Student reporting project examines the 50th anniversary of Title IX

Fifty years since the U.S. government passed Title IX, prohibiting sex-based discrimination at federally funded schools and colleges, a team of Newhouse School students and faculty came together to explore the impacts of the historic legislation at Syracuse University and throughout society.

“Entitled to Equality,” an enterprise reporting project hosted on the Newhouse School’s multimedia news site, The NewsHouse, looks at both the successes and failures of Title IX. It was published at equality.thenewshouse.com in May. Companion pieces were aired on WAER and published in Syracuse’s South Side newspaper, The Stand, and in Syracuse.com/The Post-Standard.

“We wanted to know both how Title IX has advanced gender equality, and how it hasn’t always fulfilled its intentions in the past half-century,” says Jon Glass, executive producer of The NewsHouse and professor of practice of magazine, news and digital journalism.

More than 85 undergraduate and graduate students from most Newhouse majors contributed to the project as reporters, photographers, graphic designers, videographers, editors, content producers, social media coordinators and in other roles. Months of reporting resulted in 17 stories, videos and interactive packages.

Glass said the team found that, “while Title IX has improved gender equality on college campuses and in athletics, there’s still work to be done to reach true equality and prevent sex-based discrimination and harassment in these spaces.”

The reporting project is organized around three themes:

• Equal Shot: The impact of Title IX on gender equity in sports from a look at the data of female head coaches to quidditch’s special Title 9¾ rule that aims to create equity on the pitch.
• Enforcing Equity: How campus culture, as well as federal and university regulations, perpetuate sexual violence.
• No Exceptions: Broader trends related to the legislation, such as non-binary high school students fighting for their rights and men working to prevent gender violence.

This is the fifth year Glass and a team of professors and students have led a student reporting project, with past initiatives examining inequality in Syracuse, the legalization of marijuana, issues along the U.S.-Canadian border and the March for Our Lives protests in Washington, D.C. and Syracuse.

Student project coordinators Emma Folts ’22 (content director), Brooke Kato ’21, G’22 (visuals director) Chelsea Stern ’22 (social media director) and Lucinda Strol ’23 (design director) were charged with managing their respective teams of students from content ideation to execution.

In addition to Glass, who was project director and executive producer, faculty and staff members involved with the project were Shelvia Dancy and Greg Munno (content coordinators and team leaders), Seth Gitner (site developer and design coordinator), Harriet Brown (editing coordinator), Milton Santiago (visuals coordinator), Chris Bolt (audio coordinator) and Aileen Gallagher, Eric Grode and Ashley Kang (story coordinators).

The project was supported by a gift from alumnus David Flaum ’68 and his wife, Jackie, and by a grant from the the Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE).

Newhouse School announces winners in 2022 Mirror Awards competition

At an awards ceremony in New York City tonight, Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications announced the winners in the 2022 Mirror Awards competition for excellence in media industry reporting.

Chosen by a group of journalists and journalism educators, the winners are:

Best Single Article/Story

Janell Ross
“The Key Role a Local Newspaper Played in the Trial Over Ahmaud Arbery’s Murder”
Time

Best Profile
Jaeah Lee
“The Courts Beat”
Columbia Journalism Review

Best Commentary
Alexandria Neason
“On Atonement”
Columbia Journalism Review    

John M. Higgins Award for Best In-Depth/Enterprise Reporting
Robert Mackey
“Meet the riot squad: right-wing reporters who use viral videos to smear BLM”
The Intercept

Best Story on Media Coverage of the Insurrection and the ‘Stop the Steal’ Movement

Jen Wieczner

“Dominion Voting: Big Lies vs. Big Lawsuits”

Fortune

Best Story on Media Coverage of Disinformation/Misinformation Regarding Vaccine and Mask Mandates 
Sheera Frenkel and Tiffany Hsu
“Despite Outbreaks Among Unvaccinated, Fox News Hosts Smear Shots”
“The Most Influential Spreader of Coronavirus Misinformation Online”
“How Local Media Spreads Misinformation From Vaccine Skeptics”
The New York Times

In addition to the juried journalism awards, the Newhouse School presented the Fred Dressler Leadership Award to Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times. Managing editor Joseph Kahn, who will succeed Baquet as executive editor this month, presented the award. The 19^th News was honored with the Lorraine Branham IDEA Award, which was presented by Sunny Hostin, three-time Emmy Award-winning co-host of ABC’s “The View,” and accepted by editor-at-large Errin Haines.

The ceremony was held at French Institute Alliance Française. Newhouse associate dean Joel Kaplan presided over the ceremony, filling in for Dean Mark J. Lodato, who had tested positive for COVID earlier in the week and was unable to attend. Newhouse alumni Contessa Brewer ’96 of CNBC and Ghael Fobes ’22 of NBC News served as co-hosts.

