Journalism 10 | DEV College of Media

Q&A with Mike Dalton

Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Mike Dalton (BS’ 12, journalism) is currently a programmatic sales director with Raptive. Dalton also participated in a Media Career Night alumni panel on “Sales and Retail Communication” in Spring 2024. Watch a recording of the session here.

What brought you to the College of Media at the University of Illinois?
I knew I wanted to do something within media, specifically journalism. My freshman year was the first year that the College of Media expanded the journalism program into a four-year program. During my visit to campus, I was told that the program was pretty selective, so when I got in, I think I was just filled with a lot of excitement about that, and I loved the campus.

What were some of your favorite classes that you took at Illinois?
One of my all-time favorite classes, and one of the hardest classes I ever took, was JOUR 411: Law and Communications, with Professor Steve Helle. I found that to be one of the most interesting classes the University offered within the program. It was high stakes. Everyone was giving it 110% because the exams were tough, but it was so rewarding and I learned a lot from that class. The way that it was set: you did not have to take the first two midterms, but you had to take the final, that was weighted more if you chose not to take the midterms. It was a really cool way for the professor to put the trust into the students’ hands. I took the course in the second semester of my senior year, and it was literally like, “I need to pass this class and graduate.” It was just a tremendous course that I still think about to this day.

What RSOs were you involved in during your time at the University?
I got started with Fighting Illini Productions, where I was filming sporting events and making edits and highlight videos for the teams. Eventually, I was filming with the big board cameras for the video boards at Memorial Stadium and State Farm Center. I did that, and then me and some other students co-founded JAMS, which was journalism, advertising, and media studies. We would put together a TV broadcast a few times a semester and give everyone a chance to get a head start on working in a studio and putting together a program. I started a part of it called Movie Corner where I would give movie reviews. It was just a really great experience to be able to feel that we were building something special in the college because, again, this was the first time that journalism was open to underclassmen.

What are some lessons that you learned through the College of Media and your RSOs?
Fighting Illini Productions trained me on being accountable, and I think that that is huge. We had to go there ridiculously early on football gamedays to get everything ready; then after games we’d have to dump tape and upload our footage and then get ready and be editing and start helping piece together highlights. There were plenty of times when it was 9, 10, 11, midnight, and I was sitting in the editing bay working to get my tapes done, my highlights done, and my cuts done for review by the staff within the production department. It felt stressful at the time, but it was an accountability thing that they taught us because we had a job there, and a job as students, and we had to find a way to get both things done. That’s life now. I have a family, I have personal interests, I have a career, and I have to juggle all those different things and be accountable for the work that I say that I’ll get done. That’s an experience that stuck with me.

What skills did you learn through studying journalism that you’re able to use today in your advertising sales job?
The way that you sell advertising solutions is by asking the right questions. That comes from my background in journalism. I have an interest in learning more, I want to recall things that clients tell me, and I think that that makes me more relatable and personable. All that comes from having it drilled into my brain from the College of Media—the journalism classes specifically. Dive deeper, find the story, get an answer. If you don’t like the answer you’re given the first time, find a different way to ask that question. That all came from the college.

What advice would you give to current College of Media students?
I think everyone should utilize their time at the University to lean into what interests them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something like Fighting Illini Productions or starting a broadcast channel of underclassmen but lean into what interests you. I leaned into cinema studies as a minor because that interested me, and I knew that that was something I cared about. I leaned into an extra focus on Recreation, Sport and Tourism, pairing my interests with sports and the business side of them. Find time to lean into the things that you think might interest you. I guarantee you that it’ll help you in the long run with time management, accountability, and checking boxes. The second piece I would say is to reach out to alumni; find them on LinkedIn. The people that attend Media Career Nights or speak on Zooms, don’t be afraid to reach out to them and ask questions or ask for help. That’s how we all get by; we utilize our connections and our network to find an avenue or opportunity for us both professionally and personally. I think that that’s something that everyone should consistently remember to do.

—Interview by Brendan Gallian, New Voices Intern

Sarah Min selected for 2024 College of Media Distinguished Alumni Award

May 14, 2024 | Kelly Youngblood

When Sarah Min (BS ’93, journalism) was appointed to President Joe Biden’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in 2022, she knew her background in journalism would prove useful in government policy and nonprofit advocacy work.

“For people who practice journalism, it’s a job requirement to constantly learn new things and talk to a lot of people outside of the known” Min said. “I think that was the heart of my education at the college that has really stayed with me.”

