School of Journalism and Mass Communication Endows New Knight Chair
A Kent State committee will conduct the search to select the chairholder from a diverse pool of journalists recognized as outstanding practitioners and leaders. The Knight professor will create innovative programs, provide national leadership, help high school students understand journalism fundamentals, get them interested in journalism careers and help to increase First Amendment awareness and civic education, including the use of news in classrooms and the creation of student media. “This generous gift from the Knight Foundation will allow Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication to build on its considerable strengths, which include an outstanding scholastic media program,” says Kent State President Lester A. Lefton. “At a time when funding for U.S. scholastic media programming is low, Kent State is prepared to seize this opportunity to play an integral role in strengthening scholastic media programs across the nation and, in turn, groom the next generation of highly skilled journalists, editors and designers.” The chair in scholastic journalism is endowed with more than $2 million and marks the 20th Knight Chair in Journalism to be created, endowed and awarded by the Knight Foundation since 1990. “The prestige of being awarded with one of only 20 Knight Chairs in journalism, indicates the importance of scholastic journalism from a Knight Foundation perspective and also indicates the regard with which Kent State’s program is held — as one of the best in the nation,” says James Gaudino, dean of the College of Communication and Information. Kent State’s presence as one of the nation’s leading scholastic journalism programs made it a clear choice for receiving the Knight Chair designation. Program coordinator Candace Perkins Bowen is on the board of the Journalism Education Association and the Advisory Council of the Student Press Law Center. She also is the former head of the Scholastic Journalism Division and Council of Affiliates of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. For six consecutive years, Kent State has been one of five universities hosting the American Society of Newspaper Editors High School Journalism Institute. High school newspapers and broadcasts introduce many students to the core values of journalism. According to a Future of the First Amendment study, of the 20,375 high schools in the nation, 3,659, or 17 percent, did not have any form of student media. “Knight Foundation’s landmark study found that three-fourths of more than 100,000 U.S. high school students either didn’t know or care about the First Amendment,” says Alberto Ibarguen, president of the Knight Foundation. “More concerning is nearly 40 percent of their teachers thought the press in America had too much freedom. Scholastic journalism requires a renaissance. That calls for leadership, and Kent State is well positioned to provide it.” For more information about the Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism search, visit the School of Journalism and Mass Communication Web site.  |
Print
Send
