director and professor at the VCU Brand Center; Peter Easter, chairman and director of public affairs for Easter Associates, Inc.; John Edwards, editor and publisher of The Smithfield Times; J. Malcolm "Jay" Pace, III, former editor and owner of the Herald-Progress; and Mark Raper, chairman and CEO of CRT/tanaka.

The Hall of Fame, established by VCU's School of Mass Communications in 1986, recognizes individuals who have shown exceptional achievement in the fields of print, broadcast, public relations, advertising and interactive media, including cable and the Internet. Inductees are nominated and selected by their peers.

These communications pros will be inducted during a ceremony on Thursday, April 17 at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Va. (more)

Creating sustainable economic growth in Ghana

Ever heard of the Millennium Challenge Corporation? It's an independent U.S. government agency established to reduce global poverty through sustainable economic growth. School of Mass Comm Professor Bonnie Davis has seen the fruits of this group's labor first-hand in Accra, Ghana.

Read her commentary, which appeared recently in the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Capital News Service: Student Bylines

One of the advantages that VCU’s School of Mass Comm offers student journalists is the chance to work with real news stories, and have their work published in news outlets across the state.

Here are just a few examples of CNS student work in the media now. Check out links to just a few CNS reporter stories.

Four Mass Comm students receive Black History in the Making Awards

As part of Black History Month, the VCU Department of African American Studies sponsored the Black History in the Making Awards on Thursday, February 28. This year’s recipients from the School of Mass Communications are, (left to right): Adam Bush, Chamise Jones, Eric Larkin, Shana Bernabela and Charles Ayodele “Dele” Smith.

School of Mass Comm welcomes Academic Advisor Natasha Long

Before you log in to Banner to register for your fall 2008 classes, make sure you stay on the right academic track and take the classes you need to graduate when you plan to. Seeking out advising is critical to ensuring success.

To help you keep up with class processes and deadlines, in November the School of Mass Communications welcomed Academic Adviser Natasha Long. With duties ranging from advising to handling student paperwork, Long is a great student resource to keep in mind. She can assist with selecting and scheduling classes, discussing school procedures and regulations and declaring and/or changing Mass Comm sequence.

Long earned her B.A. in history with a minor in Spanish from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. She started her advising career in student-athletic advising at VCU in 2002. She received her master’s of education from VCU in 2003. Long also worked with students at Longwood University before returning to VCU to assist Mass Comm pre-majors, majors and minors.

“I am extremely happy to be working for the School of Mass Communications,” Long said. “The faculty and staff are outstanding."

A student athlete herself, Long understands the delicate balance of time management and academics, an issue that many VCU students face.

Long also partners with the University Career Center to provide workshops to address petition issues facing Mass Comm students.

In addition to her extensive knowledge of the Mass Comm programs, Long can direct you to the right people at the university, making problem-solving one step shorter.

Long can be reached by e-mail at longnj@vcu.edu or by phone at (804) 827-3722.

Changing the community … in 24 hours

A group of Mass Comm students is preparing for a mid-spring-break 24-hour creative blitz, when they will work in teams to produce marketing and advertising services for 12 area nonprofits.

CreateAthon onCampus is the first program of its kind on a university campus, initiated at VCU by Associate Professor Peyton Rowe.

“The CreateAthon program started by RIGGS is such a rich and rewarding experience,” Rowe said. “Since my first CreateAthon in 2004, I’ve always wanted to bring this intense and fulfilling experience to students.”

The School of Mass Communications’ initiative is registered as a topics course MASC 491: Nonprofit Project Development.

More than 20 undergraduate students from the school, 20 graduate students from the Brandcenter and nearly two dozen local professionals will participate in CreateAthon onCampus around the clock, starting at 8:30 a.m. on March 13, 2008. During the creative blitz, participants will create and develop advertising and marketing projects at no cost to selected nonprofits in an effort to help them fulfill their missions.

Rowe says the results from the professional CreateAthon programs that she has participated in have been invaluable for client organizations.

“CreateAthon projects give these nonprofit organizations the opportunity to focus on what they do best – helping others,” She said.

Public relations coordinator and PR senior Carrie Lefler has worked with Rowe on the CreateAthon onCampus from its planning stages. Lefler participated in the professional version in fall 2007 in Richmond at PUNCH and now is excited to work with her peers and professionals at VCU.

“It’s great to be a part of such an exciting opportunity,” she said, “and be able to see how this idea has grown into an actual event.”

The VCU program is based on the professional CreateAthon, which was started in 1998 by RIGGS advertising agency in South Carolina and is now a national program and network that annually supports nonprofits.

