Faculty & Staff Kudos (2019-current)

October 17, 2024

Director Jessica Retis, a Center for University Education Scholarship (CUES) Distinguished Fellow, and Bilingual Journalism Program (BJP) students Liliana Lopez and Thatcher Warrick spoke on CUES's "Translanguaging Pedagogy in Journalism Classrooms" panel on Oct. 14.

Jeannine Relly was invited to speak on a panel about misinformation and elections hosted by the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson and Pima County Public Library on Sept. 14. 

Adjunct instructor Caitlin Schmidt and graduate student Susan Barnett co-founded the Tucson Spotlight, a new local nonprofit newsroom that launched on Sept. 30.  

Kendal Blust hosted renowned Tucson baker Don Guerra as a guest speaker in her food journalism class on Oct. 3. 

Josh Anderson was the lead author for a publication in the Journal of Interactive Advertising which examined conservative reactions to "woke" activism from commercial brands. The study focused on how identity can shape online activism and discourse.

Jessica Retis was a keynote speaker at the World Association of Women Journalists and Writers (AMMPE) conference in Punta Arenas, Chile, in September.

September 13, 2024

Jessica Retis was honored as one of the 2024 Women of Impact by the Office of Research, Innovation & Impact (RII). 

After a decade of service to the School of Journalism, academic advisor Paloma Boykin has moved into a new role as an advisor for the Department of History, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Department of Gender and Women's Studies.

Jessica Retis, Monica Chadha, Jeannine Relly, and Josh Anderson all attended and presented at the annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference in Philadelphia, PA. 

Vanessa DeCardenas joined the School of Journalism as its new undergraduate academic advisor. 

The School of Journalism welcomed two new assistant professors, Josh Anderson and Zicheng Cheng, this semester. Read a Q&A with them. 

Monica Chadha and Jeannine Relly received a top faculty paper award from the AEJMC’s Media Management, Economics, and Entrepreneurship (MMEE) Division for their paper “Media Entrepreneurial Resilience in Precarious Times: A Model.” Relly also co-presented fieldwork in Costa Rica, part of the Worlds Of Journalism ongoing research. University of Arizona Emerita Professor Celeste González de Bustamante (University of Texas at Austin), Vanessa Bravo (Elon University) and Silvia Dal Ben Furtado (University of Texas at Austin) are co-researchers on the project.

Josh Anderson was recently a co-author on a paper that received a first place faculty paper distinction in the sports communication division of the AEJMC. The presentation was titled "Examining Sports Media Credibility, Bias, Political Identification, and Fandom Using a Repeated Cross-sectional Survey" and it entailed the presentation of results of a three-year long repeated survey which examined the perceptions of media bias and antecedents among sports fans.

Jasmine Demers, Ralph Robinson, Joanna Jacobo Rivera, and Alex Gonzalez joined the School of Journalism as adjunct instructors.

Jessica Retis was interviewed for a Boston Globe story about translation tools being used to produce news in Portuguese. 

Senior Business Administrator Maggie Trinkle is leading breakout rooms in the OpEd Project’s Write To Change the World workshop happening every Saturday in September.

Jeannine Relly was quoted in an article that discussed the School of Journalism’s Al Jisr “The Bridge” program.

Adjunct instructor Irene McKisson spoke on a panel at the LION Independent News Sustainability Summit in Chicago about how news orgs have invested in building more transparent, accountable, and caring work cultures.

July 19, 2024

Susan Swanberg’s article "Revisiting Disney's The Living Desert: A documentary or a wildlife fable filmed in a mythical desert" has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Disney Studies. The article addresses the issue of scientific misinformation disseminated by a popular Disney film still shown to the public and to schoolchildren. 

Mort Rosenblum was introduced as a new columnist for the Arizona Daily Star in a column written by the Star’s editor David McCumber.

Jessica Retis is serving as a guest editor for a special issue of the Cuadernos Info journal about communication and migration. 

Susan Swanberg is serving as the chair in charge of organizing panel presentations for the American Journalism Historians Association's October conference.

May 23, 2024

Susan Swanberg advised postdoc Pamela Pelletier as part of Pelletier’s participation in the CIRTL Postdoc Academy. Dr. Pelletier contributed to Swanberg’s spring Environmental Journalism course by teaching a module on writing evidence-based opinion pieces and letters to the editor relating to environmental issues.

Jessica Retis completed the University of Arizona’s Academic Leadership Institute after participating in the 2023-24 cohort. 

Shannon Conner won the Hugh and Jan Harelson Award for Teaching Excellence at the School of Journalism’s annual Just Desserts awards ceremony.

Paloma Boykin won the Carol and Cecil Schwalbe Staff Award for Outstanding Service. 

Kendal Blust and Rick Wiley were accepted into the university’s Culturally Responsive Curriculum Development Institute program to redesign journalism courses and implement culturally responsive practices. 

Monica Chadha was quoted in an Arizona Republic story about former U.S. Rep. Trent Franks’ involvement with the Arizona-based media outlet Satluj TV. 

Liliana Soto won a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award in the Investigative Reporting category for her work on the AZPM story “Don’t Bring Guns to Mexico.” 

Moncia Chadha and Jeannine Relly’s paper “Media Entrepreneurial Resilience in Precarious Times: A Model” was accepted for presentation at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference, to be held in Philadelphia in August.

April 23, 2024

Susan Swanberg’s article "Alarm Calls and Other Echoes of a Once and Future World," was recently published in a volume of Literary Journalism Studies 14(2) 194-210. The book review essay “critiques a half dozen books that grapple in wildly divergent and inventive ways with our rapidly deteriorating natural world.” 

Kendal Blust was accepted as a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and will attend the organization’s annual conference in Anaheim, California, in June. 

Academic Advisor Paloma Boykin won a 2024 SBS Outstanding Staff Award and will be honored at the annual SBS Staff Appreciation event in May.

Linda Lumsden, professor emerita of journalism, was named the recipient of the 2024 Donald L. Shaw Senior Scholar Award by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s History Division. 

Jessica Retis attended the Latinx Studies Association Conference at Arizona State University on April 17-20 to speak as a panelist and present research on bilingualism and the media. 

Pate McMichael was a panelist for the AI & Elections discussion that was hosted as part of the university’s AI at Arizona event series. 

Susan Swanberg was a panelist at the “Sustaining Arizona’s Communities through Historical Newspapers” symposium hosted by the University of Arizona Libraries and the University of  Arizona Public History Collaborative. 

Internship Coordinator Kelly Copley organized the 2024 Spring Internship Fair on April 18 and hosted more than a dozen news partners for a full day of interviews with journalism students. 

Adjunct instructors Caitlin Schmidt, Irene McKisson and Becky Pallack participated in a Q&A series hosted by the Women in Journalism student club.

March 14, 2024

Jessica Retis and Lourdes M. Cueva Chacón authored an article titled “¿Qué pasa with American News Media? How Digital-Native Latinx News Serves Community Information Needs Using Messaging Apps” that was published in the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science on Feb. 21. 
 

Meredith Edwards has joined the School of Journalism as Program Coordinator.
 

Monica Chadha and Jeannine Relly's research on a Yemen-based project will be published in Journalism & Mass Communication Educator. "Facilitating Intercultural Experiences in Online Teaching during Wartime and Humanitarian Crises: Slack as a Learning Tool'' is a study focused on the work during a nine-month project that included more than 70 Yemeni and U.S. students, more than a dozen professors in Yemen and the U.S., and a multimedia team based in Holland and Turkey.

The Tucson Agenda, co-founded by adjunct instructor Caitlin Schmidt, and Arizona Luminaria, co-founded by adjunct instructors Irene McKisson and Becky Pallack, were among the first group of six news organizations chosen to receive funding from the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona's Local News Initiative. 

Internship Coordinator Kelly Copley launched a new online bulletin for students to more easily find internship opportunities and job listings. 

Liliana Soto helped design new graphics for the Cat's Eye News spring newscast produced by students in her Arizona Cat's Eye class. Watch the newscast here.

February 2, 2024

Jeannine Relly’s co-authored work titled “Violence, Trauma, and Reflexivity: Methodological Issues and Challenges in Conducting Research in Mexico’s Conflict Zones” (Jeannine E. Relly, Celeste González de Bustamante) was published in “Media and Politics in Post-Authoritarian Mexico: The Continuing Struggle for Democracy.”
 

Carol Schwalbe was named an exceptional and inspirational faculty member by Arizona Online. Schwalbe was nominated by students in her GLO 405/505 Media & Climate Change online course.
 

Associate Director Pate McMichael took the inaugural Jamieson-Metcalf Scholars for Public Affairs Journalism to Phoenix on Jan. 18 for a media tour of the Arizona Legislature. Students met with GOP and Democratic Public Information Officers and toured the Arizona Senate.
 

Jeannine Relly presented work with colleagues at the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia Conference in Sydney, Australia, on December 4 and 5, 2023, and in Melbourne on December 12. Her work with Saoussen Ben Cheikh, founder of the nonprofit MENA-can in Tunisia, was presented on a panel titled, "#MeToo: Unifying Global North and Global South media approaches to addressing violence against women.” Her recently published co-edited volume with Andrea Baker and Celeste González de Bustamante, titled,"Violence against women from the Global South: Reporting in the post #MeToo era" was highlighted at a book launch at the conference. Relly also was an invited speaker on a panel titled,“Unifying Global North and the Global South media approaches to address the violence against women crisis” at the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre in Melbourne.

Liliana Soto was awarded a scholarship to attend the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) three-day Crime Coverage Summit in New Orleans. The summit is intended to gather broadcast news leaders and journalists to think critically and work collaboratively to address crime coverage in TV news.

December 5, 2023

Susan Swanberg’s eugenics research was highlighted in an outreach article published by Scientia on Nov. 8.

Jessica Retis was one of 20 Latina authors featured in the second volume of “Mujeres de la Comunicación” (Women of Communication), which launched on Nov. 21. Watch the virtual book launch here.

Jessica Retis co-authored the research article "Bilingual and Spanish Language Media in the U.S. as a Language Maintenance Tool Among Latinx Communities" published in the Spanish as a Heritage Language journal.

Jeannine Relly along with three other collaborators (Celeste González de Bustamante, Ammina Kothari and Jyotika Ramaprasad) will serve as editors of “The Routledge Companion to Global Journalism and Media at the Borders.” The work will be published in 2025.

Jeannine Relly and collaborators' work on social equity and information rights was published by Routledge in an edited volume last month. 

Jessica Retis was invited to attend the “Migrations, Borders and Human Rights” forum held Dec. 19 at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Cuajimalpa campus in Mexico City to meet with fellow academics, educators and journalists.

November 2, 2023

Irene McKisson and Becky Pallack, co-founders of Arizona Luminaria, were awarded the 2023 President’s Award from the Society of Professional Journalists and LION Publishers’ New Business of the Year Award. 

Pate McMichael hosted National Geographic photographer Annie Griffiths in his Principles of Journalism class on Oct. 18. The event was a collaboration among the School of Journalism, Center for Creative Photography and the Fox Tucson Theatre. More than 120 students attended the on-campus Q&A.

Jeannine Relly is the principal investigator on a grant from the U.S. State Department through the U.S. Embassy in Yemen. Adjunct instructor Mandy Loader (‘21 M.A.) will serve as project manager on the one-year initiative, which focuses on social entrepreneurship and youth in Yemen and documenting the projects. 

Tyler McCusker accepted a position as Mentor in Residence with UA’s FORGE program, where he will help student entrepreneurs with their mixed media strategies.

Pate McMichael gave a presentation, "True Crime with a Soul," at the Missouri School of Journalism on Sept. 28 to international visitors affiliated with Mizzou's Global Programs initiative.

Pate McMichael presented at the Center for Community News' Statehouse Reporting Conference at the Missouri School of Journalism on Sept. 29.

May 31, 2023

Jessica Retis was selected to join the University of Arizona Academic Leadership Institute’s 2023 - 2024 cohort. Learn more about the institute here.

Jessica Retis was asked to do the Spanish greeting for this year's Commencement Ceremony. Watch her greeting here.

Jessica Retis presented her paper, "Bilingual strategies on news media production in the postdigital age," at the Latin American Studies Association Conference.

Pate McMichael, Cathy Burch and Monica Chadha were featured in an article by the University of Vermont's Center for Community News. Read the article here.

Pate McMichael won a $1,000 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion grant from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences for the SOJ's 2023 Donald W. Carson High School Diversity Workshop.

Monica Chadha was named the Director of Graduate Studies. Get to know her and her research here.

Monica Chadha's abstract from "Media entrepreneurship: Perceptions and motivations of Yemeni youth," was accepted for online presentation at the International Association for Media and Communication Research Conference held from July 9 to 13 in Lyon, France. 

Kim Newton's uncle, Photojournalist Dan Budnik, will have his photography on display at the Etherton Gallery in Tucson, AZ, from mid July to September. Check out the website here.

Jeannine Relly, Mandy Loader and Monica Chadha hosted a roundtable discussion on Zoom with the U.S. Embassy to Yemen for World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday, May 9. The Embassy applauded the work of Al Jisr (the bridge) on Twitter. Check out the tweet here.

Monica Chadha and Jeannine Relly hosted two groups of international journalists from the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists at the SOJ.

Tyler McCusker published his company's docuseries podcast, "CAPTURED: Shot Down in Vietnam." CAPTURED is the story of the Vietnam Prisoner of War crisis, told through interviews with living POWs, their families and historians. McCusker is the interviewer, host and executive producer of the series. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Foundation are supporting this work. Listen to the podcast here.

Michael McKisson supported an article in Arizona Luminaria with photos. Check out his photography here.

Monica Chadha and Jeannine Relly won a Top Paper Award from the International Communication Association's Global Communication & Social Change Division at the International Communication Association Conference 2023 in Toronto. See the tweet here.

Monica Chadha presented at the International Communication Association Conference 2023 in Toronto, Canada.

Jessica Retis published a book chapter in "Imagining Latinidad: Digital Diasporas and Public Engagement Among Latin American Migrants." Her book chapter is "Chapter 6 Latin Americans in London: Digital Diasporas and Social Activism," read it here.

Jessica Retis coedited a special issue in the academic journal, Journalism Practice. Read it here.

April 28, 2023

Kim Newton's uncle, Photojournalist Dan Budnik, will have his photography on display at the Etherton Gallery in Tucson, AZ, from mid July to September. Check out the website here.

Carol Schwalbe attended the 2023 Planet Forward Summit at George Washington University with students Sam Parker and Denise Meeks. Check out their website here.

Susan Swanberg was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London on Thursday, March 23. "The Linnean Society of London is the world’s oldest active society devoted to natural history," according to the Linnean Society website. Learn more here.

Susan Swanberg published an article titled, “A Jewel of a Tale from Pinnacles National Park” in WNPA’s Spring 2023 issue (pp. 5 to 7) of Your American West. Read it here.

Susan Swanberg attended the Public Communication of Science and Technology conference in Rotterdam. She was part of a roundtable on finding common ground through journalism. Visit their website here.

Pate McMichael won a $5,000 grant from the Dow Jones News Fund for the SOJ's 2023 Donald W. Carson High School Diversity Workshop.

Monica Chadha was named the Director of Graduate Studies. Get to know her and her research here.

Monica Chadha and Jeannine Relly hosted a group of international journalists from the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists at the SOJ.

Tyler McCusker is in the final weeks of production for his company's docuseries podcast, "CAPTURED: Shot Down in Vietnam." CAPTURED is the story of the Vietnam Prisoner of War crisis, told through interviews with living POWs, their families and historians. McCusker is the interviewer, host and executive producer of the series. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Foundation are supporting this work.

Michael McKisson supported an article in Arizona Luminaria with photos. Check out his photography here.

Jessica Retis, Monica Chadha, Ruxandra Guidi and Liliana Soto led the charge to write the proposal that won the competitive University of Arizona Provost's Investment Fund (PIF). The winning project was, "The Wonder Room: A much-needed multimedia laboratory to train the next generation of journalists in local, global, and borderland settings." Read more here.

Monica Chadha and Jeannine Relly won the Top Faculty Paper-Runner Up Award (2023) for "Bringing intercultural experiences to the mobile phone: A case study of Slack as a learning tool in intercultural communication in the U.S. and Yemen."

Monica Chadha was accepted to present at the International Communication Association Conference in Toronto, Canada, May 25 to 29.

Ruxandra Guidi's podcast series, The Catch/La Captura, began its second season. Listen to the new season here.

Liliana Soto's Cat's Eye News class produced their Spring '23 newscast. Watch it here.

Liliana Soto produced a story about Americans arrested for gun trafficking while crossing the border into Mexico for Arizona Illustrated. Watch the story here.

Paloma Boykin coordinated with the Lapan Foundation to bring Sunny the therapy dog to the SOJ on Wednesday, April 12.

Paloma Boykin was accepted for a poster session at the upcoming NACADA conference in October. Her poster title is, "Modes of Working With Struggling Students: Advising at the Center of the Intervention."

March 28, 2023

Pate McMichael was interviewed by the Spycraft 101 Podcast about his book, Operation Chrysler. Listen to the podcast here. Buy his book here.

Pate McMichael was interviewed for a Knight Foundation funded project by Richard Watts, director of the Center for Community News. Read about the project here. Learn more about the Center here.

Monica Chadha presented at the Associate Professor Panel for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Monica Chadha was interviewed for the Journalism School's first episode of the YouTube series, "Faculty Spotlight." Watch here.

David Cuillier accepted the directorship of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. Read about his new position here.

Michael McKisson had an article with accompanying photos published in Arizona Luminaria. Read about the campus Starbucks strike here.

Michael McKisson supported an article in Arizona Luminaria with photos. Check out his photography here.

Jessica Retis spoke at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX. Watch her talk on Latino/a/x Cultures here.

Julia Blumberg had an audio story she produced in Ruxandra Guidi's audio storytelling class published through AZPM. Listen to it here.

Ruxandra Guidi's podcast series, The Catch/La Captura, began its second season. Listen to the new season here.

Cathy Burch's El Inde students had 20 stories published in the Daily Wildcat. Read their stories here.

Liliana Soto held a resume workshop for students to prepare for the Spring 2023 Internship Fair.

Alexandra Pere taught two audio storytelling workshops in Ruxandra Guidi's and Tyler McCusker's classes.

Feb 2, 2023

Pate McMichael was interviewed by KGUN for News Literacy Week. Watch the interview here. 

Liliana Soto was selected to receive a fellowship to attend the IRE 2023 Educator Data Bootcamp at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Carol Schwalbe and Susan Swanberg spoke to graduate students and faculty in UArizona’s School of Natural Resources and the Environmental about communicating science to the public on Wednesday, Jan. 25. They discussed the different roles played by science journalists, how to pitch story ideas and what scientific topics interest the public.

Jeannine Relly won several grants. Relly was the principal investigator grant recipient with Monica Chadha as co-principal investigator for “Media Development, Entrepreneurship and Resilience in Yemen: A Working Research Group,” Arizona Institute for Resilient Environments and Societies. Chadha was the principal investigator and Relly was the co-principal investigator of “Entrepreneurial Journalism in Yemen: Perceptions and Prospects,” Center for Middle Eastern Studies Faculty Research Grant, The University of Arizona. Also, she was the principal investigator on a U.S. State Department grant for Al Jisr Connect. The grant is supporting collaborations over nine months with three professors, three program leads, and 28 students. See part of this collaboration here.

Michael McKisson provided photos for a solutions focused Arizona Luminaria story. See the photos and read the story here. 

Jessica Retis accepted an invitation to speak at South by Southwest (SXSW) in March.

Carol Schwalbe's article on mentoring and collaborating with graduate students on research appeared in the January newsletter of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Read it here.

Ruxandra Guidi spoke at Neon Hum Media's Editor's Bootcamp last week about the investigative podcast series "Bone Valley." Guidi edited the series. Listen to Bone Valley here. Read the New Yorker's review of Bone Valley here. 