The Mirror Awards are the most important awards for recognizing excellence in media industry reporting. Established by the Newhouse School in 2006, the awards honor the reporters, editors and teams of writers who hold a mirror to their own industry for the public’s benefit. For information about the awards, visit newhouse.syr.edu/mirrorawards or email mirrorawards@syr.edu. 

Syracuse University to launch Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship

Syracuse University will soon launch the new Center for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship in Washington, D.C. A joint effort of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the center will promote nonpartisan, evidence-based research and dialogue in the public interest and support the work of faculty and students.

“At this point in the history of democracy, it is critical that our nation’s research universities lead dialogues that bring people together. We are educating the next generation of engaged citizens and producing knowledge that enables individuals, a free press and government institutions to work together in the public interest,” Vice Chancellor and Provost Gretchen Ritter says. “As a scholar and educator who has focused on the U.S. Constitution, I firmly believe that opportunities to study and work in our nation’s capitol provide an essential experience that shapes faculty engagement with key issues and students’ views of their purpose and career path.”

Ultimately, the center will create new knowledge, foster a more informed and engaged citizenry and better equip students for success in media, communications, policy, governance and citizenship.

“As a school that trains generations of future journalists, Newhouse is compelled to be at the forefront of these issues,” says Newhouse dean Mark J. Lodato. “We are obligated to tackle the challenges facing communications and journalism. Frankly, I think we would be remiss to sit idly by as our country struggles with this loss of civil discourse and distrust in journalism. With the combined strength of the Newhouse and Maxwell schools, this center will provide paths to repair what is broken while giving our students a valuable experience in the process.”

Syracuse University already has a strong presence in the Washington area. The city is home to nearly 31,000 alumni, donors and others affiliated with the University, and hundreds of students study and intern there each semester. The University is currently reviewing its Washington, D.C. strategy and plans to strengthen and expand upon its presence and engagement, building upon years of investment and impact in the nation’s capital. The new Newhouse-Maxwell Center for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship represents the newest addition to the University’s robust Washington, D.C. portfolio. Serving as a hub for students, faculty and staff, the center will foster collaborative work and bolster already existing academic scholarship in relevant areas. It will also provide students with a “boots on the ground” experience in journalism, strategic communications, policy and governance and public diplomacy.

“This new center is a natural extension of work the University is already engaged on and research areas of national and international impact,” says Maxwell dean David Van Slyke. “The legacy of Maxwell and Newhouse alumni across a range of governance institutions and media who are making an impact on the national and international stage is a testament to the natural synergies between our two schools.”

The center will be characterized by four pillars: scholarly and applied research; facilitation and convening; teaching and instruction; and experiential learning. It will launch with a small team that includes an executive director, a research lead, a managing director for journalism and D.C.-based faculty from both Newhouse and Maxell. The center will also include visiting fellows, and Syracuse-based faculty will have an opportunity to participate through events or limited residencies.

Searches are already underway for the executive director and managing director for journalism, and organizers will work during the summer to identify internship needs and opportunities, create a faculty hiring plan and recruit the initial cohort of students to work and study in Washington in the fall. Work will continue during the coming academic year, with faculty engagement in research and curriculum development, ongoing partnership-building with community nonprofits and governmental organizations, think tanks and corporations, and the creation of an external advisory board.

Newhouse alumnus and University Trustee Larry Kramer ’72 is supporting the executive director position with a $1 million endowment. “This country must restore the ability of people with differing opinions to respectfully debate these important issues. We must revive respect for truth and trust,” Kramer says. “The combination of two powerhouse schools—Newhouse and Maxwell—puts us in a perfect position to launch this new center and to host the debate over the biggest problems our democracy is facing today. Trust in our governing institutions, our political system and the media are at all-time lows. By raising the level of respectful debate and discussion, we will seek to find constructive solutions to restoring that trust.”

Newhouse welcomes new full-time faculty members

The Newhouse School will expand and enhance its academic mission with the addition of several faculty members in the 2022-23 academic year. “This diverse group of scholars and professionals will help continue the school’s reputation for excellence,” says Newhouse dean Mark J. Lodato.

Rockell Brown Burton
Associate Dean of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility

Rockell Brown Burton is a two-time HBCU graduate with nearly 20 years of experience in higher education as both a faculty member and administrator. A self-described “serial collaborator,” she is committed to establishing pathways and pipelines for marginalized and underrepresented groups in the academy and beyond. She joins Newhouse from Texas Southern University, where she has served as interim dean of the School of Communication for three years. She holds a Ph.D. in communication from Wayne State University.

Anthony Adornato ’99
Associate Professor and Chair, Broadcast and Digital Journalism

Anthony Adornato comes to Newhouse from the Roy H. Park School of Communication at Ithaca College, but he has deep roots in Syracuse. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Newhouse School and spent seven years at local NBC affiliate WSTM as an anchor and reporter. His teaching experience includes courses in investigative journalism, mobile and social media journalism and media for social responsibility.

