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On May 12, nearly 250 School of Journalism graduates will cross the Creative Arts Center stage during the School’s 2012 May Commencement. During the ceremony, WVU officials will award keynote speaker G. Ogden Nutting with an Honorary Degree. Nutting is chairman and publisher of Ogden Newspapers Inc., which publishes six daily and three weekly newspapers in West Virginia, as well as 34 daily newspapers in 10 other states. West Virginia’s largest newspaper company, Ogden Newspapers is headquartered in Wheeling, W.Va. Nutting has been a member of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors, and as a member of the School of Journalism Visiting Committee, he was instrumental in establishing the Ogden Newspapers and Nutting Family Journalism Endowment Scholarship Fund for juniors and seniors studying print media. Ogden Newspapers and the Nutting family also created the WVU Journalism Library Endowment Fund, the Ogden Newspapers Seminar Series, the Ogden Newspapers Multimedia Classroom, and the Ogden Newspapers Endowed Visiting Professorship, which was held for 10 years by the late George Esper. In addition to honoring Nutting, the May ceremony will also pay tribute to Dr. Esper through a special video and remarks.

School of Journalism faculty continue to be recognized for their outstanding performance. Earlier this month, two faculty members were honored with prestigious teaching and service awards. Teaching assistant professor Gina Dahlia was named one of six recipients of the WVU Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching. Dahlia, who leads the School’s television journalism sequence and serves as executive producer of the award-winning “WVU News” student newscast, was noted for her passion for teaching and dedication to her students. In addition, assistant professor Dr. Rita Colistra was honored with the WVU Center for Civic Engagement’s Excellence in Civic Engagement Award. Dedicated to service-learning and civic engagement beyond the classroom, Colistra has launched several awareness campaigns with her PR classes, including two West Virginia “Buy Local” initiatives and fundraising efforts for WVU Habitat for Humanity.

Earlier this month, the School’s student-produced newscast, ‘WVU News,” earned several awards at the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts competition. Television journalism senior Erica Mokay, of Belle Vernon, Pa., earned first place as Television News Anchor, as well as an honorable mention in Television Hard News Reporting. Paul King (BSJ, 2011) earned an honorable mention in Television Feature Reporting, while “WVU News: Big 12 Special Edition,” produced by Whitney Godwin, also received an honorable mention in Television Newscast. “WVU News” is produced by students in School of Journalism. Students serve as reporters, on-air anchors, producers, directors and technical crew during newscast tapings at WVU’s professional television studios. The program airs statewide on West Virginia Public Television. Episodes are also available on the School of Journalism’s YouTube page and on the newscast website at http://sojnewscast.wvu.edu/.

As revolt swept the Middle East in the spring of 2011, governments fell. Ordinary citizens captured the unfolding events with cell phones, posting video, photos and commentary on social networking sites. On April 3, the School of Journalism’s Ogden Newspapers Seminar Series co-sponsored a discussion on the impact of social media in spreading democracy movements in the Middle East and around the world. “The Revolution Will Be Tweeted: Social Media and Free Speech in the Middle East,” a moderated panel discussion, included international bloggers, activists and entrepreneurs as part of the David C. Hardesty Jr. Festival of Ideas. Dean Maryanne Reed moderated the discussion, while the conversation continued and was amplified by a live, simultaneous conversation on Twitter. A video of the event is now available on the SOJ website, as well as a Storify compilation of tweets and comments.

The School’s Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) graduate program recently held an open house in Washington, D.C. Current IMC students and graduates, program faculty and friends of the School gathered at Johnny’s Half Shell Restaurant to greet D.C.-area professionals interested in the IMC program. Current students and graduates shared their unique stories and the reasons why the IMC program works for them. Members of the IMC administrative team were also on hand to discuss the curriculum and online learning environment. Learn more about the IMC program online.