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Kelsey Ogletree(MSJ10): Founder, Pitchcraft, and Independent Journalist

Post author By Rafaela Jinich
Post date January 11, 2023
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1. What inspired you to go to Medill?

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications from Carroll College in Helena, Montana, but my true love was in magazines. After researching Medill’s magazine journalism program, I told myself I was going no matter what, if I got in. I moved to Evanston to start the MSJ program a few months later not knowing a soul, and it was the best decision I ever made.

2. What did you specialize in at Medill, if anything?

Magazine journalism.

3.What is your favorite Medill moment(s)?

Two stick out to me. The first was doing man-on-the-street interviews during Methods class at the start of the program. Hitting the streets of Chicago in the dead of winter and trying to convince strangers walking by to do an interview with us, while getting our equipment set up and functioning in single-digit
temperatures, was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. It was a turning point for me not only in my career, but in my life. I’d always been considered shy and one to stay in my lane, but that exercise helped me to gain the experience and confidence I needed to break out of that shell.

The innovation project was a highlight of my time at Medill. Our class, which graduated in December 2010, chose to create the first digital magazine designed for the iPad, which had come out that spring. Building this product from the ground up —for a medium that had not been done before — provided me with a breadth of new skills that I use to this day, more than a decade later. That included navigating through tough challenges with a team, delegating, managing technology failures, understanding design
and UX, defining your audience, negotiating, business planning and even pitching to venture capital firms.

4. What did you do right after Medill?

I started my first post-grad job as an assistant editor with McKinsey & Company, working on the firm’s McKinsey Quarterly business journal, in downtown Chicago a month after graduation. I spent several years there before moving to Atlanta to become managing editor for Jezebel, a print magazine published
by Modern Luxury. Next, I moved through a series of editorial roles at Connect, overseeing print and digital magazines for four individual segments of the meetings and events industry, before being laid off unexpectedly from my role as editor-in-chief there in fall 2017.

5. How did you go about launching your freelance career?

I’d always viewed becoming a freelancer as my ultimate goal, dreaming of working for myself but imagining it would happen further into my career than it did. Jobless overnight after my layoff, I decided to try freelancing for a while to get me through the holidays, after which I figured I’d apply for new jobs.
The first person I reached out to was a friend who’d graduated from the magazine program with me at Medill, who was then working as an editor with Real Simple. She gave me the opportunity to write a couple digital stories for her (I still recall, it was best holiday gifts for parents, and for brothers), and I
earned my first national media clips because of her generosity. It gave me the confidence to begin pitching other national publications, and within a few months I was writing for Shape, Cooking Light, Reader’s Digest and others. At the start of my freelance career, I would write about anything, for any publication I could. Over the past five years, however, I’ve worked to develop a strong personal brand as a writer covering topics I enjoy. Now, I’m known for my writing about travel, food and golf, and my top outlets include Travel + Leisure, AARP The Magazine and Southern Living, among others. To this day, I find how strong a Medill connection goes. Before pitching a new editor, I always check their LinkedIn page to see where they went to school. I’ve found that when I reach out to a fellow Medill alum and mention it in the first sentence, the response rate is nearly 100 percent.

6. How did you then launch your own business, Pitchcraft? Can you summarize what it is in a few
sentences?

Pitchcraft is a technology platform connecting independent PR professionals and small PR agencies to freelance journalists and editors in the national consumer lifestyle space. We put the “relations” back in public relations through a series of resources designed to foster relationships among writers, editors and
PR — including weekly personal interviews with freelance journalists, weekly calls for members only, monthly workshops with freelancers and editors. Our business model includes paying all our journalists and editors, showing we value their time and expertise.

It began in March 2020, when I decided to host a Zoom meeting to bring together writers and PR pros to discuss pitching during the pandemic. It evolved into monthly paid workshops that regularly sold out. I decided to roll it into an ongoing membership with resources our members could access at any time, and that would build community. My husband, Derrick, left his corporate job in May 2021, and together we built Pitchcraft and launched in December 2021. Together with our growing cohort of members and network of journalists, we are working to shift the transactional nature of the media industry into one that’s relationship based. Being journalist-led sets us apart from any other PR software company. We have big things planned for 2023 to continue to grow and spark foundational change.

