School of Communications celebrates News Engagement Day

The School of Communications led a celebration of national News Engagement Day on Oct. 2, with initiatives – both on campus and on social media – that encouraged students and community members to read, watch, like, tweet and share the news.

In addition to a strong Twitter presence – using the hashtag #newsengagementday – the school organized students to serve as town criers at College Coffee, where they wore tricorner hats, rang bells and shouted the day’s headlines to passersby. At the caffeinated gathering, Colin Donohue, director of student media, and students also manned a table for attendees to write down how they define news.

​Among the participants to share their thoughts on the importance of news and staying informed were Elon President Connie Book, Communications Dean Rochelle Ford, Senior Vice President for Business, Finance and Technology Gerald Whittington, Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley and Vice President of University Communications Dan Anderson.

​Dean Ford also brought attention to the initiative earlier in the week, penning a column that appeared in the Sunday edition of the Burlington Times-News.

Photos of Elon’s News Engagement Day activities are available on the school’s Flickr page.

News Engagement Day is an initiative started in 2014 by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, better known by its acronym AEJMC. The nonprofit consists of more than 3,700 educators and media professionals devoted to promoting high standards in journalism and communication education and defending the freedom of communication.

A special thanks to this year’s town crier­­­s: Maeve Ashbrook ’22, Nina Fleck ’20, Ted Thomas ’22 and Luke Stoddard ’22.