Virginia Tech’s Larry Hincker Biggest Highlight of AEJMC Southeast Colloquium So Far

BLACKSBURG, Va.–   The first full day of the AEJMC Southeast Colloquium has come to an end and even though I have not been able to cull my photos and edit my video, there is at least time for a moment to reflect on some of things I learned.

First and foremost, Virginia Tech is an awesome campus!   Growing up three hours away from here in Richmond, I had this image of a place I now know as the New River Valley that was a big deserted campus in the middle of nowhere.

One of the first newspaper stories I published while in high school was a Richmond News Leader feature on a girl from my church who came here to Tech and hated it transferring to another college.   I saw this campus through her bad experience.  (The Richmond News Leader is no longer published, but the story in the YOUNG VIRGINIANS section of the paper is memorable.

As a child, I learned Virginia Tech’s real was Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.  I learned why my parents would call it V.P.I.

That was 25 or more years ago.   So much has changed,  not the least of which were the events of April 16, 2007, which is a day most Americans will never forget– the  day Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded 25 others before taking his own life.

Tech’s PR Man Talks

Larry Hincker (Courtesy:Va.Tech)

Tonight, the man at the center of managing the hordes of media who took over this campus spoke about the incident to those of us attending the AEJMC Southeast Colloquium.

He told the story of the “insatiable demand for information that he couldn’t meet” as hundreds of satellite trucks, scores of news crews sought to cover this biggest incidence of violence on a U.S. college campus in the history of nation.

While there have been other campus shootings since the one here in 2007 at Northern Illinois and at University of Alabama at Huntsville,  this one represented a turning point.

This one has made Larry Hincker a much sought-after speaking around the world as a expert on campus notification systems and crisis management in the face of unbelievable tragedy.

This Week’s Court Case

Our AEJMC Southeast Colloquium just so happens to coincide with a wrongful death trial that is underway here in Montgomery County Circuit court.

In the case brought by the families of two students killed five years ago next month,  the plaintiffs  claim university officials delayed warning the campus of the initial two shootings on campus and then attempted to cover up their missteps.

Wisdom From One Who Knows

In his speech tonight, Hincker talked in great detail about what his role was as the chief communicator of information both to the media and those internally about what was going on this campus.

He talked about the use of the World Wide Web as both a “nexus of communication” and “filebox” for statements and communiques released on a constantly changing story.

In this photo taken by Roanoke Times photojournalist Matt Gentry, Hincker was one of several Virginia Tech officials who testified at this week's wrongful death trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court.and a "filebox" for statements and information previously released.

He showed graphics of the spike in traffic on the Virginia Tech Web site on both the day of the April 16, 2007 shootings and more recently on December 8, 2011 when an officer was shot and killed here on this campus.

Other key points from Hincker’s remarks tonight:

• Universities ought to provide media training for student leaders
• No Single Notification System Does It All
• Don’t Let Your Local Media Play Second Fiddle to the National Media

What Ousted Newspaper Adviser Paul Isom Needs to Say To Journalism Professors Friday at Va. Tech

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Courtesy:The Reflector

His removal as newspaper adviser at East Carolina University’s student newspaper earlier this year made national headlines while unifying scores of journalism professors who came to his defense.

Now Paul Isom will face many of his colleagues in one of his first big public addresses since he was forced to step down on Jan. 4 from his position with The East Carolinian.

Isom will be the keynote luncheon speaker at the AEJMC Southeast Colloquium at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

It’s not clear what he will focus on during his March 9 address, but the platform before several dozen journalism and mass communication professors from across the South will give him a chance to talk about the decision the students at The East Carolinian made to print photos of a streaker at a Nov. 5 football game.

Despite calls from organization such as the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) that asked Isom be re-instated,  the University was not persuaded and Isom’s successor, Frank Barrows, a veteran journalist was appointed as interim adviser.

Isom is a personal friend having worked with me in a previous position as director of student media at University of Alabama.

So it was kind of exciting to see someone I know become the FACE OF THE CAMPAIGN FOR COLLEGIATE FIRST AMENDMENT EXPRESSION.