Kim Newton's JOUR 203 student, William McMurry, was the winner of the Drew Gyorke Photojournalism Contest Fall 22'. See the winning photo here. 

July 29, 2022

Jessica Retis attended “Linkage and Professional Training Exchange Program: The Role of Media and Communications in Conflict and Peace," at Florida International University with her master's in bilingual journalism students. 

Liliana Soto appeared on the radio show, Think on Kara, about the emotional toll of Latino journalists covering the Uvalde shootings. Listen to the story here. 

Jeannine Relly and Mary Feeney presented the results from a two-semester project, 'Informed learning in global media studies," on July 13 for the Creating Informed Learners in the Classroom Symposium through  Purdue University. The virtual event had 250 registrants.

Michael McKisson provided photos for an Arizona Luminaria story about Pima County adopting "vote centers" for election day. See the photos and read the story here. 

Jessica Retis visited Univision Miami's newsroom while in Florida with her master's in bilingual journalism students. 

Jeannine Relly and Celeste González de Bustamante won the Frank Luther Mott – KTA Journalism & Mass Communication Research Award, for the book "Surviving Mexico: Resistance and Resilience among Journalists in the Twenty-First Century." Read about the award here. 

Ruxandra Guidi wrote a story, "Swimming in Noise," for Nautilus. Read the story here. 

Jessica Retis was part of a video keynote panel, "Shifting Notions of Community in Community Media," in the Community Communication and Alternative Media section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research - IAMCR conference.

Mike Chesnick has left the J-school for a marketing and outreach job at the University of Arizona School of Art. 

Ruxandra Guidi wrote a story about exploring the ocean's "Twilight Zone," a place full of fish one normally sees only in books, for Nautilus. Read the story here. 

June 30, 2022

Celeste González de Bustamante and Jeannine Relly won the AEJMC Tankard Book Award and Knudson Latin America Prize for their book, "Surviving Mexico."

Susan E. Swanberg has accepted the position of associate director for the School of Journalism. 

Jessica Retis has been selected as a fellow for the 2022-23 class of AEJMC's Institute for Diverse Leadership in Journalism and Communication. 

Carol Schwalbe and Susan E. Swanberg, along with recent grad Katya Mendoza, hosted a group of six Thai journalists and three interpreters on June 28. Read the story here. 

Jeannine Relly is receiving a fellowship to attend the Solutions Journalism Educators Academy 2.0 July 14-15, 2022 at the Agora Journalism Center at the University of Oregon in Portland Oregon. 

Liliana Soto wrote a piece for Palabra about the difficulties Latino journalists face when covering tragedies in their communities. Read the story here. 

Jeannine Relly's research with Dr. Silvio Waisbord, a professor at The George Washington University, was accepted for publication in the Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies. The project, titled "Why collective resilience in journalism matters: A call to action in global media development," studied work among 18 global media development organizations on building resilience in journalists and their organizations amid precarity and violence contexts.

Jessica Retis presented at the 2022 International Communication Association (ICA) conference in Paris. She stayed in the city of light afterwards, researching Latin American Immigrants in Paris with Paola Garcia. 

Ruxandra Guidi's El Inde class produced 19 new audio stories. Listen to them here. 

Celeste González de Bustamante, who is leaving for UT-Austin to become associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion, and Maggy Zanger were both awarded faculty emeritus status by the university.

May 24, 2022

Professor Jessica Retis has been appointed director of the University of Arizona School of Journalism, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences announced on May 19. Dr. Retis, director of the school’s Bilingual Journalism master’s program, will take over duties from Interim Director Michael McKisson on July 1. Read the story

Susan E. Swanberg was promoted to associate professor with tenure on April 29. Dr. Swanberg ('14 M.A.) joined the faculty in 2015 as an assistant professor. 

Adjunct instructor Shannon Conner won the student-nominated Hugh and Jan Harelson Excellence in Teaching Award for the second time at the school's Just Desserts ceremony on May 5 at the Arizona Historical Society. Watch the event and read the story.

Jennifer Bates has joined the J-school as the administrative associate. She holds a B.A. in History from the University of Arizona and an M.A. in History from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Mike Chesnick, Jennifer Bates, Rachel Mosteller, Kaity Freeman, Paloma Boykin, Monica Chadha, Kris Hogeboom and Martha Castleberry all worked on the Just Desserts celebration. 

Celeste González de Bustamante served as discussant on the panel titled, “Airwaves, Olympics and El Santo: The Politics and Culture of Broadcasting and Film in Mid-Twentieth Century Mexico,” at the Rocky Mountain Council on Latin American Studies annual conference in Las Cruces, New Mexico on April 22.

María Teresa Ronderos, a Colombian journalist and co-founder for the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP), spoke in a Zoom, hosted by the Bilingual Journalism program and Jessica Retis, on April 28. 

Celeste González de Bustamante and Jeannine Relly won the Frank Luther Mott/Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award for their book, "Surviving Mexico: Resistance and Resilience among Journalists in the Twenty-First Century."

Jessica Retis spoke at the second Forum for Radicalized Minorities in London about the diasporic Latin American communities in the city.

Jeannine Relly and Susan E. Swanberg hosted Dr. Cristina Azocar, a journalism professor at San Francisco State, on April 28 to discuss her new book, "News Media & the Indigenous Fight for Federal Recognition."

Celeste González de Bustamante gave an invited lecture at the University of the Pacific titled, “Surviving Mexico: Resistance and Resilience Among Journalists in the Twenty-first Century,” based on the book she co-authored with Jeannine Relly. González de Bustamante is a visiting professor at the school. 

Jessica Retis hosted Luz Mely Reyes, co-founder of Venezuela's Efecto Cocuyo, on April 26. 

Celeste González de Bustamante has received funding to conduct archival research at the Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, at Wayne State University. She will conduct research for a book chapter tentatively titled, “Complexities, Contestations, and Collective Actions: Farm Labor Movements in Twentieth Century California.”

Jessica Retis hosted journalists Jim Alva and María Luz Nóchez of El Faro, an impressive digital-only outlet in Latin America, on April 21. 

Carol Schwalbe helped organize a May 14 memorial for her husband, Cecil Schwalbe, at the ENR2 building on campus. See some of the tribute videos produced by alum John de Dios.

Mike Chesnick won the Carol and Cecil Schwalbe Staff Award for Outstanding Service.

April  8, 2022

Jeannine Relly moderated and chaired a Border and Global web symposium on the state of media education and research in Central Asia titled, "Central Asia Media Web Symposium 2022." It was in partnership with the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan. 

An article about Susan E. Swanberg's mentee, Rebecca Thompson, a Ph.D. student minoring in journalism, appeared in the Arizona Arts webpage on March 21, 2022. Read the article here. 

Margaret Zanger appeared on KCUR Up to Date in Kansas City to discuss why journalists go to war. She spent six years reporting and training journalists in Iraq and Afghanistan. Listen to the broadcast here. 

Liliana Soto, along with Kendal Blust ('16), spoke on a Fronterizas: Reporting on the Border panel. 

J-school friend Murphy Woodhouse (of KJZZ) stopped by Caitlin Schmidt's class. "Journalism has a reputation as being very fast-paced, but a lot of the cornerstone stuff that makes you a competent reporter on your beat, it's a slow process," he said.

Susan E. Swanberg's  essay titled, "Uncovering Science Journalism's Hidden Histories," was published recently in the Intelligencer, a blog published by the American Journalism Historians Association (AJHA) which features, "...thoughtful essays on mass communication history teaching and research" as well as essays highlighting the work of the organization's members. Read the essay here. 

Jessica Retis was recognized at the UA Student Success Awards with the Outstanding Mentor Award and Inclusive Excellence Award. 

Rachel Mosteller received two grants, totaling $9,500, for the Donald W. Carson High School Journalism Diversity Workshop. 

Dan Shearer ('85), Reilly Kneedler and Lillian Boyd of the Green Valley News stopped by Fred Brock's class, where they gave a "you make the call" scenario talk to the students.

Susan E. Swanberg's science journalism history article on eugenics was mentioned in an article by the prominent science-for-the-public magazine, Science News. Read the article here.

Ruxandra Guidi wrote about her experience during the Venezuela Saudita for The Baffler. Read the story here. 

Adjunct instructor Irene McKisson spoke on a panel at SXSW in Austin, Texas. The panel was titled, "I Quit My Job to Save Local Journalism." Check out her nonprofit newsroom, AZ Luminaria, here. 

Susan E. Swanberg is volunteering as a judge again this year for the American Society for Human Genetics (ASHG) 2022 DNA Day Essay Contest. She will act as a round 2 judge reviewing 18-19 student essays on an issue of importance to the genetics research community. Swanberg has volunteered for ASHG for the last six years. To read about the contest here. 

Mike Chesnick organized the school's second Hall of Fame brunch and ceremony April 9 at the Center for Creative Photography. More than 160 people attended the event. Debbie Cross and Rachel Mosteller also helped during the event, and Michael McKisson started the program and spoke about the school at the halfway point. Watch the ceremony. Read the program. See the photo gallery.

PASSINGS

Dr. Cecil Schwalbe, husband of Carol Schwalbe, died April 3 at the age of 80. A celebration of his life is scheduled for May 14. A "Cold Blooded Research" endowed fund is set up in his name. Donate to the fund here. Read his obituary here. RSVP for the celebration of Cecil's life here. 

March 8, 2022

Jeannine Relly participated remotely in a journalism development program for media and communication educators in Kolkata, India. 

Liliana Soto gave the keynote speech at the "Women in Journalism" event in Phoenix, sponsored by the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. See the video here. 

Celeste González de Bustamante led the student apprenticeship class as they published a new podcast series. Listen to "Of Power and Pandemics," a three-part series about the 1918 flu pandemic and challenges to essential workers. Hear the podcast. 

Jessica Retis organized a visit by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Kirk D. McCoy to the J-school to discuss his career and some of his most poignant photographs. He showed students and guests photos of 9/11, black cowboys and the 1992 LA riots. This was a partnership between UA Bilingual Journalism, the Tucson Museum of Art, UA Africana Studies, and UA Mexican American Studies. 

Ruxandra Guidi wrote about the multiple times the US tried to recruit her as a young Spanish-speaking immigrant for Palabra. Read the story here. 

Two journalism history articles (one a scholarly book review) by Susan E. Swanberg were published March 4 in a double issue of Literary Journalism Studies. Her article, "Under the Influence: The Impact of Johannes A. Siemes, SJ's Eyewitness Report on John Hersey's 'Hiroshima,'" appears at pages 130-161 of Vol. 13, Nos. 1 and 2, June and December 2021. Swanberg's "Nuclear Shadows: Hersey's 'Hiroshima' Revisited," which reviews journalist Lesley Blume's 2020 book titled Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World, appears at pages 195-198 of the same double issue. Read the "Under the Influence" article here. 

Adjunct instructor Irene McKisson's nonprofit newsroom, Arizona Luminaria, is now live. Read the inaugural issue here. 

Feb. 11, 2022

Monica Chadha has joined the J-school as an associate professor. She previously worked an associate professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Liliana Soto has joined the J-school as an assistant professor of practice. She previously worked as an enterprise/investigative journalist at ABC 15 News in Phoenix, where she broadcast stories in both English and Spanish.

Celeste González de Bustamante is leaving UA to the join Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin as associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion. She will also join their School of Journalism and Media as an endowed faculty member at the rank of full professor. She will begin work at UT in the fall. 

Jessica Retis organized and moderated a webinar, "The Missing Part of the Narrative: Hispanics in the U.S. Media Industry." Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas was a speaker. Watch the video.

Andrés Domínguez ('13) has left the J-school, where he worked as an administrative assistant. He is now a graduate program coordinator in the Department of Communication. 

Michael McKisson appeared on KGUN9 to discuss how professors teach news literacy to their students at UA. "I think news literacy is absolutely a crisis in society right now," he said. Watch the video. 

Brett Fera ('05) has left UA, where he served as director of Arizona Student Media for seven years. He now works at The Daily Star as newsroom product development manager.

Kaity Freeman has joined the J-school as a student worker. She is an undergraduate student majoring in public management and policy.  

Michael McKisson filmed drone footage for PBS' News Hour about the Jan. 8 2011 shooting that killed six and wounded 19, including Rep. Gabby Giffords. Watch the story here. 

Jessica Retis took part in a panel, "Media Ethics in the Digital Age" for  Ahram Canadian University's (ACU) 10th Annual conference.

The Arizona Student Media Apprenticeship course recently published Confronting Scarcity, aimed at "destigmatizing and amplifying the conversation around food and basic needs insecurity." Jeannine Relly and Brett Fera co-led the students in their work. The project was made possible by a grant from Al Litzow for audio equipment. See the work here. 

Dec. 15, 2021

Carol Schwalbe’s honors class (Calderwood Seminar on Writing About the Environment) toured the University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. The lab was established in 1937 by A.E. Douglass, who founded the modern science of dendrochronology. 
 
Sarah Gassen, a former adjunct instructor and opinion editor at the Arizona Daily Star, spoke with the Calderwood Seminar honors class about writing opinion pieces.

Charo Henríquez, the head of newsroom development and support at The New York Times, spoke via Zoom as part of Jessica Retis' Master's in Bilingual Journalism Speaker Series.

Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly spoke to spoke to participants in the Mark Finley Gold Pen Award for Best Beginning News Writer contest who were nominated by adjunct instructor Fred Brock.

Daily Star editorial cartoonist and UA alum David Fitzsimmons ('77) stopped by adjunct professor Cathalena Burch's class to discuss his career and draw a few cartoons for the students. 

Jessica Retis had a recent publication, titled "Understanding Latin American diasporic transnationalism and the media in the post-digital era: The interstices of invisibility," in the French academic journal Questions de Communication. A little background on the essay: "Drawing on two-decade-long interdisciplinary studies that seek to examine, compare, and contrast population flows, capital flows and media flows/counterflows, this essay examines findings from various research projects on Latin American diasporas and the media."

Carol Schwalbe and Geoff Ellwand helped judge the stories for Fred Brock's JOUR 205 Mark Finley Gold Pen Award. 

Jessica Retis' new book that she co-edited, "Reporting on Latino/a/x Communities," is available for preorder. 

Nov. 23, 2021

Paloma Boykin ('08) was one of three faculty/staff members honored at the UA football against Utah State.

Ruxandra Guidi had a story in The Atlantic about the intersection of climate change, electric trucks and machismo in the US. She asks, "if climate consciousness can’t be manly, can it coexist with manliness?" Read the story. 

Adjuct lecturer Silvia Sánchez reported from Nogales, AZ as the border with Mexico re-opened to nonessential travelers. Before the pandemic, between 65,000-100,000 people visited Nogales each day. Silvia is a multimedia journalist at Univision Arizona.

Mark Walker, FOIA coordinator & reporter at The New York Times and president of Investigative Reporters and Editors, spoke to David Cuillier's class via Zoom on Oct. 28. 

Saul Bookman ('17, BA,'18, MA), general manager for PHNX broadcast media, Zoomed into Michael McKisson's JOUR 105 class. He discussed what students need to do to get a sports job after graduation as well as his new job.

David Cuillier was quoted in The New York Times about the death of writer, editor and Freedom of Information Act advocate Russ Kick, a Tucson resident. Kick was known for gaining access to information the government didn't want released. Read the story.

Carol Schwalbe and alum Mikayla Mace Kelley have been invited to contribute a chapter on journalists’ coverage of space science and exploration to the Handbook of Science and Health Journalism. This Palgrave MacMillan handbook will be edited by Kim Walsh-Childers of the University of Florida and Merryn McKinnon of the Australian National University.

Diana Náñez, cofounder and executive editor of AZ Luminaria, spoke with beginning journalism students in Michael McKisson's JOUR 105 class. 

John Birdsall, a James Beard award winning food writer, spoke to Cathalena Burch's class about the art of the profile on November 8. 

Oct. 19, 2021

Now is the time. Jessica Retis wrote a chapter, titled "Understanding ethnic journalism in an extinguishing print news media landscape: Japanese-language newspapers in Brazil," for a Palgrave MacMillan book. The chapter reviews the case of the São Paulo Shimbun, a Japanese-language newspaper in Brazil that folded in 2019. The chapter examines challenges faced by ethnic journalists in the Global South.

Ruxandra Guidi wrote a story for Palabra Magazine about her life and identity as a Venezuelan and immigrant who has traveled across and lived in multiple parts of the world since she left her native country at age sixteen. Read the story. 

Andrew Brown was nominated for a Rocky Mountain Emmy Award for an Arizona Public Media piece titled "The Muralist." 

David Cuillier, along with Jessica Retis, virtually presented at the Society of Professional Journalists Conference. He spoke about  "Everyone’s Right to Know: Public Records for Justice."

Jessica Retis, along with David Cuillier, virtually presented "From the Newsroom to the Classroom: How to Make the Transition"  at the Society of Professional Journalists Conference.

Susan Knight, a winner of the 2020 Gerald J. Swanson Prize for Teaching Excellence, was recognized in person last month, along with the 2020 and 2021 winners, for her undergrad teaching at UA. 

Celeste González de Bustamante and Jeannine Relly published their new book, "Surviving Mexico." They spoke with the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at The University of Texas at Austin about the dangers journalists in Mexico face to do their jobs. Read the story. 

Maggy Zanger appeared on Tucson's KOLD News 13 about the plight of the Afghan journalists and professors trapped in the country under Taliban rule. Watch the story.

Jeannine Relly co-organized two digital security workshops with the director of the Institute for International Journalism at Ohio University. The two-hour Digital Security Training for Researchers, Students and Journalists ran on Sept. 30. Relly co-hosted the second workshop with Celeste González de Bustamante.

Celeste González de Bustamante co-hosted, along with Jeannine Relly, the second digital security workshop with the Institute for International Journalism at Ohio University on Oct. 7. 

Sarah Gassen is leaving the Arizona Daily Star and The University of Arizona to move to St. Louis. Here is her final column. 

Maggy Zanger wrote a guest column for the Daily Star on how readers could help Afghan refugees. Read the story. 

Irene McKisson was selected by Lion Publishers to take part in their Google News Initiative Startups Boot Camp. The program helps publishers start digital news startups. Read more. 

Jessica Retis joined the Editorial Board of Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, the flagship journal of the Association for Education Journalism and Mass Communication. 

Ruxandra Guidi, along with Roberto "Bear" Guerra, had their photography exhibit, “Going Gray in LA: Stories of Aging Along Broadway,” displayed at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. Read more. 

Maggy Zanger hosted the Q & A session with Joel Simon, executive director for the Committee to Protect Journalists, at the 2021 Zenger Award for Press Freedom.

Jeannine Relly was awarded grants by the U.S. Embassy for Yemen and the U.S. State Department Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. The former involves gathering information from professors, staff, students and alums from four universities in Yemen with local partner Media Sac for Media and Development to design a collaborative universities linkage program with the School of Journalism. The second is launched this month and involves a linkage with four Yemen Universities (Aden University, Hadhramaut University, Marib University, and Taiz University). The project includes the Daily Wildcat, 10 professors and 70 students from the University of Arizona and the other universities collectively.

Prof. Emeritus William Schmidt introduced Joel Simon, executive director for the Committee to Protect Journalists, at the 2021 Zenger Award for Press Freedom.

Aug. 20, 2021

Jeannine Relly presented the study, "Toward a Framework for Studying Democratic Media Development and ‘Media Capture:' The Iraqi Kurdistan Case," at the 2021 Virtual Media Sociology Symposium. Margaret Zanger conducted field research in Iraqi Kurdistan and Relly and Paola Banchero worked on the analysis and paper with Zanger later. The paper will be published in December in the edited volume titled "Media, Development and Democracy."

