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 Alumni Spotlight, J-School

Alumni Spotlight: KREM 2 News’ Leilah Langley

Graduates of the University of Montana School of Journalism go on to do great things, in journalism and beyond. They direct newsrooms, report on international issues, photograph history, inform the public on air, start their own businesses, influence public policy, publish books and become leaders in their communities. Here, we spotlight some of our alumni who showcase just how powerful, and versatile, a journalism degree from UM can be. (If you are a graduate who would like to share your experience or know of someone we should spotlight, email Courtney Cowgill.)

This installment spotlights Leilah Langley, 2002, the assistant news director for KREM 2 News in Spokane, Wash.

(This Q&A has been edited slightly.)

Question: Was this the type of work you thought you’d be doing when you went to school?

Answer: I joined the program thinking I would be a reporter and/or anchor. I went through most of the program thinking that. However I started to notice I was a better fit for producing when I took a producing class taught by Denise Dowling my last semester. Then I took a producing internship at KREM. I’m very detail oriented. I like to be in control and quite frankly, I’m shy. So a career in producing and then management was much better fit than being on the air.

Can you describe an average day on the job?

I manage the day-to-day operations in the newsroom. I help assign the content for daily shows and digital platforms. I help the staff brainstorm new and innovative storytelling techniques to help make the audience experience at KREM memorable. I approve and critique scripts and articles. I react quickly with staffing and content decisions in breaking news and severe weather situations. I plan big stories and even coverage.

What experiences at the J-School were notable in preparing you for your work?

I had all the basics and a working knowledge of how to get newscasts on the air, which helped me transition easily into an intense producing training internship. I also had a realistic expectation of what to expect. I knew the workload would be big, I knew the hours would be bad, and I knew the pay wouldn’t be high. That all sounds rather negative, but as a news manager now I’m shocked at how many people come out of college not getting any advice about what the “real world” will be like.

What are the skills you learned in J-School that you use on a daily basis? In your work? In your life?

Broadcast writing skills. I learned a lot of good grammar basics my sophomore and junior years.

What do you think makes the J-School special? 

My fondest memories are of the old 730 Eddy house. Sure, I’m a little jealous of the new building, but there was something about that cute little basement newsroom. We left the Journalism School with character, and that comes in handy in the scrappy news business.

 

What advice would you give a student just starting out in journalism school? Or, what advice would you give to someone considering journalism school?

You have to have a passion for learning and you have to be naturally curious. If those things don’t come naturally to you it may not be a good fit. It’s also a difficult political climate to be a journalist. Don’t let that scare you. I believe in keeping my head held high and working for the people of my community. Don’t engage the haters, just do your job.

Where do you see yourself career-wise in the future?

I see myself helping to transform local news into a more fun to watch and engaging product for the audience. I’m proud to be part of a generation that gets to rewrite the way we do things. No one wants to watch a newscast straight out of 1995. We are changing and it’s fun to be part of it.

 

montanajournalism Awards, Feature, Graduate, J-School, Student

J-School grads contribute to The East Bay Times’ Pulitzer win

Sam Richards and Tor Haugan are both UM J-School alums.

Two UM Journalism School grads played a part in the East Bay Times’ 2017 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting. The East Bay Times, created by the April 2016 consolidation of the Oakland Tribune and the Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, California), received the award April 10 for its coverage of the “Ghost Ship” fire in Oakland in December. Thirty-six people died in the fire, which prompted investigations into why people were allowed to live in that warehouse-turned-artists’ space and why the Oakland Fire Department was slow to respond to a problem it knew existed before the tragic fire.

Tor Haugan, a 2011 J-school grad and video editor for the Bay Area News Group, was the video team coordinator, overseeing the production of our videos about the warehouse fire, starting the day after the blaze. Tor wrote and produced breaking news videos; co-produced the video package that went with the news group’s Dec. 11 story about the last hours of the Ghost Ship; and produced and wrote follow-up videos, including the exclusive about how the owners had known about the dangerous electrical system. He has been with BANG since 2012.

Sam Richards, who graduated from UM’s J-school in 1983, is usually a city hall-general assignment reporter with the East Bay Times in Walnut Creek but worked an editing shift the Saturday morning after the fire, spending seven hours that day continuously handling feeds from reporters in the field for updating the main fire story on the East Bay Times and Mercury News websites, and doing the lead editing for the online first-day story about how family and friends of fire victims were awaiting word on the fate of their loved ones. He also reported that night, interviewing family members of people missing after the fire, and witnesses to the blaze, contributing to both main print stories the next day. He has been with BANG’s predecessor companies since 1992.