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Sheila Lorelle Jack (MSJ85)

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date November 28, 2023
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Sheila Lorelle Jack was born May 26, 1953 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as the youngest child to the late Robert D. Jack, Sr., and the late Alberta V. Jack Scott. She was a beautiful, intelligent social butterfly, sincerely loved by her family and many dear friends. Her innate desire for knowledge led her to pursue an impressive career that allowed her to work in a variety of sectors including government, academia, and nonprofit. Sheila’s achievements included being a college lecturer, seasoned communications director, and Emmy award-winning producer.

Sheila was educated in Harrisburg public schools and graduated with honors from John Harris Senior High School. She chose to attend Spelman College where she joined the lifelong sisterhood of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. before graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English. Sheila continued her education at the University of Michigan, earning a master’s in urban planning with a concentration in housing and real estate.

Years later, she returned to her English educational roots and earned a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University. She flourished in the communications field and worked at WUSA TV Channel 9, Washington, DC as a news Associate Producer and Public Affairs Producer; Reporter for WHMT Channel 17, Albany, NY; Press Secretary, New York City Human Resources Administration, New York, NY; National Director, Media and Press Relations for the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, White Plains, NY; Deputy Director of Marketing and Communications, Mayor Bill Campbell’s administration, Atlanta, GA; Director of Communications and Special Assistant to the President, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA; Associate Director, Diversity Outreach, Alzheimer’s Association, Chicago, IL; Media Specialist, United States Census Bureau, Atlanta, GA; Communications Consultant, Cascade United Methodist Church, Atlanta, GA.

Sheila’s tenacity and hard work was recognized when she was awarded two Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences – Washington, DC Chapter for Outstanding Program Achievement for, “Alzheimer’s: The Painful Enigma” and “Deaf Rights Now!” Additionally, she received nine Emmy nominations in that market between 1985 and 1989.

Sheila volunteered and participated in several organizations including The Junior League; Leadership New York (1992-1993); National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); Atlanta Association of Black Journalists (AABJ); and East Point/College Park Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.

Sheila was a loyal, proud, and active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She valued the friendships of her Delta Sisters, attended national conventions, regional conferences, local chapter events, and get-togethers with her line sisters. Sheila touched the lives of many people with her innate ability to engage in interesting conversations which could range from discussing politics to reality TV. She also just loved having a good chat.

Sheila always expressed her love to her close-knit family and enjoyed family get-togethers. She is survived by her sisters, Barbara A. Freeland of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Gloria E. Jack of Fairburn, Georgia, as well as her brothers, Wayne S. Jack of Atlanta, Georgia and Michael S. Jack of College Park, Georgia. Also surviving are six nieces, three nephews, six great-nieces, four great-nephews, one great-great-nephew, and a host of cherished cousins. Sheila’s two oldest brothers, Robert D. Jack, Jr., and Lawrence E. Jack preceded her in transitioning into eternal life.

https://obits.pennlive.com/us/obituaries/pennlive/name/sheila-jack-obituary?id=53683980

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Medill welcomes new faculty for 2023-24 academic year

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date October 10, 2023
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New faculty members include:

Rayvon Fouché will serve as a professor of journalism at Medill with a dual appointment at Northwestern’s School of Communications. Fouché joins Medill from Purdue University where he was the director of the American Studies program. He has authored or edited three books exploring the multiple intersections and relationships between cultural representation, racial identification, and technological design. Fouché has received numerous grants and awards, including those from the Illinois Informatics Institute, National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Fouché received a BA in Humanities from the University of Illinois, a PhD from Cornell University in the interdisciplinary field of Science & Technology Studies, and completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in African and African-American Studies at Washington University.

Fouché’s role will be with a PhD program that is a partnership of Medill, the School of Communication and the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. The Rhetoric, Media, and Publics program represents an innovative interdisciplinary collaboration across Northwestern to train future generations of scholars and public intellectuals to address pressing societal issues at the intersections of communication, politics, ethics and journalistic discourse.

