The award will be presented at PPRA’s annual meeting June 26. Previous Temple alumni who have received this prestigious honor include Jessica Lawlor, StOC ’10, and Meredith Avakian, JPRA ’06.

SMC faculty who have received an award are:

John Edward Campbell, MSP

Amy L. Caples, MSP

Fabienne Darling-Wolf, JOUR

Jason Del Gandio, STRC

Brooke E. Duffy, ADV

Gregg C. Feistman, STRC

Jan L. Fernback, MSP

Matthew R. Fine, MSP

Jennifer Lovrinic Freeman, ADV

Scott Gratson, STRC

Christopher Harper, JOUR

Sheryl D. Kantrowitz, ADV

Carolyn Kitch, JOUR

Jack Klotz, MSP

Andrew Mendelson, JOUR

George Miller, JOUR

Maida Odom, JOUR

Donnalyn Pompper, STRC

Hector Postigo, MSP

Cornelius Pratt, STRC

Dana K. Saewitz, ADV

Larry Stains, JOUR

Lori L. Tharps, JOUR

Edward J. Trayes, JOUR

Karen M. Turner, JOUR

Barry Vacker, MSP

Tracey Weiss, STRC

Thomas Wright, STRC

Kaibin Xu, STRC

Karen M. Turner, associate professor of journalism, has received a 2012-13 Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award. The awards are intended to recognize and honor those faculty members who epitomize the highest levels of sustained teaching excellence in the classroom, in the research laboratory or in the clinical setting. She was one of six Temple faculty members to be honored with a Lindback Award this year.

In addition, the School of Media and Communication honored three faculty members at its May 7 faculty assembly.

Teaching Awards

Assistant Professor Tracey Weiss, Strategic Communication
Senior Teaching Award

Assistant Professor Lori Tharps, Journalism
Junior Teaching Award

Two awards will be given to full-time faculty members: one for senior faculty (six years or more at Temple) and one junior faculty (five years or fewer at Temple). Applicants should submit an overview of teaching philosophy, and they must include all student evaluations from the prior year. The application must include a written analysis of the applicant’s teaching by the school’s teaching mentor. The applicant is responsible for setting up the evaluation with the teaching mentor. This award also can be given to individuals for teaching innovations in the classroom.

Service Award

Associate Professor Paul Gluck, Media Studies and Production

This award is open to all full-time faculty members. Applicants should provide a written overview of their service contributions beyond those normally associated with the expected service of all faculty members. The service may include, but is not limited to, service to the university, student activities, Faculty Senate, alumni activities, professional associations, community activities, or other forms of service not associated with religious organizations.

The students keep working throughout lunch break at J&H. For the first time, each student was given an iPad to use throughout the week. (Photo by Courtney Marabella)

After an intense week-long editing residency at Temple University’s School of Media and Communication, some of the best journalism students in the country left Philadelphia May 30 to begin internships in some of America’s top newsrooms.

For 46 years, journalism Professor Ed Trayes has directed the Dow Jones Center for Editing Excellence at Temple University, which trains students on style guides, geography and other skills they’ll need to succeed at their copy-editing internships.

“We work each day in the classroom from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. with a short break for lunch. Then it is preparation well into the night for whatever we will be doing the following day,” Trayes said.

During one morning session, the students, hailing from schools such as Syracuse University and the University of California, Berkeley, showed the fruits of their evening research by presenting detailed analyses of the newspapers at which they are interning. They examined font choices, layouts, circulation figures, advertising rates and the content of each section in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Cape Cod Times and Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.), as well as the on-line presence of each publication. The exercise allowed the students to learn the ins-and-outs of how their publication is organized.

The five students heading to The New York Times thoroughly examined the paper’s readership, including income and education levels, and theorized on how newspapers not only sell advertising, but select news content, based on what they know about their subscribers.

Prof. Ed Trayes has directed or co-directed the program for 46 years.

Andrea Ordonez, who graduated this spring from Hofstra University, said the editing residency has instilled in her the need to memorize the AP Stylebook, and not just use it as a reference. But she’ll take away much more than grammar lessons.

“Aside from the technical things, like when to use an apostrophe and quotation marks, and stuff like that, I think I even am more aware of why certain things are the way that they are in terms of the editorial choices that certain publications make,” she said.

For example, Newsday, where she is interning, will focus a particular story on one source and balance it the next day with a different source on the same subject. “When you look at the Times or The Wall Street Journal, they’re balanced in the story itself.”

