montanajournalism Awards, J-School

Montana High School Journalists Nab Awards, Get a Feel for the UM J-School

Nearly 200 high school students from across Montana filled the halls of the University of Montana School of Journalism on Thursday, March 22 for the annual Montana Journalism Education Association awards and High School Journalism Day at UM.

Students took home awards at the awards banquet and then skills and knowledge from eleven different workshops, ranging from TV production to telling stories with Instagram, offered by School of Journalism professors.

To download and see the full list of High School Journalism Day awards, click here.

Below, you’ll find a gallery of some of the moments we captured at High School J-Day. Click on any image to view the gallery.

High school students learn the ins and outs of video and TV production during High School Journalism Day. Photo by Todd Goodrich.
High school students learn the ins and outs of video and TV production during High School Journalism Day. Photo by Todd Goodrich.
High school journalists get experience with the green screen in the studio at the the University of Montana School of Journalism. Photo by Todd Goodrich.
University of Montana, School of Journalism, High School Day, Group Photo by Adjunct Instructor Lido Vizzutti
University of Montana, School of Journalism, High School Day, Group Photo by Adjunct Instructor Lido Vizzutti
Students get hands-on experience in the studio at High School Journalism Day. Photo by Professor Kevin Tompkins.
UM President Seth Bodnar joins UM J-School students in welcoming nearly 200 high school journalists to UM. Photo by Jamie Drysdale.
Students gather in the University Center Ballroom for the kick off of High School Journalism Day. Photo by Jamie Drysdale.
Montana JEA State Director/Mentor Linda Ballew gives the Montana High School Journalist of the Year Award to Aston Kinsella of Sentinel High School. Photo by Jamie Drysdale.
Students rush for the buzzers during Dennis Swibold’s “Fake News Game Show.” Photo by Jamie Drysdale.
Professor Dennis Swibold moderates his Fake News Game Show, in which students guess, “Is it real or is it fake?” with buzzers and everything. Photo by Jamie Drysdale.
Adjunct Professor Jeff Gailus teaches a group of High School Students about the future of freelancing. Photo by Jamie Drysdale.
Professor Lee Banville teaches “Can This Hashtag Get Me Suspended?” covering the rules around schools and what they can and cannot do to students for speaking out in class and on social media. Photo by Jamie Drysdale.
Professor Keith Graham teaches “Photo-J and Your Phone” Keith covered how to improve your smartphone photography and storytelling skills for social media. Photo by Jamie Drysdale.
UM President Seth Bodnar opens High School Journalism Day at the University of Montana: “We live in a time when it’s very, very easy to stay within your echo chamber … to talk to people who only share the same view … to hear very narrow perspectives. Today, journalism is even more important, I would argue, than it’s ever been. Because, journalism is about telling the stories of the world and communicating information in an effective, informed way.” Photo by Lido Vizzutti.
Professor Jule Banville talks about making great audio, from radio shows to podcasts.
The winner of the Instagram Contest, Tayler Jakeway!
Students learn how to find “telling details” in a feature writing workshop. Photo by Courtney Cowgill.
Students learn how to find “telling details” in a feature writing workshop. Photo by Courtney Cowgill.
montanajournalism Awards, Student

Broadcast Education Association Recognizes UM J-School Students, Professor Jule Banville Wins “Best of Competition”

Associate Professor Jule Banville won the “Best of Competition” in the Broadcast Education Association’s annual awards with an audio story about a woman who owns the town of Pray in Montana’s Paradise Valley and can’t find someone to buy it. Contributed photo: Barbara Walker.

The Broadcast Education Association has recognized the excellent work of University of Montana School of Journalism students in its annual awards competition and given Associate Professor Jule Banville the “Best of Competition” award for an audio documentary that aired on her podcast, Last Best Stories.

Banville’s award comes from the faculty division of the competition, which also recognizes student work. More than 1,530 entries were considered. Banville’s work will be featured at the annual BEA Festival of Media Arts in April in Las Vegas.

UM Journalism School students and projects placing in the student division include: 

The Meth Effect, a multimedia reporting project that came out of a class co-taught by JuleBanville and Associate Professor of Journalism Lee Banville, won 2nd place in the Interactive Media and Emerging Technologies Competition, large team division.

Journalism Senior Rosie Costain won 2nd Place with “Accordion Man” in the Student News/Radio Feature competition.

Nora Saks, a student in the Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism graduate program, won the “award of excellence” in radio hard news reporting for her story on two sisters tackling drug use on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. The story aired on Montana Public Radio and NPR’s Weekend Edition last spring.  

UM News, the weekly news segment produced by senior broadcast journalism students, was awarded 2nd place in the Television Newscast category.

Banville’s winning entry is an audio story about a woman who owns the town of Pray in Montana’s Paradise Valley and can’t find someone to buy it. It can be heard as Episode 11 of Last Best Stories, “Owning Pray.” 

 

Banville’s podcast, which launched in 2015, has been featured in the Missoula Independent, the Missoulian, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Distinctly Montana magazine, and newsletters that include the Flyover Podcast and the Audit. Via the podcast, she was also a guest on NPR’s “It’s Been a Minute With Sam Sanders.”

montanajournalism Meet the Profs

Meet the Professors: Kevin Tompkins

We are constantly hearing from students that one of the J-School’s biggest strengths is the dedicated, talented, fearless, experienced, fun, doors-are-always-open faculty.

The students in our Social Media and Engagement class set out to tell that story via Instagram. Over the coming weeks, we will highlight these stories, which illustrate the personalities, philosophies and experience of our top-notch faculty. This week, we give you the newest member of the faculty, Visiting Assistant Professor Kevin Tompkins.

Kevin teaches intermediate videography and intermediate directing. Kevin says, “I think the one thing I’ve noticed in my first semester-and-a-half that I’ve been here is that I want the students to be confident and feel comfortable doing what they’re doing, because I think that’s going to make you better in whatever you do.”

 

 

Other profiles in the #meettheprofs series: 

Jule Banville

Denise Dowling