A Medill alumna, Carolyn Tang Kmet (MSJ96) will serve as an associate professor of integrated marketing communications at Medill. Tang Kmet joins Medill from the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago, where she taught courses in both marketing and information systems. Her research interests include leveraging geospatial information platforms to connect local needs with local resources. Her efforts helped alleviate the personal protective equipment shortage for health care entities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and provided a prototype by which impoverished communities could independently maximize resources. Prior to this role, she was the CMO with All Inclusive Marketing, a full-service e-commerce agency that provides analytics, marketing and site optimization services for clients such as Southwest Vacations, Julep, and Fire Mountain Gems. Tang Kmet was also the director of affiliate marketing for Groupon, where she helped shape global affiliate marketing strategy. Tang Kmet holds an MBA from Loyola University Chicago, an MSJ from Medill, and a BA from University of California, Berkeley.

Kathy LaTour will serve as a professor in integrated marketing communications. LaTour’s research takes a consumer psychological perspective toward how marketers should approach branding, experience design, communications and loyalty programs. She uses both experimental designs and in-depth interview techniques to better understand consumer behavior. Her major research focus has been on the complexity of human memory. LaTour has been involved with many industry-related projects including consulting with Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Disney and the World Bank.

James Lee joins Medill as an associate professor of journalism with a dual appointment at Northwestern Libraries, serving as an associate university librarian for Academic Innovation. Prior to these roles, Lee was the associate vice provost for digital scholarship and associate dean of libraries at the University of Cincinnati. He also was the director of the Digital Scholarship Center and was associate professor of Digital Humanities. Lee’s research and teaching focus on the areas of digital humanities, machine learning and text mining techniques on historical archives, social network analysis, and data visualization. His research also investigates ways to visualize the results of machine learning algorithms in a human-interpretable way that enables non-technical audiences to glean useful information from the data.

Rafael Matos will serve as a lecturer in integrated marketing communications. His work explores the intersectionality of identities through the use of personal narrative. His research interests bring together corporate communications, cultural studies and technology. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern California, and a PhD in Communication Media and Instructional Technology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is the research chair for the Minorities and Communication Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), vice chair of research and scholarship for the Coalition on Men and Masculinities. He is a facilitator and keynote speaker with CAMPUSPEAK.

Ryan Reis is a lecturer in integrated marketing communications. He has helped to build and reinvigorate some of the world’s most recognizable brands. As vice president of marketing at MillerCoors, he led turn-arounds on the company’s two largest brands, Miller Lite and Coors Light. He was previously vice president of field marketing, leading the extensive local marketing team that leverages sports and entertainment properties, media partnerships, and the brewery tour center. As a sales team leader, he won Supplier of the Year honors from Rite Aid. Prior to MillerCoors, Reis worked in brand management and insights for Unilever on some of their largest U.S. brands, such as Suave and Axe. He was a managing consultant for Zyman Group, led by the former CMO of Coca-Cola, for engagements on ConAgra and Nationwide. He began his career working for Nielsen as an onsite consultant at General Mills.

Jeffrey W. Treem will be a professor of Integrated Marketing Communications. His research examines ways that digital technologies alter the visibility of communication in organizational contexts. This scholarship addresses the increased digitalization and datafication of work and the ways these changes transform processes such as employee surveillance, knowledge sharing, and collaboration. His research appears in publications such as Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Human Communication Research, and the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. He holds a BS in Communication Studies from Northwestern, an MA in Strategic Public Relations from the University of Southern California, and a PhD in Media, Technology, and Society from Northwestern.

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New Medill survey shows higher-than-expected news engagement among young people

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date October 10, 2023
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An oft-cited factor in the continued struggles of traditional news outlets has been the sense that young people are disengaged from the news. But the News Socialization Study, a new survey commissioned by Medill reveals that teenagers may be keeping up with current events more than previously thought.

“The survey found more engagement with news among teens than we were expecting,” says Stephanie Edgerly, professor and Associate Dean for Research at Medill. Edgerly oversaw the survey, which was conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. “We found that 29% of teens said they encounter news daily. That’s encouraging.”

Paula Poindexter, professor at the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin, shares Edgerly’s positive reading of the survey results, though she says she would like to see those numbers grow.

“The daily engagement numbers in the survey were higher than I would have expected,” says Poindexter, author of “Millennials, News and Social Media: Is News Engagement a Thing of the Past?” “That’s a good thing, but there’s certainly an opportunity for teens to become even more engaged.”