Plus, Min, who moved to New York City right after graduation with only the prospect of a job, likes to embrace unexpected and challenging opportunities.

“I really look for steep learning curves. I think that’s what keeps the brain agile and [provides] intellectual stimulation, from diving into the unfamiliar,” she said.

Min’s curious nature has been a career asset as a magazine journalist and media executive, and now, as Deputy Chief Commissioner of President Biden’s AA and NHPI Advisory Commission.

Min’s exemplary career accomplishments, along with her engagement with the college, have earned her the 2024 College of Media Distinguished Alumni Award.

“The breadth of Sarah Min’s contributions to the media industry, to nonprofits, and to government and advocacy are truly inspiring,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin. “Her career path demonstrates to our students that there are many opportunities to pursue your interests and to make a difference.”

As a member of the President’s Advisory Commission, Min and her colleagues provide recommendations to President Biden on ways the public, private, and nonprofit sectors can work together to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for every Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community.

The federal advisory commission works to address key priorities, including efforts to combat anti-Asian hate, promote data disaggregation and language access, and advance health and economic equity.

She also serves on the board of EMILY’s List, an organization that elects pro-choice Democratic women, and Color of Change, a racial justice organization.

Min, who holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, is involved in several additional political nonprofits, working to build political power by “getting good information out to people around civic engagement.”

Min says she owes much of her success to her education, experience, and mentors at Illinois, including Bob Reid, a former investigative journalism professor who taught his students to push themselves as much as possible.

“One of the things that [Reid] always said was to stay outside your comfort zone and how important that is, but also how deliberate you have to be about that,” Min said of Reid, who passed away in 2004. “That idea has truly guided me throughout my career.”

Working at The Daily Illini also had a huge impact on Min, who said it’s where she learned how to write, edit, and think visually about a story.

In 2020, she established the Daily Illini Journalism Scholarship Fund with her husband, Matt Pincus, to help support undergraduates in journalism who are committed to working at least one semester at The Daily Illini.

Min said it was a way for her to honor those students who manage work and classes, while remaining committed to sustaining the practice of journalism.

“I’m proud and privileged to be supportive of young people who are willing to commit to continuing that tradition because maintaining journalistic standards is critical in our civil society,” she said.

While the early part of Min’s career involved jobs at magazines like Glamour and Vibe, her desire to help build political power for women and people of color is where most of her professional and personal focus stands today.

Min said her previous experience and skill set applied to the kind of work that needed to be done, which is related to narrative work and storytelling and changing perceptions.

“These days it’s about how you get the truth out to people. How do you meet people where they are, how do you find the audiences,” Min said. “It’s very similar principles to journalism—understanding specific audiences and how to deliver content to each of those audiences so that they will engage with information.”

For Min, who says the first part of her career was satisfying because she could see an immediate product, what’s most gratifying now is advocating for future leaders.

“I’m inspired to help to build a pipeline of leaders for tomorrow who take a hopeful and innovative approach to the future,” Min said.

Eli Murray selected as winner of 2024 College of Media Emerging Leader Award

May 14, 2024 | Kelly Youngblood

A multimedia piece about an avalanche in Washington published by the New York Times in 2012, which included video, interactive graphics, and animated simulations, changed the way newsrooms presented storytelling.

It also inspired Media alum and Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter Eli Murray (BS ’15, journalism) to think about a career as a data journalist.

“I was in college when the New York Times published ‘Snow Fall’ and it was ground-breaking. It was the first time I had ever seen a story like that and so I felt really inspired and [felt] that was something I wanted to pursue,” Murray said.

Murray would go on to excel at visual storytelling, first at the Tampa Bay Times, where he would earn a Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting in 2022, and now at the New York Times as a graphics editor.

The College of Media is honoring Murray’s early career accomplishments and his engagement with the college, selecting him as the recipient of the 2024 College of Media Emerging Leader Award.

“In addition to his outstanding journalistic achievements, Eli Murray has returned to campus to share his expertise with the College of Media, at events for students and for the public,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin. “He is wonderfully deserving of this year’s Emerging Leader Award.”

Murray considers himself lucky to have discovered the potential of data journalism as a student at the University of Illinois and says visual elements allow a journalist to reach a wider audience.

“I think a story that is just [relying on] data is not as strong as it can be, but I think that a story that is just about anecdotes and about people is also not as strong as it can be,” he added.

In his current role, Murray uses code to pull data from websites and public records, crunch and analyze numbers, and create visual elements to tell stories.

