Two West Virginia University Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism (SOJ) students participated in a study-abroad program this summer in Southeast Asia that has changed their lives forever.
Robert Rizzuto (Jamestown, N.Y.), who graduated in May, and Kendal Montgomery (Williamstown, W.Va.), a news-editorial junior, went to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in hopes of putting together a multimedia documentary about the country’s culture, society and life, specifically, the growing problem of human trafficking in Cambodia and Thailand. But what they came back with may be even more valuable personally.
West Virginia University Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism assistant professor Bonnie Stewart discusses the importance of real-life reporting experience for students in the latest issue of Quill magazine, one of the premier journals for professional journalists. The article highlights the SOJ’s Hurricane Katrina project and others from around the country.
The piece shows how projects like the School’s “Starting Over: Loss and Renewal in Katrina’s Aftermath” project get students out of the classroom so they can tell the stories of real people. She also reviews the SOJ’s Monroe County Radio Project and other hands-on journalism programs in Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Alabama that emphasize the importance of young journalists learning through field experience.
Stewart’s article, “Preparing Students for the Newsroom,” can be accessed at http://www.spj.org/quill_issue.asp?ref=1212.
Three new faculty members will join the West Virginia University P.I. Reed School of Journalism (SOJ) this fall, filling the Shott Chair of Journalism, the newly established Harrison/Omnicom Professorship in Advertising and the role of director of Graduate Studies.
Former reporter Toni Locy brings a wealth of national reporting experience to the School as the latest Shott Chair of Journalism. As a 1981SOJ alumna, Locy returns to her alma mater to give back to the school that sent her on the road to success 26 years ago.
Locy has worked for the nation’s biggest and best news organizations, covering beats ranging from the U.S. Supreme Court and the Mafia to state and city government. Beginning her career at the former Pittsburgh Press, Locy later reported for the Philadelphia Daily News, Boston Globe, Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today and The Associated Press.
Two West Virginia University School of Journalism students, interning this summer at GolinHarris – one of the nation’s top public relations firms – helped the company become the top contributor in a recent Washington, D.C., business clothing drive for adults re-entering the workforce.
SOJ graduate student Briana Warner of Scott Depot, W.Va, and public relations major Jenna Froess of Erie, Pa., helped to organize GolinHarris’ efforts in the 4th Annual Capitol PurSuit Drive. Both were responsible for communicating with the media and the general public about the drive.