Nick Bowman
Associate Professor, Communications/Magazine, News and Digital Journalism

Nick Bowman studies the psychology of communication technology and its implications for human communication, specifically examining the impact of video games and social media. He has co-authored two textbooks on mediated communication and entertainment media, and has published more than 125 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He is editor of Journal of Media Psychology and an associate editor of Technology, Mind and Behavior. He joins Newhouse from Texas Tech University. He holds a Ph.D. in communication from Michigan State University.

Keonte Coleman G’03
Assistant Professor, Broadcast and Digital Journalism

Keonte Coleman has deep experience with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. He created the Student Media Analysis Journalism Bootcamp, which helps students analyze the diversity of their media coverage and learn techniques for combatting unconscious bias and discriminatory practices, and produces “Breaking News with Media Leaders,” a Q&A-style show about journalism leadership and DEI practices. Coleman also co-authored the new textbook “A Complete Guide to Television, Field, and Digital Producing.” He’s an active public speaker whose research interests align with various intersections of diversity, journalism, leadership, media and higher education. He joins Newhouse from Middle Tennessee State University. He holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Faren Karimkhan
Assistant Professor, Advertising

Before joining the academy, Faren Karimkhan worked in the industry, as an advertising supervisor with Payesh Namayesh Parham and as an account executive with DMN Advertising Agency, both in Tehran. She conducts research on integrated marketing communication and social media marketing. She joins Newhouse from Florida State University and has also taught at Cornell University. She holds a  Ph.D. in integrated marketing communication from Florida State University.

Hanayo Oya
Assistant Professor, Broadcast and Digital Journalism

Hanayo Oya is a journalist and documentary filmmaker who joins Newhouse from Waseda University in Japan, where she is a researcher. As a Fulbright scholar, she was a researcher with the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked for a number of print and digital media outlets in Japan and produced and directed multiple films, including the multi-award-winning “Boy Soldiers: The Secret War in Okinawa.” She has a solid track record of funded research and extensive teaching experience.

Annabelle Sheehan
Professor of Practice, Television, Radio and Film

Annabelle Sheehan has longstanding experience as an executive in the Asia Pacific and global screen industry. Most recently, she was CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission and, prior to that, CEO of the South Australian Film Corporation. She was also CEO and senior agent at RGM Artist Group, a major Australian talent agency, and head of the Film and Television division at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Her career began in post-production, and she has an extensive list of credits, nominations and awards for her work on feature films such as “Dead Calm,” “Mad Max 3,” “The Piano,” “Fearless” and “Portrait of a Lady.”

In addition, two members of the Newhouse community are now moving into full-time faculty roles.  

Erika Schneider
Assistant Professor, Public Relations

Erika Schneider joined Newhouse last year as a visiting assistant teaching professor and now moves into an assistant professor role. She is a public relations scholar who specializes in strategic communication with an emphasis on crisis communication. She investigates how organizations approach crisis responsibility and use communication to navigate crises induced by emerging health issues, scientific topics and (mis/dis)information. She holds a Ph.D. in strategic communication from the University of Missouri.

Rafael Concepcion
Assistant Teaching Professor, Communications/Visual Communications

Rafael “RC” Concepcion joined the school in 2018 as the digital post-production specialist, and now moves into a faculty role. He is an award-winning photographer, podcast host and author of twelve bestselling books on photography, Photoshop, Lightroom and HDR photography.

Additionally, the Newhouse School will welcome a postdoctoral scholar in Fall 2022.

Martina Santia
Postdoctoral Scholar, Office of Research and Creative Activity

Martina Santia holds a Ph.D. in media and public affairs from the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. Her primary research area is political communication, and she is particularly interested in digital media effects, diversity politics, public opinion and digital platforms. At Newhouse, she will work with Jodi Upton, Knight Chair in Data and Explanatory Journalism, and Lars Willnat, professor of communications, on projects that rely on data analytics to shape accountability, particularly with institutions that hold public trust.

Newhouse student, recent graduates earn honors at Hearst Journalism Awards National Championships

A record number of Newhouse School students and recent graduates competed in the Hearst Journalism Awards National Championships this past week in San Francisco with two earning Top 3 honors and one earning an additional special award.  

Abigail Weiss ’22 was recognized with a $1,000 award for Best Reporting Technique. She also placed 3^rd in the Writing division and earned a $5,000 scholarship for multiple articles she wrote during the competition with four other student journalists. Weiss secured her place in the five-day national contest by earning 1^st Place in the Profile/Personality monthly competition for her Daily Orange feature about President Biden’s first wife, Neilia.