Older teens (16 to 17 years old) showed slightly higher engagement levels than younger teens (13 to 15 years old). This finding may seem logical given that the college application process and eligibility to vote may trigger increased interest in national events.

More surprising may be the relatively robust consumption of local and network TV news among teens. The survey found that 46% of teens saw local TV news daily or weekly, while 42% encountered national network TV news daily or weekly. The numbers were lower for cable, sports and entertainment news as well as for news-related satire/comedy shows.

“It’s important to keep in mind that when we refer to TV news, we aren’t necessarily referring to watching a big box in your living room,” Edgerly says. “Teens may also encounter TV news on their phones and laptops. But there seems to be an accessibility to TV news that appeals to them.”

Poindexter adds a note of caution: “Regarding the survey’s TV news numbers, what’s not clear is whether teens deliberately turned on TV news or they encountered it because their parents were watching it,” she says. “We should keep that in mind.”

The survey also shows the continued influence of social media on teen news consumption. Roughly a quarter of all surveyed teens said they engaged with news on YouTube (37%), TikTok (35%) or Instagram (33%) on a daily or weekly basis, though the sources of that news remain in question.

“We have a much clearer idea of the sources of news teens are seeing on local and national TV outlets,” Edgerly says. “We have a less clear idea of the sources behind what they see on YouTube and TikTok. Those are more of a black box at this point.”

No surprise, the survey shows that teen engagement with newspapers is low. Only 5% of teens said they encountered news through local or national newspapers on a daily basis. The numbers were somewhat higher for weekly news encounters in local newspapers (18%) and national newspapers (13%). Given that the survey does not specify “print” when referring to newspapers, these low numbers may reflect minimal newspaper engagement even when considering digital formats.

“I think this poses some very important questions for newspaper organizations,” Edgerly says. “What is their strategy for trying to engage this younger group? They should be thinking about that now. Waiting until teens are in their 20s or 30s will be too late.”

The survey also explores the inclusion of news in school curricula.

When asked what kind of classroom news-related activities they engaged in at least once in the past year, 75% of the surveyed teens said they discussed news stories in class, and 62% followed news as part of a class assignment. Another 59% said they discussed how to tell whether information can be trusted.

“These findings are really, really important, especially at this moment in time,” Poindexter says. “It’s encouraging that schools are still bringing news into the classroom and even assessing its quality.”

At the same time, only 44% of teens said they “created a news story about an issue or event as part of a class assignment,” and only 31% said they learned about the job of a reporter in class. So Edgerly detects a discrepancy between news discussion and hands-on activities in schools.

Although Edgerly says she is pleased with how the new survey provides a window into teen news engagement, she acknowledges the need for further research.

“This survey provides a snapshot of how U.S. teens are engaging with news, and we don’t often get data this level of detail from a large national sample of U.S. teens,” she says. “It’s great in helping clarify trends.

“But there is still more to understand, particularly in terms of what is happening online and in social media spaces. We have much more to learn about what it means to have YouTube or Instagram be a teen’s door into news. Those spaces invite many more questions than answers at this point.”

The survey was funded by a grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation as part of its support for Medill’s Local News Initiative and its Metro Media Lab project.

The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago surveyed 1,507 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 from March 10 to April 26, 2023.

The survey used a mixture of probability and nonprobability sampling. Quotas used for the nonprobability sample: race/ethnicity, age, parent education, binary gender.

The survey was a mixture of phone and web survey methods.

Overall data is weighted to be representative in terms of age, gender, region, race/ethnicity, parent education, using TrueNorth Calibration methodology.

Survey margin of error was +/- 6.43%.

For this survey “news” was defined as stories about current events and public issues that come from media organizations. Examples include newspapers, television, podcasts, news programs and news websites. Sources may also include social media posts on platforms such as YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram.

For research graphs in this story, visit: https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/posts/2023/09/06/medill-teen-news-engagement-survey/index.html

Article image by Annie Spratt used under Unsplash license (Unsplash)

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New Dual Degree Combines Journalism with Social Policy

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date October 10, 2023
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In response to a rapidly changing journalism industry, Northwestern University has launched a new five-year dual degree program between the School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) and Medill.

