Rockbridge Report wins another national award

            For the second time in three years, “The Rockbridge Report,” the multimedia local news Web site produced by Washington and Lee’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, has been recognized as one of the top three in the nation by the Society of Professional Journalists.

            “The Rockbridge Report”  was one of two runners-up for SPJ’s Mark of Excellence Award in the category of Best All-Around Independent Online Student Publication for 2007. The awards were given Sept. 5 at SPJ’s annual convention in Atlanta, attended by senior Melissa Caron and Prof. Doug Cumming, the W&L SPJ chapter’s faculty adviser.

            The winner in the category was produced by Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The other runner-up was produced by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

            “The Rockbridge Report” was also a national runner-up in 2005.
 
            “A national top-three finish in two of the past three years underscores that the core of our program’s strength is its students and faculty,”  said Prof. Brian Richardson, head of W&L’s journalism department.  “We’re establishing quite a track record.”

Read full story here

 

Newest faculty member receives press freedom awards

Toni Locy, a veteran of 25 years covering the American justice system at all levels, has been given the Society of Professional Journalists' First Amendment Award.

Locy was recognized at SPJ's annual meeting in Atlanta Sept. 5-7.

Toni Locy Donald W. Reynolds Professor of Legal Reporting

It was the second national award for Locy in less than two months. She received the National Press Club's John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award in Washington, D.C. July 14.

Locy joined the faculty of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications July 1 as its first Donald W. Reynolds Professor of Legal Reporting.

She was recognized by both the Press Club and SPJ for defying a federal district judge’s order to reveal the names of confidential sources for stories when she was covering the Justice Department for USA Today in 2001 and 2002.

Click here to read Locy's entire speech
Click here to watch Locy's entire speech
Click here for the full story

J-professor explores her Indian heritage in documentary

 

Indira Somani Assistant Professor of Journalism

Like most second-generation ethnic Americans, Indira Somani, newly-arrived assistant professor of journalism at Washington and Lee University, has struggled with identity issues. Being born and brought up in the Midwest, Somani led an American life, but at home her world was Indian because of her father's immense love for India and Indian culture.

Unlike others in her situation, Somani took the challenges and conflicts she faced and co-produced a 30 minute documentary titled "Crossing Lines" with her colleague Leena Jayaswal, an assistant professor of Film and Media Arts at American University. It will be shown in Washington D.C. at the Ninth Annual D.C. Asian Pacific American Film Festival on September 28. It has also been distributed to over 100 PBS stations by NETA, the National Educational Telecommunications Association, and has already aired on 20 stations around the country. It has screened at film festivals in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta and more.

"It was an overwhelming experience to make this film, and I feel so grateful that I had the opportunity to do it," says Somani.

The film takes you on a journey to India, where Somani visits her father's extended family for the first time after his death, and explores how she tries to stay connected to Indian culture and her extended family. It is the story of how one daughter pays tribute to her father in all that he's taught her about India, Indian culture and family. It's a unique story about the relationship of an Indian father and his American born Indian daughter.

Brian Richardson, department head of journalism and mass communication, calls "Crossing Lines" a wonderfully engaging work. "It offers a rare combination of insights that resonate universally from an intensely personal perspective," he says. "We are pleased to have Indira Somani joining our faculty. She will no doubt enrich our students' education enormously."

Somani brings 10 years of broadcast journalism experience as a producer to the classroom, most notably with CNBC, and network affiliate stations in Washington, D.C., Norfolk, South Bend, Ind., and Springfield, Ill.

She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism, an M.S.J. from the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University and a B.A. in media, race and gender (independent major) from Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. 

Details of the documentary film can be viewed at www.crossinglinesthefilm.com.

Aaron Willoughby takes a look at the newspaper he helped produce as part of the Reynolds Institute.

Participants in Washington and Lee’s first Reynolds High School Journalism Institute wrapped up their two-week visit to campus July 18. The 35 teachers from around the nation studied journalism law and ethics, reporting and editing, layout and design and photojournalism. They also produced an eight-page institute newspaper and a multimedia Web site. The institute was co-sponsored by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications. It was funded by a grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

Read more about the Reynolds High School Journalism Institute

See the Reynolds High School Journalism Institute’s multimedia Web site 

 

Ronald H. MacDonald, 75, dies;

taught journalism for 32 years        

Ron MacDonald

Ronald H. MacDonald, who taught Journalism and Mass Communications at Washington and Lee for more than three decades, died Thursday, July 3 in Lexington. He was 75.

MacDonald arrived at W&L in 1969 after nearly two decades as a broadcast journalist. For 13 years he was a reporter, news director and anchor at WDBJ Channel 7 in Roanoke, where he led the station to three Douglas Southall Freeman Awards for public service and five Best News Operation of the Year citations from the Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters.

His impact on journalism education at W&L was immediate and substantial. He greatly expanded news coverage at WLUR-FM, the radio station operated by the Journalism Department, and demanded professional standards of its student reporters and program hosts. For several years the station was the Lexington community’s only daily source of local news.

Alumni pay tribute to MacDonald

Read full story here