Moriah Humiston ’22 placed 3^rd in the Television division, earning a $5,000 scholarship for reporting and producing broadcast stories during the five-day contest. Earlier this year, Humiston was top winner in the Television Features category for video stories on COVID-19 testing at Syracuse University and a bocce community in Rome, New York.

Joining them as national finalists were Christopher Cicchiello ’22, who was the 1^st Place winner in Hearst’s Sports Writing contest, and broadcast and digital journalism sophomore John Perik, who competed in the Television division. Each were awarded $1,500 scholarships.

This year’s four finalists marked the most Newhouse School students ever participating in the annual championships for what are considered “the Pulitzers of college journalism.”

For the year, 10 undergraduate students and projects had Top 20 finishes, giving the Newhouse School a 5^th place finish among the 103 accredited university communications programs nationally. Newhouse placed 3^rd in both the Writing and Audio & Television divisions and was awarded $2,000 prizes for each. Also, Newhouse placed 7^th in the Multimedia division.

Newhouse School alumna makes waves at premier indie podcasting company

Carly Migliori ’07 knew she wanted to go to Newhouse since she was 15. She got in, majored in magazine and graduated into the Great Recession.

Despite that, Migliori got her dream job at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, but the magazine folded soon after.

Later, she fell in love with podcasting and pivoted to her first audio job at Panoply. Then, the company radically shifted away from podcasting creation to podcast ads.

As with every other challenge or unlucky break that has come her way, Migliori turned it into an opportunity.

“At that point, Jacob Weisberg and Malcolm Gladwell, who I had worked with at Panoply, had already co-founded Pushkin Industries, and I basically emailed Jacob every month for six months asking him if he had a job for me yet because I knew that’s where I wanted to go,” Migliori says. “Shortly after, I came over to Pushkin and I’ve been here for three years. I’ve overseen the production of all the shows and just worn every hat under the sun.”

Migliori has worked all across the media world, doing graphic design, managing traditional print magazines, developing apps and now working at one of the premier indie podcasting companies. While her responsibilities have evolved as the company has expanded, Migliori served as director and then vice president of operations, managing and running every podcast the company made. In March 2022, she became vice president of partnerships. She’s weathered the turbulent world of media and come out so successful by constantly trying to learn more.

“I’m always trying to think about where the industry is heading, learning those skills and throwing my hat in the ring to be a part of the project,” Migliori says. “Even if that meant doing something on top of my normal day-to-day just so when something came up, I could raise my hand and feel confident with my skills.”

While working with advertisers to make branded content is a new challenge, she had already honed the skills needed to manage the creation of podcasts.

“It was eerily similar to what I had been doing in magazine for years,” Migliori says. “You’ve got X amount of of time that you need to fit this content into and X number of ads. You’re making it all work and it’s very similar to putting together a magazine, so in my operational brain, I was like, OK this is very easy to understand.”

Migliori has always been exceptional at the operational aspects of journalism. While she was at Newhouse she was managing editor of Jerk, a student magazine. Professor Melissa Chessher was the faculty adviser for the publication and says Migliori was an “all-star staffer.”

“The entire Jerk staff had a great deal of trust and respect for her, and she could turn and convince people to do things that other peers could not,” Chessher says. “It is a testament to her that they delivered all three issues each semester. She just knew how to get the best out of what was already a talented collection of her peers.”

Chessher says Migliori developed her managerial skills through many semesters of navigating the inner publication politics, on top of making sure that columns, articles, graphics and photos made it to each issue of Jerk. 

“Usually, in the curriculum, we lean into writing or editing—basically creating content—but she was just masterful at managing, which I think is remarkable,” Chessher says. “When she was at Newhouse there were very well-worn paths that are reinforced by the curriculum and by the industry, in who wins prizes. Usually there’s not a prize for managing all that content, so to me she was always driven by a curiosity about where things were headed and what was new.”

Migliori treasures the writing skills that Newhouse gave her and says they have been invaluable in her career. She says her classes also prepared her for what work in the media industry was actually like.

“The classes that we had in the magazine program were a really good model for how work is: We were writing, reporting and editing every single day,” Migliori says. “The way our classes were structured and how we were thrown into learning the skills firsthand really helped me.” 

Beyond preparing her for the work, her professors made sure she understood the way the media industry evolves, Migliori says. She notes that her professors were tough graders and realistic about what it takes to make it in the media world, but she loved it.

“They just made us understand what was possible,” Migliori says. “I think that is the huge differentiator between Newhouse and other communications schools. My professors worked in magazines and they knew what it was like so they could talk to us  about their personal experience and tell us how to best navigate things like getting an internship.”

Migliori was close with her professors and admitted that one of her motivators to do well was that she didn’t want to disappoint them. Chessher says the feeling was mutual and that watching Migliori leverage her talents in new and interesting ways has been a delight.