The new offering allows undergraduates to learn journalistic skills in the context of education and social policy, ultimately earning degrees from both schools. Since SESP and Medill prioritize experiential learning, students can choose between Medill’s Journalism Residency or a traditional SESP practicum during their third year in the program.

A community workshop component lets them share what they’ve learned with each other in a participatory and interactive environment, facilitated by experts from both schools.

“Over the last five years, several students have sought an opportunity to match their interest in journalism with their interest in education or social policy,” Medill Dean Charles Whitaker said. “We see many connections in these fields, and we are delighted to be able to provide students with a formal path to pursue these interests.”

The dual degree, which fulfills the requirements of both schools, will help students learn how to use media as a tool for creating change in learning environments, human relationships, organizations, and for social policy movements.

It is designed to prepare students for a wide variety of careers, and targets those who hope to make an impact in the world through communication, policy analysis, and reporting skills.

“Some of them, for example, may be interested in being science writers,” said psychologist and learning scientist David Rapp, the Walter Dill Scott Professor and director of undergraduate education at SESP.

“How do they convey the accuracy of a vaccination procedure to communities who might not be amenable to it?” Rapp said. “If students opt to serve in a role where they need to testify in front of the government, how do they provide evidence in accessible terms to folks who might not be scientists? The dual degree would support that.”

Rapp, who studies fake news and how to overcome it, said joint courses will eventually be offered. “Our students want to know how they can take what they’re learning about individuals and communities and make change in real world settings by addressing real world issues,” he said.

Students would earn a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and a Bachelor of Science in Education and Social Policy. In addition to social policy, they can select any of SESP’s undergraduate concentrations, including elementary and secondary teaching, learning and organizational change, learning sciences, and human development in context.

Undergraduate applicants can apply to the dual-degree program when they apply for admission to Northwestern, and current students can follow the process through the Registrar’s Office to request to add an additional bachelor’s program. All students in the program would complete all requirements for both degrees.

“Fundamentally, the School of Education and Social Policy prepares leaders,” said SESP Dean Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy. “Many come to us with this drive and they’re interested in community and relationships. Our job is to create the conditions for students to lead whatever lives they wish, and the new dual degree program with Medill is another piece of that.”

To learn more, contact:

Ian Williams at the School of Education and Social Policy
Daniel MacKenzie at Medill

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Award from Medill, NAHJ recognizes outstanding reporting on Hispanic and Latinx communities

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date August 21, 2023
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Daniel Alarcón is the recipient of the 2023 Cecilia Vaisman Award from Medill and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Alarcón is the executive producer of Radio Ambulante Studios, where he oversees a team of more than 30 producers, editors, reporters, fact-checkers and sound designers living across Latin America, as they produce two podcasts, Radio Ambulante and El hilo. There are more than 200 episodes of Radio Ambulante produced in more than 20 countries. Alarcón also writes about Latin America for The New Yorker and teaches at the Columbia Journalism School.

The Vaisman award honors an individual working in audio or video journalism who works every day to shed light on the various issues affecting Hispanic and Latinx communities inside and outside the United States and is an active member of the NAHJ. It is given jointly by NAJH and Medill and includes a $5,000 cash prize. The award is named for Medill faculty member Cecilia Vaisman who died in 2015.

“Daniel Alarcón has been at the forefront of groundbreaking storytelling for the Latinx community,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “He helped bring long-form narrative radio journalism to Latin America with the start of his Spanish language podcast, Radio Ambulante. I am honored to present him with the 2023 Cecilia Vaisman Award.”

Alarcón’s nomination was reviewed and selected by a jury of Medill and NAHJ representatives, including members of the NAHJ Chicago chapter. The award criteria was determined by the jury.

“I had the honor of meeting Cecilia, and in addition to being a wonderful journalist, she was kind and generous and committed to passing on her knowledge to others,” said Alarcón. “She was a great friend to Radio Ambulante in our early years, and to be recognized with an award given in her memory is a great honor.”

