Media College eNews

The West Virginia University Reed College of Media’s “Marketing Communications Today” podcast is airing weekly beginning on May 9, 2019, entering its third successful season.

The syndicated show highlights emerging or current trends impacting marketers today and airs live on Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. Key topics include how data impacts the creative process, data-driven marketing strategy, telling a story with data and emerging social trends. Past episodes can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, YouTube and Podbean. 

Cyndi Greenglass, an inaugural faculty member of the Data Marketing Communication’s master’s degree at WVU and host of the program, helped start the podcast in February of 2018.

Barbara Sayre Casey, a 1959 journalism graduate, received one of the highest honors awarded to West Virginia University graduates when she was inducted into the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni on May 17.

Casey  has distinguished herself as a leader in public relations, branding and professional advancement for women. While a journalism student at West Virginia University, Casey was also a reporter for the Parkersburg News and a contributor at a local radio station before moving to Los Angeles to pursue what would become a lifelong journey in public relations.

“Barbara is incredibly deserving of this honor,” said Maryanne Reed, dean of the WVU Reed College of Media. “She has not only evolved with the PR discipline but has led the way. Her effective leadership and innovative spirit was evident when she was a student in the “J-School” and has been a driving force in her career ever since.”    

Digging deep and uncovering the truth is second nature to veteran investigative reporter John Temple.

And now, the West Virginia University Reed College of Media journalism professor is releasing his fourth nonfiction book, "Up in Arms: How the Bundy Family Hijacked Public Lands, Outfoxed the Federal Government, and Ignited America’s Patriot Movement.” The book chronicles Cliven and Ammon Bundy’s 2014 standoffs with the federal government over land-grazing fees in Nevada.

“I had other books in mind but then it occurred to me one day that no one had written a comprehensive book on the Bundys, and it felt so timely and related to all of the civil discontent that our country is experiencing,” said Temple. “It felt like the first big public event that awoke mainstream Americans to the idea that people were really unhappy with the federal government and I thought that was worth exploring.”

The West Virginia University Reed College of Media celebrated its May Commencement on Friday, May, 10, at the WVU Coliseum.

Guy Stewart, the longest serving dean of the West Virginia University P.I. Reed School of Journalism 

(now the Reed College of Media ), died on Tuesday, May 14, at the age of 95.

Stewart was known for his nearly 30 years of service to the College, first as a professor and director of graduate studies, then as dean. He was also a driving force in the West Virginia Press Association and Jackson’s Mill State 4-H Camp.  

Elizabeth Oppe, Ph.D., Tricia Petty and Geah Pressgrove,Ph.D., have been recognized for their outstanding service to WVU Reed College of Media students and to the state of West Virginia.

Elizabeth Oppe, a teaching associate professor at the College, is the recipient of the Beginning Service Award, a Heebink Award for Distinguished Service to the state of West Virginia. Established in 1992, the award is given to faculty and staff who have “used the unique resources of the university” as well as their own professional experience to provide an educational or public service benefit to West Virginians. Oppe will receive a $2,000 honoraria for professional development support.

Oppe founded Get Moving! Day of Play, a program that brings WVU alumni athletes back to Morgantown to inspire healthy lifestyle choices for children across the mountain state. Children attend an activity camp, and the athletes visit WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital.

Maryanne Reed , who transformed West Virginia University’s journalism school into an exemplar of modern media training as the Reed College of Media , was named vice president for academic affairs and provost of the University on Wednesday (April 17).

Reed, who became dean of the then-named P.I. Reed School of Journalism in 2004, succeeds Joyce McConnell, recently named president of Colorado State University.

“Maryanne has demonstrated throughout her career, first as an award-winning documentarian then as a visionary academic leader, that she is always looking ahead and is willing to take the necessary stepes to lead into the future – even if there is some risk involved,” President Gordon Gee said in announcing her appointment. “I am confident her ability to see trends, ask the hard questions and move quickly to innovate will be of great benefit to this University as we move forward.”  

At nine years old, Hilde Lysiak was the first to break the news of a homicide in her hometown in Pennsylvania. She’s 12 now and about to add another “first” to her pre-teen resume. On May 10, Lysiak will give the 2019 commencement address for the West Virginia University Reed College of Media. She will be the youngest commencement speaker ever at WVU and maybe in the country.

Hilde, who is the youngest member of the national Society of Professional Journalists, is the publisher of the Orange Street News in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, which she founded in 2014. The paper has 700-plus paid subscribers and has been read by millions more online. In addition to breaking the murder story, she has exposed corruption at a local fire department leading to the firing of top officials, and her exclusive reports on an alleged KKK member forced the suspect to leave town.

Hilde made headlines recently for standing up to a town marshal in Patagonia, Arizona. She was bicycling through town, following a lead for a story, when the officer pulled her over and tried to stop her from pursuing the story. Her video of the encounter went viral, reaching nearly 500,000 views, and the Patagonia mayor offered a public apology.

A rural and urban university have teamed up to provide a deep dive into the opioid epidemic in Appalachia. This investigative reporting collaboration is an effort to transcend media biases and address a serious issue from multiple perspectives.

It has been one year since West Virginia University Reed College of Media alumnus Scott Widmeyer began funding a cross-university reporting project with his alma mater and the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs. Now he’s doubling down to extend the project with the hope of bursting long-standing “media bubbles.”  

The first project, which began in Spring 2018, assessed the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s economic and environmental impact in West Virginia.

Timothy Eads, a sophomore at the College of Media, has been named WVU’s 66th Mountaineer Mascot. The announcement was made at the men’s basketball gave vs. Texas Christian University on February 25.

Eads, a native of Buffalo, West Virginia, was chosen by a committee of faculty, staff and students who based their decision upon an application, essay, interview, followed by a cheer-off competition that was held during the men’s basketball game vs. Kansas State.