“She’s kind of classic poster child of the Newhouse curiosity and professional acumen and ascension,” Chessher says. “What I really respect and remember is she was always calm no matter what. She was never dejected or frustrated—she made the most of every opportunity and always had an amazing attitude.”

Outside of her close relationships with her professors, Migliori says her network of peers and friends were essential in finding success, especially in those tenuous five years after graduation. Chessher describes the Newhouse network as a “super premium Linkedin.”

“There’s this ecosystem of alumni that exists because of they all share Newhouse, but there’s also the supercharged turbo alumni group based on all the people who spent a million late night hours working together creating something: a newspaper, a magazine, a website, a movie, a documentary, etc.,” Chessher says. “That is an important piece of her story.”

Chessher says that as an alumna Migliori exemplified the generosity of the Newhouse Network, from arranging speakers during the Glavin Benchmark Trip to New York to speaking with students who reached out to her. Chessher is both incredibly proud of Migliori’s success and excited about what that success says about the future of the media industry.

“It delights me that we are building this amazing network of people devoted to telling stories with audio. I was overjoyed [that she was at Pushkin],” Chessher says. “Her career is a nice road map for people to keep in mind that it’s not always straight upward, sometimes you have to take a side step, and sometimes you may even have to take a back step. But it’s Carly’s attitude, work ethic, curiosity and abilities that carried her and continue to carry her.”

Migliori is excited to tackle the challenges  her new role brings. She wants to turn this into an opportunity to learn more about the business side of journalism and build on the skills she has. She knows it is a new challenge, but like all the other challenges she faced during her career, she is facing it head on.

“I think it is a core part of my DNA. It is like a fighting spirit in a lot of ways and it is always like remembering that I have all the skills. I’ve done all of this groundwork and have the skills that I learned when I was at Newhouse,”Migliori says. “It is all about trusting yourself.”

Creative advertising students raked in an astounding 195 awards in one year, setting a new school record

Creative advertising students at the Newhouse School set the program record by winning an impressive 195 awards in one year.

“What most impressed me about the awards the Newhouse creative advertising students won was not the amount but the range,” says Taras Wayner, former chief creative officer of Wunderman Thompson in New York and an alumnus of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “The design and clarity of the ideas covered the complete spectrum of modern media solutions that will attract the attention of every agency in the world.”

“I’m so proud of all of our creative advertising students, who can use these opportunities to show what they have learned, and more importantly, what they can take to industry. This is a wonderful way to spotlight their creative advertising work as well as the level of education you get here at the Newhouse School,” says Mark J. Lodato, dean of the Newhouse School. 

“The Newhouse advertising department is uniquely positioned to ensure that our students succeed at the highest levels,” Lodato says. “There is a wonderful mix of faculty with deep, professional experience and some strong scholars who bring an additional level of research and innovation. Together that makes for a very powerful curriculum and support system for our students to be able to perform so well at these national and even international competitions and in the industry.”

“It’s an amazing achievement that creative students have won 195 awards within a year,” says James Tsao, chair of the advertising department. “Only one word could summarize the remarkable achievement—pride!”  

All award-winning work was created in the Portfolio I, II and III courses taught by professors Mel White and Kevin O’Neill as part of the creative advertising track. Students in those courses are training as art directors and copywriters. 

At the One Show Young Ones Brief competition, the Burger King campaign created by art director/copywriter team Rachel Hayashi and Jessica Mastorides, “Have it the Real Way” (video), earned one of the most prestigious advertising awards: Newhouse’s first Silver Pencil. The humorous campaign flaunted real Burger King food in its imperfect glory through posters featuring floppy cheese and smushed buns and clear sandwich packaging to show the always real, never fake food. The campaign even capitalized on Burger King’s rivalry with McDonald’s. Using AirDrop, McDonald’s customers were prompted to scan their burger in the Burger King app. Then, Google Lens would search for McDonald’s ad and calculate the percent difference between the actual burger and the way too perfect-looking one in the ad. The percentage became a whopping Burger King discount for the customer.  

Newhouse earned two additional One Show Young Ones Brief awards. Art director/copywriter team Brian Chau and Alye Chaisson received a merit award for their Spotify campaign, “Drive into Your Daily Drive” (video), which evolved Spotify’s “Daily Drive” commuting playlists for road trips in response to the sharp drop in commuting during the Covid-19 pandemic. Next to a state’s “Welcome to” sign, digital billboards display a song selected by a famous musician born in the state and airdrops the celebrity’s curated “Daily Drive” playlist to your phone for a one-of-a-kind road trip experience.

Art director Sam Luo’s WhatsApp “On Hold” (video) earned a shortlist award for its innovative integration of mental health and technology through cell-blocking “On Hold” towers in high stress areas, automatic away messages and mental health scans through facial recognition. The campaign also included streetwear printed with barcodes that, when scanned, would take users to the WhatsApp On Hold app for mental health support.

