Claire Wiseman | March 17, 2011
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| Courtesy photo |
| Eli Adams, BA'49, and Ernie Pyle Scholar Tommy Grooms met at the centennial Road Show in St. Petersburg Wednesday night. They chatted about Adams' long newspaper career and Grooms' future plans. |
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The event at the journalism research and education center in Florida was the second of the year-long celebration that culminates with a gathering in Bloomington in September.
St. Petersburg Times and Poynter CEO Paul Tash, BA’76, spoke of journalism’s past and future at what he called “the intersection of my two favorite journalism schools,” IU and the Poynter.
“The essential work of reporting and editing and recording what’s going on in the world has never been more important than it is today,” he told attendees, who included alumni and IU honors students and graduate students in sports journalism.
The journalism education and research organization has other ties to IU journalism. The founder, Nelson Poynter, BA’24 (economics), produced newspapers in St. Petersburg for 40 years and later established a media school for professionals. In his will, he dictated that the school would own controlling stock of the St. Petersburg Times Co.
Other connections include the many IU journalism alumni who have worked at the Times, have attended sessions or have taught at the institute. This week, more connections were made as IU’s Ernie Pyle Scholars and graduate students in the sports journalism program devoted their spring break to attending workshops at Poynter.
Sophomore and Ernie Pyle Scholar Deanna Allbrittin welcomed guests and thanked alumni, citing her experience at IUSTV and travel to Seoul, South Korea, as unique opportunities in the undergraduate program.
“I could not have done this, we could not have done any of this, without our alumni,” Allbrittin said.
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| Photo by Lauren Kastner |
| Chairman and CEO of the Times Publishing Company, Paul Tash, BA'76, talked about his "two favorite institutions," Poynter and IU School of Journalism. |
“It really fueled my passion for journalism,” Buckey said.
Alumni attending shared their passions, too. Eli Adams, BA’49, who served as managing editor at the IDS before going on to a career that included 22 years at the Miami Herald, chatted with students. He described the “click, click, click, click” of manual typewriters and the idea of multiple daily editions to students whose daily experience includes a focus on Web updates and social media.
St. Petersburg Times TV and movie critic and NSJC blogger Eric Deggans, BA’90, said he appreciated the opportunity to interact with students because it allowed him to share his story while learning about the future of his alma mater.
Deggans said he wanted to provide students with something to look forward to.
“Hopefully, we’re sort of the vision of what’s ahead, beyond the books and class,” he said.
Students at the institute this week have been exploring that vision already. In sessions, the scholars and the graduate students have discussed topics such as cross-platform storytelling and social media.
More:
- Read students’ blogs from the Poynter sessions this week.
- Learn more about the master’s degree in sports journalism.
- Attend the next IU School of Journalism centennial celebration.
- Read about the Road Show in Chicago Feb. 24.
Questions? Comments? Email the Web editor.