7. How did your Medill training help you in your career, either as a writer or business owner, now?

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the skills and connections I developed through my time at Medill. One thing I’ve come back to time and time again is the program’s journalism ethics course. We live in a time where anyone can call themselves a freelance writer if they’re able to pitch and get an assignment from an editor, but not everyone has the foundation of what being a journalist means, from an ethical standpoint. That’s of increasing importance in a world of fake news and much noise in the content space
online.

The connections I established through Medill have been invaluable. It’s amazing to see where my fellow classmates have ended up in their careers, and to keep in touch with them and turn to each other as resources years later. There’s also an unspoken bond among alumni, even if we didn’t go to school together, that establishes trust and camaraderie from the start. For instance, I’ve had many writers and editors who are Medill alums join Pitchcraft as guests, who’ve immediately said yes after learning of our Medill connection.

8. What advice do you have for incoming MSJers?

When you start your MSJ program, clear out any extraneous noise or distractions in your life so you can focus 100 percent on the work. You get out of it what you put into it. Yes, it’s going to be hard. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Yes, you’re going to be forced into situations that make you uncomfortable. You’ll learn from them. Yes, you’re going to make mistakes (I once wrote a headline that was read aloud to the class that was so embarrassing, I can’t bear to think of it do this day). You’ll get through them and never make them again. Also, spend time getting to know your classmates personally. These will be your lifelong friends, colleagues and peers whom you can always turn to for advice and support.

Chief marketing officer at Cadillac chosen as IMC graduation speaker

Post author By Rafaela Jinich
Post date November 17, 2022
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The convocation ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 10.

EVANSTON, ILL. — Melissa Grady Dias (IMC98), global chief marketing officer at Cadillac, will address integrated marketing communications master’s graduates and their families at Medill’s convocation ceremony on Saturday, December 10.

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.”

“I’m excited to welcome Melissa back to campus to speak to our newest IMC graduates,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “As we enter Medill’s second century, it is important to showcase the heights that Medill alumni can achieve. Melissa’s career represents the unlimited futures open to Medill graduates.”

Prior to joining Cadillac, Grady Dias 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.

“I am so looking forward to coming back to Medill to speak at graduation,” said Grady Dias. “It means so much to look back and remember my time at Medill, and how it shaped and inspired me as I embarked on my career.”

The convocation ceremony will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 10 and will be livestreamed and recorded for later viewing.

In addition to Grady Dias, one student speaker from each program has been selected by the students, faculty and staff to speak at the graduation ceremonies.

IMC Pro Speaker: Noor Jassmi

Noor A. Jassmi (IMC22) completed her undergraduate studies from Medill in Journalism with a certificate in Strategic Communications and a certificate in Middle Eastern Studies from Northwestern’s branch campus in Qatar in 2018. As a double alumna of Medill, Noor continues to use the tools and knowledge gained from her degree to excel in her professional journey at a young age in which she has already gained global experiences in public relations and social media as she initially worked for the world’s best airline and lead on both local and regional media as well as events and inaugurals. Noor currently works in the Marketing Department at Qatar Foundation as she further applies the knowledge she gained from Medill on her job in her hometown Doha-Qatar.

IMC Full-Time Speaker: Aastha Desai

Aastha Desai (IMC22), helped orchestrate and organize multiple events in her time here. Desai has also been a mentor and unofficial ambassador for the program to our next batch of students, making them feel at home here at Medill. Always available to lend a hand, she has a strong passion for start-ups, an eye for detail, and is skilled in storytelling.

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Gifts from ‘Game of Thrones’ novelist to develop future storytellers

Post author By Rafaela Jinich
Post date November 7, 2022
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A $3 million gift will establish the George R.R. Martin Summer Intensive Writing Workshop, which will provide instruction for journalism professionals seeking to launch careers in creative writing. A $2 million gift will establish an endowed professorship, the George R.R. Martin Chair in Storytelling.

Northwestern alumnus George R.R. Martin commits $5 million to establish professorship, writing workshop at Medill

EVANSTON, Ill. — George R.R. Martin ’70, ’71 MS, ’21 H, author of the acclaimed “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels and co-executive producer of the Emmy award-winning “Game of Thrones” series, is sharing his love of storytelling through two gifts totaling $5 million to Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

A $3 million gift will establish the George R.R. Martin Summer Intensive Writing Workshop, which will provide instruction for journalism professionals seeking to launch 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.