“I really do feel strongly that visuals are important in journalism, and I think that the New York Times is really setting the standard for what people can do visually in online journalism,” Murray said.

Murray is also an adjunct professor at the University of South Florida, teaching students how to code JavaScript from scratch in an online data visualization course. He’s hoping to inspire more students to consider a career in data journalism.

Murray’s interest in data journalism was bolstered during a news design class his junior year with Eric Meyer, retired associate professor of journalism. During a weeklong segment on WordPress, students learned about coding in HTML and CSS.

“I really enjoyed that. It just clicked for me, and I recognized that I could use these skills to do journalism,” Murray said.

Murray got a few books and taught himself how to code. During his senior year, he worked at The Daily Illini as a beat reporter and then as a web developer.

He credits his time at the DI with helping him grow his skills, build his confidence, and produce clips to land his first job after graduation.

While researching a story, Murray says it can often be difficult to figure out what the information is trying to tell you, so early on he visualizes the facts through charts and graphics.

Murray compares the process of exploring data through visuals to shucking oysters and looking for pearls.

“You may open a hundred oysters and find two pearls in there but those are the two graphics that you can bring forward and say, ‘These are saying something enlightening. These are the ones that I’m going to share with readers,’” Murray said.

Murray and two colleagues at the Tampa Bay Times published “Poisoned” in 2021, a six-part series uncovering the truth about dangerous lead levels at a battery recycling plant in Florida.

Murray, who became a certified lead inspector throughout the course of his research, spent nearly two years building a database from thousands of pages of PDFs and analyzing the results.

The reporting, which garnered Murray and his team a Pulitzer Prize, led to the implementation of new safety regulations to better protect the lives of workers and nearby residents.

Although Murray says he’s most confident working with facts and figures, affecting real change in the lives of people is the most gratifying aspect of his job.

When he was interviewing the wife of a factory worker whose son had experienced the detrimental effects of lead poisoning, Murray realized the significance of telling their story.

“To [the family], it was their whole entire life,” Murray said. “[Their] entire life revolved around getting care for [their] son who was lead poisoned and so that just made it really concrete to me. The reason we do this is for people, and going forward it makes me to want to put more emphasis on that side of things in my own work.”

Murray has always been motivated to find the objective truth. He advises those starting out in their journalism careers to go into a story with an open mind and be willing to go where the story takes you.

“It’s important to be able to pivot when new information comes in and to be able to talk to people who disagree with the things that you’re seeing on the ground,” he said.

As a young reporter who has already won the most prestigious award in journalism, Murray’s career goals remain unchanged.

“I wouldn’t say that there’s any more pressure than there was at any [other] time,” he said. “Fortunately, I’m pretty early in my career, so I hope I’ve got enough time to keep doing more good work.”

Alum Jon Morgan, 40-year journalism veteran, pursues new writing career

Jon Morgan (BS ’84, journalism), a two-time author and journalist for 40 years, has left his position as senior editor in the Washington bureau at Bloomberg News after 13 years to pursue a freelance writing career.

Prior to joining Bloomberg in 2010, Morgan was senior editor at the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. From 1987 to 2008 he held a number of reporting and editing positions at The Baltimore Sun, including assistant city editor, state political editor, and assistant managing editor of enterprise reporting.

Morgan has written two books on sports economics. He also studied at the University of Michigan as a 2001 Knight-Wallace Fellow.

Media alum, veteran CBS News reporter Rick Sallinger passes away

Rick Sallinger (BS ’71, MS ’72, advertising), a Peabody Award-winning veteran CBS News reporter, died on May 8, 2024. He was 74 years old.

After working as a radio reporter in Cleveland and Chicago, Sallinger moved on to television news working at stations in Indianapolis, Denver, and Chicago.

In 1990, Sallinger became a foreign war correspondent for CNN based in London covering events like the Gulf War, the war in Yugoslavia, and the reunification of Germany.

He settled in Colorado, joining KCNC-TV, a CBS affiliate in Denver, in 1993 where he worked until his retirement in December 2023.

Sallinger has covered nearly every major Colorado story in recent years including the Columbine High School shootings, the Oklahoma City bombing trials, and the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.

In 2005, Sallinger won the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for a series he did on Army recruiting. He was also inducted into the Illini Media Hall of Fame in 2022. Sallinger worked at the University of Illinois student-run radio station WPGU from 1967-71 as an announcer, music, and program director.

Sallinger was inducted into the Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle in 2023, which honors media professionals who have contributed 25 years or more to the television industry.

