Category: Medill News

Medill will welcome screenwriter and television producer Mara Brock Akil (BSJ92) to speak with 2023 graduates and families as Medill’s convocation speaker.

“We are honored that Mara is returning to campus to share her insights, experiences and life lessons with the Medill community,” said Dean Charles Whitaker (BSJ80, MSJ81). “Mara’s career has equipped her with an important perspective that I hope will inspire the Class of 2023 as they venture out into the world to begin their careers.”

Brock Akil has written and produced over 400 episodes of television, leaving a tremendous impact on Hollywood. After graduating from Medill, she wrote for the television series South Central and Moesha before becoming supervising producer on The Jamie Foxx Show.

In 2000, she developed the seminal television series Girlfriends, a witty and honest exploration of the multi-faceted nature of Black womanhood, and from there, went on to develop the spin-off series The Game.

Since then, she has produced multiple culture-shifting series that celebrate the complexity and vulnerability of humanity. In 2017, she was inducted into the Medill Hall of Achievement and in 2019 she was honored with the prestigious Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award by NATPE.

The Hollywood Reporter has named her as one of the top 50 Showrunners five years in a row and as one of the Women in Entertainment Power 100. She was honored by Essence’s Black Women in Hollywood Awards and is the winner of multiple NAACP Image Awards.

In 2020, Brock Akil signed a deal with Netflix to exclusively produce television shows for the streaming platform under her new banner, story27 Productions.

Convocation will take place at 9:30 a.m, Sunday, June 11 in Evanston at the Ryan Fieldhouse with a reception to follow.

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Student Speakers

Andrew Rowan (BSJ23)

Andrew Rowan (BSJ23), a journalism major with minors in data science and business institutions, is the 2023 Medill convocation undergraduate student speaker. Andrew was the News Director of the Northwestern News Network and also served as an executive producer, reporter and anchor. He held leadership roles at Northwestern Hillel and in the Medill Undergraduate Student Advisory Council.

Chelsea Zhao (MSJ23)

Chelsea Zhao (MSJ23), a journalism masters student in the health, environment and science specialization, is the 2023 Medill convocation graduate student speaker. Zhao was a Medill Student Ambassador and a member of both the Chicago Journalists Association and Asian American Journalists Association. She was a member of the first cohort of Chicago Reader’s Racial Justice Writer’s Cohort and a freelance contributor to many publications including South Side Weekly, Cicero Independiente and Chicago Health.

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation today announced investments in Block Club Chicago, Capitol News Illinois, Injustice Watch, and Medill. These investments complement the Foundation’s investment in the Illinois Solutions Partnership, formed with the Better Government Association and announced in 2021.

Together, these commitments to strengthening and scaling impactful reporting in Chicago and Illinois are intended to increase government transparency, enhance accountability of decision-makers to their constituents, and ensure public investments are creating and supporting opportunities for all, especially Chicago’s South and West Side residents.

McCormick Foundation grants to Block Club Chicago and Injustice Watch will support more robust investigative reporting on persistent challenges disinvested communities face and the promising efforts many are leading, in Chicago and elsewhere, to create thriving communities. Springfield-made decisions, from education spending to public safety policy, play a pivotal role in Chicago’s communities, but the attrition in statehouse reporting means these political transactions often go unexamined and remain outside the public eye. The grant to Capitol News Illinois will help a promising three-year-old outlet scale to meet the need for greater scrutiny in Springfield.

To ensure these funds drive long-term change, the grants include support for both editorial and business operations at Block Club Chicago, Capitol News Illinois, and Injustice Watch to help these outlets implement sustainability plans that will see them augment and diversify their revenue streams to support continued editorial growth and impact.

Medill, which is already supporting several local news outlets, will be able to expand its support for local media with the new grant from McCormick and provide a range of business analytics, market research, and expert advice to help outlets sustainably scale and serve the Chicago region’s residents.