Here are some guidelines for Isom’s speechwriter for what should be included in his address this Friday:

1. The Problem of Adviser Firings is NOT NEW.  

Isom ought to put his removal into context of recent firings at other institutions.   He might consult Prof KRG’s summary of some of those cases.

We on the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) National Board have a case come to us at least once a semester.  My friend and colleague, Frank LoMonte at the Student Press Law Center, would probably say collegiate newspaper issues represent one of SPLC’s biggest categories of cases.

After all the controversy erupted, East Carolina University released a statement saying its decision to fire Isom  was based on a “personnel matter” and not a First Amendment issue.

2. It’s NOT ABOUT ME!   The Big Issue is Student Expression

When we talk about the Isom firing,  we have to constantly remember that it’s not about the personality involved.  Rather, as journalism and mass communication instructors, we have to be the biggest advocates for our students to recognize and defend their First Amendment rights, even if they are making a decision with which we as advisers might disagree.

3.  Keeping One’s Personnel File Clean Is Essential, Especially for Journalism Professor and Media Advisers

If you’ve advising student media, all kinds of excuses can be made, strategies taken to remove you if the student media you’re advising publishes or broadcasts something controversial.

4.  Our Students Are Watching (and Listening ) To Us  When WE Try to Tell Them What is Right

Even though Paul Isom is no longer advising The East Carolinian, he has retained his position as a member of the East Carolina faculty.  His credibility ought to be even higher now because he stood up for what was right for his students.

5.  I’m Considering Legal Action, Here are the Issues

Certainly Isom won’t tell us whether he’s planning to fight for his job in a court of law.   But,  when these kinds of cases come up, are the advisers always the ones who should grin and take it?   Or, should we take our fight to the extreme?

If Isom doesn’t talk about all of these issues during his address at the 12:45 p.m luncheon Friday in the Latham Ballroom at Va. Tech’s Skelton Conference Center, he will certainly face more questions during a panel discussion that will immediately follow.

This will be certainly one academic conference where a little news might be made.

Maybe Isom will announce he has a new job.

Maybe he’ll engage some journalism professors who will criticize him for his decision.

Maybe we’ll find out that East Carolina University is about to be cast into even more negative light?

Whatever happens, it should be a very interesting afternoon.. and I’m excited to be among those planning to be in the audience.

Days Like Today Make An Alabama Journalism Professor Very Proud

Nine Ph.D. students from University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences traveled to Norman, Okla. this weekend to present a total of 14 research papers. (Not Pictured is Elmie Nekmat, who missed our group photo)

NORMAN, Okla.— The beginning of March also signals the beginning of spring academic conference season.

As inconvenient as they are in the middle of a busy semester, these short, usually two-day gatherings are a chance to get feedback on research projects in-progress and catch up with colleagues at other colleges and universities.

It’s also a great chance to see the next generation of mass media scholars in action!

I could not have been prouder as a teacher than I was today to see our students from the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences presenting their academic papers at this AEJMC Midwinter Conference, which is being held this weekend on the beautiful campus of the University of Oklahoma.

One of those students, Natalie Brown, is on the fast track, entering our Ph.D. program just two years ago (2010) without even completing her master’s degree.   She and I presented a research paper on our ongoing research on CNN’s Black in America franchise.

Then there’s Alice Tunaru, who just a few years ago sat in my undergraduate introductory journalism course as a scholar athlete.  Today she was talking about how young adults access sex-related information online.

I just met Sim Butler and Betsy Emmons last semester when I visited the newest cohort in our Ph.D. program in one of their classes in November.  As first-year doctoral students, Butler and Emmons shared their research on Mississippi State’s University’s efforts to use the #HAILSTATE Twitter hashtag during their recent beat-down on rival Ole Miss last Thanksgiving weekend.

I believe I counted 14 papers that were presented by our graduate students (and one faculty member) at this conference this weekend,   That’s same number of papers as were presented by faculty and students at our host institution, the University of Oklahoma.

What an accomplishment!  Seeing all of this in the plush quarters of the less than five year-old Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication make it all the more thrilling.

Roll Tide!