School of Communications

What does it take to be a good reporter? NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams has several thoughts, including: “Know your audience. Know your subject.” One of America’s most acclaimed journalists on Friday shared with Elon University students his views on the media, technology, and on balancing work and family in a Whitley Auditorium question-and-answer discussion sprinkled with wit and wisdom.

Every winter more than 600 Elon students pack their bags and head to exciting locations throughout the world to study abroad. These students learn about the cultures of nations ranging from Ghana to China, but this year 22 students got a taste of a completely different culture: the culture of the entertainment industry.

Michelle Ferrier, associate professor in Elon University's School of Communications, has been named vice president of Journalism That Matters, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization focused on reimagining the new media landscape.

When associate professor of communications Brooke Barnett was trying to find a textbook for the School of Communications Digital Media Convergence class she could not find one that she thought was a perfect fit. The class covers photography, videography, editing, web design and basic visual storytelling practices. And all that information wasn't readily available in one place.

Sometimes an idea will form and all of the pieces will fit together perfectly. And according to associate professor of communications Rich Landesberg, one of his ideas fell into place as he began creating the "60 Minutes" Master Class that’s being offered this spring semester.

Brooke Barnett, an associate professor in the School of Communications and the executive director of the Sunshine Center, was a guest on WFAE 90.7FM to discuss public information and government transparency.

Almost 40 years ago, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill professors Donald Shaw and Max McCombs introduced a theory that drastically changed the field of communications. Earlier in the semester, Elon students got the opportunity to learn about it firsthand from one of the men who originally devised it in a half-semester agenda-setting course.

Three North Carolina entrepreneurship incubators have pledged start-up packages to region-based companies that develop out of Journalism That Matters "Create or Die 2" to be held in Greensboro, N.C., from June 2-5, 2011.

Elon University is hosting a March 29-30 conference on media and politics in which the public is invited to attend workshops with influential public policy makers, journalists and academic researchers. Media and Politics: Openness, Accuracy, and Honesty in the 21st Century Media Landscape is made possible by Elon University’s Turnage Family Faculty Innovation and Creativity Fund for the Study of Political Communication.