This past year was punctuated by medical leave in the spring for foot surgery. I would love to share a photo of me that a student snapped while I was rolling across campus on my scooter, but another time. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to get the surgery and for the support of the department.
Our department used to be small enough that we all knew each other, but our enrollment is up. Pre-majors and majors are roughly even in number across the three tracks of news/editorial, public relations and visual journalism. The environmental journalism major has come out of hiatus, and we have some EJ students too. The growth is exciting and challenging!
My biggest work-related accomplishment for 2018 was finishing my book. #Ferguson: Journalism Tradition, Technology, and Transformation (working title) is under contract with the University of Missouri press and should be published in 2019. The book examines contemporary news coverage of racial issues in a digital era. It combines analysis of coverage and interviews with journalists who covered Ferguson to help understand how the field is changing.
In May 2018, my 24-month ghostwriting project came to an end with the publication by Viking/Penguin of Anticancer Living: Transform Your Life and Health with the Mix of Six. Since its publication, the book has received international praise from some of the world’s leading experts on cancer treatment and prevention. The paperback version is scheduled to launch in May 2019. For me, researching and writing the book was enlightening and transformative. I interviewed dozens of the most respected scientists and oncologists about cancer biology, holistic healing and comprehensive lifestyle change. I also conducted interviews with long-term cancer survivors and found their stories both inspirational and heart-wrenching. In addition to publishing a book, in fall 2018 Associate Professor Maria McLeod and I received word that our article, “Public Relations Videography: A Classroom Case Study in the Production and Dissemination of Digital Content,” was published in The Journal of Communication and Media Studies. In terms of teaching, I continue to reshape and adapt my courses in News Writing, Editing and Digital Media to meet the needs of students in the changing media environment. Outside of school, I rode my bicycle along the Rhine River from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea.