Alarcón’s journalism has covered a variety of topics, including the rise of the new nationalist left, the book piracy industry, and the emerging democracy inside Lurigancho, Lima’s most notorious prison. His work has been published in a variety of outlets, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, New York Times Magazine, Wired, Granta, McSweeney’s and The Believer. Alarcón has been published in the New Yorker for the past 20 years.

“I am thrilled to congratulate Daniel Alarcón on his well-deserved Cecilia Vaisman Award,” said NAHJ National President Yvette Cabrera. “Daniel is a brilliant writer and storyteller, and his work has had a profound impact on the way we understand Latin America. His ability to understand his audiences is truly a gift. I am grateful for his contributions to journalism, and I look forward to reading his work for many years to come. Congratulations Daniel!”

Alarcón has won several awards in journalism, including the 2021 MacArthur Fellowship, 2022 Maria Moors Cabot Award, and the 2022 Cabot Prize for Latin American Journalism.

Alarcón’s work will be highlighted during an award ceremony hosted by Medill on Monday, October 3, 5:30-6:30 CT, in partnership with NAHJ

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Hank DeZutter (MSJ65)

He had the street-smarts of a newsman, the whimsey of a jazz-loving poet, and a reformer’s distaste for all things unjust. Hank DeZutter, 80, died July 14, 2023, of a brain bleed after a fall days earlier in the Lincoln Park apartment he shared with wife Barbara. Hank covered protests and political unrest during the late 60s for the Chicago Daily News, winning awards including one for exposing FBI spying on activists at the U. of Illinois.

He helped launch the Chicago Journalism Review in response to the overly pro-police slant editors gave to violence during the ’68 Democratic Convention. Hank went on to teach writing and journalism at city colleges and Columbia in the South Loop. There he helped found Community Media Workshop, a program to help neighborhood groups get better press. Meantime, he wrote for the Chicago Reader on neighborhood issues, including a 1995 front-pager on a then-unknown Barack Obama. In spare time, he wrote books, spun poetry for the Chicago Journal, played boogie piano, and made impossibly long golf putts.

Surviving are wife Barbara Belletini Fields; her daughters Jayne Mattson and Ana Boyer Davis; sons Max (Sarah), Chris, and daughter Amanda Kotlyar (Simon); stepson Agward “Eddie” Turner; sisters Joyce (Ronnie) Mooneyham and Wendy (Steve) Callahan; and five grandchildren. Predeceased by mother Evelyn (née Dammer) and father Henri DeZutter. Gifts to Courage to Fight Gun Violence, Box 51196, Wash., DC 20091, or https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/

Featured image courtesy of Block Club Chicago.

Block Club Chicago article about the legacy of Hank DeZutter.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/henry-dezutter-obituary?id=35954608

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Deborah H. Quirk (MSJ74)

Deborah “Deb” Hardin Quirk passed away at her home in Hastings, Nebraska, on June 19, 2023. She was 72.

Deb was born in Hastings on July 30, 1950, to Bob and Marge Hardin. She graduated from Hastings High School in 1968. While in high school, she hosted her own radio show on KHAS Radio and was the youngest person in Hastings to earn a radio engineers license. She also worked in the announcer’s booth for American Legion Baseball games at Duncan Field.

Deb went on to the University of Denver where she earned Phi Beta Kappa honors and a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications in 1972. She then earned a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Medill. While at DU, she reactivated the Kappa Delta Sorority chapter and later served as an alumni advisor to the chapter at Northwestern.

Deb returned to Hastings in 1973 to serve as the Development Director for Central Community College in Hastings and later as the Communications Director for the Central Community College system in Grand Island.

She was passionate about serving the community. She served two terms on the Adams Central School Board and took pride in her work as the chair of the building committee during the planning and construction of the new gymnasium in the early 2000s. She also served on the Hastings Planning Commission. She was a long-time member of Business and Professional Women, and served a term as the statewide President. She was also a member of the Fortnightly Study Group and the Torch Club.

Linked to her dedication to public service was her lifelong engagement with politics. In 1976, Deb was working on a local city council campaign when her oldest sister, Penny, suggested she seek advice from John Quirk, who was volunteering on Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign. She did. Their candidates both won election, and they both remained involved in politics throughout their lives, with Deb serving as State Chair of the Democratic Party in the mid-1990s. Just two days before she passed, Deb attended one final meeting of local Democrats in Hastings.

