Port City Stories

Students, faculty and alums of our School of Journalism and Mass Communication used the ninth annual Carolina Photojournalism Workshop to share stories from North Carolina's Port City. From a woman who's been battling rheumatoid arthritis for more than four decades to a homeless 19-year-old hoping to find a way off the streets, Port City Stories provides a glimpse into the lives of those who make their home in the Cape Fear.

Thanks From a Carolina Alum

Happy Thursday! We know that many of you are going to have to make some tough decisions over the next several weeks, so we thought it would be helpful to get some insights on how alums view the community, faculty and learning experience they receive at Carolina. The blog post below is from Sallie, a senior in our School of Journalism and Mass Communication who will be leaving us for her first professional opportunity following her graduation in May. Visit Sallie's blog to learn more about her adventures.

 
Dear UNC J-School,

Thank you. Thank you for enhancing the lives of all the students who walk through the doors of Carroll. Thank you for mentoring. Thank you for teaching. Thank you for critiquing, pushing and strengthening. But, most of all, thank you for caring.

It’s easy to let four years slip away as we press forward with our lives constantly looking for what’s next and forgetting who helped us get there. I was reminded of this the other day, when my friend Josh asked me to speak at the J-School’s information session for Explore Carolina. Professor Napoleon Byars led the session, which included the basic facts about the school, the opportunities available, and a quick tour. As I listened to Napoleon speak, it brought back memories of my own Explore Carolina experience back on a snowy day in January 2009.

I remember listening to all the presenters confident that what they were saying was simply by the book. However, in listening to Napoleon, I began to realize that everything this school told me four years ago was true, completely true. And now, it was my turn to speak.

I started by saying that I remember what it was like to sit in their seats. It wasn’t easy making a final college decision or even transitioning from high school in general, but that the J-School was where I found I belonged. The journalism school develops students into storytellers. It develops them into entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and strategic communicators. It also allows them to get involved in a variety of clubs, take a wide range of classes, and meet some of the most interesting people on campus.

However, while I was talking, I realized the importance of what is behind the school: the professors. They care. When I first came to Carolina I worried that all my classes were going to be filled with hundreds of students where the professors do not even know my name. That is not the case here. They care. The professors care about your success in and out of the classroom. They also want to build lasting relationships with students, and as a result do not simply think of students as their PID, but as people with stories.

Thank you, Trevy McDonald for introducing me to the Journalism School. Thank you, Napoleon, for critiquing my resume for the first time. Thank you, Winston, for making me enjoy writing. Thank you, Dana, for pushing my creativity. Thank you, Brian, for your patience. Thank you, Heidi, for your enthusiasm. Thank you, Professor Sciarrino, for my worst grade in the J-School, but conversely one of my favorite, although hard, classes. Thank you also for your guidance and support during my job search this Fall. And, lastly, thank you, Gary, for your unconventional classes that have truly taught me to think differently about the world.

Thank you, all.

J-School Tells the Powerful Story of Water in New Multimedia Project

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of corresponding with Stephanie Bullins about 100 Gallons, the latest production from Powering a Nation.

Can you give us a quick orientation to Powering a Nation?
Powering a Nation is a fellowship program offered by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication that aims to report on energy news with transparency, engagement and trust. It was initially funded by News21 as part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education, which allowed some of the top journalism schools in the nation to experiment with journalism in the changing landscape of new media. In its fourth year now, Powering a Nation has received more than 45 national and international awards for its storytelling, visuals and interactivity.

Clearly, there’s a strong correlation between this year’s Powering a Nation theme and the UNC academic theme of Water in our World, but why “100 Gallons”?

This year, on the heels of Coal: A Love Story, the Powering a Nation fellows wanted to focus on a more non-traditional form of energy. As we were tossing around ideas for what "powers" our lives, water stood out as an important resource. In the weeks before the project truly started, we spent countless hours brainstorming, pitching stories, revising and pitching again in an endless cycle. Eventually we decided the story we wanted to tell was our deep connection to water, from birth to death. We debated the title for the first several weeks of the project before we finally landed on 100 Gallons, which is the amount of water an average American uses on a daily basis. 100 Gallons, as a title, emphasizes our lifelong connection to water by pointing out the importance we place on it every day.

How did you select the individual stories for the feature reports? (And did the team really spend 7 hours in a sewer?)

In the beginning, we knew we wanted to tell traditional character-driven stories in addition to creating the visually exciting centerpiece video. For some of the stories, the videographers knew what they were going to film. Jon Kasbe, a senior Communications major, had spoken with Steve Duncan and seen his work before meeting up with him in the sewers of New York City (where he really did spend seven hours filming). But some of the stories came to us by surprise. While live-tweeting a fracking rally in Ohio, we happened to meet Christine Moore, a woman struggling with leaving her farm because she feared her water might be contaminated by the controversial natural gas drilling practice. She invited us back to her home and we followed her on a hunch that her story would be powerful. Now Christine's story, which took three visits to Ohio to capture, has become one of the larger feature stories on the site. 

