Elizabeth Schulze joined ABC News as a Multi-Platform Reporter based in Washington, D.C. She was previously a reporter at CNBC.
Author: Belinda Clarke
Geordan Tilley is joining WGN-TV in August as a supervising producer on their weekend news team. She will also be writing for their award-winning morning show during the week. Geordan is thrilled to be moving back to her adopted home in Chicago!
“I am proud and excited to welcome these new members into our Medill community,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “Our faculty are the foundation of what makes Medill the leading school of its kind in the world from journalism to integrated marketing communications. I look forward to the valuable contributions that these colleagues will make in the classroom and in their respective areas of expertise.”
New faculty members include:
Danielle Robinson Bell (BSJ99) joins Medill as an assistant professor in IMC. Bell’s area of expertise is strategic communications. Her career has included senior management roles at several of the world’s most respected advertising agencies. In those roles, she worked alongside billion-dollar brands like Tide, Gillette, Visa, and Verizon Wireless to create integrated marketing campaigns for various consumer segments across general market, multicultural and millennial audiences. In 2015, Bell launched Pen and Voice, Inc., a writing and messaging practice for businesses, brands, and executives. In addition to earning a BSJ from Medill, she also holds an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg.
Kalyani Chadha joins Medill from the University of Maryland as an associate professor in journalism. Kalyani’s research focuses on issues of media globalization and the implications of new media technologies with a particular emphasis on the journalism landscape in India. Her work has appeared in leading journals such as Media, Culture and Society, the Journal of Broadcast and Electronic Media, and Global Media and Communication and Convergence. She has also presented at major media and journalism-related conferences, including AEJMC, IAMCR, ICA and NCA.
Jeremy Gilbert (BSJ00, MSJ00) returns to Medill as the new Knight Chair for Digital Media Strategy. Gilbert previously served as a member of the Medill faculty from 2008 to 2013. Since 2014, he has served as director of strategic initiatives at The Washington Post where he directed a lab dedicated to experimental storytelling aimed at creating unique digital products and stories. These have included The Post’s first artificial intelligence storytelling system and first augmented and virtual reality projects.
Ivan J. Meyers joins the Medill faculty as a lecturer. He has overseen television studio operations at Medill in Washington, D.C. since 2002. In addition to video journalism classes at Medill, he has also taught video courses geared for journalists at other institutions, including the National Press Club, the American Red Cross and Georgetown University. Meyers is the founder of Out of the Cave Production and Technology Company, comprising a wide range of multimedia and technological offerings. Early in his career, Meyers worked as a production specialist in the eBusiness and digitization department at NBC News in New York where he ushered in a new era of video editing on desktop computers, and laid the ground work to transition the network’s video workflow to a tapeless environment.
Sherrell Dorsey also joins Medill this year as the inaugural Medill-Garage Fellow. Dorsey is founder and editor-in-chief of The Plug, a subscription-based digital news and insights platform covering the Black innovation economy as well as investigating and reporting on Black tech trends, stories and breaking news. The one-year fellowship supports entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups—with an emphasis on women and people of color—who are working on innovation in the media industry.
Photo from left to right top to bottom: Bell, Chadha, Gilbert, Meyers and Dorsey.
Lauren Harris (BSJ18 + IMC Certificate) is an associate animator at NBC News. She recently sat down to talk with Medill IMC about her education, career and viral illustrations for Black Lives Matter and Juneteenth. Find her art on Instagram, @loharris_art. Interviewer/editor: Katie Smith
Can you tell us about your time at Medill and what you learned?
I took some great classes at IMC. One class that really stuck with me was a PR class with Ernest [Duplessis]. … His advice was [that] you should defer to the experts.
And the expert might not be a bigwig expert. If you’re marketing to someone young, the expert could be a teenager… So for me, when I’m working in different teamwork situations, even if I technically am in a leadership position, I think it’s important to look at the people around me, regardless of what their title is and understand what they’re bringing to the table and what they are an expert in. [And then], create room in the team for them to step up and have their voice heard as the expert in the situation.
