The Working Journalists Seminar Series highlights current challenges, new directions, and the richness of diversity within the journalism field. Events are open to the public.
2009-10 Series
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009
7 p.m. North Hall Auditorium, Free & open to the public
"Media Coverage of the Somali Community"
Hassan Eibakar
Dr. Hassan A. Eibakar, born in Somalia, graduated with a degree in Veterinary and Animal Husbandry from Bologna University, Italy in 1962.
Throughout his life, Dr. Eibakar has been a leader in his community. In 1963 he was named Director General of the Livestock Development Agency within the Somali government. In 1970 he resigned to private activities and began a poultry farm in the capital of Mogadishu. Dr. Eibakar would later found a large cold storage facility that provided ice making for the city. Also, he directed an effort to build an oxygen production factory in Somalia. The public project eventually became a private enterprise.
After the deterioration of the Somali government in 1990, Dr. Eibakar moved to the United States. After settling in Minneapolis, he supported his family as an interpreter/translator in Somali, Italian, and English.
In the same period, he began publishing an English-language periodical, Bridging People, and also self-published the book Beyond The Rainbow, whose subject is the recent history of Somalia and its diaspora.
Currently, he operates the Warsan Times, a monthly newspaper aimed at informing and educating people on current Somali and East African issues.
March 24, 2009
7 p.m. University Center Ballroom,
Free & open to the public
Duchesne Drew, Star Tribune
Duchesne Drew of the Star Tribune discusses what students should learn while they are still in college, from basic to multimedia skills, so they are prepared for the challenges facing journalism.
Duchesne Paul Drew is the Star Tribune's Managing Editor for Operations. He's the newsroom's liaison to the circulation, production and advertising departments; he oversees the copy desk, newsroom technology issues, training and recruitment; and he leads the newsroom's community outreach efforts.
Prior to being named to his current position, Duchesne was the Assistant Managing Editor for Local News. In that role he coordinated the paper's metro section and supervised the teams that cover Minneapolis, St. Paul, the Twin Cities suburbs and public safety issues. Duchesne was previously the Star Tribune's business editor, St. Paul bureau editor, an assistant editor on the paper's metro team and a longtime education reporter.Duchesne is president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists and serves on the board of ThreeSixty (www.threesixtyjournalism.org), a local program that exposes teens to careers in journalism.He is a member of the National Association of Multicultural Media Executives and 2009 McCormick Media Fellow. Duchesne has a bachelor's degree from Columbia University, where he majored in history, and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University.
Oct. 2, 2008
7 p.m.
University Center Ballroom,
Free & open to the public
Covering Catastrophe: News Media & the I-35W Bridge Collapse
Panelists:
Joe Fryer, KARE 11 TV reporter
Scott Takushi, Pioneer Press photographer
Mary McFarland, Minnesota Department of Transportation Public Affairs Representative
Background information (for students to read prior to the panel discussion):
Todd Nelson and Tim Nelson, St. Paul Pioneer Press reporters who covered Wat Tham Krabok refugee camp in Thailand
Brandt Williams, MPR reporter on Urban Affairs and former executive editor of Insight News, Minnesota's largest African American-owned newspaper
High school students from Phillips Community Television, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering youth and communities through media literacy education, production and service
Darcy Pohland, reporter at WCCO-TV
Dan Yang, documentary writer/photographer, Turkana: Africa's Forgotten People
Al McFarlane, publisher, Insight News; organizer, Minnesota Minority Media Coalition
Ruben Rosario, columnist, St. Paul Pioneer Press
Eva Palma, editor, La Prensa de Minnesota
Murali Balaji, Asian American Journalists Association
C.Ting Insixiengmay, publisher, Asian Pages
Maraci Rendon, Native American Journalists Association
Mike "Jammin Ice Man" Dukin, WOJB-FM
Paul DeMain, CEO and managing editor, Indian Country Communications
Vivian Jenkins Nelsen, CEO, INTER-RACE
April 22, 2008
7 p.m Kinni Theatre, UC
MEDIA CONVERGENCE:
Who, What, Where, When, How, Why?
A panel discussion on journalism's future
"Media convergence is the most significant development in the news industry in the last century. The ability to interchange text, audio, and visual communication over the Internet has fundamentally transformed the way news organizations operate. Throughout the history of journalism, it has been common for journalists to study one medium, such as traditional print or broadcast, and to anticipate a career working only in their chosen field. However, the 21st century journalist has fluidity to write and deliver news content in a variety of formats."
2003, "Convergence Journalism," a paper by Professors Carrie Criado and Camille Kraeplin, Southern Methodist University, presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
"With the Web, we could be witnessing the most important development in expressive media since the advent of writing." —Jon Palfreman, a 2006 Nieman Fello Excerpted from Nieman Reports, Winter 2006 "Caught in the Web." Read his complete report here.
Julio Ojeda-Zapata, consumer technology reporter at the St. Paul Pioneer Press
Regina McCombs, senior producer for multimedia at the Star Tribune
Marco Fernandez Landoni, editorial director, Latino Communications Network (LCN)
Scott Wente, Minnesota Capitol reporter for Forum Communications, (2002 UWRF Journalism Alumnus)
MODERATOR: Andris Straumanis, Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism
DISCUSSION TOPICS
Audience.
What does the public want, need, expect, demand from on-line news organizations? Ojeda-Zapata will talk about the technology and content from the consumer/audience perspective.
Multimedia Production.