Celeste González de Bustamante wrote an audio story for "Borderlore" about cicadas and how they are a metaphor for our lives. "I've been writing so much scholarly literature over the past decade that writing and voicing this piece was liberating," she says. "An 'emergence' of my own if you will..." Listen to the story.

Robin Tricoles has joined the J-school as an adjunct instructor. Robin has an extensive background as a science writer, including at the U of A and ASU. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic and the Washingtonian. She will teach JOUR 411/511 Feature Writing. 

Jessica M. Retis co-presented a paper, “Latinas in Journalism: Examining their Biggest Challenges and Opportunities," at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s virtual conference.

Celeste González de Bustamante moderated the James A. Tankard Book Award at the AEJMC virtual conference session with winner Allissa V. Richardson (“Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones, & the New Protest #Journalism). Celeste, selected earlier for the AEJMC’s Institute for Diverse Leadership in Journalism and Communication, also participated in the inaugural class of Jennifer H. McGill Fellows group.

Sandra Westdahl (’12) has joined the department as an adjunct instructor. Her first course will be JOUR 307 Principles of Multimedia. Sandra has 12 Rocky Mountain Emmy awards and currently is a senior producer for UA's Landmark Stories documentary team. 

Carol Schwalbe was a panelist with Mikayla Mace (’18 M.A.) on “Doctors Are In: Keys to Success in Mentoring and Collaborating with Graduate Students on Research" at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s virtual conference. She was also a panelist on teaching tips, “Chance Encounter: A Peaceful Interlude in a Topsy-Turvy World."

Celeste González de Bustamante was a panelist on “Practical Ways to Diversify Journalism Skills Courses" at the AEJMC virtual conference.

Carol Schwalbe moderated two panels at the AEJMC virtual conference: "Tips for Winning Collegiate Journalism Contests" and “What I Learned in the Lockdown.”

OTHER

Valerie Cavazos, a member of the J-school's Journalism Advisory Council, has joined KOLD News 13 in Tucson. Her first story was about the cost for districts to get students caught up after the pandemic.

July 27, 2021

Michael McKisson was named interim director for the School of Journalism for the 2021-22 school year on July 16, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences announced. McKisson, associate professor of practice and former associate director, replaces Professor Carol Schwalbe, who stepped down after three years as director. “Mike’s knowledge of both the (school) and the field — including excellent connections with a variety of community partners, in and out of Journalism — make him well-positioned to lead the unit this coming year,” Dean John Paul Jones III said. Read more.

Celeste González de Bustamante and Jeannine Relly's book, "Surviving Mexico: Resistance and Resilience among Journalists in the Twenty-First Century" was released on July 21 through the University of Texas Press. They held a book-opening ceremony on July 7 and spoke about their research in a Zoom talk sponsored by Americas Research Network on July 23. 

Martha Castleberry, senior business manager for the School of Journalism, received the 2021 Dean's Award for Excellence from the UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

June 23, 2021

Susan Knight, Linda Lumsden, Nancy Sharkey and William Schmidt retired from the university. The four have a combined 60 years of experience between them. Read more.

Linda Lumsden has been granted professor emerita status by the university. Her 30 year career as a journalism historian included five books and extensive research into social movement media, dating back to the suffrage press.

The university has granted William Schmidt professor emeritus status. He worked at The New York Times for 32 years as a correspondent and senior editor. Schmidt also ran foreign bureaus in Cairo and Moscow for Newsweek.

After 30 years at the University of Arizona, Susan Knight has been granted professor emerita status by the university. Her career in teaching began in 1991, after working for the University of Arizona Press, Tucson Weekly and Arizona Daily Star.

Nancy Sharkey has been granted professor emerita status by the university. She joined the school in 2010 after 25 years in various editorial positions at The New York Times and 20 years as an adjunct professor at Columbia University. Her courses at UA included reporting public affairs, editing and reporting.

The Center for University Education Scholarship named Jessica Retis as a CUES Distinguished Fellow for her project Bilingual Journalism Education in the United States: Implementation and Assessment. The acclaimed fellowship includes three years of funding.

Fred Brock’s book “Secrets,” the third novel in The Seven trilogy, is out. It’s a cross-genre thriller involving kidnapping, murders and UFOs.

Andrés Domínguez co-directed the Donald W. Carson Journalism Diversity Workshop with Julia Blumberg, a master’s student. Seven students participated in the workshop, which was held virtually this year. Read more.

Jessica Retis spoke with students at the Donald W. Carson Journalism Diversity Workshop about bilingual reporting.

Jeannine Relly participated in the Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy on June 5-10. This year’s academy was held virtually.

Carol Schwalbe and Julia Blumberg discussed podcasting and interviewing at the Donald W. Carson Journalism Diversity Workshop.

David Cuillier spoke about the shifting news industry for Arizona Humanities and the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center.

Paloma Boykin and UA admissions counselor Brandi Espuma gave a virtual roundtable regarding the admissions process and finding a major at the Donald W. Carson Journalism Diversity Workshop.

Jessica Retis gave the keynote speech at the 71^st annual International Communications Association (ICA) Preconference “Digital Media in Latinx & Latin America.” Her talk was titled, “Que cuarenta años, ¿no es nada? Latinx-LatAm media debates and dialogues across the Americas: Four decades of convergences in transnational spaces.”

Jeannine Relly spoke with students at the Donald W. Carson Journalism Diversity Workshop about the basics of sourcing and reporting.

Celeste González de Bustamante and history Professor Katherine Morrissey received a Mellon grant through University Libraries to create an online platform of bilingual primary resources that includes historical newspapers representing Tucson, Nogales, Douglas and Bisbee in Arizona and Nogales, Agua Prieta and Naco in Sonora.

Former adjunct instructor Joe Sharkey’s non-fiction book “Above Suspicion” was turned into a film of the same name. The film, starring Emilia Clarke, was finally released in the U.S. in May.

IN MEMORIAM 

Ann-Eve Pedersen died May 29 at 55. She rose from reporter to editor at the Tucson Citizen and Arizona Daily Star. She was an advocate for education, including the School of Journalism, and taught JOUR 205 as an adjunct instructor in the early 2000s. Cathy Burch, an adjunct instructor, wrote Pedersen's obit for the Arizona Daily Star. 

May 18, 2021

Celeste González de Bustamante was promoted to full professor. "We congratulate you on your impactful and courageous research on the issues that journalists face in Latin America, as well as your dedication to the university teaching and outreach missions," the University Advisory Committee on Promotion and Tenure wrote. "You are a valuable member of our community and we look forward to your many insightful future contributions."  

Jessica Retis was promoted to full professor. "Your record of international and transnational scholarship, teaching, leadership, outreach, inclusion, and service is truly inspiring in scope and impact," the University Advisory Committee on Promotion and Tenure wrote, "illustrating how an active faculty member can make a difference in a global society." 

Michael McKisson won the Lower Division Teaching Award from the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. Professor Carol Schwalbe, director of the school, nominated McKisson, calling him “an agent of change in the school, the university and the profession.” McKisson was one of five award winners from 19 SBS academic departments and schools. Read our website story and the SBS website story with all five winners. 

The school honored retiring professors Susan Knight, Linda Lumsden, William Schmidt and Nancy Sharkey near the end of Just Desserts on May 13, then held an "after-party" for the four on Zoom with remembrances from faculty and staff. 

Jeannine Relly was selected to participate in the prestigious HSI Solutions Journalism Educator Academy. She’s among 14 professors serving Latino/x students in seven states who will learn how to train students in the practice of solutions journalism, which helps journalists tackle complex social issues deeply and equitably. Read more 
 
Debbie Cross, program coordinator for graduate studies, won the Carol and Cecil Schwalbe Staff Award for Outstanding Service.  

Adjunct instructor Fred Brock won the Hugh and Jan Harelson Excellence in Teaching Award, in which students nominate professors and an outside committee votes on the winner. 

Susan E. Swanberg received a 2021 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Research Travel Grant to conduct research at the laboratory's archives on her project titled: "The Rise and Fall of Davenport's Dream: The De-Funding of the Eugenics Record Office."   
 
David Cuillier gave a virtual discussion, “News Shift: Working Towards a More Informed Electorate,” about the state of journalism on April 27 as part of a “Representation Matters” series co-hosted by Arizona Humanities. 

Jessica Retis’ co-authored paper with Amara Aguilar and Laura Castaneda, “Latinas in Journalism: Challenges and Opportunities,” was accepted for presentation at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) 2021 Conference in August. 

Jessica Retis will be the keynote speaker at the International Communications Association ICA 2021 Preconference Latinx & LatAm Media. 

Wildlife biologist Debbie Buecher visited Susan E. Swanberg's environmental journalism class via Zoom on April 26 to speak about her research on a disease called white-nose syndrome. This disease, caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is decimating bats across the country. 

Ruxandra Guidi will collaborate with the Southwest Folklife Alliance this May-September on Continuum: End-of-Life Stories, a participatory audio project that seeks to recognize the work of end-of-life caregivers — to make it seen and heard. 

Jessica Retis received the 2021 International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ) Top Research Paper Award with Lourdes Cuevos Chacón for “Mapping digital-native U.S. Latinx news: Beyond geographical boundaries, language barriers, and hyper-fragmentation of audiences.” 

Ruxandra Guidi will teach a free 5-day audio storytelling workshop for newbies this June 25-29, via Marfa Public Radio. More info 

Linda Lumsden wrote the introduction to Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Women’s Suffrage. The book features Jeanine Michna-Bales’ photographic meditation on the life of America’s sole suffrage martyr. The images combine dramatic landscapes and historical reenactments of Milholland’s life to offer a glimpse of the monumental effort required to pass the 19th Amendment granting women the vote. The New York Times featured the project in 'She Was More Than Just the “Most Beautiful Suffragist.”’

Jessica Retis hosted a virtual conference in Spain: “Critical Perspectives on the Media and Racism: A Transnational View.” 

Celeste González de Bustamante’s fall 2020 apprentice class podcast, “Of Power and Pandemics” and spring 2021 research methods class project, “Hidden Voices of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands” appeared in the Newspapers as Data virtual student showcase for the University of Arizona Libraries. 
  
NAHJ started a campaign to welcome Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) educators, led by Jessica Retis, national academic officer for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. More info 

April 23, 2021

Linda Lumsden gave the keynote speech April 13 on Press Day at the University of Minnesota at Mankato. She spoke about the evolution of social justice journalism from print media to the Internet, with a special focus on #BlackLivesMatter.

Jeannine Relly moderated the Center for Border & Global Journalism's panel, "Focus on research: Media coverage of rape and sexual harassment of women in the Global South" on March 20. Panelists were from Bangladesh, Egypt and the U.S. The CBGJ partnered with the Institute for International Journalism at Ohio University on the event. CBGJ Director Celeste González de Bustamante and graduate student Mandy Loader participated in organizing and facilitating the event. Watch the discussion.

Susan Swanberg added a certificate in Philosophy of Science from the University of Oxford to her five degrees to help her science journalism students. "Being able to distinguish real science from other forms of knowledge (and from belief systems that do not produce knowledge) is relevant to accusations of 'fake news' that are thrown at journalists — including science journalists," she says. Her degrees are M.A. Journalism, Ph.D. Genetics, M.S. Biological Sciences, J.D. Law, B.A. Psychology.

Jeannine Relly's invited chapter titled, "Online harassment of journalists as a consequence of populism, mis/disinformation, and impunity" was published in Howard Tumber and Silvio Waisbord's edited volume, The Routledge Companion to Media, Disinformation and Populism, published by Routledge. 

The Honors College selected Carol Schwalbe as one of a handful of UA professors to teach an inaugural Calderwood Seminar in Public Writing in 2021-22. The senior-level honors seminars, which began at Wellesley College in 2013-14, emphasize writing for a general readership rather than an academic audience. Each week students write, edit and peer-review short pieces that might appear in a blog, magazine or newspaper. Calderwood Seminars have been offered in fields as disparate as American studies and art, economics and music, environmental studies and French, and math and psychology.

Michael McKisson was invited to be an Affiliate Faculty Member in the School of Information.

Jessica Retis' Reporting on Migration series continued with five panel discussions: "Central America," with Jennifer Ávila, Daniela Gerson and Tomás Ayuso, on March 16; "Young Latinx," with freelancer Eileen Truax and Adolfo Flores of BuzzFeed, on March 23; "Distintas Latitudes," with Jordy Meléndez, Mariel Lozada and Javier Roque, on March 25; "Venezuelan Diaspora in Latin America," with Sandra Ramirez (El Tiempo, Colombia), Mária Beatriz Manzano (El Nacional, Venezuela), Lyng-Hou Ramirez (Grupo Diarios América, Miami) and Jamie Bedoya (El Comercio, Perú), on April 1; and "Asian Latinos in Japan," with Alberto Matsumoto, Roxana Oshiro and Carlos Watanabe, on April 23.

Celeste González de Bustamante hosted an Alumni Panel Series, “Media, the Border and Latin America,” with KJZZ Hermosillo-based reporter Kendal Blust ('16) and Arizona Daily Star reporters Alex Devoid ('17) and Curt Prendergast ('11) on March 31. The UA J-school master's alums talked about border reporting and current issues facing the region.

Students used the Hugh and Jan Harelson Reporting Lab on March 11 to work on their projects for Michael McKisson's multimedia course (JOUR 307) — the first class held on the Marshall Building's third floor since the pandemic forced remote learning a year ago.

David Cuillier, president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, was quoted in a March 5 Washington Post story, “Big Ten presidents kept return-to-school, football communications out of public eye.” Said Cuillier: “None of these workarounds to hide from the public are going to hold water.”

Susan Knight’s class “Inside the Beltway: Press, Politics and Power in DC” was visited by C-SPAN’s Joel Bacon and Marty Dominguez on April 19. The students learned about resources for finding unfiltered news coverage to compare to the social media portrayals. The students are spending the semester analyzing the social media of DC-centric organizations, individuals and agencies — culminating in a consultant’s report on metrics and analytics, with attention to what’s working, what’s not and what could be improved.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Hallman visited Susan Knight’s Features class via Zoom on April 19. The experience was particularly rewarding for student Madison McCormick, who wrote in an essay early in the semester: “My grandmother lives in Portland, Oregon, and she occasionally sends me articles by Tom Hallman Jr. from The Oregonian. I admire his writing so much and I would choose to meet him over any musician or famous person any day.” Hallman, who spoke to the students about finding narrative arcs and interviewing deeply for details, was the reason McCormick decided to pursue a career in journalism and storytelling.

Celeste González de Bustamante moderated a panel about multimedia storytelling in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands on April 21 with J-school alums April Lanuza (CGTN America digital producer), Murphy Woodhouse (KJZZ reporter based in Hermosillo) and journalist Luis Carlos Davis.  The Center for Border & Global Journalism and Latin American Studies at UA co-sponsored the Zoom event.

Jeannine Relly participated in a Q&A session about risks for journalists around the world as a guest speaker in Prof. Silvio Waisbord's international journalism course on March 8. Waisbord is director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University.

Jessica Retis presented her new book, "Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging: Latin Americans in London," April 15 to students in a Zoom session with co-author Patria Román-Velázquez and London journalist Arelys Goncalves.

Jeannine Relly was an invited discussant for a March 24 book event sponsored by Lund University's Swedish South Asian Studies Network. Relly, an author and co-author of five studies related to India's Right to Information Act, discussed the book, Capturing Institutional Change: The Case of the Right to Information Act in India with author, Dr. Himanshu Jha, a research fellow and lecturer in political science at Heidelberg University in Germany. The book was recently published by Oxford University Press.

Susan Knight hosted Politico financial services reporter Kellie Mejdrich ('12) on April 5 with Prof. Emeritus Terry Wimmer listening with students. Read Mejdrich's work. Knight also welcomed Wall Street Journal immigration reporter Alicia A. Caldwell, who took J-school classes and got her start on the Daily Wildcat, on March 31.

Celeste González de Bustamante was part of an April 16 virtual panel on cyberbullying and harassment of journalists across the world. The event was co-sponsored by our Center for Border & Global Journalism and the Institute for International Journalism (Ohio University).

Kim Newton hosted photo journalist Joe Patronite on March 31 via Zoom in his JOUR 203 course. Mike Christy ('11), director of photography for UA Athletics, and Arizona Daily Star photographer Kelly Presnell talked to Newton's class April 12.

Former graduate student Shanshan Niu and Jeannine Relly's research paper titled, "Framing China’s Belt and Road Initiative by U.S. and Indian News Media (2013-2018)," was accepted for publication in Newspaper Research Journal.

Susan Swanberg hosted Jenny Hijazi (‘17), a Bloomberg senior air reporter who covers pollution and other environmental issues, in a March 3 Zoom session for her Environmental Journalism (JOUR 455/555) class. The far-ranging discussion included topics such as Hijazi's career path, how she investigates and reports environmental stories and journalism ethics.

The J-school welcomed new part-time outreach assistant Rachel Mosteller on April 19. She is a former stringer for the New York Times Houston Bureau, and her freelance work has appeared in the Huffington Post, USA Today, Ladies’ Home Journal and other publications. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas A&M University and also was a features reporter for the Herald-Sun in Durham, North Carolina. Recently, she was a substitute teacher in the Amphitheater School District and a volunteer grant writer for the Tucson HIV AIDS Network. She and her husband have two teenage children. 

Mike Chesnick, new coordinator for career strategies and outreach, moderated a job hunt panel for students on April 14.  UA J-school grads Jordan Williams (The Hill), Mike Christy (Arizona Athletics), Nicole Santa Cruz (ProPublica/L.A. Times), Jasmine Demers (Arizona Daily Star) and Saul Bookman (Bally Sports Arizona) talked about how they landed their media jobs, shared career/portfolio advice and answered questions. Watch the video

March 8, 2021

Michael McKisson held his multimedia class in-person on March 4 for the first time in a year — albeit, outside. Students practiced their photography skills across from the Marshall Building. Photos

Linda Lumsden's book, "Social Justice Journalism: A Cultural History of Social Movement Media from Abolition to #Womensmarch," received a positive review March 4 in Journalism History. 

Ruxandra Guidi wrote about the legacy of illegal trash dumping near the homes of migrant farmworkers in a Feb. 18 essay for Boom California. She also published a satire, "Things to answer for," for Guernica. 

Jessica Retis will be a guest speaker in July for the virtual HSI Solutions Journalism Educator Academy. The two-day intensive training will help university faculty members at Hispanic Serving Institutions teach solutions journalism and incorporate it into student newsrooms. Details

Ruxandra Guidi hosted a Zoom panel talk March 8 on the growing tide of unionization and workplace organizing by U.S. journalists. She was joined by the L.A. Times' Carolina Miranda and UA J-school grad Kristina Bui ('13), Wired's Phuc Pham and author and National Writers' Union VP David Hill. Watch the video.

Susan Knight invited Christianna Silva ('17) to talk to her Inside the Beltway class on Feb. 25. Silva is a tech reporter for Mashable (tinyurl.com/csmash21) in New York, focusing on Facebook and Instagram. Silva gave students the lowdown on media regulation and censorship, tips about social media and digital journalism — and career advice from her 18 internships/jobs.

Linda Lumsden moderated a panel for Arizona Public Media after a special screening of "9 to 5: The Story of a Movement," on Feb. 24. Prof. Sandra Soto from the UA Gender and Women’s Studies and Amalia Luxardo, CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona, participated in the Q&A.

Jessica Retis and other academic members of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists talked Feb. 19 about educating the future generation of Latinx journalists. "Inspiring to see so many of them attending from all over the country," Prof. Retis wrote.

Paloma Boykin and Mike Chesnick started a mentorship program at the J-school to connect JOUR 105 students in Nancy Sharkey's class with media professionals. More than 25 alums responded to a survey, and 13 were matched with students who asked to be in the program. Details 

Susan Knight invited Aaron Mackey ('06) to speak to her Inside the Beltway class Feb. 17 about free speech, transparency, digital privacy and government surveillance. Mackey, a former Arizona Daily Star reporter and Daily Wildcat editor-in-chief, works for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org) in San Francisco. He has law degrees from Cal Berkeley and Georgetown and worked for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Washington, D.C.