Can you take us through your career journey from graduation to landing a full-time job at NBC?
After I graduated in 2018, I ended up being a page in the NBC page program, which is a career development program, best known for its prominence in “30 Rock,” the show with Kenneth the Page.
[The page program] helped me come out of my shell, and it helped me learn how to present myself, speak up for myself and network. … I got to see “SNL” cast members and [rapper] Quest Love just trying to go get a drink of water and Lester Holt in line for a sandwich. All of that was so amazing to see it as a young person.
After the Page Program, I ended up moving into a position at NBC News, which was actually created for me. I am an associate animator on the digital team. Currently, I work across a variety of platforms in the NBC portfolio. I’ve had graphics published in Today and NBCNews.com, but I primarily [work for] NBC News Now, which is their 24-hour news streaming service and Stay Tuned, a Snapchat-based show for Gen Z-ers.
What does your job look like day-to-day?
Some days I’m just working on the show itself, making sure that we have all the graphics we need to explain a difficult topic. And then occasionally there’s the special project that comes in.
One recent project that I worked on was an animated video called “COVID Confessions.” Early on in the pandemic, I teamed up with a couple of other animators on the team to visualize and animate the written “confessions” of folks who shared their experiences during COVID lockdown with NBC News. It was up to us as the graphics team to sit down and tell those stories in a creative way. That was my first feature piece, and it seemed to resonate with a lot of people.
How did you decide how and what you were going to communicate in terms of #BlackLivesMatter?
Regardless of whether or not I’m a journalist, like I’m still a Black woman, and the conversation surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement relates to my personhood and my human rights. So, for me, one way to process was to draw and to kind of get my feelings out there. And when I was making the art that I made (only a couple of pieces were explicitly aligned with Black Lives Matter), I was doing it more so for my own personal coping. I was not creating [the art] with the intention of seeing it go viral.
I’ve seen so many people react so strongly. One of the pieces I made was called Justice. Someone made Oreo cookie fan art. They opened up the cookie and carved into the frosting to recreate my art. And I was like, “Wow.”
I felt kind of nervous when I started getting traction because I didn’t want to compromise my career in any way. My work colleagues and managers [are] super supportive of everything that’s going on with my work.
What was your Instagram presence like before your protest art went viral? How did you get started as an artist?
I was very into digital art in middle school. I bought my first Wacom tablet with my own money. I was so committed that before I had [the tablet] I was trying to draw with a mouse. And my dad got me a little Photoshop license. When I was younger, I was a part of DeviantArt.com, which is an online art community from like the early 2000s. Then when I went to college, [my art] just kind of fell off. I was just trying not to get distracted and fail out.
In January 2020, I decided I’m just going to buy an iPad and I’m going to draw. So then I made my little Instagram account because I realized that I tend to stick to things when I have the gratification of and being able to put it out there.
Then I was like, “Okay, now I want to step it up in February, and I want to challenge myself to draw every day.” So I just made up “29 Queens,” which was a project for Black History Month. I basically drew a picture of a different Black woman every day of February: entertainers, scientists, artists, politicians, whoever I found inspiring.
Interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Categories
Crossing Lines
Melanie Weiss (BSJ99)
In “Crossing Lines,: Midwestern high school seniors and swim teammates Alli and Brandon are the perfect couple, enjoying their final months of high school and making big plans for the future. When a horrific school shooting sparks a national movement, Alli gets involved with protests in support of gun control legislation, while Brandon defends his pro-gun beliefs and stays on the sidelines. These shifting priorities lead Alli and Brandon to question not only each other but their world views, as they begin to stand up for something bigger than themselves for the first time.
Melanie Weiss lives in Oak Park, Illinois. Her debut novel, “Spoken,” received a 2019 Readers’ Favorite Award for Young Adult-Social Issues.