The One Show Young Ones ADC competition earned Newhouse the coveted Silver Cube, another program first. Art director/copywriter team Sarah Sek and Jessica Miranda created the award-winning LEGO campaign “Infinicoaster”(video). The interactive campaign combined digital and physical play with a LEGO set that allows kids to build and experience the roller coaster of their dreams. Hi-tech bricks outfitted with ultrasonic sensors allow kids to ride their coaster creations on the LEGO phone app using virtual reality.

Newhouse also received three merit awards at One Show Young Ones ADC. Art director/copywriter team Cerinn Park and Marta Lala won for P&G “uTINTsil” (video), a set of color-changing utensils for kids designed to detect different allergens in food for a safer lunchtime. Kelsi Ryan and Chloe Greenwald, an art director/copywriter team, were awarded for Apple x Glaad “Deadnaming” (video), an Apple software update that adds preferred pronouns to contacts and uses AI to autocorrect digital deadnaming and misgendering. Luo’s “McDelivery” earned the third merit award.

The record-setting continued at the Clio Awards, where Newhouse ranked among the top five most-awarded schools worldwide, winning a record-breaking five Clio awards. Luo earned four of the five awards including a Bronze Clio for “McDelivery.”

In Luo’s print campaign, the famous McDonald’s golden arches swoop through late-night cityscapes to land in apartment windows, showing off McDonald’s delivery service. 

Luo also won Clio shortlists for Hermes “The Silk Definition,” capturing the luxury of the brand’s signature scarves through sweeping landscapes crafted by silk, and Jeep “Go Wild,” mimicking adventurous landscapes through extreme close-ups of zebra stripes and giraffe spots for Jeeps to explore. Luo and copywriter Olivia Gormley secured another Clio shortlist with Amazon + Connect4Climate “Amazon Greenscreen” (video), an integrated campaign featuring an Amazon search filter that displays eco-friendly products; an in-app camera scanner to find more sustainable alternatives to everyday products; and a scoring system to track personal progress towards a greener lifestyle. 

Maia Baptista and Joe Cutuli, art director / copywriter team, won a Clio Shotlist with their Coca-Cola “Cashcan” (video). The idea was created during a 10-minute brainstorming exercise in the Portfolio III course. The duo’s concept focused on helping the Coca-Cola company incentivize its consumers to recycle its products by creating high-tech CashCan recycling bins conveniently placed on city blocks. These bins would scan bottles’ barcodes and, using Apple Pay, transfer money into the user’s bank account.

Newhouse students took home three gold National ADDY awards. Luo earned two of the three gold awards. Luo and Gormley won for the “A Step Behind” campaign for Girls Who Code which emphasized the need for STEM education among young girls. In the campaign, various race tracks are shown with one lane’s start line set behind the rest. This racing position, paired with taglines like, “Behind before she even started,” conveys the disadvantages girls face when they aren’t given opportunities to explore STEM skills at a young age. 

Luo’s second National ADDY gold was for “Go in Deep,” a print ad campaign for Oral-B Glide Floss featuring a scuba diver, mountain climber and parachuter traveling between two massive teeth to show just how deep the floss can go. 

Art director Allison Scherger won a National ADDY gold award for her “Decibullz Earplugs” campaign. Scherger’s ads feature people wielding common noisemakers, like trumpets and chainsaws, scaled to miniature size with the tagline, “Minimize big sounds.” 

At the Golden Award of Montreux, Luo won one of only five Gold Awards given worldwide to students and was the only student award winner from the U.S. He won for his “McDelivery” campaign.

At the Communication Arts Advertising awards, Newhouse students won four of the 18 awards worldwide. Newhouse also earned three shortlists.  Luo and Gormley won two of the awards for their “A Step Behind” and “Greenscreen” campaigns. Luo also received an award for “Go Deep.” Park and Lala earned the fourth award for P&G “uTINTsil.” The four award-winning campaigns were also featured in the Communication Arts Advertising Annual November/December 2020 issue.

Luo received one out of only 11 Communication Arts Student Showcase awards given globally. Three of his campaigns were featured in the Communication Arts March/April 2021 issue.

Newhouse was the fifth most-awarded school out of advertising schools worldwide at the New York Festivals Advertising Awards. Students earned 26 awards, consisting of eight finalists and 18 shortlists, shattering the previous Newhouse record of nine awards. 

Seven Newhouse campaigns earned awards at the Lürzers International Archive Students Contest. Six winners were published in the international publication and one additional campaign was pre-selected.

At the Graphis New Talent awards, Newhouse won the most awards out of all schools worldwide, dominating the competition. Newhouse earned 74 student awards for their print and outdoor and video advertising with three platinum awards, 19 gold, 27 silver and 25 honorable mentions.