Renée Schafer Horton, former internship coordinator, wrote a Feb. 28 column for the Arizona Daily Star, "Renée Schafer Horton: My life with a traumatic brain injury."

IN MEMORIAM

Tom Duddleston Sr., a UA Journalism faculty member in the 1970s, died Feb. 24 at age 96. He helped secure the first classroom computer system for the department. He also mentored young reporters as a longtime editor at the Tucson Citizen. Obit

Feb. 15, 2021

Curriculum Affairs informed Jeannine Relly and the school that the online Studies in Global Media major/minor and master's degree programs have been added to the main campus. Relly and Celeste González de Bustamante are working on marketing materials for the second spring semester to reflect the change.

Susan Knight welcomed Agence France-Presse White House photographer Saul Loeb ('04) as a guest speaker in her Jan. 27 "Inside the Beltway" class. (Watch the Zoom video.) Loeb showed photos from his time covering four presidents — calling Donald Trump the "most accessible" — and gave students insight into his photography and how to land a job. Loeb, also a Daily Wildcat alum, took now-iconic photos inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 siege. "We had a job to do," so he said he didn't fear for his safety at the time. "But it could have been worse" had the situation turned more violent, he added. 

Jessica Retis was invited to serve on the Editorial Board of Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.

Susan Knight was invited again to be a judge for the national Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for college and high school students.

Jessica Retis was invited to serve as Advisory Board member for the Global Handbooks in Media and Communication Research series published by the International Association for Mass Communication Research (IAMCR) Handbooks Series and Wiley.

Nancy Sharkey and UA Law alum Stephen Golden, a J-school supporter, are set to moderate a Q&A with New Yorker investigative journalist Jane Mayer on Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m. Register for the free online McCormick Lecture at conta.cc/3azLFos.

David Cuillier is teaching his "Art of Access: Acquiring Government Records for Career and Life" course Feb. 22-March 22 as part of the SBS Community Classroom. The course will help participants buy a house, research family history or be a better journalist.

Jessica Retis was elected co-Chair of the Latina/o Studies Section (LSS) of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). As adviser for the school's NAHJ chapter, she's also leading a Zoom meeting Feb 19 at 11 a.m. to help Latinx educators and students get more resources and visibility.

Ruxandra Guidi and Jessica Retis held info sessions online for the school's new M.A. in Bilingual Journalism on Jan. 22 and Feb. 10. The program starts in the fall.

Ruxandra Guidi lined up Erika Hayasaki, an award-winning freelance writer, UC Irvine professor and author, to speak to her freelancing class on Feb. 23.

Jan. 15, 2021

Ruxandra Guidi helped dozens of students from the fall 2020 semester publish work on the school's El Inde website — indearizona.com — including an audio report by Yasmin Acosta, "A thriving business despite the pandemic."

Maggy Zanger saw her JOUR 506 students publish eight stories in the fall semester: three in the Arizona Daily Star, two in the Arizona Daily Wildcat and one each in the Tucson Sentinel, Tucson Weekly and Green Valley News.

Susan Knight received the university's new Gerald G. Swanson Prize for Teaching Excellence Dec. 8 in a virtual ceremony before family and colleagues from the J-school, College of Social & Behavioral Sciences and Provost's Office. Dean JP Jones, Nancy Sharkey, Vice Provost Andrea Romero and Provost Liesl Folks presented or spoke on Knight's behalf. Read more.

Susan Swanberg's research article titled, "Writing while under the influence: Reflections on the provenance of Johannes A. Siemes, S.J.’s eyewitness report and its impact on John Hersey’s Hiroshima," has been accepted by Literary Journalism Studies with publication slated for LJS Vol 13, No. 2, December 2021.

Susan Swanberg's book review titled, "Nuclear Shadows: Hersey's 'Hiroshima' Revisited," — a review of Lesley M.M. Blume's book Fallout: The Hiroshima cover-up and the reporter who revealed it to the world — has been accepted by Literary Journalism Studies with publication slated for spring of 2021.

Jessica Retis' recent book — "Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging: Latin Americans in London" — is featured on the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) website.

Celeste González de Bustamante participated as an invited panelist on a Dec. 3 international roundtable titled, “Faculty and Institutional Perspectives on Virtual International Partnerships,” for the 20th North American Higher Education Conference of the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC) and the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Mexican Association for International Education (Asociación Mexicana para la Educación Internacional - AMPEI). The theme was "Rebuilding the Global Village."
 
Celeste González de Bustamante was invited to speak about her work this semester as a fellow in the first Virtual Exchange Fellowship between the American Higher Education Alliance (AHEA) and CONAHEC. In this program, González de Bustamante and Dr. Lenin Martell are collaborating to create a student virtual exchange in spring 2021.

Jeannine Relly became the vice chair of the AEJMC Elected Standing Committee for Professional Freedom and Responsibility in October. She will become chair in October 2021.

Celeste González de Bustamante and Jeannine Relly unveiled the cover for their new book, "Surviving Mexico: Resistance and Resilience among Journalists in the Twenty-First Century," which is due to be published by the University of Texas Press in July 2021. See more details.

Michael McKisson and Carol Schwalbe invited Dillon Bergin, an investigative reporter with Searchlight New Mexico, to speak to their fall co-taught JOUR 205 Reporting the News class. Bergin discussed his recent story about the police shooting of a Black man during a traffic stop in New Mexico. Bergin covered reporting and writing on deadline, thinking about language and framing, and balancing that with editorial demands.

Susan Knight wrote a Dec. 20 op-ed column, "UA prof: Our students are Wildcats' heart and soul; don't stereotype them" for the Arizona Daily Star. On the same day, the Star also published a column by Celeste González de Bustamante and Ruxandra Guidi along with Susan Briante and Leila Hudson, "UA justice coalition & union: Celebrating a year of resilience, bravery" and a monthly guest column by former internship coordinator Renée Schafer Horton, “Response would be different if virus struck below belt."

Jessica Retis and Ruxandra Guidi held a Dec. 10 information session about the school's new M.A. in Bilingual Journalism. The session followed a social media campaign.

Jeannine Relly and Celeste González de Bustamante initiated a social media campaign to promote the school's new online B.A. and M.A. programs in Studies of Global Media.  

Jessica M. Retis wrapped up her semester speaker series Nov. 30 with a panel talk, "Bilingual Reporting in the United States," with Journalism Advisory Council chairperson Frank O. Sotomayor ('66) and Felix Gutierrez. Retis thanked both for the "importance of their work and how much they've done for the profession and academia." 

Susan Swanberg, part of the Center for University Education Scholarship (CUES), serves on the quantitative intuition (QI) advisory board, which reviews applications for CUES grant money and provides guidance for the winning grantee team. You can read about the activities of CUES here (see page 5 for Swanberg's activity). As a side-effect of participating in a past QI workshop, she came up with ideas on how to make our students more aware of the importance of mathematics and arithmetic/statistical calculations to the development of data-driven stories. "We don't have time to teach them math, but we can develop exercises that reduce math fears and inspire more students to have confidence in their ability to understand and use data," she says.

Academic adviser Paloma Boykin ('08), a "40 Under 40" winner for 2020, was honored Dec. 15 in a ceremony and Dec. 16 in a special section in the Arizona Daily Star. See a video of the virtual event. The awards are hosted by the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Star.

Adjunct instructor Fred Brock's second novel of "The Seven" trilogy, "Shadows," was released Jan. 12. The cross-genre thriller, which involves kidnapping, murder, romance and UFO conspiracies, was published by Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing. Brock's third novel, "Secrets," is due out in summer 2021. The first novel, "The Seven," came out in June 2020.

Adjunct instructor Irene McKisson ('03) and Becky Pallack of the Arizona Daily Star, co-founders of #ThisIsTucson, wrote a Jan. 6 report for Columbia Journalism Review and the Tow Center on how they helped build a membership program for the digital product and successfully launched it during the pandemic. "Today we're at 433 members and growing," Pallack says.

Graduate assistant Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan ('10) accepted a full-time faculty position in Tohono O'odham Studies at Tohono O'odham Community College. She began teaching last week. A doctoral candidate in American Indian Studies with a minor in Journalism, she was adviser of the school's Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) chapter.

"We are all cheering you on!" Carol Schwalbe, Michael McKisson and faculty/staff honored the school's fall 2020 graduates with a video and story. The College of SBS also honored the school's 2020 grads in a ceremony that saw J-school supporter Matt Harelson and Dean JP Jones address students. You can watch a replay of the ceremony. Harelson and his brother, Scott, inducted their late parents — Hugh and Jan Harelson — into the J-school's Hall of Fame in 2018.

The 2020 Cursor magazine came out in early December with the theme, "Power of Giving." Contributing were Mike Chesnick (editor), Debbie Cross, Andrés Domínguez, Daniel Ramirez and Carol Schwalbe. Paloma Boykin and Ethan Schwalbe also helped proof the issue.

The school's crowdfunding campaign for the Nancy and Bob Maynard Diversity in Journalism Scholarship ended with 75 donors who contributed more than $12,000. The scholarship, which needs more than $25,000 to be endowed, is still accepting donations here.

Nov. 30, 2020

Susan Swanberg's Reporting the News (JOUR 205) class created a website for a Nov. 23 virtual panel talk, "Covid Conversations: Storytelling in Unprecedented Times." Jasmine Demers ('19 M.A., Arizona Daily Star), Bethany Barnes ('13 M.A., Tampa Bay Times), Jose Carlos Fajardo (East Bay Times) and Dr. Stephen Paul (UA Campus Health) participated in the panel, while Maritza Cruz ('18) helped students develop the website at covid19conversations.com.

Kim Newton produced a 10-minute video, "Photography in the Age of 2020," for the Center for Creative Photography, which debuted Nov. 4 on Instagram and will be a part of an upcoming installation on photojournalism 20/20 in CCP's new interdisciplinary gallery.

Ruxandra Guidi gave an Oct. 25 workshop on audio storytelling to 100 journalists from Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador — part of Chicas Poderosas’ Mediaton Resonar.

Jessica Retis "traveled" around the world Nov. 13 to present her research and promote the school's new M.A. in bilingual journalism. She woke up early to talk about ethnic journalism during a panel in Moscow. By noon, she was in Medellín, Colombia, for the XV Latin American Communication Researchers Conference to talk about her upcoming co-edited book on communication in contemporary Latin America. By midnight, she had crossed the Atlantic again to give a guest lecture on bilingual media at the University of Salamanca in Spain.

Ruxandra Guidi and her advanced reporting class hosted filmmakers Bret Sigler and Victor Couto, who screened their documentary "Enemies of the People" and answered questions from students. Top journalists reflect on their mistakes covering Donald Trump in the 2016 election and the decline of public trust in news. After the 2020 election, Sigler said there are still questions, including what went wrong with polling again and how the press will cover Trump in the years to come. The class also talked about the importance of media literacy and local news. See the film at https://youtu.be/Wa85N6c28n8.

Adjunct instructor Christoper Conover, host of "The Buzz" on NPR 89.1, interviewed UA College of SBS political scientist Samara Klar in relation to polling in Arizona on Nov. 2 during a free webinar, "ALL EYES ON ARIZONA: Evaluating the Polls and the Politics in Our Battleground State."

Susan Swanberg and her science journalism students donned costumes on Oct. 30 as she played the role of Andrew Wakefield, the physician who instigated the autism/vaccine controversy, and they asked him, er her, questions during the Zoom class.

Jessica Retis launched her book, "Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging: Latin Americans in London," with co-author Patria Román-Velázquez on Oct. 29 in a virtual event. tinyurl.com/y5od5cdx

Ruxandra Guidi joined the advisory board for El Tímpano, a Spanish-language storytelling lab out of Oakland, CA: https://www.eltimpano.org/

Michael McKisson and Carol Schwalbe invited Dillon Bergin, an investigative reporter with Searchlight New Mexico, to speak to their JOUR 205 Reporting the News class. Bergin discussed his recent story about the police shooting of a Black man during a traffic stop in New Mexico. Bergin covered reporting and writing on deadline, thinking about language and framing, and balancing that with editorial demands.

Susan Swanberg made a presentation on the “History of Science Through the Lens of Journalism” to the Journalism Advisory Council on Nov. 6. She summarized her research and described how it interfaced with her teaching.

Jessica Retis held a panel, "Digital Latinx News Media: Social Media Strategies for Local & International News," on Oct. 28 featuring Hilda Garcia of Univision and Juan Andrés Muñoz. 

Ruxandra Guidi invited Mexico City-based journalist Franc Contreras to speak to students on Oct. 26 in her capstone class. Contreras, who grew up in Tucson, traveled to Arizona to cover the U.S. elections for CGTN. He touched on his freelance work and Arizona as a battleground state. His bio is at america.cgtn.com/anchors-corresp/franc-contreras.

Nancy Sharkey underwent successful abdominal surgery Nov. 9 at Tucson Medical Center. While taking antibiotics in the hospital, she has continued to teach her Principles of Journalism (JOUR 105) class online with help from teaching assistant Alyssa Grabinski.

Linda Lumsden is doing well after Nov. 30 surgery related to her colon cancer at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.

Oct. 20, 2020

Three journalists helped the UA J-school formally launch its Nancy and Bob Maynard Diversity in Journalism Scholarship on Oct. 6 with a webinar, "Truth-telling in a Time of Turbulence." Alum Gilbert Bailon, editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, moderated a panel with Roll Call columnist Mary C. Curtis and Kevin Merida, editor-in-chief of ESPN's “The Undefeated.” The three discussed racial reckoning, COVID-19, the election, objectivity and the legacy of news media diversity promoted by the Maynards. Attendees described the forum as "inspiring" and "amazing" as it formally launched the school's crowdfunding campaign to endow the scholarship at $25,000. Frank Sotomayor ('66), chair of the Journalism Advisory Committee, and the panelists gave a thoughtful summary of the Maynards' legacy following school Director Carol Schwalbe's introduction. Nearly 200 people tuned in for the webinar. As of Oct. 19, 60 people had donated $9,415. People can still donate at the school's crowdfunding site. Administrative assistant Andrés Domínguez, outreach coordinator Mike Chesnick, and Dominic Muñoz and Ana Tello of the College of SBS helped set up the forum and crowdfunding site. The JAC fundraising committee, led by Jo M. Barkley, planned the forum for two months.

Ruxandra Guidi recorded a 30-minute episode for "70 Million," a podcast about criminal justice reforms around the U.S. Hear the episode, "No Longer Waiting for Top-Down Reform."

Jessica Retis was elected to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) Board of Directors and is generating lots of exposure for the school's new M.A. degree in bilingual journalism. She formally presented  the program Oct. 15 in a webinar, "Bilingual Journalism in the Digital Era," co-hosted by UA Faculty Affairs and Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Initiatives.

David Cuillier provided an Ignite Talk for Google’s Newsgeist gathering this month, and also provided virtual training workshops in acquiring public records for the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference and Society of Professional Journalists conference.

Susan E. Swanberg's article, "'Well-bred and well-fed,' The Science Service Covers Eugenics: 1924 to 1966," was accepted for publication in American Journalism, the journal of the American Journalism Historians Association (AJHA). The article recounts the previously unexplored involvement of renowned newspaper publisher, E.W. Scripps, with eugenics and examines how his interest in eugenics influenced articles published in The Science News-Letter, a publication of Science Service, an early-to-mid twentieth-century organization for the dissemination of science to the public.
 

Celeste González de Bustamante led a video storytelling workshop on Sept. 28 that discussed elements of video news and feature storytelling. She also workshopped story ideas with students. The video was recorded for training purposes for School of Journalism and Arizona Student Media students.

Ruxandra Guidi led an audio storytelling workshop on Oct. 8. She guided students through audio storytelling for long and short-form works and took questions. The recording will be available to journalism and Arizona Student Media students.

The school's chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists participated in the James W. Foley Freedom Run for the sixth year and held a Zoom session with Willliam Schmidt on Oct. 19 to honor Foley, a journalist murdered by ISIS in 2014 while reporting in Syria. Watch the session, which also was attended by SPJ adviser Susan Knight and Jeannine Relly. "Jim Foley is a symbol of what is important in journalism," Schmidt said. As of Oct. 19, the school had raised $541 and ranked 21st in the nation in fundraising for the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, which provides safety training for journalists. People can still donate at the J-school's Foley page.

Jessica Retis held speakers' sessions in her JOUR 410/510 class, Latinxs and the News Media in the U.S., including the Sept. 30 "Latinas in Journalism," which had more than 100 attendees on Zoom to hear panelists Rebecca Aguilar, Esmeralda Bermudez and Dianna Náñez. "We had journalism students and educators from several universities in various states as well as journalists from different news media outlets," Retis said. "What a great way to celebrate our efforts in advancing the discussions about the role of Latinas in journalism." On Oct. 14, she held another Zoom session, "The Latino vote: Discourses, myths and realities about Latinxs’ participation in the U.S. Presidential Elections,” with panelists Yara Marin, Eduardo Sainz (Mi Familia Vota) and Eileen Truax (reporter on migration and politics). According to the Pew Research Center, a record 32 million Latinos are projected to be eligible to vote in the 2020 presidential election.

David Cuillier received the James Madison Award on Sept. 18 from the Washington Coalition for Open Government for his lifetime work with the Freedom of Information Act. He's featured in a Seattle Times editorial, and you can view his introduction and acceptance speech  (41:40 mark).

Celeste González de Bustamante and Jeannine Relly spoke with more than 50 high school students from Tagore International School, Delhi, about the UA School of Journalism B.A. in journalism and studies of global media and other programs. The presentation was followed by a Q&A. Read more about the new online degree program.

Susan E. Swanberg co-authored a book review, "Fact or Fiction? Researchers Examine Our Shared Concern," with environmental science Ph.D. student Matthew Roby in the August 2020 edition of Literary Journalism Studies, the journal of the International Association of Literary Journalism Studies. Roby and Swanberg reviewed The Oxford Handbook of the Science of Science Communication.

Michael McKisson and Carol Schwalbe, who are co-teaching JOUR 205 Reporting the News, invited Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, the Democratic candidate for Pima County recorder, to speak to students about her plans to pursue voting reforms if elected. She told students that her interest in increasing voter participation began when she worked at Tohono O’odham Community College.

Susan E. Swanberg's JOUR 205 students interviewed photojournalist Jose Carlos Fajardo of the East Bay Times and San Jose Mercury News. Maritza Cruz ('18), who worked at the Mercury News as a Chips Quinn Scholar, helped Swanberg connect with Fajardo. Maritza is now a freelance writer and professional photographer based in Tucson.

Linda Lumsden delivered a Zoom lecture/slide show on "The Woman Suffrage Movement and the Press" last week to the Arizona Senior Academy.

Jessica Retis participated in several other virtual events and promoted the school's new M.A. degree in bilingual journalism: She spoke Oct. 2 with students from her former university, Cal State Northridge (CSUN). "I hope some of them apply!" she said. She also gave a virtual talk on Sept. 22, "Bilingual journalism in the digital age: Serving Latinx audiences in translocal contexts," as part of an inaugural fall seminar series for the Northwestern University community and outside of it. Also, she moderated an Oct. 17 Zoom conversation that included Purgatorio Director Rodrigo Reyes, Producer Inti Cordera, and Cinematographer Justin Chin. Reyes is an award-winning Mexican-American director, screenwriter and producer. On Oct. 15, Retis presented preliminary findings from her study, "State of Latinas in Journalism," with colleagues Laura Castaneda and Amara Aguilar, along with the founder of the Facebook group, Rebecca Aguilar, at the CCNMA's 2020 Latina Journalists Conference. On Oct. 8, Retis shared information about the M.A. degree with Puerto Rican undergraduate students. Finally, on Oct. 7, she participated in a virtual webinar from London to discuss her recently published book with Patria Román, "Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging," which gives voices to the diverse diasporic Latin American communities living in the UK. It was chaired by Silvia Rothlisberger (Literary South).

