Columbia SPJ Makes Music – Ethically
The life of a journalist isn’t all stressful deadlines or beating the streets for sources and stories, nor is the life of a graduate student all coffee and late-night thesis writing.
Members of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism chapter have been making a musical name for themselves lately, in between classroom deadlines, work assignments and, of course, job hunting.
To liven up their chapter meetings, and to find an additional outlet for their journalism skills, the chapter has been producing musical summaries of meeting minutes.
Region 3 Director Michael Koretzky saw the videos and asked the group to perform at the March College Media Association’s New York Conference – as a lead-in for keynote speaker David Carr of the The New York Times.
The group has produced a special music video for this ethics-themed issue of Quill. See their musical take on the SPJ Code of Ethics.
UAE Panel with Female Journalists
Students at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates heard about issues facing female journalists during a panel organized by chapter members.
The panel was part of the university-sponsored Woman as Global Leaders conference in March.
Chapter member Dhabya Al Mehairi helped organize the panel and said she was pleased with the standing-room-only crowd. Coverage of the event is available from the English-language UAE news outlet The National.
Michigan to New York City
Photojournalism students from the Central Michigan University chapter packed their cameras in late 2011 to photograph the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City.
The students captured a variety of images from police formations to participants protesting a number of issues including corporate greed and influence on politics, unemployment, and student loan debt.
“It was an amazing experience,” said Kent Miller, CMU assistant professor of journalism. “My students hit it out of the ballpark. Three days of non-stop-shooting.”
Miller and his students trailed protesters to several locations throughout the city, including a rally at Union Square and Foley Square and a march down 16th and 5th avenues.
See a gallery of the students’ work here.