More importantly, politics brought Deb and John together for a lifelong partnership. They were engaged July 7, 1977, (7/7/77) and married on New Year’s Eve that year. Their son, Andrew Robert “Rob,” was born in 1985. For more than 40 years, Deb worked alongside John at Quirk Land & Cattle Co., first maintaining the cattle records and ultimately as the office manager.

Deb was an avid golfer. She served on the Lochland Country Club board and was a leader in the women’s golf association where she served as a tireless advocate for women’s golf. Deb was a dedicated fan of all sports — particularly football and any women’s sport. On Saturdays and Sundays throughout the fall, she could always be found watching a game, especially the Huskers on Saturday and the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Survivors include her son Andrew Robert “Rob” Quirk of Brooklyn, New York; her sister, Su (Hardin) Ryden, and her husband, Jerome Ryden, of Aurora, Colorado; a brother, Mike Hardin, and his wife, Margaret Hardin, of Aurora, Colorado; a sister-in-law, Mary Quirk, and her husband, Jim Anderson, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Penny Hardin; and her husband, John Quirk.

https://theindependent.com/news/local/obituaries/deborah-deb-hardin-quirk/article_5f1f3065-f9f5-5341-99ce-2b09b3fcbda9.html

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Mariana Alfaro (BSJ18, MSJ18): Politics Breaking News Reporter at The Washington Post

Post author By Rafaela Jinich
Post date May 24, 2023
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What is your current role and what are your main responsibilities?

I’m currently a politics breaking news reporter at The Washington Post. My main responsibility is covering all the breaking news in politics, whether it’s in the White House, Congress, or campaign events. I work with a team of four reporters, and we are constantly monitoring lawmakers and events. We also send alerts when significant events like Biden signing a bill occur.

Did you always want to go into breaking news and political reporting, or did your interests change during your time at Medill?

No, I didn’t initially plan to pursue breaking news reporting. It was something I discovered when I landed this job. I always knew I enjoyed fast-paced work, and my attention span is well-suited for breaking news. However, I didn’t anticipate becoming a political reporter. Growing up in El Salvador, I wasn’t exposed to U.S. politics beyond knowing that Obama was the president. But during my time at Medill, I participated in the Medill On the Hill program and fell in love with American politics, especially during the 2016 election. I ended up doing internships in politics in Texas and covering the city hall in New York, however, I realized that I wanted to come back to DC because of the strong Salvadoran community and the opportunities it offered.

How did you envision your career path when you started at Medill, and how did it change once you graduated?

When I first started at Medill, I thought I was going to spend four years in the U.S. and then go back to Latin America and work as a foreign correspondent for an American outlet. I already had the idea that I wouldn’t be able to stay here. But the more I learned about American politics, the more I realized that this was what I wanted to do. I realized my passions aligned with covering this topic, and every day at work felt exciting because I was so invested in what I was doing. At that point, I knew I had to do my best to stay. I took a class with Professor Whitaker, who is now the Dean of Medill, about the specific visa I’m on. I researched it, spoke to experts, and realized that it was possible for me to stay. I’m glad I had the opportunity to delve into that visa topic because it allowed me to remain in the country. My experiences at Medill changed the path I wanted to take for the rest of my life. It only took one quarter when I got the opportunity to take classes in DC for the Medill On the Hill program, where I tried something new and broadened my horizons. I don’t know if I would be here if I hadn’t gone to Medill and tried to succeed.

How did your experience at Medill shape your approach to reporting?

One professor who greatly influenced my reporting approach is Professor Peter Slevin. He taught me to look beyond the surface and consider the bigger picture when covering politics. Instead of focusing solely on the immediate news, he encouraged us to understand the underlying factors that led to a particular event. This perspective has stuck with me, even in breaking news situations, I aim to provide readers with context and let them form their own opinions. Many other professors at Medill emphasized this approach, and I’m grateful for the valuable lessons I learned. Additionally, my time at The Daily Northwestern, where I started my journalism career, taught me important skills in managing a newsroom and covering breaking news.

How has the Medill network supported you throughout your career?