“It’s truly amazing to help people who don’t have the funds to fulfill their good will to help the community,” Lefler said.

Creative advertising senior David Canavan will volunteer on one of the working teams. He says the experience from the program would be beneficial for both students and client nonprofits.

“It’s a good cause and I think it’s going to give me a lot of experience that’s really valuable to me as a student,” Canavan said.

Following the pilot program at VCU, Rowe plans to offer CreateAthon onCampus to other universities and spread the idea to more students and nonprofits.

For more information about CreateAthon onCampus, visit http://www.createathononcampus.org/

A list of selected nonprofit organizations:

Richmond Friends of the Homeless

The Faces of HOPE

Coordinators2inc

Twin Saddles Therapeutic Riding, Inc.

Richmond Affiliate, Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Lifelong Learning Institute, Chesterfield

Virginia Council for Economic Education

Offender Aid and Restoration of Richmond, Inc.

Jackson-Feild Homes for Girls

Connect Richmond

The James House

The United Virginia chapter of the National Hemophilia Foundation

For Capital News Service reporters, every day includes state politics

Tied to the Virginia General Assembly, the everyday life of some Mass Comm students has a dose of state politics.

Capital News Service (MASC 475) student reporters cover the legislative session for a number of media outlets across the state. Associate Professor Jeff South leads the class. He says CNS is as professional as established news organization.

“CNS is an opportunity for students to compete against the 'big dawgs' at the Capitol – The Washington Post, the Associated Press, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Virginian-Pilot,” South said.

“CNS students go head-to-head with veteran reporters in covering the top stories – the state budget, for example, and proposals to ban smoking in restaurants. In my opinion, the CNS reporters often beat the pros – in part because the students look at what's happening in the General Assembly with a fresh set of eyes. What the students may lack in experience, they make up for in enthusiasm.”

Graduating senior Suzanne Hoyle spends an average of two hours a day working for her client newspapers.

“To me, CNS has been a great learning experience in helping me to build relationships with local officials,” Hoyle said. “I feel like this is a learning experience that I can take with me into the real world.”

Hoyle said she usually focuses on one story at a time until it’s ready to file to CNS copy desk. Hoyle has been assigned to cover the GA for the Petersburg Progress-Index and the Smithfield Times. She said that the editors she has communicated with have also enhanced her experience in CNS.

“The most valuable thing (I’ve learned) is working with Virginia publications,” Hoyle said. “I was able to learn what they need and how to cater to them.”

Former CNS reporter and copy editor Patrick Kane said the class helped him to not only become a better reporter, but also open up to people.

“CNS showed me how much I enjoy the action and drama of Virginia politics,” Kane said. “It helped me overcome some of my shyness. It is definitely my long-term goal to cover a statehouse.”

Kane, who is now staff writer at the Petersburg Progress-Index, covered two legislative sessions. He said that even in his current job as a reporter, the CNS experience comes in handy.

“At our small daily, we can't keep a reporter at the legislature,” Kane said. “However, my knowledge of how everything works in Richmond helps me keep tabs on our region's lawmakers and proposed bills that would affect our area.”

The class is in session while the General Assembly is, starting every January. For three upper-level Mass Comm credits, CNS student reporters gain hands-on experience and portfolio clips from newspapers from all around the state.

The client list includes the Washington Examiner, Richmond.com and Rappahannock News. The class enrolls an increasing number of students every year with a record of 23 students, including a multimedia producer and a graphic artist this session. A new aspect of the class is multimedia.

“This year, CNS made its first serious effort to branch into television reports and multimedia news, such as slide shows and podcasts,” South said. “You can see CNS on VCU InSight, the school's public affairs show on PBS. I hope we'll be doing more of that in the future.”

For a second time this year, the School of Mass Communications expanded the learning opportunities for CNS students by adding a second class to make the reporting process easier. The new class, Topics: CNS Copy Editing (MASC 491) enrolled six students as copy editors under the guidance of adjunct journalism professor Mary Ann Owens. Copy editors meet on Friday to polish the stories before they are sent to clients.

Close to the end of the legislative session, Hoyle now says she found CNS to be easier than she had initially thought.

“With the guidance of the professors, I knew exactly what needed to be done, which made it easier than I expected,” she said.

Kane’s advice to future CNS reporters is be consistent and start laying the groundwork for their reporting early.

“Spend time at the Capitol early and often,” he said. “Have the relationships with the lawmakers you will be following solidly in place before school starts, so you have a good head start.

“Also, follow a handful of bills that you can write about again and again as they progress through the lawmaking process.”