Throughout the life of the Dow Jones program, more than 600 students have experienced the Temple editing residency and the tutelage of Trayes.

“By the end of the first summer, and based on the generally excellent performance of this first group of editing interns, the experiment evolved into a very successful program aimed at encouraging bright young people at the starts of their respective journalism careers to consider editing instead of reporting,” Trayes said.

Click here to view photos and videos from throughout the program.

Advertising major Brittany Cozzens has more than 3 million followers on Pinterest.

As a junior at York Suburban High School, she became bored with drawing the same old still lifes in art class. Instead, Cozzens, who’s heading into her sophomore year as an advertising major at Temple University’s School of Media and Communication, scoured the web for tattoos, which she would recreate for her class projects. Pinterest, she decided, was the best way to keep her images organized.

As she filled her pinboard (pinterest.com/bcozzens) with images of body art, as well as some more traditional Pinterest content like wedding ideas and fashion, her following grew. Some days, Cozzens would have to delete 60-some emails saying she had new followers.

“I thought, ‘This is taking up my inbox,’ so I changed my settings,” Cozzens says.

Without the notification emails as a constant reminder, she didn’t really pay attention to just how much interest her pinboard garnered. Two years after she created her account, Cozzens realized she had topped more than 3 million followers. That’s in line with some of the more popular boards on Pinterest. The site’s co-founder, Evan Sharp (also a York Suburban grad), and Lowe’s each have approximately 3.6 million followers.

Going viral
She doesn’t really understand why her board has hit a nerve among Pinterest users (“I just kept doing what I was doing.”), but Cozzens now feels a responsibility toward her audience.

“It’s good and bad at the same time,” she says. “You’re pinning for what you like, but at the same time, I have to make sure it fits my style and the people who are following me.”

Cozzens has included her male followers by posting unisex t-shirts and tech gadgets or novelty items from fab.com.

Brooke Duffy, assistant professor of advertising, whose research focuses on gender and promotional culture in a digital age, says Cozzens has achieved something that advertisers and their clients yearn — going viral.

As of May 2013, Cozzens’ Pinterest board had 3,058,964 followers. Click here to peruse her pinboard.

“I think it often boils down to a stroke of good luck, combined with hard work,” Duffy says. “Maintaining a successful fashion blog or a YouTube channel or, in Cozzens’ case, a massive following on Pinterest, requires a considerable investment of time and energy; the labor of creating/curating the content as well as responding to the interests of the audience.”

Building a brand
Since Cozzens has been studying advertising, her content has expanded to include boards on design, logos and typography. As she begins to produce portfolio-quality work through her advertising classes and Temple Ad Club, she’ll include those images on Pinterest, too.

Cozzens believes that Pinterest is a powerful social media tool because it stands out among text-reliant forums like Twitter and Facebook.

“Everything else is words,” she says. “Pinterest is visual and I think people today are very visual people.”

Cozzens believes an image is the best way to connect with people’s emotions. “Words can do that, but it’s another thing to have a specific image in mind that describes you and your style.”

She sees brands becoming more savvy in the way they use Pinterest.

“It’s a good way to get people to view your products,” Cozzens says. She believes Pinterest users will welcome brands into the fold “if they go about it in a different way than their websites are laid out. They can’t just keep it solely based on them. It’s got to be more than just products. I think people are getting tired of that.”

Cozzens says Urban Outfitters (which, by the way, has only 66,000 followers) stands out as a company that brands itself well on Pinterest. “Their boards include the latest trends, makeup, boards that relate to the season (for summer they have a pool party board) and a variety of different things.”

She hopes to use her success on Pinterest to break into an advertising agency after Temple – preferably in the South, far away from the intensity New York ad scene.

“I’m a smaller-scale person,” Cozzens explains.

Three million Pinterest users might disagree.

Media Contact:
Jeff Cronin
jcronin@temple.edu
215-204-3324

Gino Canella works amid the rubble in Moore, Okla., following a massive tornado.

Gino Canella knew he would be seeing the worst of nature’s fury this summer.

He had signed on with The Weather Channel as a producer and videographer to document the work of a Lancaster, Pa., non-profit devoted to helping people clean up after a natural disaster.

That’s how he found himself in the rubble left after a massive tornado leveled parts of Moore, Okla., May 20, just days after completing his master of arts degree in media studies and production.

With forecasts calling for devastating storms, Canella flew out to Indianapolis May 18, where he met up with the crew from the First Response Team of America. Together, they drove to Kansas City the next day to await the unknown.