My Medill network has been invaluable to me. When I applied for my first job at The Washington Post, I reached out to a friend who had been my RA during the Cherubs summer program in 2013. She is a Medill alumni and was on the team I was applying to at The Post. She provided me with insights into the job, interview tips, and helped me prepare in ways that made me become a good candidate for the position. We still talk regularly, and I’m grateful for her guidance. There are also many Northwestern alumni at The Post, and having that common bond has created a sense of community. I rely on my Medill connections for advice, support, and professional opportunities. They are like family to me.

Can you share an experience that stands out from your time at Medill?

With Medill courses, I got the opportunity to travel to France and South Africa, where we reported on immigration. At some moment, it dawned on me that we always talk about immigration as if it’s this big crisis going on in the world. As an immigrant myself, these two trips made me realize that there’s so much more context to immigration than what the media portrays. There’s so much more that we don’t take into consideration when we’re writing these articles. Being in South Africa gave me insights into the stories of these Zimbabwean immigrants trying to rebuild their lives. It made me think a lot about Central American immigrants in the United States and made me realize that at some point, I want to work in some sort of field that lets me cover immigration patterns worldwide. To get there, I have to cover a wide variety of things to understand where people are coming from and their positions, and it’s something I’m still pursuing.

From your experiences, do you have any advice you would give to someone who’s currently attending or choosing to attend Medill?

Growing up in El Salvador, when I said I wanted to go to journalism school, everyone was like, “Oh, good luck with that. There’s no job,” especially as a non-American. We’re often told that there’s no path to success. But I’ve clearly seen it happen to me and many other international students. So my advice is not to let the doubters get in your way of succeeding. There are many ways to have a successful and happy career. As an international student, you just have to put your best work forward, put in the effort, try your best, keep the connections going, talk to editors, send your resume to everyone, and sell your story and your experience. Don’t think that there’s no spot for you in American journalism because there really is. So my main message is don’t give up, but also understand that it takes a lot of work. If you already have the idea of being a journalist in America, it’s definitely doable. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

My best advice to journalism students right now is to seize as many opportunities as you can to experiment with digital and online journalism. The traditional ways we’ve been taught are evolving, and we’re moving away from print as the main product. So it’s important to gain skills in audio journalism, TV and radio hits, and even platforms like TikTok. You might not use all of these skills, but it’s better to have them when you enter the real world and realize that newsrooms are diversifying how they deliver news.

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Medill alumna to serve as inaugural George R.R. Martin Chair in Storytelling

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date May 23, 2023
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Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, BSJ97, will serve as the inaugural holder of the George R.R. Martin Chair in Storytelling at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University.

Tan, a journalist, author and teacher, will lead the George R.R. Martin Summer Intensive Writing Workshop, as well as teach courses across a breadth of genres to both undergraduate and graduate students.

The George R.R. Martin Summer Intensive Writing Workshop will provide support for journalism professionals seeking careers in creative writing. Launching in 2024, the workshop will enroll six to eight writers and authors each summer and afford budding fiction writers, screenwriters and playwrights the time, space and guidance to develop their projects.

“Journalists have always been compelling storytellers, and many have a wealth of stories and ideas that would make for rich novels, films, TV shows and plays,” said Tan, whose book career launched when she turned an essay she wrote for The Wall Street Journal into the 2011 memoir, “A Tiger in the Kitchen.” “I am thrilled to be leading this unique program that will help journalists make that leap from news narratives to creative writing.”

Martin, BSJ70, MSJ71, is the author of the acclaimed “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels and co-executive producer of the Emmy award-winning “Game of Thrones” series. His $5 million gift to Medill established both the endowed professorship and the workshop.

“Storytelling is at the foundation of our school, and Cheryl’s expertise in telling her own stories and helping others tell their stories will allow Medill to build on its tradition of excellence in this area,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “We are grateful to George R.R. Martin for his generous gift, and delighted to welcome Cheryl back to Medill.”

In addition to teaching and leading the summer workshop, Tan will collaborate with faculty in the School of Communication and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences to convene panels and conferences on writing for students, the greater Northwestern community and the public and be a liaison to industries related to long-form narrative and storytelling.