A $2 million gift will establish an endowed professorship, the George R.R. Martin Chair in Storytelling. The professor who is named to this position will lead the George R.R. Martin Summer Intensive Writing Workshop, as well as teach courses across a breadth of genres, from narrative nonfiction to creative writing, to both undergraduate and graduate students.

“George R.R. Martin is a prolific and iconic author with an international audience,” Northwestern President Michael H. Schill said. “We are so grateful for his generosity to his alma mater, which will inspire and equip the next generation of storytellers at Northwestern.”

Medill helps students in its journalism and integrated marketing communications degree programs learn how to tell compelling stories, whether they are based on reporting or data. Martin’s investment will bolster Medill’s teaching in long-form narrative and storytelling and make the school a destination for writers seeking to hone their craft and launch their careers in fiction and writing for the screen and stage.

“The George R.R. Martin Chair in Storytelling and the Summer Intensive Writing Workshop will enable us to recruit, retain and host recognized authors and storytellers for the benefit of Northwestern students and writers from around the country,” said Charles Whitaker ’80, ’81 MS, dean of Medill. “These initiatives will help aspiring writers across myriad literary genres to make their mark on the world, as George has done.”

Through collaboration with faculty in the School of Communication and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, the Martin Chair also will 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.

About George R.R. MartinGeorge R.R. Martin is a novelist and short story writer who specializes in the fantasy, horror and science fiction genre and is best known for “A Song of Ice and Fire,” an international bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO later adapted into the acclaimed dramatic series “Game of Thrones.” He serves as co-executive producer of the award-winning TV series, which has remained HBO’s biggest hit of all time since its conclusion in 2019. Martin also is the author of “Fire & Blood,” the basis for HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon,” which drew nearly 10 million viewers with its premiere episode. His books have sold millions of copies and been translated into 47 languages.

Martin received a B.S. in journalism from Medill in 1970 and an MS from the school in 1971. He was inducted into the Medill Hall of Achievement in 2015 and spoke at Medill’s 2021 convocation. That same year, Northwestern awarded Martin the honorary title of Doctor of Humane Letters.

Martin began writing at a young age, selling monster stories — accompanied by dramatic readings — to neighborhood children for pennies. In high school, he became a comic book collector and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin sold his first comic, “The Hero,” to Galaxy in 1970 at age 21; it was published in February 1971.

The New Jersey native taught journalism at Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976 to 1978 before becoming a writer-in-residence there from 1978 to 1979. His first experience in Hollywood was as a story editor for “The Twilight Zone” at CBS Television. He later became executive story consultant and then a producer for “Beauty and the Beast,” also on CBS. He also was executive producer for “Doorways,” a pilot he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television.

Martin has won several Hugo Awards for his short stories, novels, novellas and novelettes. He also has received four Emmy Awards for his work as co-executive producer of “Game of Thrones.” Martin was named one of “the most influential people in the world” by Time magazine as part of its 2011 Time 100 list.

My Medill Story

Michael Raphael (BSJ93): How I Turned A Passion for Listening Into a Veterinary Staffing Startup

Post author By Rafaela Jinich
Post date October 24, 2022
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Investigative journalism takes you to lots of unexpected places—everyone who enters the field is prepared to meet adventure. What I did not imagine is that my particular journey would lead to the boardroom of a startup, focusing on improving the lives of veterinary healthcare professionals.

After graduating from Medill in 1993, I returned to my hometown and worked for The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and The Star-Ledger. I had many different beats, but my favorite work always involved listening to people who were unheard and giving voice to their stories. One of my proudest moments came when I was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for a series exposing racial profiling on the New Jersey Turnpike.

It was while working at The Star-Ledger that an old friend and I began talking about starting a company. It was the height of the dotcom era, and the startup didn’t last. But the experience proved to be an important one because it showed me that I enjoyed the process of building a company from the ground up.

I knew enough to know I needed more training, though, so I went back to school to get my MBA at Temple University’s Fox School of Business. While I pursued the degree at night, I interned at a private equity firm called CMS Companies. I worked my way up to managing partner while investing in small companies in a variety of industries. One of those businesses was a group of veterinary hospitals. It was the idea of working in an industry that helped animals that ultimately led me to leave CMS and co-found a company to buy veterinary hospitals and help them operate better.

