College students worked hard to cover this year's ONA conference. Learn more about the online journalists of the future.
STUDENTS
Morgan Phelps is a magazine journalism major in her last semester at Columbia College Chicago. Her aptitude for multitasking has drawn her to online media of all types, but her love is both print and Internet magazines. She's currently the managing editor of her school's magazine Echo and writes for Columbia's student life website. Other regular gigs center around her passion for arts and entertainment writing, including a biweekly review column in the Rockford Register Star called DVD Diva and listings on Flavorpill.com. Phelps has interned at the West End Word and Chicago Agent Magazine.
My name is Jaedda Armstrong and I was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia. I have lived in the same orange and cream colored house all of my life. I'm a senior at Norfolk State University majoring in mass communications. During my freshman year, I started to write for the school paper, The Spartan Echo. After working on the paper for two years, I climbed the ladder to the editor-in-chief position which I started in May 2007. I'm the 2007 Landmark Communications Scholar, in which I had two paid summer internships as a general assignment reporter with The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. After I graduate, I will spend a year interning at the Pilot. Now, how many people can say they have a job after graduation when they just started their senior year? I'm counting my blessings.
Jackie Hai is a senior undergraduate studying journalism and philosophy at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Trained in all the tools of convergence, Jackie works with words, photos, audio, video and the web to tell a story. Last spring, she helped launch AmherstWire.com, UMass' newest student-run multimedia news site. Currently, she is an editor at Amherst Wire and program director at the campus television station, UVC-TV 19.
http://www.jackiehai.com
Allison Cross is a journalist who lives in Vancouver, B.C. She worked as a reporter for the Nanaimo Daily News on Vancouver Island and in September of 2007, she was nominated for a Jack Webster Award in Community Reporting for a her work on a series about fertility and reproductive technology. She was also awarded the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award. She currently works at the Vancouver Sun. She is currently finishing her master's degree in journalism at the University of British Columbia. In 2005, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, with a major in English language and literature. Visit her online portfolio: www.theallisoncross.com
Megan Pellegrino is an English and Communication major. She is highly motivated, constantly striving to do her best work in all media holding strong training, background and recognition in video, audio and print. Holding a strong passion for news, she took on the job as News Director for 89.1 WYBF-FM. Just this year Megan received a Philadelphia Air Award for Best News Editorial entitled "9/11 Remembrance," as well as a nomination for Best DJ Promo. In May 2008, Megan was hired as Editor-in-Chief at Campus Philly. Campus Philly is an online media outlet that reaches across the Delaware Valley with a subscription of over 30,000. Megan produces weekly newsletters, creates featured events and contacts, runs the editorial staff and all print found on the website. As Web Editor for The Loquitur, Megan has taken the initiative to create a more multimedia converged website. She manages the web team, posts all articles from the print edition, podcasts, slideshows and videos for the website. Megan holds a strong passion for news. After graduation, May 2009, she will be searching for a job in multimedia journalism or the news industry but is not limited and open to any opportunities that come.
Stephanie Lim was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. After graduating from the University of Waterloo in 2005 with a B.A. Honours in English - French Minor, she spent a year in Japan teaching English. Following that, she also acquired her Bachelor of Education. Looking to combine her passion for teaching and the media, she was a freelance editor at Global News Toronto this summer and is now completing her final year of her Master of Journalism degree at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests include digital literacy, and technology in education.
Alex Kowalski is a junior news-editorial major at UNC-Chapel Hill. He writes for campus newspapers, magazines and his food blog, readthebiscuit.com. Although he would one day like to work in print journalism, he has found a new niche in online journalism. With experience as an intern at cqpolitics.com this summer and (hopefully) a computer science minor, he would like to develop news sites and interactive Web-based applications. His current project is launching chapelhillvoice.com, an online-only news site for his campus. When Alex is not toiling over Oxford commas or lines of php code, he is out rowing for the university's crew team. http://unc.edu/~akowalsk
Due to graduate in 2009 with an MJ from the University of British Columbia, Cynthia Yoo spent this past summer working as an editor at OhmyNews International. Her projects include research and writing for a text on citizen media, teaching at the OhmyNews Citizen Reporter School and site re-launch of OMN International. Cynthia holds a national research fellowship, with a focus on citizen media law and participatory media. She has worked at participatory media outlets such as OhmyNews, NowPublic and the Tyee. Cynthia has completed a short internship at the Globe and Mail. Previous to media work, Cynthia worked as a lawyer and analyst at private firms, government and NGOs, in Canada and in Asia.