After graduating from Medill, Tan began her career at The Baltimore Sun as a metro news reporter, then a fashion, arts and entertainment writer. She followed this with positions in fashion writing at InStyle and The Wall Street Journal.

She is the author of two internationally recognized books and has served as an editor and contributor to two anthologies. Her essays, features, reviews and news stories have been published in major news outlets and magazines throughout the world.

Tan also has participated in nearly a dozen writing fellowships and has taught at universities and workshops.

“Medill taught me so much about writing,” Tan said. “I look forward to coming home and helping journalists build a new library of books and shows incubated right here at Northwestern.”

Tan will join the Medill faculty in September.

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Media Strategy Executive Will Lead Medill Local News Accelerator

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date May 23, 2023
No Comments on Media Strategy Executive Will Lead Medill Local News Accelerator

Mackenzie Warren, a top news executive at the nation’s largest local news publishing company, has been named director of the new Local News Accelerator at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

Warren has been a senior member of Gannett’s news executive team for more than a decade. In his two most recent posts, he focused on news strategy and career-development for journalists. He will bring those leadership experiences to Medill’s downtown Chicago campus, where he will be based beginning later this winter.

From there, he will lead Medill’s unique Local News Accelerator, a project designed to help strengthen the sustainability of local news in Chicago by working directly with area news outlets on business strategies, audience development, consumer research, and leadership coaching.

“Mackenzie is ideally suited to lead this exciting new venture to improve local news in Chicago,” Medill Dean Charles Whitaker said. “As a long-time executive at Gannett, Mackenzie has spent years working with local news leaders across the country on strategies for audience engagement and digital storytelling. He understands the opportunities and challenges in local news as well as anyone, and he’ll bring that expertise to the Accelerator and our news partners. He’ll also be returning to Medill, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, and Illinois, where he launched his career as an online editor in Rockford.”

Tim Franklin, the senior associate dean and John M. Mutz Chair in Local News, said Warren’s hiring is another indication of Medill’s commitment to helping transform a local news industry that is grappling with new models in the digital age.

“Mackenzie is someone who will have an immediate impact on the Accelerator project and Medill,” said Franklin, who also directs the Medill Local News Initiative. “Mackenzie has a deep well of understanding about the local news business, and he has a vast network of contacts around the country. He’ll bring all of those assets to help improve what is already one of the more innovative local news ecosystems in America right here in Chicago.”

The Medill Local News Accelerator, one of the only projects of its kind housed inside a journalism school, is being funded with a $2.4 million grant over the next three years from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

“Chicagoland is a vibrant, dynamic system of communities that deserves a vibrant, dynamic system of local news coverage,” Warren said. “We see dozens of encouraging examples coming into existence. The Medill Local News Accelerator is positioned to help these early movers, and others yet to be invented, find their places as both essential community services and successful, sustainable businesses.

“Our opportunity is to help develop and support the new business models through which local news organizations will grow and thrive,” Warren continued. “For several reasons, there’s no better city in America for this initiative. First, Chicagoland comprises distinct neighborhood and suburbs that each have their own geographies, characters, histories. Second, as a cultural center, there’s a critical mass of people who are passionately connected to any interest you can imagine. Together, this tapestry suggests that a wide range of potential news products could earn loyal, paying customers. Third, the combined forces and vision of the McCormick Foundation and Northwestern University, both dedicated to fueling the local news ecosystem in Chicago, is an asset no other city in America enjoys.”

The Accelerator is one of several major local news-related projects now underway at Medill, which launched the Local News Initiative five years ago.

Medill is now overseeing an index of local news readers being used by more than 100 outlets across the U.S., a Metro Media Lab project that is conducting audience research and experiments for Chicago news organizations, a Midwest Hub for Solutions Journalism, and a program for high school teachers and students called Teach for Chicago Journalism. Medill also is now the home for the State of Local News Project, a major research database tracking local news closures and startups in the U.S.

“A stronger local news ecosystem translates to a clear outcome: We and our neighbors will live healthier, more informed, safer, happier, more fulfilling lives,” Warren said. “The track record of the Medill Local News Initiative, together with Chicago-based partners we’ve worked with already, shows we have great momentum and our odds of success are high.”

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