What's involved in producing a multimedia site? McCombs will describe the skills needed to create and maintain a converged news Web site.
Newsroom Restructuring. What challenges do small-to medium-sized news organizations face in the transition to convergence? Landoni will discuss how his news organization grappled with the transition.
Impact on Reporters. What new responsibilities do reporters have? Wente will describe the impact of convergence on reporters and the profession.
Normon Solomon, author & nationally syndicated columnist on media & politics
Nov. 13, 2007—North Hall Auditorium
6:00 p.m. book signing,
7:00 p.m. free public lecture Nov. 14, 2007—"Coffee with The Times"
9 a.m. discussion led by Norman Solomon, University Center Theater
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - His latest book, "Made Love Got War: Close Encounters with America's Warfare State" was published by PoliPointPress, October 2007.
Mr. Solomon has been writing his column, Media Beat (mediabeat.org) since 1992. His 2005 book, "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death," was called "brutally persuasive" by the Los Angeles Times and "as must-read for those who would like greater context with their bitter morning coffee, or to arm themselves for the debates about Iraq that are still to come." "War Made Easy" has recently been made into a film of the same title, narrated by Sean Penn.
Norman Solomon is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a national consortium of policy researchers and analysts.
A collection of Solomon's columns won the George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language. The award, presented by the National Council of Teachers of English, honored Solomon's book, "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media."
Solomon has appeared as a guest on many media outlets including the PBS "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, C-Span, public radio's "Marketplace," and NPR's "All Things Considered", "Morning Edition" and "Talk of the Nation." For more details visit www.normansolomon.com
2006-07 Series
April 19, 2007
7 p.m., Ag. Science Building, Rm. 200
Wing Young Huie Documentary Photographer
9 MONTHS IN AMERICA
From one of the United States' most diverse areas (Hilo, Hawaii) to its least (Slope, North Dakota), Wing Young Huie and his wife, Tara, spent nine months traveling through 39 states on an "ethnocentric" tour of their homeland. The result is a collection of 105 color and black and white photographs.
Oct. 12, 2006
7 p.m. Rodli Commons Blue Room
Pamela Miller
REPORTING ON RELIGION
Pamela Miller is a reporter for the Star Tribune's Faith and Values section. She covers the faith culture and breaking news in religion and will talk about her responsibilities in covering the religion beat.
2005-06 Series
March 23 , 2006
7 p.m. Student Center
Presidents Room
John Stefany, Star Tribune
John Stefany, an editor on the special projects team at the Star Tribune and a member of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), speaks about media coverage of gay and lesbian issues, including Western Wisconsin coverage of the Wisconsin marriage amendment. For background information, read "Getting the Marriage Story Right."
As an editor of the special projects team, Stefany coordinates projects between the Star Tribune newspaper and StarTribune.com. His background is in computer-assisted reporting, graphics editing and national/international news. Before joining the Star Tribune in 1994, he was an editor at The Milwaukee Journal. Background information on the Wisconsin marriage amendment. (pdf)
Sept. 22, 2005
7 p.m. Rodli Commons River Room
Greg Borowski, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Reporter for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and author of "First and Long: A black school, a white school and their season of dreams." Excerpts from his book.
BOOK REVIEW—According to Badger Books, the book explores a unique high school football team. Through sports, Shorewood-Messmer partnership bridged two worlds, found success on and off the field. During a normal football season, Shorewood High School and Messmer High School would be natural rivals on the football field. They're located just over a mile apart. One is public, the other private. One is suburban, the other urban. One is white, the other black.
In the fall of 2001, the two schools joined on the football field, with Shorewood hoping to boost a lagging program and Messmer looking for a return to the football field after nearly two decades without a team. In a compelling new book, author Greg Borowski was granted full access to the team, from the locker room to the bus to the sidelines, to follow the historic season.
The team was the first ever public-private football partnership in Wisconsin and, of a few dozen like it in the nation, the only one to combine central city kids with those from an affluent suburb. In Milwaukee, one of the most segregated metropolitan areas in the country, the experiment took on an importance greater than that of high school sports. For one tumultuous fall, for the players especially, it meant everything.
The new book -- First and Long: A black school, a white school and their season of dreams -- traces the season from the first nervous practices of August, when all is promise, to the final moments of the last game, when all dreams must end. The book, published by Badger Books, includes a Foreward by Vince Lombardi Jr., and is endorsed by Steve Rushin of Sports Illustrated, NFL great Willie Davis and Jim Dent, author of The Junction Boys.
The book follows the players, from two different worlds, on the field and off, as they learn about overcoming differences, working together and staring down adversity. It is more than a book about football. It's a story about race in a divided community. It's a story about growing up in a time of turmoil. It's a story about working together and getting along.
It's a story about life. This book takes readers inside the huddle and inside the hearts of a team they won't soon forget.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR—Greg Borowski, a Milwaukee native, is the City Hall reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He previously worked at the Lansing State Journal in Lansing, Mich., and the Chronicle-tribune in Marion, Ind. He has received dozens of awards for features, news and sports writing. Borowski is a graduate of Messmer High School, one of the schools depicted in the book, and Marquette University. First and Long is his first book. Borowski continued to follow the team during its more successful second season, covered in the Epilogue.
For more information about First and Long: A black school, a white school and their season of dreams, please see the book's official web site, www.firstandlong.com, or contact Badger Books at 800.928.2372 or Mary Lou Santovec at marylou@badgerbooks.com