Celeste González de Bustamante and Jeannine Relly completed the one-month Creating Informed Learners in the Classroom training through Purdue University.

Jeannine Relly completed an advanced solutions journalism training through the Solutions Journalism Network.

Sept. 21, 2020

Paloma Boykin, the school's academic adviser, was named a 2020 40-under-40 Award winner. She's scheduled to be honored at a Dec. 15 breakfast at the J.W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort. The Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Daily Star host the event each year.

Jessica Retis is running for academic at-large officer at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The election process is Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, and Retis said she has "several projects in mind about how to serve as the board's liaison for academic members and students." You can contact her with any suggestions.

Linda Lumsden was interviewed Aug. 22 by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman and author Lynn Sherr about the suffrage movement's relationship with the press for a virtual panel entitled “Suffrage and the Press: 100 Years of Triumph and Struggle,” which commemorates the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment allowing women the right to vote. Listen to the podcast.

Jeannine Relly and academic adviser Paloma Boykin were accepted into the semester-long Adobe Faculty Development Institute at the UA.

The New York Times quoted Kim Newton in an Aug. 23 obit about his uncle, renowned photographer Dan Budnik, who died in Tucson on Aug. 14. Budnik was admired for his work with the Hopi and Navajo as well as his portraits of artists, Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. Newton said he learned his craft in part by accompanying his uncle on photo shoots. “Walking down the street or on a trail, he would point out objects or subjects that most people would just pass by in their normal rush through life,” Kim told the Times. Our condolences go out to Kim and the Budnik family. To see more photos, go to http://danbudnik.com/.

Jessica Retis spoke to Brazilian journalism and communication students on Aug. 25 about news media coverage of international migrations — and about the school's new M.A. in Bilingual Journalism. "I can't wait to virtually meet ESPM students and faculty from the beautiful city of São Paulo," Retis says.

Andrés Domínguez set up the faculty/staff retreat Aug. 20 on Zoom, moving everyone from room to room for the breakout sessions. He also is the school's faculty affairs liaison with the College of SBS.

Jessica Retis started a speaker series on news coverage of the election for bilingual audiences. Her first presenter Sept. 16 was Univision Arizona news director Juan Villa. Her new course, Latinxs and the News Media in the U.S. (Jour 410/510), is helping launch the school's M.A. in bilingual journalism in Fall 2021.

Adjunct instructor Christopher Conover invited Peter King with CBS Radio to speak to broadcast students via Zoom in his "Arizona Cat's Eye" class. King, the network's space correspondent, also covers the South and is an anchor for CBS.

Andrés Domínguez, Paloma Boykin and Debbie Cross helped put together the school's 2020 "Report Card" with comments from Director Carol Schwalbe. 

Jessica Retis was the featured speaker Sept. 18 at the Latin American Studies Department's first virtual Charlas con café, "Global Latin American: International Migration, Transnationalism and Mediated Diasporas in Europe, North American and Asia.”

Ethan Schwalbe, interim internship coordinator, and Andrés Domínguez helped put together the school's Diversity and Inclusion Report for 2019-2020.

Aug. 17, 2020

Jeannine Relly, program coordinator Debbie Cross and Carol Schwalbe worked with the College of SBS in developing web pages for the school's new B.A. and M.A. online programs in Studies of Global Media. 

Susan Swanberg, Jessica Retis, Jeannine Relly and adjunct Brett Fera will share the Al Litzow Student Engagement Grant fund this fall. Swanberg will use the grant funding to hire a designer for an online publication in her JOUR 205 (Reporting the News) class. Retis and her JOUR 410/510 (Latinx & the News Media in the United States) class will organize a series of workshops to analyze the news coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential race, with emphasis on gender, race and language diversity. Relly and Fera will create an introductory training program through orientation videos for Arizona Student Media (the Daily Wildcat, KAMP and UATV) and other training or introductory videos.

Jessica M. Retis co-authored a book, "Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging: Latin Americans in London," with Patria Román-Velázquez. The book, due out in October, "gives voice to the diverse diasporic Latin American communities living in the UK by exploring first and onward migration of Latin Americans to Europe, with a specific reference to London," the publisher Palgrave Macmillan says.

Susan E. Swanberg saw her chapter, "Borrowed Chronicles: William L. 'Atomic Bill' Laurence and the Reports of a Hiroshima Survivor," published in the new book, "Legacies of the Manhattan Project."

Carol Schwalbe and Mikayla Mace ('17 M.A.) saw Journalism Studies publish their article, “From Robots to Humans: Newspaper Coverage of Mars in the United States and the United Kingdom 2011-2016.” It's based on Mace’s master’s thesis, which placed first in an AEJMC student paper competition.

Jeannine Relly and Rajdeep Pakanati's manuscript titled, "Deepening democracy through a social movement: Networks, information rights and online and offline activism," was accepted for publication in the International Journal of Communication. For the study, Relly conducted in-depth interviews with 72 social activists and civil society organization representatives based in 17 cities and towns in the northern, central, southern, western and eastern regions of the country during her Fulbright program in India in 2016-2017. 

David Cuillier will receive the 2020 James Madison Award for his lifetime commitment to the cause of open government from the Washington (state) Coalition for Open Government in the fall. Cuillier, a former reporter and editor in the state, is president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. Read the news release.

Celeste González de Bustamante is now officially an affiliated faculty member of the History Department at the University of Arizona. The History faculty voted in favor of her affiliation this summer.

Linda Lumsden is quoted throughout the Aug. 7 Washington Post story on Inez Milholland, "She was the glamorous face of suffrage. Then she became its martyr." Reporter Diane Bernard also quotes passages from Lumsden's 2004 biography, "The Life and Times of Inez Milholland."

Director Carol Schwalbe, outreach coordinator Mike Chesnick and Dave Silver, director of SBS Development, coordinated a July 30 virtual happy hour with a dozen donors. Gilbert Bailon ('81), editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Arizona Republic senior reporter John D'Anna ('83) talked to the donors about how they're covering COVID-19, racial injustice and other issues. Listen to the talk.

Poynter featured the J-school's Center for Border & Global Journalism with quotes from Celeste González de Bustamante and Jeannine Relly near the end of the Aug. 6 story, "The system is failing Mexican journalists. Here's how they're fighting back." The center "conducts extensive research on Mexico’s media industry, but also goes a step further — promoting collaboration between young reporters on either side of the border," Poynter said.

Jessica Retis participated in an Aug. 15 virtual panel, "Breaking Stereotypes: Latina and Hispanic Women in Media," at the 2nd Hispanic Media Conference, hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington.

Director Carol Schwalbe moderated an AEJMC panel on "Magazine Entrepreneurship: Journalism as a Side Hustle" — and made a presentation at the Innovative Teaching Tips session during the Aug. 8 virtual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Also at the AEJMC conference, Jessica M. Retis was a panel member for "Latinas in Journalism and Journalism Education ¿Dónde Están?" on Aug. 6 and contributed to a session on research on refugees/migrants the day before. Jeannine Relly and Celeste González de Bustamante (moderator) were part of an Aug. 7 session, "Methodological Challenges for Studying Journalism Around the World," and 2020 M.A. grad Matt Brockman presented his paper, "Leveraging Intermedia Agenda Setting for Forecasting Coverage: A Case Study of the Mueller Investigation."

Jessica Retis coordinated two Spanish-language sessions at the combined virtual conference of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists on Aug. 5-8: "Journalistic Collaborations Between Latin America and U.S. Latino Media: Centinela Project — COVID-19," and "Solutions Journalism in Times of Pandemic."

The PBS NewsHour interviewed Celeste González de Bustamante for a July 21 story, "Colleges and universities grapple with decision to return to campus." She's a member of the Coalition for Academic Justice, and begins talking at the 2:42 mark in the segment that aired nationally. She's also quoted in a related story in the Arizona Republic and was interviewed by Lorraine Rivera ('04), a past adjunct instructor and host of AZPM's "Arizona 360" for the July 31 episode.

Jessica Retis was invited to be a keynote speaker for the Aug. 4 opening of the academic semester of the College of Communication at Universidad Uniminuto in Colombia. She talked about the school's new M.A. degree in bilingual journalism. Retis also was featured in a July 16 Arizona Daily Wildcat story by Ian Tisdale, "New master's program in bilingual journalism to start in fall 2021." “We want to provide students with an interdisciplinary program that will advance their understanding of the history and culture of Latinx, Mexican American and other bilingual communities — not only in the United States, but also in Latin America and abroad,” Retis said.

Kim Newton spent several days inventorying, packing and moving to the J-school a large donation of camera and studio equipment donated to the school by Roberta McNellis. Her husband died in May and was an accomplished photographer in retirement. The donation included high-end digital and film camera equipment, and a wide assortment of lenses — from wide angle to telephoto, tripods, studio lights, light stands, backdrops, reflectors, a color printer and much more. The donation totals in the tens of thousands of dollars and will be a welcomed addition for student use. A number of important photographic books also were donated and will be offered to the Special Collections section of the UA Library.

Jeannine Relly attended a four-hour "solutions journalism" workshop online with professors from universities across the country.

David Cuillier and Mike Chesnick worked on posting 31 profiles of graduate students on the school's website.

July 13, 2020

Jessica Retis has co-authored a book, "Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging: Latin Americans in London," with Patria Román-Velázquez. The book, due out in October, "gives voice to the diverse diasporic Latin American communities living in the UK by exploring first and onward migration of Latin Americans to Europe, with a specific reference to London," the publisher Palgrave Macmillan says on the book's website page.

Jeannine Relly, Md. Fazle Rabbi, Meghna Sabharwal, Rajdeep Pakanati and Ethan Schwalbe's manuscript, "More than a decade in the making: A study of implementation of India's Right to Information Act," was accepted for publication in the academic journal, World Development (IF: 3.869). The first phase of the research project was launched in 2015 and completed in 2017 and included in-depth semi-structured interviews with 114 journalists, civil society organization representatives, social activists and central government information commissioners throughout the country. The second phase of the study involved an analysis of a randomly stratified sample of 500 Central Information Commission decisions about release of information under the Right to Information Act from 190,462 total cases. The data was obtained from the Indian government upon request for the period of 2006-2016. Rabbi and Sabharwal are based at the University of Texas at Dallas and Rajdeep Pakanati at O.P. Jindal Global University in India. Schwalbe is the interim internship coordinator.

Celeste González de Bustamante has been selected for the next class of the Institute for Diverse Leadership. The class, featuring 10 fellows, is co-sponsored by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. Its purpose is to increase racial, gender and ethnic diversity in administrative and other senior-level positions in journalism and communication education.

Ruxandra Guidi, a contributing editor at High Country News, published a June 23 essay, "The West has a role in reimagining the U.S," on the magazine's website. The photos were taken by her husband, Bear Guerra.

Linda J. Lumsden's book review of Provoking the Press: [MORE] Magazine and the Crisis of Confidence in American Journalism was published online by Journalism History. It is available here.

Michael McKisson, who is teaching a summer online course, "Drone Zone," got a head start on his preparation by taking an aerial photo of the Black Lives Matter street mural in Downtown Tucson.

Mort Rosenblum, who officially retired June 30, was named a professor emeritus by President Robbins. Rosenblum, a UA J-school Hall of Famer, is an author and former bureau chief and special correspondent for The Associated Press. He taught his "Reporting the World" class for four decades. On Facebook, Rosenblum wrote: "What matters most are the old skills, unchanged since journalists scratched out dispatches on papyrus and parchment: ethics, getting close to the story, listening more than talking and going beyond 'breaking news' to sketch bigger pictures that help people in an imperiled world protect what is still left for new generations." You can follow his writing at mortrosenblum.net/live/ and see the school's emeritus faculty at tinyurl.com/y7mvap4t, HOF at tinyurl.com/uajhall and past photos of Rosenblum.

Renée Schafer Horton is leaving as internship and career counseling coordinator to help her recover from a head injury suffered in an automobile accident. "Hundreds of students over the past five years have benefitted from Renée’s energy and enthusiasm," Director Carol Schwalbe said. Schafer Horton created and taught the popular Career Success class, revamped the internship listserv and placed 131 students in internships in 2016-17, doubling the previous year's total. She ran the fall and spring internship fairs, included local media participation in Pizza & Portfolio critiques and launched media panels to help juniors and seniors connect with potential employers. She's also a monthly guest columnist for the Arizona Daily Star (tinyurl.com/y77d59rs). "It has been a great honor to sit in my office with many of you over the past years to plan your futures," she told students in an email. "I know you'll all go on to do great things." Photos and well-wishes

Adjunct instructor Sarah Garrecht Gassen was selected to participate in a two-month virtual national program, "50 Women Can Change the World in Journalism." She is editorial page editor at the Arizona Daily Star and a J-school M.A. and B.A. alumna.

Jim Mitchell was named a professor emeritus by President Robbins. Mitchell taught broadcast journalism and media law as an assistant professor of practice and adjunct at the J-school for over 24 years. "Being part of the School of Journalism was already the most satisfying part of my professional life. This honor certainly adds to my pride," responded Mitchell, an attorney, author and longtime anchor, producer, reporter and news director.

June 15, 2020

Jessica Retis and Jeannine Relly led the development of the school's new degree programs in bilingual journalism and studies of global media. Kyle Mittan ('14) wrote a UANews story focused on the M.A. in bilingual journalism. It includes interviews with Retis, Celeste González de Bustamante and Carol Schwalbe, and photographs by Bustamante. Retis and other faculty and staff worked with SBS on the school's new web page for bilingual journalism. Students can begin the bilingual program in fall 2021. The studies of global media program through Arizona Online will begin in spring 2021.

Jeannine Relly, Maggy Zanger and Paola Banchero (University of Alaska Anchorage) had their chapter, "Toward a Framework for Studying Democratic Media Development and ‘Media Capture’: The Iraqi Kurdistan Case," accepted for publication in Media, Development and Democracy. The book is expected to be published in 2021 by the U.K.-based Emerald Group Publishing.

Susan Swanberg has been elected to the five-member College of Social & Behavioral Sciences Faculty Advisory Committee. "I appreciate your willingness to serve on this committee, particularly given your thoughtful participation as an alternate member in 2019-2020," Dean J.P. Jones wrote.

Linda Lumsden's term on the SBS Faculty Advisory Committee has ended after several years. She "helped shape decisions and approaches in complex college matters," Dean J.P. Jones wrote.

Jessica Retis shared her ongoing research findings and info about the school's new bilingual journalism master's program on June 4 with Central American students from Universidad Central José Simeón Cañas, UCA Nicaragua and Universidad Rafael Landívar de Guatemala.

Renee Schafer Horton, internship coordinator, published a column in the Arizona Daily Star, "Recognizing my privilege," on June 7.

Susan Knight, who received the Gerald G. Swanson Prize for Teaching Excellence in late April, was featured in a story by the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences.

Celeste González de Bustamante was interviewed for an Arizona Daily Wildcat story, "Coalition raises concerns with UA furloughs and layoffs." Bustamante is a member of the steering committee for the Coalition for Academic Justice at UArizona. J-school student Sam Burdette wrote the story.

Michael McKisson, Susan Swanberg, Ruxandra Guidi, Carol Schwalbe, Debbie Cross, Andrés Domínguez and Mike Chesnick are volunteering to run the school's design sprint this summer. Jeannine Relly, Celeste González de Bustamante and Paloma Boykin will join when they can. The group plans to meet every Wednesday at 9 a.m. and will seek feedback from faculty and staff along the way. 

Adjunct instructor Christopher Conover helped Arizona Public Media win a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for multimedia. Two of AZPM's five entries were Conover's: "Stupid Motorist Law rarely enforced" and "McSally-Kelly Senate fundraising mapped by zip code." Conover also won the RIAS-Berlin Commission Media Award for an episode of the "The Buzz" he produced in Germany on immigration. AZPM also won a regional Murrow for feature reporting. More details

Retiring Prof. Mort Rosenblum published an op-ed column on May 14 in the Arizona Daily Star, "Journalism is NOT dead."

Adjunct instructor Fred Brock saw his novel, "The Seven," published on June 2. The first of a trilogy, it's a cross-genre thriller involving kidnapping, murder, and UFO conspiracies. It's available at Amazon.com, BN.com, Bookshop.org and other booksellers. 

Adjunct instructor Nancy Stanley is recovering from an embolic stroke. "I'm back home now, feeling pretty well, thankful for your calls and wishes, hoping we'll all find our new normals soon," said Stanley, who also is the assistant dean for strategic relations at the James E. Rogers College of Law.

May 18, 2020

Susan Swanberg won the Hugh and Jan Harelson Excellence in Teaching Award, for which students nominate professors and an outside committee votes on the winner. Swanberg also captured the award in 2019.

Kris Hogeboom, a senior business manager, captured the Carol and Cecil Schwalbe Staff Award for Outstanding Service.

Faculty and staff recorded a congratulatory video for the Class of 2020 and honored students at the 54th Just Desserts with a digital ceremony viewed by more than 100 people on Zoom and Facebook Live. "Just know that we are all cheering you on and wishing you the best in the years to come," Director Carol Schwalbe said to the nearly 80 B.A. and M.A. grads.

Ruxandra Guidi's three capstone classes published stories or essays on the school's El Inde/Arizona Sonora News website. Read them at indearizona.com, including an essay, "What they don’t tell you about your pregnancy." Said Rux: "Despite the logistical and emotional challenges we all faced the second half of this semester, I think we managed well: 59 out of 60 of my students got a real taste of the editorial process and got their pieces published; many of them, for the very first time." In her audio class, two students produced radio features that have aired (or are slated to air) on AZPM. "Yet our most fruitful collaboration this semester came with the Patagonia Regional Times, a community newspaper based out of Patagonia, which will publish up to 20 of my students' features, profiles and essays in a special issue this summer," Rux said.

Rogelio Garcia and adjunct instructor Chris Conover oversaw three Arizona Cat's Eye shows during the spring semester despite the pandemic, including a "work-from-home" television edition. For the first time, students also produced a news radio show and a sports radio show.

Jeannine Relly was promoted to full professor. "Dr. Relly has demonstrated excellence in research, teaching and mentoring, and has established herself as a leader of her profession for her extensive intra- and extramural service," the University Advisory Committee on Promotion and Tenure wrote. "(We are) impressed by her contributions to the university and society at large."

Susan Knight was promoted to full professor of practice by the University of Arizona. "I wish we were together so we could celebrate this accomplishment in person, but until we can do so, let’s raise a virtual glass of bubbly to Susan," Director Carol Schwalbe said in a note to faculty. "It has taken many years of dedication and hard work to achieve this well-deserved recognition."

Jeannine Relly and Celeste González de Bustamante were awarded the Provost Author Support Fund, which will go toward the publication of their book, Red Light, Green Light: To Report and Survive Mexico. The book is under contract with the University of Texas Press and is scheduled for publication in 2021.
 
Jeannine Relly and Maggy Zanger's co-authored research in Iraq was included in a "Virtual Theme Collection: Journalism and Mass Communication in the MENA Region." The collection is part of the AEJMC flagship journal, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, regional series.

Celeste González de Bustamante was quoted in a May 7 front-page story by Arizona Daily Star reporter Shaq Davis ('18), "Campus-wide coalition calls on UA to stop furlough plan, look for alternatives." She is one of the campus leaders of the Coalition for Academic Justice.

Jeannine Relly's chapter titled "Online harassment of journalists as a consequence of populism, mis/disinformation, and impunity" will be published in the The Routledge Companion to Media Misinformation and Populism book edited by Howard Tumber and Silvio Waisbord. The edited volume will be published in 2021.