Categories
Inside Our Days
Michele Merens (Ellis) (MSJ83)
“Inside Our Days” tells the story of Bree Durning, a happily married woman who abruptly flees home and family after receiving a dire cancer diagnosis. When her husband, William, a trained psychologist, tracks her down, she can hardly explain why she has turned from all she loves to all that only promises her pain: her own blindsiding memories. A deep dive into the ravages of complex PTSD, and how symptoms of this disease often mimic other anxieties and depressions, confounding sufferers and those who love them. “Inside Our Days” will be published by Muriel Press, Marian University, a university press dedicated to publishing books tied to social justice issues of our time.
It launches October 1, 2020 and is available through Amazon.com, libraries, book retailers and directly from Muriel Press, https://www.marianuniversity.edu/the-muriel-press. In print or ebook editions.
Categories
Act Like You’re Having a Good Time
Michele Weldon (BSJ79, MSJ80)
Award-winning memoirist Michele Weldon’s new new essay collection “Act Like You’re Having a Good Time” is written with honesty and depth and explores what it means to be a mature woman seeking a life of purpose and meaning through work, family and relationships.
In “Act Like You’re Having a Good Time,” Weldon reflects on growing up with her family, being a single mother, striving for applause and acceptance, failing expectations, forming new friendships, reconciling lost dreams and restoring one’s faith. With sincerity and humor, she dissects family traditions, painting classes, lap swimming and dress codes. Weldon also contemplates her upbringing and acknowledges that white privilege created and sustains her circumstances in life.
Looking to find connection with readers in these turbulent times, Weldon set her sights on writing a distinctive essay collection that explores the difficult parts of life, whether it be aging, facing disappointment or learning to live with insecurities. In an age of self-care and over-the-top indulgence, Weldon has found peace and clarity through gratitude, affirming that “you are already enough.” Weldon invites readers to recognize the universal experience of learning to accept oneself and asking essential questions—even if there are no easy answers.
Categories
Ed Bryant (BSJ63, LAW67)
Ed Bryant, who served on the Students Publishing Company board of directors for 48 years, died Sept. 20. He was 78.
Story by Isabelle Sarraf, (BSJ23) Campus Editor, Daily Northwestern
Serving on the board of Students Publishing Company for 48 years, Ed Bryant’s colleagues pegged his commitment and longevity to The Daily Northwestern’s “legacy of journalistic excellence” as typical of his character.
A former opinion writer at The Daily in the 1960s, the Medill and Pritzker alum joined the SPC board of directors — The Daily’s governing body — in 1972.
“To say he was the pillar of the organization would be an understatement,” John Byrne, chair of the SPC board of directors and former Daily editor in chief, said of Bryant’s legacy.
L. Edward Bryant, Jr., an “instrumental” force behind SPC’s evolution and survival, died unexpectedly of a new recurrence of cancer Sept. 20 at the age of 78. He is survived by his three daughters, Laura, Diane and Emily, as well as two grandchildren, Sydney and Miles.
Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat
Byrne, who knew Bryant since 1989, said Bryant always cared deeply for The Daily as an institution and ensured it endured for generations to come.
Bryant was one of the driving forces of the Campaign for the Future of The Daily Northwestern in 2014 — a move to transition The Daily’s business model to a digital one that relied only on advertising revenue to pay the bills. Bryant understood early on, Byrne said, that the future of print advertising was in trouble, and his foresight helped shape what The Daily is today.
“He was terrific to work with on the board, always listening, but also providing historical perspective that literally cannot be replaced,” Byrne said. “He often had a good story or anecdote to share, pretty much given whatever subject we were discussing, but it was clear that the Wildcats were so near and dear to his heart.”
A lifelong supporter of Northwestern, Bryant had been a football season ticket holder since 1963. According to an obituary written by his daughters, he was a proud Evanston resident for 61 years and “appreciated the diversity and community spirit” — especially the annual 4th of July parades.
