Greg Ruhland | Aug. 21, 2008
Along with returning and new students, the School of Journalism welcomes new faculty and staff this fall. Here are snapshots of some of the newcomers:Professor Shannon Martin
 |
| Photo by Greg Ruhland |
| Professor Shannon Martin will teach J110 and J501 this fall. |
Martin also was a tenured associate professor at Rutgers in New Jersey, where she began after only doctoral work at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Both her master’s and bachelor’s degrees are from IU.
In her days as a beat reporter, Martin used the Freedom of Information Act to uncover a school board’s blunder. Graduate school allowed her to study this further, and this February, Martin published a book on the history of FOIA, called The News Media Use.
She is passionate about making journalism education available to all information seekers. Good journalism, she said, keeps people accountable. She’s also eager to apply her experience to her new position.
“If I give students knowledge that will spare them from having some editor say ‘What are you thinking?’ or to have some reader or listener flame them in an e-mail, I would really like to do that,” she said.
Assistant professor Emily Metzgar
.jpg) |
| Photo by Greg Ruhland |
| Assistant professor Emily Metzgar’s interests include the effects of blogging. |
“I hope to be approachable and to introduce students to the subjects I think have relevance outside the classroom,” said Metzgar.
With a background in international politics, political science and French, this former foreign service officer to China also spent years in Japan. Later, carving a name for herself on Louisiana’s blogosphere during Hurricane Katrina, things really heated up.
“I was living in Louisiana and started writing an opinion column about the town I was living in and the state overall,” Metzgar remembered. “Some weeks the ACLU was after me; other weeks, the NRA. I figured I was doing something right, trying to walk down the middle of the road.”
Metzgar used what she learned in blogging to conduct her Ph.D. research, which focused on the impact of national blogs on a state’s political landscape.
This fall, Metzgar is gearing up to teach two classes: J110 Intro to Journalism and Mass Communication and J500 Introduction to Research.
Ron Johnson, Director of Student Media
 |
| Courtesy photo |
| Ron Johnson is the new student media director. |
There’s nothing Johnson finds more rewarding than recruiting, coaching, encouraging or critiquing students. And in his new role overseeing the operations of the Indiana Daily Student newspaper, Arbutus yearbook and INside magazine, he pledges to give students as much feedback as possible. Strengthening student media opportunities is Johnson’s goal.
“It’s all changing,” Johnson said. “So much of what we do at student media is still in print, but we’ll be working hard to expand as much online as possible, with audio and video, too. It’s a very interesting time and an exciting time to be in this business.”
Teresa White, Director of the High School Journalism Institute
 |
| Photo by Scott Myrick |
| New HSJI director Teresa White will teach J200 and J463 this fall. |
White, who completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at IU, had worked 21 years for HSJI, serving as an adviser to high school journalism students. Most recently, she taught English and journalism at Noblesville High School, where she also was publications adviser. She’ll also teach classes here, where she’ll make the switch from high schoolers to college students.
“I really believe in high school journalism to give skills—whether they’re going into journalism or not—that will benefit them when they go to college,” said White. “Learning how to meet deadlines, how to work with other people, how to solve problems, how to communicate, how to present material in a way that will appeal to readers or be effective to get your message across — all that is really valuable.”
She credits the strength of IU’s high school journalism program at a time when high schools are concentrating on fulfilling state curriculum requirements.
“Students would be encouraged by their guidance counselors not to take [journalism] as an elective because it wouldn’t count toward a Core 40 diploma,” White explained.
To fight this trend across Indiana high schools, and to increase support from parents and the Indiana Department of Education, White is pushing for everyone to understand journalism’s importance. Students in high school, she said, should be in charge of their own publications’ content. She feels they should lead their classes. She also said that student publication adviser and editor roles are best left separate.
When White isn’t teaching J200 Reporting, Writing and Editing I and J463 Computerized Publication Design this fall, she will assist high school programs in Indiana, will counsel teachers wanting to add journalism to their licenses and will work on some of her “grand schemes.”
One in particular pairs IU with underserved Indianapolis Public Schools to develop publication and journalism programs, while another project will use the open-source class management package Moodle to train journalism teachers across the state.
“I’m just thrilled to be here,” White said. “This is a dream job. I feel like I’ve just come home.”
New staff members:
Charlotte Smith joins the staff as director of business affairs and budget. She is a longtime IU employee who most recently served as fiscal officer for IUPU Columbus.
Kurtis Beavers, B.A. ’03 (Digital Art) is the new assistant director of communications. He most recently worked as interactive art director at Finelight in Bloomington and, while a student, he was graphics editor and production manager at the Indiana Daily Student.
Coming soon:
Professors Lars Wilnat and Hans Ibold join the faculty in January.
Questions? Comments? Email the Web editor.