Now that the site has launched, what’s next?
Now that we've finished this project, most of the fellows and student contributors have been thrust into the "real world," where we're all looking for jobs, while a few of the team members will be returning to UNC to finish their undergraduate or graduate degrees. We plan to keep promoting 100 Gallons and we hope that it will continue to engage users and encourage them to explore the human connection to water. As for Powering a Nation, we're all looking forward to seeing what next year's group of fellows will produce.

Last question: whose unlucky cat got dunked?

Dante, the unlucky cat, actually belongs to Cath Spangler, a former Powering a Nation fellow. While the videographers were in New York, they were able to meet up with her, where she's working as a multimedia producer for The New York Times. None of the shots in the video are staged — they were all collected as real moments in people's lives — so we were all surprised and excited when the videographers came back with footage of Dante's first bath.

In addition to 100 Gallons, you can also view previous Powering a Nation projects online. Much thanks to Stephanie and the Powering a Nation team for their incredible work!

Want to Be on the Air at Carolina? Consider Broadcast Journalism!

After finishing my first year, I know that choosing to study journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill was definitely the right decision. The School of Journalism and Mass Communication has impressed me not only with its faculty and curriculum, but also through the opportunities it presents to gain hands-on experience right off the bat. Within my first month of school, I began to volunteer for UNC’s student newscast, Carolina Week, and have never looked back.

Fresh out of high school and overwhelmed by all things college, I couldn't believe how easy it was to get involved in the journalism school’s news outlets. After a brief training session with Carolina Week, I began to attend both practice and live shows where I was given the opportunity to shadow students in the class. I watched and learned as my peers operated cameras, directed the control room and reported the news to the Carolina community.

Within a few weeks, I felt confident enough to run the camera and floor direct on my own. I even extended my involvement outside the studio and tagged along with reporters to help shoot interviews. Regardless of what I did, each task provided me with real life experience in my future field of work that I couldn't have gotten elsewhere. Furthermore, being part of a team of people so dedicated to the show reinforced my passion for broadcast journalism. My commitment to Carolina Week strengthened and I'm proud to say that this was recognized by my teammates, who voted me Most Valuable Volunteer at the end of the year. This achievement has paved the way for my future endeavors in the J-school and I can only hope that my remaining three years will be as prosperous.

UNC students are fortunate that taking part in activities and organizations is so easy. The J-school is a perfect example of this, because whether you're interested in television, radio or web journalism, there are opportunities to get involved. Carolina Week, Carolina Connection and Reese News are all student-run news outlets that provide the experiences and skills needed to become a successful journalist. I've certainly taken advantage of these opportunities, and the lessons I've learned and the people I've met as a result have truly shaped my time so far at UNC. I cannot imagine what my first year would have been like without the support and sense of belonging that Carolina Week provided. Getting involved was the best decision I've made during my academic career and I highly recommend incoming students do the same.

--Brenna Cukier, 2015

For more information on these programs and the broadcast journalism major, you are welcome to email Dr. Charles Tuggle, Professor of Journalism.

Reese News Asks "Why Carolina?"

UNC Class of 2015 Survey from reesenews on Vimeo.

In this video from Reese News, student multimedia journalists Jacki Huntington and Andrew Dye set out to discover what attracted the students of the class of 2015 to Carolina. Reese News is a digital news publication that's entirely student-run -- from reporting and editing to programming and design. Check it out!

A Second National Championship in Collegiate Journalism

For the second year in a row, Carolina has finished first overall in the Intercollegiate Competition of the Hearst Journalism Awards, often called the Pulitzers of college journalism.

December 2010 graduate Arkasha Stevenson won the individual national championship in photojournalism, and senior Margaret Cheatham Williams of Charlotte won the individual national championship in multimedia.

Read more on the Journalism School's website.

Photo by senior Margaret Cheatham Williams, who won the individual national championship in multimedia. See more of her work.

Extraordinary Opportunity: Assured Enrollment in Journalism

When you apply to Carolina, you're automatically considered for a number of special opportunities. In addition to merit scholarships and the Honors Program, we also consider you for programs that match incoming students with some of exciting opportunities that exist on this campus.

We recently posted about Assured Enrollment in Business, and today we're focusing on a similar program we offer for students interested in Journalism. Carolina students generally apply to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication during their second year of study at Carolina. Each year, however, a select group of outstanding first-year students are offered assured enrollment in the undergraduate program in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication--widely acclaimed as one of the best such programs in the nation.

Students who are chosen for the program take two special first-year seminars focusing on journalism. In this way, students are able to start exploring their interest in journalism from the first day they step on campus. There's no obligation to pursue journalism if students' interests lead them elsewhere--they're always free to choose another major if they wish.

All applicants are considered for this program just by applying for admission--there's no separate application required.

Read more about Assured Enrollment in Journalism.

Explore the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.