“Chicago is fortunate to have one of the most dynamic and innovative networks of nonprofit news organizations in the country,” said Timothy P. Knight, the McCormick Foundation’s President and CEO. “All of these organizations have a history of collaborating closely with others, and several of these organizations currently collaborate with each other on a range of editorial, promotional, and operational initiatives. The simultaneous investment in each of these organizations, together with our investment in the Illinois Solutions Partnership, is intended to promote and strengthen collaboration and recognize the strong, complementary skills each of these organizations brings to Chicago and Illinois media.”

Block Club Chicago will receive $1.6M over three years to build a six-person investigative team and deepen its coverage of Chicago’s South and West Sides. Launched in 2018, the nonprofit newsroom delivers daily nonpartisan coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods. Its more than a dozen reporters embedded in neighborhoods across the city provide residents continual insights on economic, political, and social developments in their communities. The new investigative team will complement Block Club’s existing daily news team and be positioned to act on tips and pursue longer-lead, high impact stories to improve government transparency and accountability.

“When reporters are embedded in the communities they cover, they’re able to report with context, respect, and deep knowledge instead of parachuting in. Block Club’s reporters have proved time and again that our ground-level approach builds trust with readers, leads to news that is more responsive to the community’s needs and offers a more accurate portrayal of our neighborhoods,” said Stephanie Lulay, Executive Editor and Co-founder of Block Club Chicago. “Thanks to the incredible support of the McCormick Foundation, we’re excited to give Chicago neighborhoods the dedicated investigative coverage they deserve.”

Injustice Watch will receive $1.5M over three years to grow its editorial capacity and expand its audience and revenue building efforts. The outlet is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism organization that focuses on issues of equity and justice in the courts, especially in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The outlet’s public service journalism is bringing needed awareness and transparency to court proceedings and judicial elections, while engaging community members in the process. The outlet’s three-year strategic growth plan will add investigative reporters and editors, alongside an audience and fundraising team to increase in-person and digital engagement and grow the outlet’s readership and supporter base.

“The McCormick Foundation’s grant to Injustice Watch will enable the organization to amplify its impact,” said Juliet Sorensen, executive director of Injustice Watch. “Our research-driven, human-centered approach to systemic issues will reach more community members and inform and engage them in the process. We are honored by this investment in our future.”

Capitol News Illinois will receive $2M over three years to expand its editorial capacity and add more investigative and Chicago-based reporting. Importantly, the outlet will also hire its first full-time fundraising position and start to build a team to diversify its revenue. It will also add broadcast journalists to their reporting team in 2023 in a partnership with the Illinois Broadcasters Association. Capitol News Illinois (CNI) is a nonprofit news service that covers state government daily for newspapers statewide. Launched in 2019, its stories have been published more than 70,000 times in 460 daily and nondaily newspapers statewide. Since its launch, the news service has added a daily newsletter and a podcast and last year launched a partnership with Illinois Public Radio stations.

“Our news service has had a big impact in its first 3-plus years in the state’s print media because of the initial investments made by the McCormick Foundation and the Illinois Press Foundation,” said Jeff Rogers, director of the IPF, which operates Capitol News Illinois. Rogers is also editor of Capitol News Illinois.

“We are excited about the significant next steps our news service will be able to take with this investment from McCormick. We look forward to greatly expanding our funding base and business operations, extending our audience into TV and radio, and growing our reporting team in the next three years. We’re also looking forward to being a part of a collaborative investigative journalism powerhouse McCormick is fostering with these grants.”

Medill will receive $2.4M over three years to launch the Medill Local News Accelerator, a program to spur innovation and improve long-term sustainability of independent Chicago news organizations. The Accelerator will grow audience engagement; spur revenue growth through digital subscriptions, memberships, sponsorships, and other diversified income streams; and create strategies for long-term self-sustainability of Chicago news organizations. Additionally, Northwestern will launch a new, immersive media leadership training program. Faculty experts from Medill and the Kellogg School of Management, along with media thought leaders outside the university, will provide in-depth training for Chicago media leaders to help give them the tools they need to better manage their news outlets for long-term sustainability.

“We are honored that the McCormick Foundation has chosen to invest in our efforts to help bolster outlets in the Chicago media ecosystem,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “We look forward to partnering with a wide swath of local news organizations to help them chart paths that will lead to their long-term viability and the continued production of robust journalism for our communities.”