Watch a video from CBS Denver highlighting Sallinger’s career and NATAS honor.

Media faculty and TAs make list of teachers ranked as excellent

May 8, 2024

Congratulations to all of the College of Media faculty and teaching assistants who were ranked as excellent by their students!

This list is based on Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES) questionnaire forms completed by students during the Fall 2023 semester. Only those instructors who distributed ICES forms at least once during this time period and who released their data for publication are included in the list. View the complete list.

Note: * denotes that the instructor ratings were outstanding.

ADVERTISING

KENT BROWN – ADV 314

STEVE HALL – ADV 150

* CHANG-DAE HAM – ADV 581

* JACQUELINE HITCHON – ADV 350

TERRY KASDAN – ADV 409

* EVA MASLOWSKA – ADV 580

* SHACHAR MERON – ADV 250, ADV 290, ADV 400

MICHELLE NELSON – ADV 550

SANG-HWA OH – ADV 587

* MARISA PEACOCK – ADV 498

AUGUST SCHIESS – ADV 491

PETER SHELDON – ADV 452

ALLISON VANCE – ADV 350

JOURNALISM

CHRISTOPHER BALL – JOUR 101, JOUR 451

* ALISON DAVIS – JOUR 215, JOUR 240

ALEXANDRE GONÇALVES – JOUR 102

* COLLEEN KING – JOUR 200

STEPHANIE CRAFT – JOUR 460

* VINCE LARA-CINISOMO – JOUR 210

CHARLES “STRETCH” LEDFORD – JOUR 215, JOUR 335

* CAROL LOMBARDI – JOUR 220

MEDIA

DANIEL ALMANZA – MEDIA 199

AMANDA MORLEY – MEDIA 100

MEDIA & CINEMA STUDIES

CL COLE – MACS 224, MACS 356

VICTOR FONT – MACS 140

JONATHAN KNIPP – MACS 101

RACHEL KUO – MACS 351

STRATEGIC BRAND COMMUNICATION

SHACHAR MERON – SBC 500

TEACHING ASSISTANTS

* P. BATISTE – ADV 250

N. FAISAL – ADV 150

* M. FUKADA – ADV 250

S. HEO – ADV 360

* S. PARK – ADV 250

* A. CANO – MACS 101

* T. CHEN – MACS 150

J. CINTRON – MACS 100

Y. GAO – MACS 101

Y. KANG – MACS 101

Q. LUAN – MACS 100

J. ROBINSON – MACS 101

N. ZHOU – MACS 100

Clifford Christians receives AEJMC’s Eleanor Blum Distinguished Service to Research Award

May 3, 2024

Clifford Christians, research professor emeritus of communications, and professor emeritus of media studies and of journalism, will receive the 2024 Eleanor Blum Distinguished Service to Research Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The award will be presented at AEJMC’s 107^th annual conference in Philadelphia this August.

“I am convinced that Dr. Christians should get credit for creating, leading, and developing the entire subfield of media and journalism ethics, not just in the United States, but in the world. At the least, without his work and his inspiration, media ethics would be entirely impoverished and thin,” said Linda Steiner (PhD ’79, ICR), editor of Journalism & Communication Monographs.

The Blum Distinguished Service to Research Award was created to recognize people who have devoted substantial parts of their careers to promoting research in mass communication, and those who have spent much of their professional lives to mentoring students in areas of research. It is named in honor of the first recipient, Eleanor Blum, a long-time communications librarian at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Christians (PhD ’74, ICR) is a former director of the Institute of Communications Research at the College of Media and chair of the doctoral program in communications, positions he held from 1987-2001 and from 2007-2009.

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is a nonprofit, educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students, and media professionals. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to cultivate the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice and a better informed public.

Journalism alumna publishes article in ‘Newsweek’

Mary Lynch Snowdon (BS ’86, journalism) wrote an article that was published in Newsweek recently titled “My Talented Son Has Autism. As a Mother, I Feel Like a Dual Citizen.” In the article, Snowdon writes about her experience parenting her son with autism, who is now in his mid-20s and a talented golfer.

Snowdon is a lawyer, consultant, and advocate. She currently resides in Annapolis, Maryland.

Media students present at 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium

April 24, 2024

Update June 4, 2024: Congratulations to the students who presented “Exploring Period Poverty in Sierra Leone” (pictured below) for receiving an award for Outstanding Exhibit at the Undergraduate Research Symposium from the Office of Undergraduate Research! Learn more about their trip to Sierra Leone.

