Category: Magazine Issues

Medill commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Washington Program. Read about the history of the program and hear from D.C. program alumni who recount how the program shaped their careers.

Medill’s sports program has expanded, bringing notable alumni back to campus as members of the faculty and opening the doors to new opportunities for MSJ students.

This issue features a guest letter from Dean Brad Hamm on Medill’s upcoming outpost in San Francisco, a spotlight on alumni working and living in Denver and the story of how a New York Times science writer found his niche.

While Susan Conroy McLeod (IMC14) was seeking out a new employee with digital experience for her company, Conroy Media, she came across a banner ad for the Medill IMC program. It gave her the idea that maybe she could fill that role herself. In the fall of 2012, she became one of the first students to sign up for the Medill IMC online master’s program.

This issue features a guest letter from Dean Brad Hamm on exciting changes coming to Medill, including the future of a San Francisco program, proposed renovations to Fisk Hall and more. Other highlights include a first person account on reporting from Cairo’s Tahrir Square while security forces clashed with protestors in 2011, a tribute to Associate Professor Emeritus Bob McClory and a look at various alumni working in Seattle.

Read these stories and more in this issue of the Medill Magazine

Remembering James Foley. Northwestern University held an emotional memorial service for murdered journalist James Foley on Nov. 20 in Evanston, and Medill honored the friend and colleague by presenting him posthumously with its prestigious 2014 Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism. Medill decided to rename the award in honor of Foley this year. In a statement, Medill Dean Brad Hamm said, “Jim endures for us as a beacon reminding us of the risks implicit in shedding light where inhumanity can take hold.” Learn more about Jim’s legacy, the James W. Foley Legacy Fund (jamesfoleyfund.org) and touching moments from the service.

Matthieu Aikins receives the 2013 James Foley Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism award, the first Medill Medal awarded after its renaming, for his essay in Rolling Stone entitled “The A-Team Killings.” Aikins was selected for his work that makes the case that a 12-man U.S. Army Special Forces team, along with an Afghan translator, committed war crimes in Wardak Province in Afghanistan.

Graduate students in Medill’s National Security Journalism Initiative followed the food when they investigated the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the world’s largest humanitarian food assistance program. They worked closely with USA TODAY to craft and present the stories through the project, funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

Less than two hours north of Chicago, Milwaukee mirrors the Windy City on a smaller scale. Meet the five Medill alumni who call Mil-town, Wisconsin’s largest city, home.

Read these stories and more in issue 89 of the Medill Magazine.

Fashion insider Ed Filipowski (BSJ83)’s had a haute career. As the president and chief strategist of KCD, a fashion public relations agency that specializes in event production and digital services, he takes care of two kinds of clients: the designer or the fashion house. Filipowski credits his journalism roots for helping him respect both journalism codes and the integrity of fashion in his role, and believes a bottom line in fashion is identifying and promoting good stories.

This issue’s guest letter features Kurt Soller (BSJ08), an editor at Bloomberg’s Etc., who helps celebrate the fashion-related accomplishments of Medill’s alumni by bringing readers back to the un-fashionable days of college life. He shouts-out to, “bell bottoms, popped-collar polos, Ugg boots, North Face puffers and leggings warn as pants,” and the fact that while Medill isn’t a fashion journalism school, it has produced some of the country’s fashion greats.

Other highlights include Cristiana Lacayo (BSJ05, IMC06) on her family’s 80-year battle for freedom of expression in Nicaragua, Lee Whack (MSJ11) on the hard lessons learned at Medill and soon-to-be IMC grads who networked with alumni at top media companies in New York City.

Read these stories and more in this issue of the Medill Magazine.

Northwestern University alums, Sarah Adler (BSJ13) and Mackenzie Barth (C13), founders of Spoon University magazine are “helping students eat intelligently.” They are building the ultimate food website for college students and over the past year have created a web magazine with a national audience and rapidly growing network of affiliated colleges throughout the country.

From the Bard to the Big Ben, London is steeped in the kind of history of which most American cities can only dream. But the London of today is something entirely different- a cutting-edge melting pot that offers work and cultural experiences on a global scale. The city by the Thames is home to four Medill alums who told us about their lives and careers abroad.

In January, students, faculty, staff, donors and university leaders celebrated the launch of Medill’s first research center, the Medill IMC Spiegel Digital and Database Research Center. It was also an opportunity for the center to share research findings on how mobile and social media engagement, affect purchase behavior.

Read these stories and more in issue 87 of the Medill Magazine.

Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals BHAGs.  As executive editor of LinkedIn, Daniel Roth (BSJ95) has overseen two successful BHAGs that have helped propel the social network into the uncharted territory of content creation and customized content delivery as a part of LinkedIn’s broader content strategy.  Find out how he is helping to make LinkedIn a destination for compelling content in the professional world.

Indianapolis Star publisher Karen Crotchfelt (BSJ92) is leading the Gannett-owned paper past a season of tumultuous cutbacks into new territory. Laying out what could be a roadmap of survival for the metro daily in a digital world.

Read those stories and more in issue 86 of the Medill Magazine.

Twenty years ago, the Northwestern News Network was nothing more than an idea in Linton Johnson’s (BSJ95) head. But in the fall of 1993, he, Mary-Jo Lipman (BSJ95), Aimee Nuzzo (BSJ95) and a handful of other students brought NNN to life. Twenty years later, some of the founding members provide an oral history of the first year of NNN as part of Medill’s Magazine’s special NNN section. Plus, hear from a collection of alumni about their favorite NNN memories and how NNN helped prepare them for success after college.

Also in this issue, go behind-the-scenes with Rance Crain (BSJ60) as he gets inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Fame, learn why Marcela Aguilar (IMC02) was named to Advertising Age’s list of “Women to Watch” in 2013, get a glimpse of a day in the life of Melina Kolb (MSJ09) as she finishes her documentary on Sue Duncan – the mother of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan – and find out what it is like to live and work in Dallas.

Read those stories and more in Issue 85 of the Medill Magazine.

Ten years ago, Josh Grau (IMC04) was coaching college volleyball. Today he is introducing brands all over the world to the power of Twitter. Since graduating from Medill, Grau has had jobs at ESPN and Google. Find out how he became a “Social Climber” and how Medill helped him along the way in this issue’s cover story, written by Glenn Jeffers (BSJ01).

To help celebrate graduation, Lauren Manning (BSJ13) checked in with a variety of alumni from around the world to hear their advice for soon-to-be graduates, as well as their own favorite graduation memories. Elliott Smith (BSJ96) also introduces readers to four alumni who work in Philadelphia and talk about what life is like living in the “City of Brotherly Love.” Plus, meet two alumni who are helping train the next generation of journalists in their roles as deans of higher education journalism schools.

Read those stories and more in Issue 84 of the Medill Magazine.