About the Robert R. McCormick Foundation

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation envisions a Chicagoland with educated and informed individuals who are engaged in improving their communities. The Foundation invests in organizations working to build thriving communities where all individuals have the resources and opportunities to succeed without regard to income, race, ethnicity, gender, or ZIP code. Established in 1955 upon the death of Col. Robert R. McCormick, longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, the McCormick Foundation has issued grants of approximately $1.9 billion. The Foundation’s Board also oversees Cantigny, Col. McCormick’s 500-acre estate in Wheaton, Illinois, which encompasses a park, formal gardens, a museum dedicated to the 1st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, and a 27-hole public golf facility. Learn more at mccormickfoundation.org, cantigny.org, fdmuseum.org, and cantignygolf.com.

About Block Club

Block Club Chicago is a nonprofit, reader-funded newsroom delivering nonpartisan and essential coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods. Our newsroom was founded in 2018 by former DNAinfo Chicago editors and reporters after the award-winning site abruptly shuttered. In four years, Block Club has transformed from scrappy startup to one of the most read news organizations in Chicago by being responsive to the city’s neighborhoods, publishing more than a dozen stories daily from every corner of the city and informing Chicagoans through our free newsletter, “It’s All Good” podcast, “On The Block” TV show and COVID-19 hotline. In the last year alone, Block Club has been named Editor & Publisher’s Best News Site, LION’s Publisher of the Year, INN’s Community Champion of the Year and we are proudly home to Chicago’s Journalist of the Year.

About Capitol News Illinois

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit news service operated by the Illinois Press Foundation that has provided free, unbiased daily coverage of state government to newspapers throughout Illinois since 2019. In 2023, it will extend that coverage into broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Illinois Press Foundation and Illinois Broadcasters Association, as well as individual donors.

About Injustice Watch

Injustice Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism organization that focuses on issues of equity and justice in the courts. Our goal is to listen to and center people impacted by institutional injustices and provide them with the perspectives, information, and resources needed to hold powerful people and oppressive systems accountable. We do this through our public-service journalism (such as our Cook County judicial election guides); innovative investigative reporting (such as The Circuit, our ongoing collaborative investigation examining decades of Cook County court data); and intentional audience engagement and community-building. Learn more about our work at www.injusticewatch.org.

About Medill

For more than 100 years, Medill has trained the world’s best storytellers. Whether they are journalists who record the first draft of history or marketers blending data with creativity, Medill students and alumni craft the narratives of the events, people and brands that populate and animate our world. Medill’s hands-on learning programs are matched with innovative research and thought leadership. Learn more at medill.northwestern.edu.

By Jenna Wang, BSJ24
Originally published on Aug. 8 in the Daily Northwestern
Photo by Russell Leung (BSJ24) for The Daily Northwestern

When Medill freshman Angela Zhang finished her first year of college, she had all the journalism fundamentals under her belt. Without professional experience, though, she said she didn’t know what pathways to explore.

Spending the summer in Los Angeles provided the convenient opportunity to attend the Asian American Journalists Association’s first in-person national convention in three years from July 27-30, which centered around the theme “Owning Our Narratives.”

“After my first year in Medill, I was in somewhat of a black hole,” Zhang said. “I wrote this down for myself: ‘My goal here isn’t necessarily to force any interactions, but to let my curiosity take me wherever it does.’”

Zhang was one of several Medill students who attended journalism conventions for various professional affinity groups this summer. The conventions provided journalists of all levels with opportunities like workshops, panels, career development and networking in a variety of journalism specializations.

Zhang said one panel that stood out to her was “The Racism Virus: The Next Stage in the Fight Against AAPI Hate.”

She said she learned that despite the standard of objectivity in journalism, Asian American journalists could still retain their humanity and have an opinion — especially when healing from trauma.

“You look around and see journalists of so many different histories, of so many different identities, but at the same time, all connected into this space and into the questions that the panelists were being asked,” Zhang said. “It was a really powerful moment.”

Medill junior Julia Richardson spent the beginning of August attending the joint National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists National Convention and Career Fair in Las Vegas, which was centered around the theme “Changing the Game.”

