Guest speakers enliven classes

Reporters, editors, advertising executives and PR professionals are frequent visitors to classes in the School of Journalism and Mass Media. Last Thursday may have set a record for most guests in a single day, five.
Larry Grant (left), the Democratic candidate for Congress in Idaho's 1st District, answered questions from students in Sandra Haarsager's Public Affairs Reporting class. Earlier, Matt van Vleet, regional public affairs manager for Potlatch Corp., spoke to Becky Tallent's Public Relations Campaigns class.
Shannon Paterson, reporter/anchor for KTRV-TV in Boise, spoke to Glenn Mosley's Broadcast News course. She also was the master of ceremonies for the UI Foundation's recognition banquet Thursday evening.
Michael Reagan, creative director at MMG (Marketing Media Group) in Boise, visited two of Mark Secrist's advertising classes: Advertising Campaigns and Advertising Media Planning.
Valerie Steffen, president of Strategic Intelligence, a Boise marketing research and public opinion consulting firm, spoke to my Mass Media and Public Opinion course. Dr. Steffen presented results of a study of a proposal to widen Ustick Road in west Boise.
Alumni interested in speaking to a class should e-mail me for details. For a complete list of guest speakers in this and previous semesters, see this link.

Editors give insights into news business

What happens when you bring together 10 University of Idaho journalism students, 18 of their Washington State University counterparts and five editors of The Spokesman-Review for a weekend?

Savannah Cummings (left), a UI junior from Sandpoint, and Gary Crooks, associate editor of the S-R's editorial page, demonstrated the easy-going atmosphere during lunch on Sept. 23. They were two of the participants in the X-Treme Editing workshop, a two-day intensive course in the news business. It was created by Steve Smith, the newspaper's editor since 2002.

After two successful workshops at Steve's alma mater, the University of Oregon, Steve offered to replicate the program on the Palouse. He brought with him four of his top editors: Crooks, Ryan Pitts, Addy Hatch and Jim Allen. They led sessions at the Idaho Commons on newsroom leadership, opinion and commentary, local news, and copy editing and design.

The workshop opened with a Friday night dinner at the University Inn, with UI students mixed among their WSU counterparts and an editor at each table. After dessert, Steve led a provocative ethics exercise based on his paper's coverage of allegations of abuse of power by the late Jim West, former mayor of Spokane. The discussion demonstrated why the paper's handling of the controversial story earned an award from the University of Oregon for its thoughtful consideration of the ethical issues.

UI students relished the opportunity to ask questions of the pros in an informal setting. "It was a great way to hear real-world experience from people willing to talk candidly about the nitty-gritty of journalism as a profession," one wrote on in a critique. John Irby, associate director of the Murrow School at WSU, found similar reactions from his students. Thanks to Steve and his crew for a stimulating weekend.