Ruxandra Guidi and Michael McKisson held a free, one-hour intro workshop to freelancing and startups on May 1 on Zoom. See a video of the workshop and read more in a Twitter thread. 

Jeannine Relly was interviewed about disinformation, verification and COVID-19 for the UANews story, "Why you shouldn't trust memes about coronavirus." 

The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation featured our students, faculty and staff — and William Schmidt's dog, Houston — in their latest Facebook promotion for the 2020 Foley Freedom Run, scheduled for October.

April 27, 2020

Susan Knight is receiving the new Gerald G. Swanson Prize for Teaching Excellence in recognition of her exceptional skills as a teacher and mentor. The award, which focuses on undergraduate teaching at the University of Arizona, comes with a check for $5,000. Knight will be honored at a ceremony in the fall. "You have demonstrated a vivid, motivating and innovative teaching methodology with a strong learner-centered and constructivist approach," Provost Liesl Folks wrote. "You have made an enormous impact in your students through your extraordinary pedagogical approach and cross-cutting, interdisciplinary inquiry."

Carol Schwalbe wrote a letter to alumni and friends, thanking faculty, students and staff for pulling together in response to the COVID-19 crisis. "They have inspired me," she said. The letter was published on the website and in the school's e-Cursor newsletter.

Ruxandra Guidi published an audio story, "Mila’s Meditations: Finding New Rituals in Confusing Times," in BorderLore on April 23. Rux says she and her 7-year-old daughter "find calm in a new kind of ritual, one rooted in everyday gratitude and signs of spring in the desert."

Carol Schwalbe was elected to a second three-year term on the Standing Committee on Teaching of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Schwalbe also celebrated her 10-year anniversary at the J-school.

David Cuillier's report, “Mapping the Civic Data Universe: Ten Ways to Improve Access to Government Information Through Expanded Interstellar Connection,” was published by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in March. “The coronavirus demonstrates just how critical the free flow of information is for the public,” Cuillier said. Cuillier also did a webinar on accessing records.

Susan Swanberg participated as a judge in the American Society of Human Genetics 2020 DNA Day essay contest. For the past five years, Swanberg has been a judge in the contest put on by the premier international organization for the study of human genetics. "I see my participating in this contest not only as important national and international service, but also as a way to keep up my involvement in the human genetics field while exercising my writing and editing muscles," she says.

David Cuillier published two stories in The Conversation: "Government secrecy is growing during the coronavirus pandemic" (April 3) and "It’s a bad idea for journalists to censor Trump – instead, they can help the public identify what’s true or false" (March 27).

Jessica Retis and the school's National Association of Hispanic Journalists chapter participated in an April 9 web campaign to thank journalists across the country and to recognize #PRESSentials workers.

Susan Knight was a judge in the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Book and Journalism Awards. Knight has been selected two years consecutively to judge the high school journalism category. She says, “I’m encouraged by the students’ depth of reporting, maturity in storytelling, use of data, and challenging human rights topics. From school-to-prison pipelines for black youths to young girls forced into the sex trade, the stories being told by the journalists of tomorrow are complex, compelling, courageous.”

Ruxandra Guidi was selected as a participant for the Solutions Journalism Educators Academy in Portland, Oregon, tentatively scheduled for July 16-17.

Susan Swanberg's book review of "Mr. Straight Arrow: The Career of John Hersey, Author of Hiroshima," appeared in Literary Journalism Studies' latest issue.

Celeste González de Bustamante and grad students showed Nogales High School students how drone photography can be used in journalism as part of her FronteraBeat mentoring program. The program is funded by the Southwest Folklife Alliance and the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice.

Jessica Retis spent her spring break in El Salvador. She was a keynote speaker at Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas as its academic year began. She told students about the UA J-school's new master's degree in bilingual journalism and met with Salvadoran journalists.

Rogelio Garcia and adjunct instructor Christopher Conover hosted CBS television photographer Neil Grasso, who talked to broadcast students March 4. Grasso, a 1977 UA Radio/TV grad, covers the White House and works on features for CBS Sunday Morning. He showed videos from Air Force One and a contentious WH meeting, answered questions and encouraged students to apply for internships at CBS. Dave Silver, with the College of SBS, accompanied Grasso on his visit. Photos

Nancy Sharkey's food journalism class hosted Miriam Morgan ('76 M.A.), a food journalist who shared her writing advice March 3 with students in a video chat (see it at tinyurl.com/v7ve9oa). Students asked Morgan about her career at the San Francisco Chronicle, where she started in 1996 and became food editor in 2001. She has been nominated for two James Beard Awards for food news reporting.

Gateway Journalism Review interviewed Jessica Retis about the "need for Spanish speakers to have important health information” on the coronavirus outbreak. “Spanish-language U.S. media is being consumed not only by Latinos in the U.S. but also by Latinos in Latin America due to the transnational configuration of families," Retis says.

David Cuillier, Michael McKisson, Nancy Sharkey and Susan Swanbergupdated the school's Academic Integrity Handbook. It's listed on the school website in "Policies & Resources" under "Advising" in the toolbar.

The school launched its redesigned website April 13, thanks to Shoshana Mayden in SBS, Carol Schwalbe, outreach coordinator Mike Chesnick and others. It includes a new video to attract majors and new features such as faculty expertise and grad student projects. There’s also a section on Arizona Student Media.

In memoriam
Richard S. Holden, a longtime member of the school's Journalism Advisory Council and one of the nation's leaders in bringing diversity to the newsroom, died April 15 after a lengthy illness. He was 70. Our condolences go out to his wife, Mary-Anna, and family. Rich spent 25 years teaching every summer at the Maynard Institute’s Editing Program for Minority Journalists at the UA J-school, where he delivered his “Afraid of Math? Take a Number,” and other lectures. He visited students here in 2015 (see photo) and was a key member of the Save Journalism movement that prevented the closure of the UA journalism department in the 1990s, former Director Jacqueline Sharkey said. "Rich was a fierce, outspoken and effective proponent for diversity efforts in the journalism business and journalism education," she said. The editing program here placed journalists with diverse backgrounds in major news organizations around the country, and Holden also ensured financial support for the school's summer journalism diversity workshop for Arizona high school students through the Dow Jones News Fund, where he was a former executive director. The workshop is now named after the late Donald W. Carson. Read his obit.

Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías died March 28. Elías, 61, who served as board chairman, honored the J-school for its "vital role in training those who report the news" in proclaiming October 2018 "Freedom of the Press Month." Students interviewed him at the fall 2017 Finley news writing contest and he attended our Zenger Award ceremonies. Elías' family published the Spanish-language newspaper El Tucsonense for more than 60 years. Read obits by the Sentinel (tinyurl.com/r4wbqxq) and Star (tinyurl.com/vn4xaqw).

March 3, 2020

Susan Knight organized the Feb. 26 talk "Going Viral: Covering Coronavirus, Flu and Other Contagious Illness Without Creating Hysteria" with students from the school's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Susan Swanberg moderated the panel, which included Arizona Republic health reporter Stephanie Innes, Dr. Bob England of the Pima County Health Department, David Salafsky of UA Campus Health and graduate student Laura Fuchs. Mary Feeney of UA Libraries arranged for the Main Library's CATalyst Learning Studio to be used for the event.

Jessica Retis shared her research on "Latinx and the News Media in the US: Bilingual and Bicultural Audiences in the Digital Age" with students, colleagues and others at New York University and the University of Miami. She also participated in the first Social Justice and Media Symposium at Emerson College in Boston in memory of the work and life of Professor Moses Shumow. She also visited Spanish-language newsrooms in New York and Miami, talking to Latino journalists about the future of bilingual journalism.

Jeannine Relly organized a gathering for the school's Center for Border and Global Journalism on Feb. 28 in which journalists from 14 countries talked to Director Carol Schwalbe, Celeste González de Bustamante, Maggy Zanger, Ruxandra Guidi and Relly. The journalists, interested in research and investigation, included Badoor Almutairi (Kuwait), Ana Brakus (Croatia), Qiuyi Dong (Hong Kong), Carmen Dumitrescu (Romania), Gali Ginatt (Israel), Katarina Janosikova (Slovakia), Joseph Joshua Mwale (Malawi), Peter Nanev (Bulgaria), Predeep Nambiar (Malaysia), Ernesto Jose Nhatsumbo (Mozambique), Mchmet Safak Sari (Turkey), Shova Devi Sharma (Nepal), Jasper Williams (Bahamas) and Piotr Kazimierz Witwicki (Poland). Each year, the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists brings international journalists to examine practices in the U.S.

Susan Knight represented the J-school at the March 2 "Cats at the Capitol" event before state legislators on the House lawn in Phoenix. President Robbins attended the event. Knight is mentoring the school's Bolles Fellow, Priya Jandu, who is covering the state Legislature for Arizona Sonora News (indearizona.com).

Jeannine Relly was an invited online panelist for an international conference at India's Jamia Millia Islamia, a public university in New Delhi. The panel was titled, "Actors and institutions shaping Public Policy and Governance." Relly presented research work titled, "India's Right to Information Act and Institutions of Accountability." Co-authors with Relly are M. Fazle Rabbi, Meghna Sabharwal, Rajdeep Pakanati, and Ethan Schwalbe. Other panelists were Dr. Meghna Sabhwarwal, University of Texas, Dallas; Dr. Alasdair Roberts, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Dr. Aroon Manoharan, UMass Boston; and Dr. Kim Moloney, Murdoch University in Australia.

William Schmidt and Nancy Sharkey organized the Journalism on Screen showing of the documentary "Mike Wallace is Here" at The Loft Cinema on Feb. 23. Sharkey introduced the film and Schmidt interviewed former New York Times editorial page editor Andy Rosenthal about challenges facing journalists today and Wallace's influence on broadcast journalism. See the Q&A video and introduction. Susan Knight and the Society of Professional Journalists chapter sold buttons before and after, including a special Wallace button: "All I'm armed with is research."

Celeste González de Bustamante is working with University of Arizona librarians and other faculty members across campus on a project that will introduce students to data literacy using digitized historical newspapers from Arizona. Story

Andrés Domínguez organized a visit with students from Douglas High School and their journalism adviser, John Soriano. They toured the J-school and Arizona Public Media, where "Arizona 360" anchor and adjunct instructor Lorraine Rivera gave them a tour. Students also spoke to Susan Knight and Rogelio Garcia.

Ruxandra Guidi's Arizona Sonora News class spent a weekend in Patagonia to begin reporting for a project with the Patagonia Regional Times that examines the effects of mining in southern Arizona. Students attended a briefing from Martin Lawrence of the Nature Conservancy’s Sonoita Creek Preserve. Former Arizona Daily Star reporter and adjunct instructor Tom Beal is helping the class with the project.

Retired Prof. Terry Wimmer was granted emeritus status by University of Arizona President Robert Robbins. Wimmer, a Pulitzer Prize winner who later earned his Ph.D. at North Carolina, taught the J-school's capstone classes for 13 years. Read Prof. Geoff Ellwand's Cursor story about Wimmer. 

Feb. 10, 2020

Linda Lumsden contributed the first chapter of a new book, "Front Pages, Front Lines: Media and the Fight for Women's Suffrage." The collection, celebrating the centennial of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, will be published by University of Illinois Press on March 10. Details

Ruxandra Guidi oversaw publication of an El Inde magazine, "Invested Interests," produced by her fall 2019 Arizona Sonora News class. Among the 13 stories are a mixed martial arts athlete fighting depression, and a child of Indian immigrants searching for her identity and a stargazing photo spread. Daniel Ramirez also advised students on design. See more stories at indearizona.com.

The J-school's Sensitivity in Journalism series features video interviews with Celeste González de Bustamante (border), journalist Jenna Krajeski (trauma) and Dr. Barbara Eiswerth (refugees). The videos are on the school's diversity and inclusion web page at journalism.arizona.edu/diversity.

Ruxandra Guidi and Michael McKisson have organized a free workshop on freelancing and product startups for students and journalists on Friday, April 3. Sign up at bit.ly/2GWZrmB.

David Cuillier is the adviser of the new Investigative Reporters club. The first event, investigating sports, will be Tuesday, March 3, at 3:30 p.m. in the Reading Room, featuring Arizona Daily Star reporter Caitlin Schmidt.

Susan Knight's feature writing class traveled to the Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase to do interviews and shoot photos. Photos

Ruxandra Guidi moderated a Jan. 23 talk with students and High Country News editors Brian Calvert and Paige Blankenbuehler in Marshall 341. Students asked about longform magazine writing — and how it differs from the inverted pyramid — science journalism and HCN's commitment to tribal coverage by indigenous journalists as it celebrates its 50th year of publication.

Joe Ferguson, an adjunct instructor, left his Arizona Daily Star reporting job to become a Pima County constable. Story

Jay Rochlin was granted emeritus status by University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. Rochlin created the School of Journalism's first online course — Border Beat — which earned national recognition. He served for 20 years as editor of the UA alumni magazine and now works on pencil and pen-and-ink drawings. His art website is at rochlin.wixsite.com/drawings.

Jan. 13, 2020

The School of Journalism secured a $164,000 Provost’s Investment Fund grant to help Jessica Retis launch our bilingual journalism program, starting with a master's degree. Only 12 of 86 fall 2019 proposals were funded by the university. Retis, Celeste González de Bustamante, Jeannine Relly and Michael McKisson worked on the winning proposal — the only one in the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences — with business staffers Kris Hogeboom and Erin Tyo.

The J-school submitted a 25-page nomination for the AEJMC Equity & Diversity Award. David Cuillier, Ethan Schwalbe, Jessica Retis, Jeannine Relly, Maggy Zanger, Celeste González de Bustamante, Michael McKisson, Susan Swanberg, Debbie Cross, Paloma Boykin, Martha Castleberry, Carol Schwalbe and Mike Chesnick contributed to the nomination packet, which also featured input from faculty and letters of recommendation. Read the nomination.
 
Susan E. Swanberg's essay, "Borrowed Chronicles: New York Times Science Journalist, William L. ‘Atomic Bill’ Laurence and the Reports of a Hiroshima Survivor," will be included in the essay collection, Legacies of the Manhattan Project: Reflections on 75 Years of a Nuclear World, when it is published in April of 2020. A mock-up of the cover along with a description of the collection are available at: https://wsupress.wsu.edu/product/legacies-of-the-manhattan-project/

Susan E. Swanberg helped graduate students Laura Fuchs and Nina Kolodij develop research projects to be presented at national conferences this spring. (See student/alumni kudos below).

Maggy Zanger was quoted in an Arizona Republic story by John D'Anna ('83) about a decline in journalists who died violently in 2019. One factor, Zanger said, might be that fewer news organizations are sending reporters into war zones. "I think we all suffer, we’re all hurt if we’re not getting accurate clear news," she said, "whether it's from Syria, the Philippines, Yemen or the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The whole world is connected. If it impacts one, it impacts all of us."

Jeannine Relly and Maggy Zanger led the way as the school posted closed-caption videos from the “Sensitivity in Journalism” series to its website. The series features interviews with Prof. Celeste González de Bustamante (“Borderlands reporting”); journalist Jenna Krajeski ("Covering trauma" and a panel talk with students); and Dr. Barbara Eiswerth ("Interviewing refugees"). Also contributing to the videos were Cheri Newton, Olivia Jackson, Sascha Fruehauf, Meredith O’Neil and Mike Chesnick.

Nov. 30, 2019

Susan Swanberg saw her article ("The Way of the Rain ...") published in the International Review of Environmental History 5(2): 67-96. This article recounts the impact of a pseudoscientific "theory" asserting that ploughing arid lands would increase rainfall. The saying, "rain follows the plow" (RFTP) was employed to encourage homesteading of arid lands in settlement-era North America and the colony of South Australia. This research relied in part on information garnered from 19th-century newspaper articles touting the RFTP slogan.

Celeste González de Bustamante gave an invited lecture in Santiago, Chile, at the Universidad Mayor. The Nov. 8 talk, titled “The Development and Future Impacts of Migration on Society,” focused on her research on historical and contemporary representations of the US-Mexico borderlands.
 
Celeste González de Bustamante, along with Ana Lourdes Cárdenas and Jessica Retis, have had their article titled, “To tweet for solidarity or just report the news?: Comparing social media strategies of Spanish language and English language TV networks,” accepted for publication in Television and New Media.

Jeannine Relly and Celeste González de Bustamante's chapter titled "Global violence against journalists: The power of impunity and emerging initiatives to evoke social change" was cited in a review of the 544 page, The Routledge Companion to Media and Human Rights (editors: Howard Tumber and Silvio Waisbord). https://bit.ly/36XAdjE

Oct. 28, 2019

Carol Schwalbe received the Provost Award for Innovation in Teaching, which includes $1,000 in university funds to further her teaching innovations. Schwalbe, director of the School of Journalism, was selected for applying "active learning strategies and state-of-the-art techology" in her teaching, according to Liesl Folks, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. "I am incredibly impressed with your student success," Folks said in a letter to Schwalbe. "Your students have published in National Geographic News, NY Times, LA Times and Scientific American."

Linda Lumsden spoke about her book, Social Justice Journalism, to media literacy students on Oct. 21 at the Hussman School of Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her alma mater.  

Ruxandra Guidi participated in a panel discussion at the Women's Rural Summit in Greenville, South Carolina, on Oct. 28 and was featured in a story, "Women Lead Charge to Address Rural Issues, Journalists Say," in The Daily Yonder.

A photograph taken by Kim Newton at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo in 2013, titled “Traditional Wedding,” was selected by the  Center for Creative Photography during  a national competition last month. The photo will be exhibited during the center’s “Qualities of Light” exhibition (Dec. 14, 2019-May 9, 2020) in the CCP main gallery. Following the exhibition, the image will become a part of the center's archive. More details

Jessica Retis and Celeste González de Bustamante saw their paper, “Latina Millennials in a Post-TV Network World: ‘Anti-stereotypes’ in the Web-TV Series East Los High,” published in the anthology, "Media, Myth and Millennials: Critical Perspectives on Race and Culture," edited by Loren Coleman and Christopher Campbell.

Adjunct instructor Fred Brock signed a three-book deal with Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing. The first novel ("The Seven") will be published in spring 2020. Publishers Marketplace described the novel's pitch as "'The Man Who Knew Too Much' meets 'All the President's Men,' in which a reporter who, in an effort to find a friend's missing daughter, unravels a U.S. government conspiracy, cover-up, and murder involving abduction, UFO phenomena and a chance for love." Brock, a former N.Y. Times business editor and columnist, teaches Reporting the News (JOUR 205).

Adjunct instructor Irene McKisson ('03) and Becky Pallack of the Arizona Daily Star's #ThisIsTucson and Dan Shearer ('85) of Wick Communications are Google News Initiative Challenge winners! Google selected 57 recipients in its first GNI Innovation Challenges in Asia-Pacific and North America to fund projects that inject new ideas into the news industry — or as McKisson said, to "prove that hyperlocal digital news can be sustainable."

Renée Schafer Horton organized the 2019 Fall Internship Fair with help from Debbie Cross, Andrés Domínguez and Mike Chesnick. Students interviewed Oct. 25 with 13 media employers, including John D'Anna of the Arizona Republic; CSPAN's Howard Mortman, Jim Nintzel of Tucson Local Media and Tom Arviso of the Navajo Times. Other interviewers were Peter Prengaman of The Associated Press, adjunct instructor Sarah Garrecht Gassen of the Arizona Daily Star, Andrea Kelly of Arizona Public Media, Phyllis Braun of the Arizona Jewish Post, Ricky Vazquez of KVOA-TV, Robert Pyle of KOLD-TV, Lindsey Wilhelm of Madden Media, Steve Rivera of Perimeter Cycling/All Sports Tucson and Dan Shearer of Wick Communications.