She said she enjoyed networking and attending workshops about broadcast journalism.

“It was cool to see people that I’ve been watching on TV for so long, even people that I kind of know but (haven’t) really had a chance to talk to, or mutuals through social media,” Richardson said. “The camaraderie was really special.”

As she hopes to pursue broadcast journalism in a local market, she said she appreciated the panelists’ honesty about navigating the field as a woman of color.

Being in a space with people who looked like her and spoke honestly about their career paths allowed her to learn about the realities of what she could face later on, she said.

“Being a person of color, you don’t always go into newsrooms and see a ton of people that look like you,” Richardson said. “It was really cool to look around and see that so many people like me want to do the same things and have the same goals.”

Medill sophomore Brendan Le said having a space where journalists of color could feel comfortable is one reason the NU student chapter of AAJA, Asian American Student Journalists, was created.

Since the chapter’s revitalization in Spring Quarter, Le said he and the executive board promoted AAJA’s convention as an opportunity for students to meet other Asian American journalists in the industry.

“The idea came from a lack of space for Asian American journalists to have a discussion about journalism from their perspective,” Le said. “In classes, we often are so limited in what we can talk about, especially in terms of the identity of journalism and how being Asian American plays into our coverage and events that involve us.”

Richardson said after the convention, she spent time reflecting and decompressing on everything she had learned.

Though this year’s convention felt more low-stakes as a rising senior, she said next year might be a different story.

“Hopefully, knocking on wood, I’ll have a job by this time next year,” Richardson said. “(The convention) felt more like a good training ground for what’s to come.”

Zhang said she believes she has a better idea of the journalistic avenues she wants to explore, like the intersection of data visualization and art.

Her biggest takeaway is to pursue what speaks to her heart — something she said she wants to continue to nurture during her time at NU and share as an upcoming peer advisor.

“One thing I realized is that it is possible as an Asian American in this field to venture on and be your own director and own your narrative,” Zhang said. “I want to share this spirit with other students and other people who might share some of the identities I have or might not, and that in itself is part of what I think storytelling really is.”

Through funding provided by Medill and Reuters, Walker will receive tuition support for the 2022-2023 academic year. She also will complete a summer internship at Reuters in New York and have opportunities to be mentored by editors from the news agency throughout her studies at Medill.

Walker will pursue her Master of Science in Journalism at Medill with a specialization in Social Justice. She is a recent alumna of Virginia Commonwealth University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Bachelor of Science in mass communications.

“I know that my journalistic potential is boundless, and I’m ready to absorb the plethora of teachings and opportunities Reuters and Medill have to offer,” said Walker. “I know my guiding purpose is to serve my community and I’m thrilled to take on the challenges of this next step in my pursuit of holding truth to power.”

Before arriving at Medill this fall, Walker will spend the summer as a news intern for Bloomberg News. Previously, she was an NABJ fellow for “Meet the Press with Chuck Todd” and an intern at the Globe Post. Walker has bylines in the Washington Post, the Associated Press, the Guardian UK and more.

During her previous studies, she reported on the Virginia General Assembly for VCU’s Capital News Service. She was also director of communications for VCU’s chapter of NABJ and social media director for its chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists. She won two VCU Black History in the Making Awards.

“We’re delighted to have the opportunity to support Josephine as she takes the next step in her promising journalism career,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Reuters and NABJ and believe this type of fellowship serves the industry, Medill and students well.”

“These scholarships allow Reuters to support the next generation of journalists and create a more diverse and inclusive news industry. It has never been more crucial that news organizations reflect the world they cover, and we are deeply committed to helping create a diverse field of journalism that benefits our own news industry,” said Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni.

Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications welcomes six inductees into its Hall of Achievement for 2022. The distinction honors alumni whose careers have had positive effects on their fields.

“The Medill Hall of Achievement class this year reflects the breadth of Medill’s influence through many industries including media but also well beyond it,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “These exemplary alumni demonstrate that a Medill education can take you anywhere and give you the opportunity to do anything.”