A relatively small tornado hit Shawnee, Okla., that Sunday. The First Response crew arrived there the morning of May 20 and saw there wasn’t much help they could offer. But when they saw the tornado hit Moore live on television later that day, they sprang into action, arriving there just two hours after the EF5 storm rolled through.

Canella says his stories from Moore reveal how the best of humanity emerges from life’s darkest hours.

“These are stories that renew your faith in people,” he says. “When someone rolls up with equipment for free and offers to clean up your property, it’s just a huge relief and they’re so thankful.”

With eight years of experience as a photojournalist, this wasn’t Canella’s first time covering a natural disaster, but that didn’t reduce the sting of the stories he told.

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin when I see people in a pile of rubble that used to be their home,” he says.

Following his six-month contract with The Weather Channel, Canella says he’ll continue a freelance career, which will allow him to work on stories that are meaningful to him. Now armed with an advanced degree, Canella says he has a better understanding of the theory behind his work.

“Switching your brain back and forth between theory and practice is a good challenge,” he says.

Watch one of Canella’s stories from Moore here:  http://www.weather.com/video/first-responders-arrive-in-moore-36887.

Dyana Williams, RTF ’97, addresses the graduates. (photo by Cara Anderson)

As Dyana Williams took her position at the podium to deliver the keynote address at the Temple University School of Media and Communication graduation ceremony May 16 in McGonigle Hall, she gazed over the sea of graduates and realized she needed to document this moment in time.

William, RTF ’97, the host of “Soulful Sundays,” on Oldies 100.3, aimed her smartphone at the crowd to capture a picture.

“You are such a good-looking class of 2013 that I have to take a picture,” she said.

Graduates like up to cross the stage. (Photo by Cara Anderson)

She promised to post it on every social media outlet available to her.

After capturing the moment for the ages, Williams recounted her own educational journey, which spanned a few years longer than a traditional student experience.

“Life is an ongoing process of learning,” she said. “I don’t ever want you to stop.”

The graduates also heard from student speaker Julian Fowler, STRC ’13. He encouraged his fellow graduates to be the best people they can be and forget about how they are perceived by others.

“The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow,” he said. “Do good anyway.”

He was proud to be among “some of the best leaders that our world will ever see.”

Approximately 475 undergraduate and 19 graduate students were eligible to graduate from SMC in spring 2013.

Levi Schenk is hard at work to make his dreams of working in the television industry a reality.

MSP major Levi Schenk received the George P. and Martina Jennings Endowed Scholarship. (photo by Kandace Kohr)

A junior Media Studies and Production major, Schenk has always been attracted to sales. In seventh grade, he headed an entrepreneurial operation selling candy on the school bus. Although the scheme was shut down by school administrators, he knew that this business was right for him. He’s a self-proclaimed hard worker with a passion for sales, and it certainly shows.

After coming to the Temple University School of Media and Communication from a community college, he knew that Temple “just felt right.” At first, his passions resided in film production. He spent some time at the New York Film Academy, but soon discovered that his heart (and wallet) was not in it. “I came to the realization that film was too expensive and competitive, so I had to choose. I thought, ‘TV is sort of like film, it’s not as risky and it is more job-based.’ Finances were really the biggest thing.”

As a student who pays for his own education, Schenk prides himself with a solid work ethic and a foundation to prove it. Before he won the George P. and Martina Jennings Endowed Scholarship for the spring 2013 semester, he worked upwards of 18 hours a week at Koja Grill as a cashier to compensate his college expenses. Upon receiving the $2,500 award, Schenk was able to give up his part-time job and instead gain the hands-on experience necessary to succeed in television.

When he’s not crisscrossing the Philadelphia area between his internship, school and home, Schenk is an active member of Media Meltdown Productions, Temple’s student-run production organization. He is a project manager for the organization, and also schedules and assists in production shoots. He is also a member of the Golden Key International Honors Society.

Diverse experience
His media business internship at WPVI-TV Philadelphia allows him to diversify his interests and skills from working in sales to programming, engineering and news. For this, he also has Temple’s media studies and production program to thank.

“I think that MSP gives you a broad understanding of all the areas as a whole… it’s about being well-rounded.” He believes in the importance of first impressions and reciprocity. Even though his internship does not require it, he wears a tie because he attributes his appearance to the worker and professional he truly is. “When the GM of the company came to our class to speak, he noticed me because I was the only one out of 100 kids wearing a tie.”