Students mingled with faculty and staff at the school's journalism clubs mixer Oct. 21 at Magpies Gourmet Pizza on Fourth Avenue. Susan Knight, who oversees all the clubs, helped organize the event. She'll be handing off duties to Ruxandra Guidi in the spring. Photos

William Schmidt introduced "Mississippi Burning," the film's screenwriter, Chris Gerolmo, and Tucson-based screenwriter Will Conroy at the Oct. 20 Journalism on Screen event at The Loft Cinema. Gerolmo and Conroy discussed the impact and controversy of the 1988 movie about the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. Watch the Q&A and the introduction.

Students, faculty and staff participated in the 2019 James W. Foley Freedom Run on Oct. 20 on the UA campus. The 5K run and walk, held across the nation annually, honors Foley, a freelance journalist killed by ISIS in 2014. William Schmidt, who introduced the run and gave background on Foley, and Celeste González de Bustamante of the Center for Border & Global Journalism organized the event along with Susan Knight, adviser of the Society of Professional Journalists. Photos and Schmidt video.

Three alums and four students shared job and internship tips at the Oct. 16 Pizza and Portfolios, organized by internship coordinator Renée Schafer Horton. Afterward, professors Rogelio Garcia, Ruxandra Guidi and Geoff Ellwand and adjunct instructor Christopher Conover gave students resume and portfolio advice.

Ruxandra Guidi and Maggy Zanger moderated an Oct. 17 discussion with students and author-journalist James Verini, a contributing writer on war, political violence and geopolitics for The New York Times Magazine and National Geographic (photos). Verini talked about how to turn magazine articles into a book as part of the school's "Talk & Tizers" series, organized by program coordinator Debbie Cross. He spoke about his book, "They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate," and had appetizers afterward with grad students at Gentle Ben's. Read more about Verini at jamesverini.com.

The school surpassed its goal of 50 donors in its crowdfunding effort to help students pay tuition and living expenses during their unpaid summer internships. At least 58 donors contributed more than $3,610. The campaign was organized by Director Carol Schwalbe and outreach coordinator Mike Chesnick.

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Sept. 29, 2019

Michael McKisson won a Rocky Mountain Emmy Award in the sports feature category as the aerial videographer for the Arizona Public Media story, “When Sarah Runs.” He shared the award with producer Sandra Westdahl (‘12) and others from AZPM.

Andrew Brown, an adjunct instructor and producer at Arizona Public Media, won a Rocky Mountain Emmy Award in arts/entertainment for "Sean Parker's Universe." 

More than 300 people saw Christiane Amanpour receive the Zenger Award for Press Freedom on Sept. 20 from UA President Robbins and Hilde Lysiak, 12, accept a Junior Zenger Award from Dean JP Jones at the campus Marriott. Mort Rosenblum introduced Amanpour, and Carol Schwalbe gave the audience updates on the school. Mike Chesnick organized and coordinated the event, which generated about $10,000 for students and the school -- making it one of the most profitable Zenger events ever. Students with the NPPA club sold all of their photos during an auction coordinated by Kim Newton, and SPJ club students under Susan Knight sold almost all of their buttons honoring free press and Amanpour's slogan, "Truthful, not neutral." Other staffers who helped with the event were Debbie Cross, Andrés Domínguez, Martha Castleberry, Kris Hogeboom, Erin Tyo, Carlos Lopez Miranda, Ph.D. student Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan, grad student Mandy Loader and Ethan Schwalbe. Afterward, the Center for Border & Global Journalism under Celeste González de Bustamante hosted a get-together for students that Robbins and school supporters such as Jane Swicegood attended. Go to journalism.arizona.edu/zenger2019 for a list of links, including a  photo gallery, video, Amanpour's acceptance speech and Lysiak's speech.

Amanpour talked to adjunct instructor Christopher Conover of Arizona Public Media for a Sept. 27 segment on "Arizona 360." Adjunct Lorraine Rivera ('04), the show's anchor, set up the interview with statistics on journalists' safety and press freedom. Rosenblum also wrote about Amanpour in his Mort Report: A Little Respect for the Daily Doormat.

Susan Knight organized and oversaw the clubs leadership/retreat meeting on Sept. 28. About 20 students attended as well as faculty/staff club advisersJessica Retis (NAHJ), Susan Swanberg (First Gen), Mike Chesnick (Sports) and Ruxandra Guidi, who will take over Knight's duties in the spring. Recent master's grad Ambur Wilkerson (NABJ adviser) also attended as well as club officer veteran Pascal Albright (SPJ).

Susan Swanberg moderated a panel discussion after a sold-out crowd attended the Sept. 25 Journalism on Screen premiere of "Anthropocene: The Human Epoch" at The Loft. Go to youtu.be/2VXtVWXvDso to watch the Q&A with New York Times science reporter Jim Robbins and Prof. Valerie Trouet of the UA tree ring lab. Nancy Sharkey introduced the documentary, about humanity's re-engineering of the planet. Robbins spoke to students in several classes, including William Schmidt's advanced reporting course.

The Center for Border & Global Journalism, under Celeste González de Bustamante and Jeannine Relly, held its first fall event on Sept. 18: “Fixing Journalism: Local Journalists and International Correspondents in Mexico’s Zones of Conflict.” A packed crowd in Marshall 490 watched as Maggy Zanger moderated a panel that talked about the relationship between local reporters (“fixers”) in Mexico and international journalists. As part of their research on the topic, Drs. Lenin Martell of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and González de Bustamante discussed the wide range of conditions that exist for fixers. Fernanda Santos, former N.Y. Times correspondent and current professor at Arizona State University, and Fernanda Galindo, a fixer and producer based in Hermosillo, talked about the need for respect and the importance of building trust between international journalists and fixers.

David Cuillier is editor of the Journal of Civic Information, a new national online publication. The open-access and peer-reviewed site was launched by the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida with Publisher Frank LoMonte. The first issue includes articles on how governments privatize public records, access to gov't officials in the age of social media, the pros and cons of online public records request portals, and how states handle addresses in public records.

Renée Schafer Horton, internship coordinator, helped kick off the 2019-20 school year with her Career Success class (JOUR 201A). For five weeks, students developed a polished résumé and cover letter, an internship/job hunt plan, a LinkedIn profile, an online portfolio and interview skills.

Renée Schafer Horton, internship coordinator, narrated a 3-minute video for the school's new crowdfunding campaign to help unpaid summer interns. Olivia Jackson ('19) produced the video, and Director Carol Schwalbe and outreach coordinator Mike Chesnick worked on the script with Andrew Pieterick of the UA Foundation. The campaign, an idea of Journalism Advisory Council vice chair Frank Sotomayor ('66), is set to end Oct. 20 with a goal of 50 donors. Go to tinyurl.com/SOJcrowd to donate.

James W. Johnson, a professor emeritus and author, stopped by the J-school to donate seven of his eight non-fiction books, including his latest, "The Black Bruins." Go to his Amazon page to see all the books, except "One Step from the White House" on the rise and fall of Sen. William F. Knowland. 

In Memoriam

Hal Marshall ('75 M.A.), a former UA journalism instructor, died May 18 at age 91. He taught journalism to night students, worked at the Arizona Daily Star and was director of the UA News Bureau before retiring from the university in 1984. Obit 

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Aug. 19, 2019

Linda Lumsden's latest book has been published. It's titled, "Social Justice Journalism: A Cultural History of Social Movement Media from Abolition to #womensmarch."

New faculty members Jéssica Retis and Ruxandra Guidi will start teaching Aug. 26. Read a profile of Retis by Administrative Assistant Andrés Domínguez and a profile of Guidi by recent graduate Melissa Vasquez. A combined story also appeared in the August e-Cursor.

J-school majors can now receive a digital journalism specialization on their transcripts and diploma. "The digital specialization includes some amazing classes ... (to) help students stand out and get a job when they graduate," said Michael McKisson, who will teach a new course, "Drone Zone," in spring 2020. Read more.

Four faculty members attended the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference in Toronto. A summary:

Celeste González de Bustamante presented a research paper along with co-author Jéssica Retis, entitled, “Latina Millennials in a Post-TV Network World: ‘Anti-stereotypes’ in the Web-TV Series East Los High.” The paper won first place in the Latin America Research Award competition sponsored by the International Communication Division (ICD) and the Minorities and Communication Division (MAC).

González de Bustamante also served as a discussant in the ICD research paper session titled, “Media on a Global Platform: From Social Media to Transnational Journalism,” and she served as moderator for the MAC Division research panel titled, “Top Papers in Minorities and Communication.” Finally, as a newly elected member of the AEJMC Standing Committee on Research, she attended the committee’s annual meeting.

Jeannine Relly presented "Democratic institutions and social change: Building cross-national learning exchanges on digital platforms and through direct collaborations" on a teaching panel titled, "Breaking (national) boundaries: How culturally diverse are the theories and methods of international communication that we teach or should teach in the era of globalization?" She also served as a discussant for a panel of the top research papers for the International Communication Division of the AEJMC and completed the one-year Institute for Diverse Leadership program.

Carol Schwalbe organized and moderated a panel on “Mitigating Unconscious Bias in the Classroom,” which was co-sponsored by the Ethics and Magazine Media Divisions. She was selected as a GIFT (Great Ideas for Teachers) Scholar and presented a poster on “Nature Writing: Connecting to a Special Place.” Only 25 GIFT Scholars were selected from a record 86 entries. She also participated in activities sponsored by AEJMC’s Standing Committee on Teaching.

In Memoriam

Bill Wing, the longtime partner of Professor Emeritus Jacqueline Sharkey, died last week. Wing was a professor emeritus in the UA Physics and Optical Sciences departments. From 2002 to 2004, during Sharkey's tenure as school director, Wing designed all the laboratory and seminar rooms in the Marshall Building for the school; helped Sharkey negotiate with university administrators to ensure that the wiring, data ports and wiring-closet capabilities would enable the school's infrastructure to expand as technology evolved; and oversaw the school's technical-support operation for several years after the school moved into the building in 2004. Obit

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July 29, 2019

New professor Ruxandra Guidi and adjunct instructor Joe Ferguson ('06) of the Arizona Daily Star are the winners of the fall 2019 faculty engagement grants funded by donor Al Litzow ('73). Guidi will receive $2,000 for new audio recording kits for students for “Podcasting as part of a new vision for Arizona Sonora News.” Ferguson, a reporter for the Arizona Daily Star and 2006 J-school alum, will receive $1,000 for a student reporting project in his RPA class titled, “Digging into eviction court, uncovering the realities of a lopsided system.” Read more at journalism.arizona.edu/litzow19fall.

Susan E. Swanberg's manuscript "Wounded in Mind: Science Service Writer, Marjorie Van de Water, Explains World War II Military Neuropsychiatry to the American Public," has been accepted for publication in the journal Media History. The manuscript discusses the role of Science Service, its Science News-Letter, and science writer, Marjorie Van de Water, in promoting and disseminating U.S. military neuropsychiatric policy during World War II. The research was funded in part by an American Journalism Historians Association Rising Scholar Award. 

New professor Jéssica Retis was elected chair of the International Association for Media and Communication Research's Diaspora and the Media Working Group for a four-year term. She plans on developing several international projects with colleagues Sofia Calvacanti of Universidad Federal de Pernambuco, Brazil (co-chair), and Sumana Chattopadhyay of Marquette University (vice-chair).

Journalist's Resource interviewed Jeannine Relly about how business interests have shaped FOIA amendments. She co-authored research with Director Carol Schwalbe on “How Business Lobby Networks Shaped the U.S. Freedom of Information Act: An Examination of 60 Years of Congressional Testimony.”

Susan Knight worked on C-SPAN's social media desk this summer in Washington, D.C. She was one of six visiting professors awarded an AEJMC and Scripps social media fellowship. Besides interviewing two dozen C-SPAN staffers in her first week, she spent time with a C-SPAN crew at the White House. "After attending President Trump's announcement on the census question in the Rose Garden, I watched a verbal brawl break out between Sebastian Gorka and other conservative media activists and members of the press corps, a rare-if-not-unprecedented dustup in such an historic locale," she said. Photos

Full-time accountant Carlos Lopez-Miranda has joined the Marshall Business Center. He's the primary point of contact for PCard activities, travel, reimbursements and operational transactions. He previously worked in Purchasing at UA.

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July 8, 2019

Workshop director Andrés Domínguez and writing coach Susan Knight organized and helped lead the June 2-8 Donald W. Carson Journalism Diversity Workshop for Arizona High School students, sponsored by the Dow Jones News Fund and the UA Office of Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement. Sixteen teens told about their reporting and photos at the closing ceremony at the UA Main Library. Read the paper at tinyurl.com/yykvpun7, and go to journalism.arizona.edu/hswork19 for a recap, photo gallery and Facebook Live video. Domínguez also wrote a column for the Arizona Daily Star and was interviewed about the workshop at KVOI-AM radio. Hear the segment at the 11:10-minute mark. Other faculty and staff who led sessions included Jeannine Relly, Susan Swanberg, Michael McKisson, Carol Schwalbe (with Cecil Schwalbe), Christopher Conover and Paloma Boykin.

 
Michael McKisson helped Arizona Public Media win a national Edward R. Murrow Award in feature reporting with his drone photography for "Where dreams die," about migrants who've perished while crossing the desert. List of winners.

David Cuillier co-taught a workshop on accessing public records June 13 for the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in Dallas, Texas (with tip sheets). On June 26, he presented a study at the Global Conference on Transparency Research, titled “Bigger stick, better compliance? Testing strength of public record statutes on agency transparency in the United States.” He and co-author Charles Davis will publish through Sage Publishing the second edition of their textbook, “The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records” July 30.

Jéssica Retis participated as guest co-editor for volume 4, issue 3 (2019) of the Journal of Alternative and Community Media, "Ethnic Minority Media: Between Hegemony and Resistance." The articles in the special issue consider media types and practices in various local and transnational contexts, from a diverse range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. View the issue at https://joacm.org/index.php/joacm/issue/view/111.

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June 2, 2019

Susan Knight was awarded a fellowship via the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, with a grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation Visiting Professors in Social Media Program. Knight will spend two weeks in Washington D.C. this summer, working on C-SPAN’s social media desk. Read more.

Director Carol Schwalbe was promoted to full professor at the School of Journalism.

Kim Newton was promoted to full professor of practice at the School of Journalism.

Michael McKisson was promoted to associate professor of practice at the School of Journalism.

Celeste González de Bustamante and new hire Jéssica Retis saw their paper, “Latina Millennials in a Post-TV Network World: 'Anti-stereotypes' in the Web-TV series East Los High,” selected as this year's first-place winner of the International Communication's Latino/Latin American Research (LARA) Award. The award honors the top three research papers submitted to either the International Communication or the Minorities and Communication divisions by Hispanic scholars for journalism and mass media research.

Students in Linda Lumsden's History of American Journalism class added 17 interviews to her Sonoran Desert Journalists website, increasing to 32 the number of oral histories of southern Arizona journalists. The podcast project was funded by a $500 grant from Al Litzow, which paid for the service of digital consultant John de Dios. Each entry includes a brief overview of the journalist’s career, an audio interview, a photograph of the journalist, and links to his or her work.

Celeste González de Bustamante was invited to participate in a May 22-23 workshop at the University of Miami’s Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas to help plan the third round of the Worlds of Journalism Study, which will include interviews with journalists from more than 100 countries. González de Bustamante is part of a subgroup of researchers who will study countries in Latin America. She will lead the Costa Rica study and is helping with the Mexico study. Costa Rica remains an outlier in the region and the world as one of the top ranked countries in the area of freedom of the press. Here’s a link to the workshop and the WJS website.         

Andrés Domínguez, administrative assistant and director of the Donald W. Carson Journalism Diversity Workshop for Arizona High School Students, wrote a column in the June 2 Arizona Daly Star, "UA workshop for high schoolers aims to improve newsroom diversity." The week-long workshop will conclude Saturday, June 8, with a public reception from 1-2:30 p.m. at the UA Main Library Information Commons Room 112.

Celeste González de Bustamante was invited to and participated in May 30-31 workshop on social cybersecurity and disinformation at Carnegie Mellon University in Washington, D.C. The workshop, supported by the National Science Foundation, aimed to identify and clarify research challenges and paths for understanding the socio-cultural impact of disinformation.

Kim Newton was elected to the University Hearing Board

Linda Lumsden spoke at a free National Archives panel, "Women and the Vote: The 19th Amendment, Power, Media, and the Making of a Movement," on May 16 in Washington, D.C. 

William Schmidt, for a second year in a row, is serving as a guide and tour leader for a New York Times-sponsored travel tour of the Canyons of the Southwest. During the eight-day trip in mid-June, which includes Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon National Parks, as well as Lake Powell and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, he will be offering group talks on Western politics, land use management, climate and the Colorado River. Times Journey tours are advertised regularly in the pages and website of The Times, where Schmidt is identified as the tour "expert" and a UA J-prof and former Times senior editor. The Southwest Canyons trip is among 60 tour packages sponsored by The Times, at destinations around the globe.

Adjunct instructor Cathy Burch wrote about the Tucson press run of the Arizona Daily Star, "For longtime pressmen, move to print Star in Phoenix is bittersweet. Also, read Tim Steller's column at tinyurl.com/y47pz62b.

Mike Chesnick spoke on behalf of the school at Professor Emeritus George Ridge's memorial service on June 1. Read the speech. Ridge's best friend and doctor, Hal Tretbar, wrote a remembrance of Ridge — "Ridge: More than just a travel writer" — in the May 24 Arizona Daily Star. Read Ridge's obit at www.journalism.arizona.edu/gwr.

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May 10, 2019

Susan Swanberg received the school's Hugh and Jan Harelson Excellence in Teaching Award, in which students nominated professors and an outside committee voted on the winner. Director Carol Schwalbe and faculty surprised her with the award at the May 2 faculty meeting.

David Cuillier was elected president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, an organization dedicated to fostering citizens’ access to government records throughout the states. Cuillier, who researches and teaches access to government information, was elected by the NFOIC board April 11 at its annual meeting in Dallas to lead the Florida-based nonprofit.

Jeannine Relly was elected to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication's Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility for a three-year term, beginning in October 2019. The committee focuses on freedom of  expression; ethics; media criticism and accountability; diversity and inclusion; and public service.

Celeste González de Bustamante was elected to the AEJMC's Standing Committee on Research for three years. She and Relly join Director Carol Schwalbe, who is a member of the AEJMC's Standing Committee on Teaching. The three and other faculty will attend the Aug. 7-10 AEJMC Conference in Toronto.

Gladis Tolsa received the inaugural Carol and Cecil Schwalbe Staff Award for Outstanding Service at the May 2 faculty meeting.

Jéssica Retis and Ruxandra Guidi were introduced as the school's new professors at the May 2 faculty meeting. The two will start in the fall semester. Retis, an associate professor at Cal State Northridge, is excited about launching a bilingual journalism program here and wrote a recent report, "Challenges and Opportunities for Hispanic Media in the Digital Age" for the Democracy Fund. Her report was part of a May 13 Nieman Lab story, "Here’s the state of Hispanic media today — and where it goes from here." Guidi, who will teach two Arizona Sonora News classes in the fall and integrate more podcasting and storytelling into school media, has reported throughout the United States and Latin America for both magazines and public radio. She created the storytelling website, Fonografia Collective, with her husband, and recently wrote about "The People in Their Labyrinth: Venezuela’s Stalled Revolution" for VQR.

Kim Newton and film director Man-jin Kim accepted a Gold World Medal for best documentary in current affairs at the New York Festivals Television & Film Awards in Las Vegas on April 9. Newton is featured in Kim's "Witnesses to Democracy: The Journey of a Mother and a Photographer." Go to newyorkfestivals.com/winners/2019/for a list of winners and journalism.arizona.edu/Newton17 for an earlier story on Newton's involvement in the project. Photos

Susan Swanberg spoke at the School of Sociology's 2019 Spring Colloquium on April 19, about "The Science of Science Communication: How and Why We’ve Fallen for Fake Science News Throughout History.”