At the time a nationwide veterinary staffing shortage was just beginning to impact animal hospitals. Vets were leaving in droves because the hours were long and brutal. They came into the profession with high rates of student debt but got very little support from managers at their clinics and hospitals. Add to that a highly emotional job with lots of stressors. For those that stayed, there were high rates of burnout, anxiety, depression, and increased suicide risk.

It was clear to me that If we wanted to continue to value the health of our animals, we needed to place a higher value on the wellness and happiness of the doctors that treated them. Thus, the idea for IndeVets—a relief (locum) veterinary staffing company that made working conditions better for vets—was born.

What made IndeVets different from my previous startups is that from the very beginning I was guided not just by a problem that needed solving—the labor crisis in the veterinary industry—but also by a sense of social purpose: to improve the experience of practicing veterinary medicine, and by extension, uplift the lives of veterinary professionals.

If I could bring veterinary medicine more in line with the way today’s vets wanted to work, I knew I could help build a better future for the embattled industry. But as IndeVets grew from a hopeful concept into a full-fledged operation, the biggest challenge was convincing veterinarians that this new model wasn’t too good to be true.

Today, IndeVets serves a nationwide network of veterinarians and hospitals and my Medill background continues to provide me with critical tools for success. Editing, writing, and asking questions – I use these foundational skills every day. Storytelling is an important part of being an entrepreneur – you have to convince people to see the potential where you see it, and you have to gain their empathy, trust, and loyalty. It’s also a critical part of running a business. Hearing the stories our doctors talk about their challenges – the long days in the clinic, the inability to manage their own lives – drives new ideas for the company.

At Medill, I set out to write stories that would move the needle in some way and open up dialogue about important issues. Entrepreneurship hasn’t changed that ambition—it’s simply given this journalist-at-heart a new way to work toward change.

Giving Back

New scholarship funds launched with support of Medill alumni, McCormick Foundation

Post author By Rafaela Jinich
Post date October 21, 2022
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The scholarships will be awarded for the first time in the 2022-23 academic year. All undergraduate Medill students with unmet financial need will be automatically given consideration.

Gifts provided to mark the school’s Centennial will benefit future students

EVANSTON, ILL. — With the support of hundreds of Northwestern alumni in celebration of Medill’s Centennial, two new endowed scholarship funds have been launched for students of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University.

The Medill Centennial Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarships will enhance the diversity of the Medill community. The scholarships will be used to help Medill to attract top students by meeting their demonstrated financial need and will build talented and diverse classes committed to telling stories and building brands that combat stereotypes and promote greater cultural awareness.

Through the generosity of the alumni community, both funds exceeded the minimum $100,000 threshold to endow the scholarships in perpetuity. A special commitment from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation more than doubled the size of each endowment.

“We are proud to invest in Medill’s future,” said Dennis FitzSimons, Chairman of the McCormick Foundation. “The Foundation’s roots in education began with our founder, Robert R. McCormick, who helped Northwestern establish the school of journalism in honor of his grandfather Joseph Medill. In this Centennial year, aiding Medill’s mission of educating diverse young students in the principles of high-quality journalism and innovative marketing communications has never been more important.”

New gifts may be made to either the undergraduate or graduate fund to continue growing the endowments over time.

“I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of our alumni, and even more with the number of them who gave to support future Medill students,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “Each and every gift is meaningful to our school and to me personally. This is a wonderful way for us to fulfill the mission of our Centennial, both celebrating our unparalleled past and preparing for our unlimited future. I also am extremely grateful for the investment from the McCormick Foundation, which has supported Medill throughout our history.”

The scholarships will be awarded for the first time in the 2022-23 academic year. All undergraduate Medill students with unmet financial need will be automatically given consideration. Graduate applicants who meet the requirements for admission to Medill will also be automatically considered on the basis of financial need.

Gifts to the Medill Centennial Scholarships may be made online or by emailing Julie Frahar, director of development, or calling 312-285-1579.

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McCormick Foundation announces $7.5M investment in sustainable, fact-based reporting

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date September 29, 2022
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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.

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Medill students attend, learn from annual national journalism conventions

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date September 12, 2022
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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.”