As he goes through his busy day-to-day, there is a constant reminder of the generosity and relief the Jennings Scholarship has brought him. Not only does it bring him solace financially, but it also bears the brunt of the mental burden. “I’m learning a lot about financials at work now, I’ll just start thinking of the interest rates, and the years, and the payments on my loans. It all just daunts on you.”

But since the scholarship has come in he’s instead focusing on his internship and his future career.

Click here to learn more about SMC scholarships.

Two advertising students take a turn at the mics at Baker Sound.

Fifteen students in the “Advanced Copywriting” class at Temple University’s School of Media and Communication visited Baker Sound in Center City Philadelphia to simulate a radio commercial recording session.

Assistant Professor of Advertising Joe Glennon played all the roles a copywriter normally would perform.

“I walked the students through the session and used six of them as voice talent to record the script,” Glennon says. “Unlike TV, with an army of creative professionals taking commands from a director, or print, which requires an art director and others to complete the job, radio is the domain of the writer. The copywriter selects the voices, acts as producer scheduling studio time and the talent, and directs the session. The voice talent and the recording engineer add their expertise, but all decisions belong to the copywriter. After all, the recording session is when the writer takes what he hears in his head and records it.”

Joe Glennon’s “Advanced Copywriting” class takes over Baker Sound recording studios in Philadelphia.

Glennon says radio commercials are often left in the hands of younger writers, so it’s beneficial for the students to get their first studio experience under their belts.

The students were able to spend time with two Temple alumni, Rick DiDonato, RTF ’87, president and chief engineer, and Jeff King, BTMM ’07, an engineer.

“The first time I was in a recording studio was the first session I was responsible for. It was terrifying, to say the least. Thankfully, the engineer could tell how green I was and led me through the process without ever letting the client know I was freaking out,” Glennon says. “I know my students are more prepared for their first session than I was.”

Jim McKairnes
(Photo by Cliff Lipson/CBS)

Television producer and consultant Jim McKairnes has been named the Verizon Chair in Global Broadband and Telecommunications at Temple University’s School of Media and Communication.

McKairnes, who graduated from Temple in 1982 with a journalism degree, is a 23-year veteran of the television industry, including 15 years at CBS.

As the Verizon Chair, McKairnes will host the Verizon Symposium on Global Broadband and Telecommunications in spring 2014. Also, he will teach two classes each semester in the 2013-14 academic year, conduct independent studies and serve as consultant to the Department of Media Studies and Production internship director to help foster new television industry opportunities for Temple students.

McKairnes looks forward to teaching in one of the historic capital cities of the television industry.

“Philadelphia is a hub for communication and a great place to learn about the changing world of broadcasting,” he says.

He will be able to pass along insider knowledge of the industry. “The students want to know what it’s like to actually work in these jobs, to understand how the professional world works and find out what it’s like on a day-to-day basis.”

A native of Northeast Philadelphia, McKairnes was born into a television family — his father was a writer and performer on a show called “Lit’s Have Fun” (named after the Lit Brothers department store) in the early days of Philadelphia broadcasting.

Immediately following his graduation from Temple, McKairnes worked as an entertainment magazine editor and freelance writer before moving to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of working as a network programmer.

At CBS, McKairnes initially divided his responsibilities between the current programming and scheduling departments but was soon moved full-time into scheduling. It was a move that helped to take CBS from the bottom of the network ratings ladder in the 1990s to the top in the 2000s, under the leadership of CBS President Leslie Moonves.

In 2006, McKairnes moved to Discovery Communications to head its 11 networks as executive vice president of scheduling before returning to CBS two years later as senior vice president in charge of developing new comedies for its cable division. He has since focused on the creative end of the business.

Currently, McKairnes serves as a consultant for various TV networks and is an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University. He has written two books, 103 Ways to Get into TV (by 102 who did plus me) and The Sheep is What Makes it Funny: From Philadelphia to CBS, How I Found Myself in Television.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Jim McKairnes serve as Verizon Chair in the School of Media and Communication,” says School of Media and Communication Dean Thomas Jacobson. “He has professional experience that is both broad and deep in the television industry. I look forward to the exciting courses and programs he will create while he is here as well as the industry connections he will be able to facilitate for our faculty and students.”

Professor Jan Fernback, chair of the Media Studies and Production Department, says his vast television industry experience has allowed McKairnes to intimately understand the changing media landscape.

“Jim’s expertise in programming will bring a new, strategic voice into the academic conversation about converging media in a globalized environment,” Fernback says.