Linda Lumsden discussed her upcoming book, Social Justice Journalism: A Cultural History of Social Movement Media from Abolition to #womensmarch, on April 16 as part of the GWS/SIROW Brown Bag Lecture Series at the Department of Gender and Women's Studies. The book, which Peter Lang will publish in July, seeks to deepen and contextualize knowledge about digital activism by training the lens of social movement theory back on the nearly forgotten role of social justice media produced by eight twentieth-century American social justice movements, including socialism, environmentalism, women's suffrage, civil rights, women’s liberation, farmworkers' rights, disability rights, and transgender rights. 

Maggy Zanger and Jeannine Relly worked with the Center for Border & Global Journalism and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies to host journalist Jenna Krajeski during her visit last month to the university. Krajeski led a talk and round table discussion in the School of Journalism titled,  "Covering Trauma: Respecting the Subject, Getting the Story, Protecting Yourself." She also was interviewed for a SoJ video and audio series on cultural sensitivity with sources, a series that was launched last month and will be posted this summer on the Diversity and Inclusion web page. Krajeski is co-author with Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize winner, of The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and My Fight Against the Islamic State, published in 2017. She is based in New York and was previously working from Istanbul, reporting on the Kurdish minorities in Turkey and Iraq and on human trafficking. She has written for Harpers, The Atlantic, Slate, The New Yorker and The Nation.

Carol Schwalbe, Nancy Sharkey, Susan Swanberg, Paloma Boykin, Renée Schafer Horton and Andrés Domínguez evaluated nearly 200 stories written by beginning reporting students and by graduating seniors in the advanced capstone class. The evaluation test — which also included a fact-checking portion, a discussion of legal and ethical issues and ideas for a follow-up to the news story — is an important feedback loop for the faculty to improve teaching and course structure. Assessment is one pillar of the national accreditation standards, which the J-school passed with flying colors last year.

Adjunct Cynthia Lancaster conducted five recruiting trips during the past academic year, thanks to an ODIEX grant secured by Maggy Zanger. Cynthia was usually accompanied by a peer recruiter. The trips: About 40 students (two classes) at Tucson High School with THS grads Andrés Dominguez and Nick Trujillo; about 15 students (newspaper staff) at Pima Community College with PCC grad Trujillo; about 140 students (ACE dual-enrollment high school juniors) at Mesa Community College with first-gen college student Pascal Albright and UA Journalism staff and faculty; about 75 students during Career Day at Green Fields School, Tucson; about 30 students (two classes) at Baboquivari High School, Sells, with tribal member and Ph.D. student Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan.

Internship Coordinator Renée Schafer Horton introduced the April 14 screening of "State of Play" and Q&A panel of Tucson Citizen alums at the school's Journalism on Screen event at The Loft Cinema. Watch the Q&Aand Renée's introduction, plus a Citizen video retrospective. Dylan Smith, Jennifer Boice, Gabrielle Fimbres, Chuck Graham, Corky Simpson and Steve Rivera helped mark the 10th anniversary of the closing of the afternoon newspaper, and afterward event coordinator Mike Chesnick and other Citizen alums gathered at the Arizona Inn, one of the series' sponsors, for drinks. Photos

Jeannine Relly was interviewed for a Public News Information radio story on United Nation's World Press Freedom Day on May 3. Relly told Mark Richardson that the advent of social media and the current, sharp Red-Blue political divide have created serious challenges to the free flow of information for Americans. "In the global rankings of press freedom, the U.S. has slowly fallen,” she said. “It's been over a couple of years, and some of the reasons are economic – just the fragmentation of media and the lack of sustainability, in some cases." Listen to and read Relly's remarks.  

Andrés Domínguez coordinated the 53rd annual Just Desserts Student Awards Celebration on May 8 at the Arizona Historical Society. Michael McKisson led the awards committee, while Director Carol Schwalbe hosted the event with help from faculty award presenters. Other staffers helping wereDebbie Cross, Mike Chesnick, Renée Schafer Horton, Paloma Boykin and from the business office, Martha Castleberry, Kris Hogeboom and Veronica Peralta.

KJZZ's Fronteras senior field correspondents Kendal Blust ('16 M.A.) andMurphy Woodhouse spoke to Jeannine Relly's research methods graduate course students, virtually, on the last day of class (May 1). Woodhouse, also a former UA student, and Blust discussed setting up the bureau in Hermosillo, Sonora, and took questions. They also provided a virtual tour of the bureau.

Adjunct instructor Joe Sharkey brought a special guest to his Arizona Sonora News class in late April: "Mississippi Burning" screenwriter Chris Gerolmo. Chris, also a musician and producer, wrote the screenplay for the upcoming movie starring Emilia Clarke, "Above Suspicion," which is based on Sharkey's nonfiction book.

Ten journalism students from Douglas High School visited the J-school and Arizona Public Media on April 12, along with their advisers, John Soriano and Carla Soto. Adjunct instructors Lorraine Rivera ('04 and a Douglas grad) and Christopher Conover showed the students the AZPM studio, and Outreach Coordinator Mike Chesnick gave the students a tour of the school. Photos

In Memoriam

Our condolences go out to the family of Prof. Emeritus George Ridge, who died April 24 at 86. The former Arizona Daily Star city editor and Arizona assistant attorney general was the J-school's director from 1972-78 and 1985-1991. "George had a deep understanding of the role of the press from his work as a journalist and an attorney," said Jacqueline Sharkey, former director. Services will be June 1 at 5 p.m. at Christ Church United Methodist, 655 N. Craycroft Road, followed by a 6:30 p.m. reception at Delectables Catering, 427 E. Limberlost Road. Read the school's obit, compiled by Mike Chesnick and reprinted in the Arizona Daily Star.

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April 8, 2019

Internship coordinator Renée Schafer Horton organized and hosted a media panel on how to get a job after graduation. The panel included KVOA-TV's Ricky Vazquez, FITCH Design's Jade Nunes ('15), KVOA's Kendra Paige Hall ('15), AZPM's David Fortin and KOLD's EJ Junker.

Academic adviser Paloma Boykin, celebrating her 10th year at UA, was recognized at the university's Annual Service Awards Reception on April 4. 

Linda Lumsden was a panelist for the "Preserving the Voices of Arizona's Diverse Communities," a March 29 symposium at the UA Main Library organized by Mary Feeney of UA Libraries. The day before, Deborah Thomas, a Library of Congress program manager, spoke to Lumsden's students about the addition of 45 digitized African American, American Indian, and Spanish-language newspapers to Chronicling America, a free and openly-accessible national newspaper database hosted by the Library of Congress.

Maggy Zanger and Jeannine Relly organized an all-clubs diversity discussion and mixer April 4 at No Anchovies. They invited Marian Binder, director of counseling & psych services for Campus Health Service, to talk to students about cultural sensitivity in reporting. Susan Swanberg and Kim Newton also attended the mixer. Photos

Administrative assistant Andrés Dominguez secured a $7,500 grant from the Dow Jones News Fund to help fund the June 2-8 Donald W. Carson Journalism Diversity Workshop for Arizona High School Students. Interested students can go here to find more details and apply. 

Adjunct Daniel Ramirez submitted a short essay to the Society for News Design and won admission to the annual SND Workshop in Chicago on April 4 and 5. He wrote about his UA publication design class, the time he has spent away from a newsroom and the desire to better understand what's happening in newsrooms today—both in print and digital.

Adjunct instructor Cynthia Lancaster and Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan ('10) pitched the UA School of Journalism to about 30 Baboquivari High School students in Sells on March 26. Several students said they would apply for the Carson high school workshop. "Jacelle really captured the students' attention by greeting them in the O'odham language," said Cynthia. Go to tinyurl.com/y2qrhpwg for info on the June 2-8 workshop.

Linda Lumsden moderated a panel April 4 to open the "The Mourning Project" at the YWCA's main campus, 525 N Bonita Ave. TheMourningProject.com is a community fiber art project to gather 23,000 pairs of handmade black, white, and gray baby booties  to draw attention to the problem of infant mortality in the United States, which at 23,000 baby deaths annually has the worst infant mortality rate in the developed world. Panelists and organizer Mary Vaneecke addressed the issue and answered questions.

Adjunct instructor Sarah Gassen interviewed a dozen students for apprenticeships at the Arizona Daily Star on March 20. Gassen ('95 B.A., '10 M.A.) is the editorial page editor at the Star and manages the apprenticeship program.

Students and visitors will find a new faculty display board on the third floor of the Marshall Building. Kim Newton took the head shots, and adjunct Daniel Ramirez designed the board with editing help from Mike Chesnick. The board, which is an Indesign file, can be updated each school year and printed at the UA Art Department.

The school announced that CNN's Christiane Amanpour will receive the Zenger Award for Press Freedom on Friday, Sept. 20, at a public reception and luncheon at the University Park Marriott. Go to journalism.arizona.edu/zenger2019 for more details and ticket info.

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March 18, 2019

Maggy Zanger, Jeannine Relly and Linda Lumsden compiled the school's 2017-18 Diversity and Inclusion Report. Other members of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee were Paloma Boykin, Zeina Cabrera-Peterson, Angelo Lavo and Susan Swanberg.

Jeannine Relly's research on whistleblower protection in Mainland China, Malaysia, Taiwan and the U.S. — a joint project with three other colleagues — has been accepted for publication: "Chordiya, R., Sabharwal, M., Relly, J.E., & Berman, E. (Forthcoming). Organizational protection for whistleblowers: A cross-national study. Public Management Review."

Kim Newton participated in a panel Q&A for "Witnesses to Democracy: The Journey of a Mother and a Photographer," on March 17 at The Loft Cinema. Watch the Q&A at youtu.be/k7N8oPvoQmw. Newton is featured in the South Korean documentary, and he was joined on stage by director Man-jin Kim and UA East Asian Studies Professors Sunyoung Yang and Nathaniel Smith.

William Schmidt and Nancy Sharkey, co-directors of Journalism on Screen, celebrated their 20th film in the series at The Loft on March 17. Schmidt introduced "Witnesses to Democracy," at youtu.be/YfHE6EliIh0. The school's website had a story on the milestone event and series, and the story was picked up by UANews: "UA professor featured in journalism screen series." Outreach coordinator Mike Chesnick input the story into the UANews system and filmed the Q&A.

Internship Coordinator Renée Schafer Horton organized the Spring 2019 Internship Fair on March 15. Students interviewed with several Southern Arizona media outlets. Several J-school alums or former students conducted the interviews, including Anthony Gimino ('90, Allsportstucson.com), Tirion Morris ('18, Tucson Local Media), Dan Shearer ('85, Wick Newspapers) and Dylan Smith (Tucson Sentinel). Photos

Susan Knight was accepted for a writer in residence program at The Wellspring House in Ashfield, Massachusetts, which she will take between two Boston conferences on narrative writing in March and April. Knight is on sabbatical, studying narrative in non-fiction and fiction.

Kim Newton told students about his latest project, "Paint to Pixels: The Changing Face of Britain," on March 13 in Marshall 340. Newton has identified up to 30 paintings by his grandfather, British landscape artist Algernon Newton (1880-1968), and photographed those exact scenes as they are today. Watch his talk at youtu.be/zKMw3quyCYA. The Talk & 'Tizers event was organized by Program Coordinator Debbie Cross and Graduate Studies Director Linda Lumsden. Grad students had pizza at No Anchovies afterward.

Carol Schwalbe served on a panel for the UA Graduate Center on “Strategies for Communicating to the General Public.” Other panelists were Dr. Michael Johnson, Department of Immunobiology; Daniel Stolte, UA News; and Eric Swedlund, College of Humanities. The audience was first-year University Fellows, who are an interdisciplinary group of the UA’s top graduate students. In their first year, they attend a weekly professional development colloquium on a variety of topics.

Linda Lumsden gave the keynote speech at Pima Community College's "Speaking Out" event on March 7. About 50 students attended. She talked about her book, "Journalism for Social Justice: A Cultural History of Social Movement Media from Abolition to #womensmarch," The event marked African-American History Month and Women's History Month.

Adjunct instructor Joe Ferguson of the Arizona Daily Star won a Sledgehammer Award from the Arizona Press Club for his reporting and use of public records to shine a light on the truth.

Adjunct instructor Nancy Stanley was featured in an Arizona Daily Wildcat story by J-school student Jesse Tellez. "UA professor leads all-female comedy troupe."

Administrative Assistant Andrés Domínguez coordinated professors' UA Vitae materials, working with faculty and the UA Vitae office to make sure the school entered the information correctly.

Outreach Coordinator Mike Chesnick spoke on behalf of the J-school at a March 9 memorial for Yvonne Ervin, a 1984 J-school graduate, at the Tucson Scottish Rite Cathedral downtown. Ervin, also an Arizona Daily Wildcat alumna and founding director of the Tucson Jazz Society, died Dec. 26 after liver transplant surgery.

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Feb. 26, 2019

Linda Lumsden received a $2,000 grant from Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries Grants to Scholars program to visit the archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society. She will explore the visual rhetoric of political cartoons in twentieth-century social movement periodicals in its Social Action Collection, one of the nation's largest archives of social movements.

William Schmidt moderated a Q&A with George Freeman of the Media Law Resource Center and Nancy Sharkey introduced "The Post" and Freeman at the Feb. 17 Journalism on Screen event at The Loft Cinema. See the Q&A at youtu.be/6_UT6mxD3zQ and the intro at youtu.be/TjAptb_vtYM. Beforehand, student Vanessa Ontiveros of the Arizona Daily Wildcat interviewed Schmidt and Sharkey for a future story. Photos

Michael McKisson and Linda Lumsden received student engagement grants from donor Al Litzow ('73). McKisson received $2,500 to create an online training program to prepare students to pass the FAA drone pilot’s exam and understand the ethics of drone journalism. The program, set to launch in August, also will allow McKisson to buy a second drone for students to use. Lumsden received $500 to expand and improve the Sonoran Desert Journalists website that she began with her American Press History class in 2017. The funding will let Lumsden buy two high-quality microphones for students to use when interviewing 15 more local journalists. 

Renée Schafer Horton, internship coordinator, was accepted by the Arizona Daily Star as a regular monthly op-ed Sunday columnist. Her first column ran on Jan. 27.

Linda Lumsden and Jeannine Relly coordinated a visit by Lou Waters, a former CNN anchor who is now retired in Oro Valley. He shared his experience, knowledge and job advice with Relly's master's class and other students on Feb. 20 in Marshall 341. Waters' son, Chris Waters, is a 2009 UA J-school alum. Go to youtu.be/675hfn77XT0 to watch the talk and introduction by Lumsden.

The Center for Border & Global Journalism co-sponsored a visit to the Student Union by Joanna Lillis, a Kazakhstan-based journalist reporting on Central Asia for outlets such as The Economist and The Guardian. She spoke to students on Feb. 4 about pursuing a career abroad in journalism. Some faculty, including Maggy Zanger, attended the event.

Susan Swanberg saw her grandson, Ford Michael Mansker, born at 5:04 p.m. on Feb. 19 in the Sacramento area. He weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 inches long.

In Memoriam

Debra A Castelan, program coordinator for the Editing Program for Minority Journalists at the UA School of Journalism in the early 1980s, died Feb. 4 from cancer. Castelan, 65, received her master's in education from UA and worked as the student services coordinator at Edge Charter School in Tucson after years at Pima College. A memorial will be held Saturday, March 2, at 11 a.m. at Himmel Park, across from Edge (2555 E. First St.) Castelan loved UA athletics, the Green Bay Packers and superheroes, mainly Wonder Woman. Her family encourages guests to wear attire representing those passions on March 2.

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Feb. 2, 2019

Adjunct instructors Cynthia Lancaster and Brett Fera, administrative assistant Andrés Domínguez, Prof. Michael McKisson and student Pascal Albright presented a journalism workshop on Feb. 2 to 150 Phoenix-area high school juniors at Mesa Community College.

Thirteen faculty and staff members participated in a design sprint on Jan. 17 to start plotting the school's future: Director Carol Schwalbe, Michael McKisson, Celeste González de Bustamante, Kim Newton, Nancy Sharkey, Rogelio Garcia, Geoff Ellwand, Maggy Zanger, Susan Swanberg and Jeannine Relly, Andrés Domínguez, Paloma Boykin and Renée Schaefer Horton.

Linda Lumsden's review of The Rise and Fall of the Associated Negro Press: Claude Barnett’s Pan-African News and the Jim Crow Paradox is in the Winter 2018-19 issue of  the Journal of American History.

Jeannine Relly's paper proposal with Meghna Sabharwal and Fazle Rabbi titled "Governance, accountability institutions and marginalized groups: The case of India" has been accepted to the 2019 Public Management Research Conference at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sabharwal is a program head in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at The University of Texas at Dallas. Rabbi is a doctoral student there.

Geoff Ellwand invited KGUN 9-TV anchor and UA alum Valerie Cavazos to speak to his broadcast writing class (JOUR 280). Wrote Geoff: "If you want to make it as an anchor, or in any branch of journalism, you have to learn the basics first. That was the frank message from Valerie Cavazos, who told students they need to learn how to write and deliver news in an accurate and engaging way.

Michael McKisson was interviewed by reporter Timothy B. Lee of Ars Technica for a story about new drone rules proposed by the FAA. He's quoted in the ninth graph. 

PBS NewsHour picked up an Arizona Public Media story by "Arizona 360" host and adjunct instructor Lorraine Rivera ('04) about Central Americans seeking asylum near Yuma.

The J-school, led by William Schmidt and Nancy Sharkey, will co-host three films in the Journalism on Screen series this spring: "The Post" (Feb. 17), "Witnesses to Democracy" (March 17) and "State of Play" (April 7). Go to journalism.arizona.edu/loft for more info on the 2 p.m. Sunday shows, including the April 7 event, which will mark the 10-year anniversary of the closing of the Tucson Citizen with an audience discussion about community journalism.

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Jan. 11, 2019

Mort Rosenblum's first community class, "Keeping Tabs on a Mad World: A Correspondent’s Guide to Global News That Matters," sold out at The Loft Cinema. Nearly 100 people attended the first class on Jan. 9. The Wednesday course runs until Feb. 6. Arizona Daily Star reporter Cathy Burch, an adjunct instructor, wrote a profile of Rosenblum and the class. 

Rogelio Garcia and adjunct instructor Lorraine Rivera oversaw two episodes of "Arizona Cat's Eye" last semester. Watch the first show and the second show.

Jeannine Relly served as the 2018 chair of the AEJMC Emerging Scholars Program Steering Committee, which reviews grants of junior scholars. Relly has served on this committee for three years.

Linda Lumsden’s sabbatical leave has been approved for Fall 2019.

Nancy Sharkey’s professional development leave has been approved for Fall 2019.

Renée Schafer Horton, internship coordinator, welcomed about 18 student to her "Career Success" course (JOUR 201A). Check out the school's career page at journalism.arizona.edu/internships.

Director Carol Schwalbe welcomed new students on Jan. 10 in Michael McKisson's Principles of Journalism class, giving them an overview of the school.

KVOA-TV, the Arizona Daily Star and other media outlets covered recent reports of fraud in which a young couple posed as UA journalism students, going door to door in midtown, Oro Valley and Sahuarita to solicit money for an alleged internship with the BBC in London. The school is not conducting a fundraising effort to send students abroad. Watch the KVOA segment, which led the 6 p.m. newscast on Jan. 8. Read the Star story. 

UA President Robbins called into Jim Rome's national sports talk show on Dec. 18 to recruit Rome's son, Jake, to the J-school and university. Robbins called the J-school the "New York Times of the West" and praised its students and faculty. Robbins also bragged about the Arizona Daily Wildcat. Rome called it "some kind of pitch." Hear the conversation.