montanajournalism Events, Feature, J-School

UM J-School professor to speak about immigration and refugee influx to Germany

Wednesday, October 28th at 12 p.m. UM J-School professor Henriette Löwisch will speak about her home country Germany as a part of ‘Walking on Water: The Refugee Crisis and European Contradictions,’ a presentation sponsored by the Central & Southwest Asian Studies Center. Löwisch’s talk is focused on Germany’s leadership role in the European refugee crisis, and echoes efforts in the journalism school to tell stories of immigration and human movement.

Professor Henriette Lowisch
Professor Henriette Löwisch

Löwisch came to the journalism school after a career with the international wire service Agence France-Presse, and will be co-leading a study abroad program in Berlin this summer, where she lives when not in Missoula. The trip is directed by the School of Journalism and will focus on telling stories from the refugee influx to Germany.

“The trip will be a model for how future study abroad programs can work: follow the news to tell big stories around the world,” Löwisch said. Seventeen students have signed up for the program thus far.

Stories of human migration are also present in Montana, and this fall semester students in the Advanced Multimedia class have been seeking out immigrants in Montana to report on what brought them here and on adjusting to a new life in the state. The project includes past refugees, as well as those who immigrated to Montana for other reasons.

Shanti Johnson, a graduate student in the class, has been working with a family of Vietnamese refugees in Missoula. “I’m being led into a world of Southeast Asian traditions and histories I never expected to find this far north,” she said.

As for Löwisch upcoming talk, she believes that Germany and its Chancellor Angela Merkel are at the epicenter of a refugee crisis of historic proportions, reshaping the country as well as Europe. “Merkel has undergone a dramatic transformation in terms of political goals. I’m looking looking forward to explaining Merkel to my fellow Montanans,” Löwisch said.

Find out more about the event here.

By Andrew Graham
montanajournalism Feature, J-School, Student

J-School student balances classes and full-time broadcasting job

When classes end each afternoon for Ariana Lake, age 21, her day as a budding broadcast journalist is only just beginning. Since the beginning of the semester, Ariana has been balancing a full course load at school with a 40 hour a week job as news anchor and producer at the television station KAJ, Channel 18. Leaving campus early-afternoon, Lake races to the studio each day to get her 5 o’clock broadcast ready. She broadcasts at 5:30 p.m. and again at 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Chief Meteorologist Erin Yost (left) and Ariana Lake (right) on set before their 5:30 show on selfie sticks at Griz games.
Chief Meteorologist Erin Yost (left) and Ariana Lake (right) on set before their 5:30 show on selfie sticks at Griz games.

KAJ serves the Flathead Valley area, and the stories Lake produces are reported by two correspondents, both her senior in age. They pitch her the day’s stories in the morning, which Lake helps review via either email, text or phone call while she goes about her school day. Although her market is the Flathead, her broadcast is produced at the KPAX studio in Missoula. KPAX and KAJ are sister stations and CBS Affiliates.

Journalism Professor Ray Ekness said it’s rare to have a student anchoring their own show Monday through Friday this early in their career. Despite her youth, Ekness said that on her show “she comes across as very mature, very knowledgeable about everything that’s going on.”

Lake was hired as a part time reporter for KPAX last year. When she saw the anchor and producer job open up in August, she wasn’t going to bother applying, certain she didn’t have enough experience. Then, after receiving some encouragement from a co-worker and her parents, she decided to go for it. She was hired within a few weeks.

For Lake, working at KAJ is a great chance to develop her broadcast skills in a supportive environment. “I’m not doing it completely on my own but it’s my show,” Lake said, “responsibility falls completely on me.”

She says that getting in the 5 o’clock broadcast, which has to be taped by 4 p.m., is a challenge. Some days she reaches the studio at 1:45 p.m., leaving her less than three hours to meet her deadline. Still, it’s a challenge Lake says she welcomes: “If you’re passionate about what you’re doing it’s not that hard,” she said.

After her second broadcast wraps around 10 p.m., Lake finally heads home, where she usually does around two hours of homework.

To see what Ariana Lake’s been producing, you can follow her on twitter: @ariana_lake or check out her broadcasts online at KAJ’s website. 

By Andrew Graham
montanajournalism J-School

UM J-School Professor to lead Native American Journalists Association

This fall University of Montana School of Journalism Professor Jason Begay returned with important new extracurriculars on his plate. He’s taken a long history with the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) to the next step by becoming the organization’s President.

NAJA official logo

When Begay was starting out as a journalism student, NAJA provided him scholarships and summer projects producing news during its annual conference. Over the last three years he has served on the board as Vice President and Treasurer, and in July the board voted him in as President.

Founded in 1983, NAJA’s mission is to empower Native American journalists, enrich journalism itself and promote Native American cultures. The organization has two main tasks, according to Begay. One is to promote 1st amendment rights throughout Indian country. It takes effort to establish independent journalism when many Native American papers are owned by Tribal Governments, Begay said.

NAJA’s other goal is to recruit and foster more young Native American journalists. With discouraging reports of less journalism jobs and industry upheaval, Begay said it can be a challenge, but a worthy one, to nudge new Native American students towards journalism school.

Begay graduated from the J-School in 2002, and took on an internship at the New York Times. From there, he moved on to a two year fellowship at the Oregonian, an award winning daily paper in Portland, Oregon. After the fellowship, he returned home to the Navajo Nation, where he worked for six years as a reporter at the Navajo Times.

Although both prior papers had prestigious national reputations, Begay felt out of place at them. “I left the New York Times and the Oregonian because I really couldn’t feel a strong connection with who I was writing about and what it was for,” he said.

Returning home to write about issues on the reservation where he grew up changed that for him. “I remembered why I love journalism,” said Begay.

To provide these same chances for a new generation of Native journalists, Begay faces fresh challenges in his new role as President. NAJA has seen a revenue streams dry up, and Begay said he’ll have to find new ways to raise money. One way to do so, Begay said, is to create projects attractive to donors, like expanding the conference newspaper into a year round project with an online presence.

Fresh from completing an MBA program in the spring, Begay is excited to apply his business training to NAJA’s real world problems. “I really, really think that the board has a great opportunity to make something new,” he said. That’s what Begay believes it will take to move NAJA forward.

By Andrew Graham