He also often spent weekends with his family at Rock Haven, a lakeside cottage in Wisconsin, nicknamed “The Purple Palace” due to its decor. Its walls were fully adorned in purple — a tribute “to his beloved Wildcats.”
An “indomitable spirit”
Medill Dean Charles Whitaker met Bryant in 2003 when he joined the SPC board of directors and remembers Bryant’s “thoughtful presence” throughout the years in steering the company. Bryant was the board’s “de facto” libel attorney, as well as a trustworthy counselor and advisor when it came to selecting editors in chief, Whitaker said.
Even when Whitaker stepped down from the board, he and Bryant remained close. Always a supporter of student journalism, Bryant would share stories written in The Daily with Whitaker that he would find interesting or important and engage in conversations about the publishing industry. Outside of his role on SPC, Bryant was also well-known for his dedication to a particular hobby.
Bryant’s joy of fishing never wavered, according to his colleagues, evident from the “several” trips he made every year.
“In the entire time that I knew him, he was always battling cancer of one form or another, but he was always hearty and happy,” Whitaker said. “Once after a particularly difficult bout of (chemotherapy) — he was as upbeat as he always was — I asked him how he was doing and he said he was going fishing.”
The entire time he was battling cancer, Whitaker said Bryant would “never” miss a trip and always make a point to set out on Lake Michigan. Bryant’s perseverance and unwavering morale, Whitaker said, is something he’s always admired.
A “storied” legal career
After graduating from NU, Bryant started his legal career at Gardner Carton & Douglas in 1967 and worked in the field until 2010. At the firm, he founded its Health Care Practice in 1979 and served as the chair of the Health Care Department years thereafter, also serving on the firm’s Management Committee.
Over the course of his career, he served on the faculty of Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law and the Kellogg School of Management. In 2011, the L. Edward Bryant, Jr. National Health Law Transactional Competition was established by Loyola to engage law students in dialogue with practitioners in a real-world setting about legal issues pertaining to health care providers.
In 1985, Bryant was named as one of the most outstanding health lawyers in the country by the National Law Journal, and then again in 1991 by both the Illinois Legal Times and Chicago Lawyer Magazine.
According to Edwin Getz, his partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath — GCD’s successor firm — Bryant counseled clients on hundreds of health care industry restructurings, hospital and health system mergers, and more. Many of his cases in health law involved some of the largest health care providers in the country, Getz wrote.
Not only was he admired and widely respected by his clients and colleagues, but Getz added that Bryant is “widely and justifiably regarded” as having originated the discipline of health law.
“(Bryant) cared deeply about (the firm’s) people, no matter their position at the firm or station in life,” Getz told The Daily. “He always made it his highest priority, regardless of his frenetic schedule, to devote the time to mentor colleagues and friends who sought out his guidance, especially young lawyers.”
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Photo:
Ed Bryant, left, honors former SPC Board Chair and current Medill Dean Charles Whitaker, right, at The Daily’s 2018 Homecoming Celebration. (SeanSuPhoto | PurplePhotoCo)
Story republished with permission from The Daily 9/25/2020
Jonathan Addleton (BSJ ’79), former US Ambassador to Mongolia and a 2017 inductee into Medill’s Hall of Achievement, has been selected as the next Rector/President of Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan. Founded by the Presbyterian Church in 1864, Forman offers an American-style curriculum and has an enrollment of more than 8,000. Its alumni list includes former presidents, prime ministers, governors and academics in both India and Pakistan.
In June 2018 Christina finally took the plunge and launched a website: www.Wombat-womenincombat.com to shine the spotlight on women who hold traditionally male jobs in the armed forces and in defense industries. After working as a defense and military specialist for 20 years from her home base in Paris (France), irritated that it was always the same men who were called upon by media when comment or explanations were needed, she decided it was time these remarkable women from all over the world were publicized. Their stories are inspiring and their career paths fascinating. But as Wombat earns her no money, Christina also works freelance as the military tech writer for Popular Science and as the France correspondent for Defense News.