Students from the College of Media are participating in the annual University of Illinois Undergraduate Research Week, held April 21-27. The Undergraduate Research Symposium, the signature event held on April 24 at the Illini Union, features presentations, posters, and performances from students across campus.

Media student presentations include:

On Exhibit: Robots & Medical Technology
“Exploring Period Poverty in Sierra Leone”

Faith Lee, junior in journalism
Piper Pascarella, sophomore in journalism
Maggie Knutte, junior in journalism
Stephanie Wayda, senior in journalism
Nour Longi, junior, journalism
Elena Cleary, junior in agricultural communications (College of ACES)
Research Mentors: Alison Davis and Charles “Stretch” Ledford, Department of Journalism

CS Student Ambassadors/Research Scholars
Illinois Scholars Undergraduate Research Program Research Expo
“Comparing Human Generated Text with Machine Generated Text”
Garima Sharma, senior in CS + advertising

Poster Presentation: Social Science & Human Behavior
“Mental Health and Wellbeing Outcomes among Gender and Sexuality Diverse Individuals Raised in Fundamentalist Religious Environments: Exploratory Analyses and Study Design”
Marina Manuel, senior in media and cinema studies
Research Mentor(s): Chris Fraley and Maggie Palmiero, Department of Psychology (College of LAS)

Jenny Oyallon-Koloski, assistant professor of media and cinema studies, was the research mentor for Molly Pfeifer, senior in psychology (College of LAS) and cinema studies minor, who is presenting “Embracing Ambiguity in Low Concept Film Marketing” as part of the Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences poster presentations.

View the Undergraduate Research Week program.

Q&A with Colleen King

Get to know some of our College of Media faculty. Colleen King is director of the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media and clinical assistant professor of journalism.

How did you get your start in journalism?
I went to George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and there I majored in political communication, which is a cross section of political science and journalism. While I was a student at GW, I got an internship at CBS News in Washington, which is how I got into TV news. I have spent 17 years in TV news; almost 15 of them at MSNBC, where my final job was executive producer of the 11th Hour with Brian Williams.

How did you know you wanted to get involved with journalism?
I grew up in a household where my parents subscribed to Time, Newsweek, and the local newspaper. They also watched the news every night and on Sundays watched the political talk shows, so I kind of grew up around news. What I loved learning about news in college was that you didn’t have to pick a side, you didn’t have to agree with some positions and not others, and you could really look at things at a neutral angle. I really loved the idea of having a front-row seat to the news as it was happening.

What is your current job position at the University of Illinois?
Currently, I am director of the Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media and a clinical assistant professor of journalism. The Frank Center was created out of a generous donation from Rich and Leslie Frank. Rich is an alum of Illinois and Leslie, his wife, is a former local news anchor and an Emmy award-winning news anchor from Seattle and Los Angeles. They funded the Frank Center to create experiences for students of all kinds. So, it’s bringing high level journalists to campus to meet with students here. The workshops and event programming help in supporting what everyone is learning at the College of Media and additional experiences beyond that, too.

What type of classes do you teach now?
This semester, I’m teaching JOUR 313: Writing for Television and Streaming News. I have also taught JOUR 200: Introduction to Journalism, JOUR 210: Newsgathering across Platforms, and JOUR 494: Navigating the Job Market. The classes are all fun in their own way, but the JOUR 313 class is dear to my heart because it’s something I spent doing every day, so that is kind of fun to develop as a class.

What is one of your favorite career experiences?
Highlights of my career have been predominantly in the control room where I have gotten to cover some major events in American history, such as presidential elections and political campaigns. I have also covered all sorts of breaking news like hurricanes, school shootings, wildfires, and floods. I loved covering politics and that was usually what I would be covering most days.

Was it hard to stay objective while covering the news?
No, I think part of being a journalist is learning how to report a story and not take a side. One of the things I loved most about it was getting to say what was happening and talk to experts that could help me predict where stories were going rather than taking a side and advocating.

What advice would you give to College of Media students?
My advice would be to pursue what you love and what you’re interested in, because if you do what you love it won’t feel like work ultimately down the road. Also, gain as many experiences as you can as an intern or as someone shadowing a professional in the field to understand what the job looks like day-to-day and know if it’s the right fit for you. Don’t be afraid of the word “no” and not getting a job or an interview. “No” just helps you get more creative about other options and other things to pursue.

—Interview by Mila Mitrovic, New Voices Intern