My name is Jevonya Hughes. I am a junior Mass Communications major at Norfolk State University, in Norfolk VA where I am the Online/Managing Editor for the Spartan Echo. While I am a full time student, I also work full time at The Virginian-Pilot, where I am an Editorial Assistant on The Calendar Desk. I am also a camera operator for my Church's production department, a columnist for the women's magazine, and a writer for MIX magazine. I am super excited about the opportunity to work on the ONA student project and look forward to meeting new people.
Abby Selden is a junior at Belmont University in Nashville. She produces print and video content for Belmont's student news site and spent last summer as an Editorial Intern at Journal Communications, Inc., custom magazine media. She also writes articles for the Nashville Mayor's Homelessness Commission Online Newsletter. As the Peer Tutor for a Belmont broadcasting class, Abby taught new students how to write scripts and edit video. A Birmingham, Ala., native, Abby is an Honors Program student, member of Alpha Chi Honor Society and recipient of the 1st place award in On-Site News Writing at the 2007 Southeast Journalism Conference. Abby enjoys song-writing, movie trivia and volunteering at a family homeless shelter.
Amanda Brody. Currently, I am a senior journalism major at Hofstra University, graduating in December. I have many multimedia skills, including reporting, photography, video, blogging and html. I am also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Lambda Pi Eta, Golden Key International, Society for Professional Journalist and Women in Communications. Check out my latest online journalism project: http://nassaunews.org/news/2008/04/levittown_goes_green.html#more
Ashleigh Bennett is a senior honors journalism major with an emphasis in photojournalism and an anthropology minor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is a student editor of the website Amherst Wire and a photographer for the university. Some of her photographs can be seen on http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashleighb77 and her work is also on www.amherstwire.com. Ashleigh also enjoys reading, sewing, travel, and dancing.
Jess Ramos is a senior print journalism and history double major at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Currently, Jess reports for the award-winning Rockbridge Report, a newscast produced by Washington and Lee journalism students. She spent last summer interning at the Fairfax County Times newspaper in Reston, Virginia. If writing is her first love, then web design is her swell second. She enjoys designing websites and graphics while developing new ways to tell the story online. Jess will graduate in June 2009 and will return to her Northwest roots as a web intern for KATU-2 in Portland, Oregon. When she's not writing a story, she's singing in the University Chorus and blogging at http://jessismore.wordpress.com.
MENTORS
Dr. Sybril Bennett, affectionately known as Dr. Syb, is the Executive Director and Associate Professor of the New Century Journalism Program at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Syb is a Vanderbilt educated, Harvard trained, two-time Emmy Award winning multimedia maven. With nearly twenty years of professional television news experience including stints in front of and behind the camera, she is now a well respected multimedia strategist and change facilitator. Her Ph.D. is in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University. And, she has degrees from Loyola University of Chicago and Marquette University as well. You can check out her blog at www.drsyb.blogspot.com. Want more information, just google me.
Doug Mitchell is the creator and project manager of NPR's "next generation radio." It's a two pronged program, internal and external to NPR. Part one consists of week-long student training projects around the United States. Part two has NPR's interns producing their own multi-media content and radio show. The next gen program is fundamentally designed to give students who are interested in radio and journalism the skills and opportunity to conceive, develop, report, write and produce their own story.
Kenneth Rogerson is the director of undergraduate studies for the Duke University's Department of Public Policy and is a lecturer in the Sanford Institute of Public Policy. He is the managing director of the Policy Journalism and Media Studies Certificate program. He received his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 2000 where his research focused on international relations, international communications and media policy issues. Ken was a reporter for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Utah, and currently teaches courses on technology policy, newswriting and reporting and other media issues.
Adam J Martin is the Supervisor, Digital Media Production with National Public Radio's Digital Media division in Washington, D.C. As supervisor, he is responsible for the technical procedures related to acquisition, distribution and delivery of multimedia content across npr.org and its digital platforms. He holds a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University and a MA in Journalism and Public Affairs from American University. Adam has also served as an adjunct professor at Howard University and is an alumni mentor for area BU students studying broadcast journalism and interactive media. A sometimes writer, dj, filmmaker, chef and theoretical physicist, Adam is working on several yet-to-be-named projects that may never be finished. He can be reached through his website at adam@adamjmartin.net.
Curt Chandler is grateful that Penn State is allowing him to hide out from the real world of journalism and to inflict his views about multimedia reporting upon unwary students and the occasional consulting client. In his spare time Curt is working on a story about a rodeo cowboy and trying to keep two century-old houses in an acceptable state of slight disrepair.