Newhouse creative advertising students took home 13 awards at Creativity International, one of the first female owned and operated advertising award shows in the industry. Students won one Platinum, three Gold, five Silver and four Bronze awards.

Ads of the World, part of the Clios network, selected and published 20 Newhouse campaigns.

The Newhouse School won the most awards overall in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Best of Design, Advertising Division. Each school was allowed five entries, and the five Newhouse campaigns won six awards total: Judge’s Choice and Second Place for “Girls Who Code”; Third Place for “Have It the Real Way”; Best in Experiential for “CashCan”; Best in Print for “McDelivery”; and Best in Interactive and Social Media for “Protect Asian Lives PAL”(video) for Apple by Mastorides and Hayashi.

Complete list of 195 creative advertising awards won by Newhouse students in the 2020-2021 school year:

• ADDYs RAF – 16 Awards (pages 109-140): 2 Best In Show Scholarship Winners, 8 Gold, 6 Silver
• ADDYs District 2 – 4 Awards: 1 Best in Show, 1 Gold, 2 Silver
• ADDYs National – 3 Awards: 3 Gold
• Ads of the World – 20 Chosen & Published (https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns?search=Newhouse&button=)
• AEJMC Best of Design, Advertising Division (pages 137-163) – 1 Judge’s Choice, 1 Second Place, 1 Third Place, 1 Best in Experiential, 1 Best in Print, 1 Best in Interactive & Social Media
• Clios – 5 Awards: 1 Bronze, 4 Shortlist
• Communication Arts Advertising Annual – 7 Awards: 4 Awarded & shown in Annual, 3 Shortlisted
• Communication Arts Student Showcase – 1 Award (out of 11 given worldwide)
• Creativity International Awards – 13 Awards: 1 Platinum, 3 Gold, 5 Silver, 4 Bronze
• Golden Award of Montreux: 1 Award: 1 Gold (https://www.goldenawardmontreux.com/winners-2021/) (Click on “Talent Award”)
• Graphis New Talent – 74 Awards: 3 Platinum, 19 Gold, 27 Silver, 25 Honorable Mention
  • Print & Outdoor
  • Film/Video 
• Lürzers International Archive Students Contest – 7 Awards: 6 Published & 1 Pre-Selected
• New York Festivals Advertising Awards – 26 Awards: 8 Finalists, 18 Shortlists 
• One Show Young Ones ADC Competition – 4 Awards: 1 Silver Cube, 3 Merit
• One Show Young Ones Brief Competition – 3 Awards: 1 Silver Pencil, 1 Merit, 1 Shortlist

Katherine Kiessling is a graduate student in the arts journalism and communications program at the Newhouse School.

The 19th News to be honored with Lorraine Branham IDEA Award at Mirror Awards ceremony June 8

The 19^th News will be honored with the Lorraine Branham IDEA Award from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications June 8. The award, presented as part of the 16th annual Mirror Awards ceremony, will be accepted by editor-at-large Errin Haines. Sunny Hostin, three-time Emmy Award-winning co-host of ABC’s “The View” and New York Times bestselling author, will present the award.

The 19^th News is an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy with the goal of empowering readers—particularly women and LGBTQ+ people from underserved communities—with the information, resources and community they need to be equal participants in democracy. The name is a nod to the 19^th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, but the logo includes an asterisk to symbolize that “suffrage remains a work in progress” in the U.S.

The 19^th News was founded in 2020 by former Texas Tribune staffers Emily Ramshaw, who is CEO, and Amanda Zamora, who is publisher. It’s supported by a mix of membership, philanthropy and corporate underwriting.

The IDEA Award recognizes a media organization that has worked to promote inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility over the course of the previous year. Specifically, the award acknowledges the hiring and development of leadership talent who create change, both to the organizations they oversee and the content they produce. The award was established in honor of late Newhouse dean Lorraine Branham, the first Black woman to serve as dean of the school, who died in 2019.

About the Mirror Awards

The Mirror Awards are the most important awards for honoring excellence in media industry reporting. They were established by the Newhouse School in 2006 to honor the reporters, editors and teams of writers who hold a mirror to their own industry for the public’s benefit. Finalists in the 2022 competition were announced in April.

The 2022 Mirror Awards ceremony will be held Wednesday, June 8, at French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), New York City. The event will begin with a cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by the presentation of the awards at 6:45 p.m.

Newhouse dean Mark J. Lodato will preside over the ceremony, and Newhouse alumna Contessa Brewer ’96, a correspondent with CNBC, will serve as master of ceremonies. In addition to the IDEA Award, the Newhouse School will present the Fred Dressler Leadership Award to New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet. Six juried journalism awards—winners of the 2022 competition—will also be presented.