Juan Cappello (MSJ66)

Juan C. Cappello’s work as a journalist and strategic communications executive has been recognized by professional and civic organizations in the U.S. and overseas. Early in his career, Cappello received the Inter American Press Association Award for Young Journalists. In the field of strategic communications, he was the senior vice president, corporate affairs/marketing for ITT Corporation for almost two decades – the first Latin-born top corporate officer at a U.S.-based Fortune 500 company. Before founding his own strategic communications consulting firm in 2009, Cappello was president and partner of Hill & Knowlton in Latin America. He has been recognized by nongovernmental organizations and international groups, and he has also received official decorations from the governments of Austria, France and Chile, after its return to democracy in the 1990s, for his participation in human rights and cultural initiatives.

Melissa Grady Dias (IMC98)

Melissa Grady Dias was appointed global chief marketing officer of Cadillac in September 2019. As CMO, Grady Dias leads strategic marketing for the Cadillac brand around the world. Recently, Grady Dias was recognized by Forbes as one of “The 50 Most Influential CMOs in the World.” Prior to joining Cadillac, she was senior vice president of performance marketing, digital and e-commerce of Jackson Hewitt, where she was responsible for all demand driving activities including television and jacksonhewitt.com as well as the implementation of a hyper-local digital media program across several thousand locations. Before Jackson Hewitt, Grady Dias led digital acquisition on the global marketing team at MetLife where she led digital strategy for the U.S. market and acquisition programs for several lines of business, resulting in large year-over-year growth, and managed metrics plans and insights across all key global markets. Prior to MetLife, Grady Dias led the global analytics, e-commerce marketing, and CRM teams at Motorola.

Clinton Kelly (MSJ93)

Clinton Kelly co-hosted TLC’s wildly popular makeover show “What Not to Wear” for 10 years, and for seven he moderated ABC’s daytime talk show “The Chew,” for which he won an Emmy. He has also been regularly featured on HGTV and Food Network. A former magazine editor (Marie Claire, Mademoiselle and others) and freelance writer, Kelly has authored several books, including the critically acclaimed “I Hate Everyone, Except You,” a collection of humorous personal essays. In 2020 Kelly took a break from television to focus on his writing, working with personal styling clients and hosting regular Style Esteem workshops, through which he helps people evaluate their wardrobes to fine tune their nonverbal messaging.

Mike McGrew (IMC97)

Mike McGrew assumed the role of executive vice president, chief communications, CSR & diversity officer for Constellation Brands in April 2020. In this role, he leads a team responsible for developing and executing the company’s corporate communications, investor relations, corporate social responsibility, and diversity, equity and inclusion strategies designed to enhance the company’s reputation with key stakeholders and advance the company’s business strategy. Prior to joining Constellation Brands, McGrew held various roles with increasing responsibility at Grainger, then a $9B global provider of industrial supplies and equipment. Prior to joining Grainger, he worked in corporate communications for Alliant Foodservice (one of the nation’s largest, privately held broad-line foodservice distributors) and Morton International (a leading manufacturer of salt and specialty chemical products). McGrew received his bachelor’s degree in organizational studies from the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern.

Stephanie Mehta (MSJ92)

Stephanie Mehta is CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures, the business media company that publishes Fast Company and Inc. She previously spent nearly four years as editor-in-chief of Fast Company, overseeing its print, digital and live journalism. Mehta has held senior writing and editing positions at Vanity Fair, Fortune, Bloomberg Media and The Wall Street Journal. She received a BA in English from Northwestern and her MSJ from Medill. A Chicago-area native, she now lives with her husband and two daughters in Scarsdale, New York.

Michael Paul Williams (MSJ81)

Michael Paul Williams is a Pulitzer Prize-winning metro columnist whose opinion pieces appear on the Op-Ed page of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. In 2021, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary “for penetrating and historically insightful columns that guided Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy, through the painful and complicated process of dismantling the city’s monuments to white supremacy.” Williams, a Richmond native, is a graduate of Virginia Union University and Medill. He won Virginia Press Association awards for column writing in 1992, 1994, 2007 and 2014. During 1999-2000, he was one of 24 U.S. and international journalists awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University.

Medill will honor the 2022 Hall of Achievement classes on May 19 in Chicago.