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Russ Bensley (BSJ51, MSJ52)

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date August 16, 2022
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Reprint from Legacy.com

Robert “Russ” Bensley finished his final broadcast on August 9, 2022. The oldest (by minutes) child of Robert Daniel Bensley and Sylvia Gates Holton Bensley, Russ is survived by his children Skip Bensley, Robin Arena, and Vicki (Ryan) Stevenson; his grandchildren CJ, Sabrina, Jordan, Sarah, Andrew, and Ryan, as well as his twin brother Edward (Laura) Bensley. He is predeceased by his wife, Patrica Bannon Bensley. Also survived and predeceased by a sea of those who admired and respected him throughout his long career at CBS, as a horse farmer, and as an overall great guy.

Russ grew up on and around the University of Chicago campus, where his grandfather was the head of and his mother professor of Anatomy (and the first female graduate of the University of Chicago Medical School), and his father and aunt were integral to the vast scientific advances made there, particularly in the realm of diabetes research, for which the senior Robert Russell Bensley won a Banting Medal. He graduated from Hyde Park High School and went on to earn both an undergraduate and master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. During his years there, he commuted daily from Hyde Park, as he was also caring for his grandfather.

Russ’ career began in radio, eventually landing him at the WBBM-TV station, where he wrote and anchored the late-night news broadcast. Amusingly, this broadcast was watched by one Pat Bannon while sitting at Wally’s Tap in Homewood; she would meet him in person and then marry him almost 20 years later. Russ made his national news television debut doing “man on the street” interviews following the death of JFK.

The CBS network then brought him to New York, quickly making him a producer (eventually executive) of the Evening News with Walter Cronkite. In 1968 he took a crew to cover the Vietnam war, got shot, and then evacuated to a hospital that was then bombed.

“Not a great day” as he put it.

In 1971, he won the first of four Emmy awards for his work on the groundbreaking documentary, “The World of Charlie Company,” for CBS.

After his time on the evening news, he headed the Special Events Unity, covering events like space shuttle launches, royal weddings, and presidential conventions and elections. He recently told his family he loved special events because he wanted to be where the action was. He was the executive producer of On the Road with Charles Kuralt, which he enjoyed for the interesting and uplifting stories. He also taught journalism courses as a guest teacher in a variety of settings, including Columbia University, New York.

After his retirement from CBS in 1985, he, Pat and daughter Vicki moved to Niles, MI, where they raised Morgan Horses until 2003. When asked about what seemed like a major life change, Russ was frequently known to quip, “It’s just a different kind of manure.” He continued remote work for CBS for almost 3 years, putting together a videocassette series, The Vietnam War with Walter Cronkite.

After horse-farming, he took up his favorite title full-time-Grandpa. Russ and Pat moved to Homewood, IL (where Pat had grown up) in 2003, and he remained there until 2014, when he moved into the home his daughter, Vicki, and husband Ryan built for them. He enjoyed the rest of his years in the “west wing” with Vicki, Ryan, his grandsons Andrew and Ryan, and a variety of cats and dogs whom he adored. His grandsons clearly benefited from his constant presence; both have gone into journalism.

Russ celebrated his 84th birthday by jumping out of a “perfectly good” airplane, handling it like a pro, and at 86 had to have an amputation of his lower leg (unrelated to the jumping out of an airplane) proceeding to put everyone in rehab – including 30-year-olds – to shame. (Upon waking from surgery being asked how he was, he replied, “Footloose and fancy-free.”) He walked at home without so much as a cane, and used a walker only at the annoying insistence of his daughter. Until the stroke that disabled him seven weeks prior to his death, he took daily walks, got his own paper and did the crosswords, all while shaking his head at the changes in TV news.

Russ’ colleagues say he was among the best in the business, and to this day speak with great admiration and affection for him and his work. Giants in the industry have described him as “one of the all-time great television news producers and editors” and “the best newsman television ever had….[and] that for a few years a lot of Americans got their information about what was going on in the world from the honest and direct way [he] chose to tell them.”

Russ’ kind heart was even bigger for animals. If you are inclined to honor him in some way, please make a donation in his name to the South Suburban Humane Society, where many of his beloved pets came from. If you want to honor him another way, sneak some oreo cookies and perhaps a good, dark beer.

And above all, the family encourages you use the phrase he was famous for as often as you can – “Everything is Going to be All Right.”