Roy Gutterman named to SPJ Legal Defense Fund Committee

Roy Gutterman, associate professor and director of the Newhouse School’s Tully Center for Free Speech, has been appointed to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Legal Defense Fund Committee.

The eight-member committee oversees the fund, which is a unique SPJ resource that can be tapped by journalists for legal or financial assistance. Committee members work throughout the year to raise money to support the fund, and they also advocate on legal issues.

Additionally, Gutterman will serve as a liaison between the Legal Defense Fund Committee and SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee, on which he has served since 2015.

Rockell Brown Burton joins the Newhouse School as Associate Dean of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility

Rockell Brown Burton, an experienced academic leader and accomplished researcher with a passion for cultivating impactful, mutually beneficial relationships, has been named Associate Dean of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility at the Newhouse School. After a national search, she was chosen from a pool of more than 50 applicants.

“Dr. Brown Burton brings a strong record of leadership and a passion for inclusivity, diversity and equity to the Newhouse School. Students will find her personality infectious, while her experience helps us chart a course for success in this important space,” says Newhouse dean Mark J. Lodato.

Brown Burton is a two-time HBCU graduate with nearly 20 years of experience in higher education as both a faculty member and administrator. A self-described “serial collaborator,” she says she is committed to establishing pathways and pipelines for marginalized and underrepresented groups in the academy and beyond.

“I am beyond excited and thrilled to have the opportunity to join the world renowned Newhouse School of Public Communications,” Brown Burton says. “I am ecstatic to be joining the Newhouse faculty and staff—and the entire Syracuse University family—to move the needle forward and ensure there is inclusion, inclusivity, connection and community at Syracuse.”

Brown Burton joins Newhouse from Texas Southern University (TSU), where she has served as interim dean of the School of Communication for three years. Under her leadership, the school formed several professional partnerships, including a program established in partnership with ABC News that provided students with the opportunity to cover the Democratic debate at Texas Southern University in 2019. Other partnerships include HBCU Game Day, AT&T Regional Sports Net, the Monterrey Jazz Festival and Houston Methodist Hospital TV studios, where Burton developed internships for students from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups. As interim dean, she also established the first School of Communication Advisory Board and oversaw the launch of a student multimedia streaming operation.

“Our loss is your gain,” says Brown Burton’s colleague Arthur Murray, director of student-run multimedia station KTSU2 at TSU. “She is a personable person with the students, and while her talents will be missed, we know she will go on to do great things at your institution. She’s been a great asset here, has led this team over several things, including COVID. She is just phenomenal.”

Brown Burton also has held positions as associate professor of radio, television and film, interim chair of the Department of Speech Communication and director of graduate studies, where she led the charge to overhaul the curriculum and create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for students of color.  

Brown Burton is the co-author of “Race and news: A critical perspective” (2011) and several book chapters and journal articles. She holds a Ph.D. in communication from Wayne State University, a master’s degree in human communication studies from Howard University and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Xavier University.

Brown Burton was an AEJMC Institute for Diverse Leadership in Journalism and Communication Fellow for 2019-20 and was a nominee for the Orlando L. Taylor Distinguished Scholarship Award in Africana Communication. She was named Teacher of the Year and Stellar Communicator by the School of Communication in 2009.

“Rockell Brown Burton stood out to the committee for three notable reasons: Her experience as an academic leader, which many noted positioned her well for success, her history of student-focused initiatives and her record of scholarship that demonstrates she understands our disciplines well,” says Melissa Chessher, who has served in the IDEA role in an interim capacity and chaired the search committee. “She also received strong feedback on her teaching presentation and demonstrated a commanding demeanor and an approachable, calming presence. Given our ongoing work to create more partnerships with HBCUs, we also love that she possesses considerable ties to many of those institutions.”

Chessher also notes Brown Burton’s ability to get things done, her understanding of how universities work and her ability to engage and enlist support from a range of constituents.

Says Syracuse University Trustee and Newhouse Advisory Board member Howard Woolley ’80, president of Howard Woolley Group LLC: “We are looking forward to Rockell’s partnership with Dean Lodato in his efforts to diversify our faculty, student enrollment and the industry at large.”

Other members of the search committee were faculty and staff members Anne Osborne, Hua Jiang, Wes Whiteside, Ulf Osterle and Jeffery Mangram, and students Herve Magaribi Lehani, Aminata Sylla and Michael Spenser.

“The Newhouse School is committed to a diverse enrollment, faculty, staff and curriculum to prepare the next generation of communications professionals,” says Charles W. Stevens ’77, principal at Global Writers Group and a member of the Newhouse Advisory Board. “Creating this new position is just another demonstration of the school’s commitment to diversity. Leaders in journalism and other communications fields can count on Newhouse to produce graduates who reflect and share those values.”