Alumni Newsletter

PROFESSORS ATTEND SCRIPPS HOWARD AWARDS CEREMONY
Thanks to Mizell Stewart, professors Mike Horning and Catherine Cassara were on the invitation list for the Scripps Howard Awards ceremony April 26 in Detroit. Read Cassara’s summary of the ceremony, which included a Scripps Howard investigative journalism award to 2006 graduate Matt Clark, at http://storify.com/ccassar/invitation-to-a-journalism-celebration.

COLLABORATION WITH WOMEN'S CENTER SPOTLIGHTS WOMEN IN JOURNALISM
As part of Women’s History Month, the department of journalism and the Women’s Center collaborated on bringing attention to women in journalism.

The topic for March’s Women’s History Month was “Covering Women: Journalism, Politics and Activism.”

Associate Professor Kathy Bradshaw, the department’s diversity representative, was instrumental in the working with the Women’s Center for the department to sponsor two women journalists as part of the slate of 10 speakers.

Rose Stewart, a feature writer for The [Toledo] Blade, shared stories of her 38 years as a black female journalist in a session called “Black and Female: A Double Portion.” Her presentation was Feb. 29, timed to close out Black History Month and kick off Women’s History Month.

In mid-March, Carolyn Byerly, a professor from Howard University in Washington, D.C., shared her research on women journalists in newsrooms around the world.  Byerly and her team of 150 researchers interviewed executives at more than 500 companies in 59 nations using a 12-page questionnaire.

Findings from the study are summarized in the “Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media.” [LINK TO IWMF REPORT] 

Though not directly sponsored by the department, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Connie Schultz visited campus a week after Byerly to read from and discuss her book “…and His Lovely Wife: A Memoir from the Woman Beside the Man.”  The wife of Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, Schultz wrote about life on the campaign trail.

THREE FACULTY TAKE JOBS AT OTHER UNIVERSITIES
Mixed feelings mark the announcement of three journalism faculty members who will leave BGSU at the end of spring semester for new endeavors that coincidentally take them all closer to home.

Tori Ekstrand, associate professor, is headed to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to teach media law, journalism, and public relations. Ekstrand earned her doctorate degree from UNC, and her parents live nearby.

Seth Oyer, assistant professor, has accepted a position at Buffalo State in journalism and public relations. Oyer hails from Buffalo where he still has family.

Sara Shipley Hiles, instructor, is going to the University of Missouri to teach magazine writing and multimedia classes.  She will also work with students on special journalism projects.   Sara earned her master’s degree from Mizzou, where her sister will be a freshman in the fall. Hiles' family lives in St. Louis.