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/robert-russ-bensley-obituary?id=36206997%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dobitsharebeta

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Struggling Communities Hardest Hit by Decline in Local Journalism

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date August 5, 2022
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Newspaper map showing hardest hit communities.

Medill Project Researches the State of Local News in 2022

The United States continues to lose newspapers at a rate of two a week, further dividing the nation into wealthier, faster growing communities with access to local news, and struggling areas without, according to a report on the state of local news from Medill.

Between the pre-pandemic months of late 2019 and the end of May 2022, more than 360 newspapers closed, the report by Medill’s Local News Initiative found. Since 2005, the country has lost more than one-fourth of its newspapers and is on track to lose a third by 2025.

Most of the communities that have lost newspapers do not get a print or digital replacement, leaving 70 million residents – or a fifth of the country’s population – either living in an area with no local news organizations, or one at risk, with only one local news outlet and very limited access to critical news and information that can inform their everyday decisions and sustain grassroots democracy. About 7 percent of the nation’s counties, or 211, now have no local newspaper.

“This is a crisis for our democracy and our society, said Penelope Muse Abernathy, visiting professor at Medill and the principal author of the report. “Invariably, the economically struggling, traditionally underserved communities that need local journalism the most are the very places where it is most difficult to sustain print or digital news organizations.”

Recent research shows that, in communities without a strong print or digital news organization, voter participation declines and corruption increases, Abernathy said, contributing to the spread of misinformation, political polarization and reduced trust in media.

The Medill report on “The State of Local News in 2022” focused on researching and analyzing the health of local newspapers and local digital outlets. While newspapers declined over the past two years, an increase in corporate and philanthropic funding contributed to the establishment of 64 new digital sites focused on covering either state or local news. Most digital sites are located in digitally connected urban areas with diverse sources of funding.

“It is critical to understand what is working and where there are still gaps in the flow of reliable, comprehensive and timely news and information,” said Tim Franklin, senior associate dean, John M. Mutz Chair in Local News and director of the Medill Local News Initiative. “That way we can build solutions to sustain local journalism in communities that have, so far, been overlooked by entrepreneurs and potential funders.”

Surviving newspapers, especially dailies, have cut staff and circulation significantly under financial pressure, reducing their ability to fill the gap when communities lose their local papers. More and more dailies are also dropping seven-day-a-week delivery, as they pursue digital subscribers. Forty of the largest 100 daily newspapers now deliver a print edition six or fewer times a week; 11 deliver two times a week or less.

The largest news chains — Gannett, Lee Enterprises and Alden Global Capital — control many of the country’s surviving newspapers and continue to close or divest underperformers. The most active buyers in recent years have been privately held regional digital chains, such as Paxton Media Group and CherryRoad Media, which bought its first paper in 2020 and now owns 63 papers in 10 midwestern states.

The report found that some for-profit news organizations are prospering, especially those in affluent or growing communities, and nonprofit and hybrid business models are being pioneered in cities from coast to coast.

“There are signs of hope,” said Franklin. “New nonprofit digital local news startups have launched or been announced in places like Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland and Houston. Some legacy news outlets are deftly transforming from print to digital. There are unheralded local news leaders who are adapting and experimenting with new models. And local news is increasingly being delivered through newsletters and other digital platforms. But the need to innovate is urgent.”

Among the tools Northwestern uses to assist local news organizations is the Medill Local News Initiative, a research and development project and website devoted to bolstering new business models. The Medill Subscriber Engagement Index helps newsrooms track their digital subscribers, boost retention and attract new readers. The Medill Metro Media Lab works with Chicago news organizations on consumer research, audience strategy and financial management.

“Medill’s local news audience research and strategy work is providing tangible, actionable insights for local news organizations at a critical time for the industry. And we expect to expand our commitment to this effort in the coming months,” said Franklin.

The News Desert report will be published on the Local News Initiative site, beginning June 29 and continuing into early August. This is the fifth update of the report since Abernathy first published it in 2016.

Photo: A color coded map of the United States by county showing which locations have no newspapers, one newspaper or two-plus newspapers.

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Josephine Walker (MSJ23) is the recipient of Medill’s fellowship with Reuters and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ)

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.

The convocation ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 10.

Northwestern alumnus George R.R. Martin commits $5 million to establish professorship, writing workshop at Medill

Gifts provided to mark the school’s Centennial will benefit future students

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