Two of Journalism and Public Communications own professors have been granted the title of Associate Professor and have gained tenure.  Our congratulations to both Professors Dr. Joy Mapaye and Ron McGee.

Joy Chavez Mapaye joined the Department of Journalism and Public Communications in 2003. Mapaye has presented her research at top communication conferences including the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, National Communication Association, International Communication Association, Broadcast Education Association and others. She has won research paper awards at several conferences. Her research agenda includes her doctoral specialties in television, new media and digital culture and marketing communications.  In 2011, the Broadcast Education Association recognized Mapaye with the honor of top dissertation in the nation. In 2012, UAA's College of Arts and Sciences honored Mapaye with a Teaching Excellence award. Mapaye’s master’s degree emphasis includes race and political rhetoric and public relations. Her bachelor’s degree is in broadcast journalism.

Ron McGee joined the Department of Journalism and Public Communications at the University of Alaska Anchorage in Fall 2005. McGee is a retired Air Force major, who spent his entire 15-year career as a public affairs manager. He worked as a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News for four years. He was public affairs manager for the Anchorage Police Department for eight years.

The Department of Journalism and Public Communications honored six students and one alum at its annual spring gathering Friday, April 26.

Erik Judson was chosen by faculty as this year's student service award recipient. Erik has been a committed student in the Department of Journalism and Public Communications, and he has shown his service around campus by working for Residential Life, ANSEP, JPC Television Productions. He has excelled at video production, design, and writing.

Bryce Hyslip was chosen by faculty as this year's outstanding student. Bryce Hyslip’s Communications and Media Research paper “A Crude Relationship: In-Depth Interviews Concerning the Viewpoints of Alaska's Oil and Media Companies” won the Student Showcase this year. He also presented it at an undergraduate communications conference in Indiana. For students lucky enough to have Bryce in class, you know he is a hard worker, an intelligent contributor and a creative force.

JPC is thrilled to have had two new awards created this year, both to honor loved ones who were active in journalism and public communications. 

The first one was established by the Berg family to honor Dean Berg, who was a television journalist who then left news broadcasting to pursue media and public affairs positions with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, RCA Alaska Communications and the Teamsters Local 959.

The Berg Integrity in Journalism Award was given to senior Audri Pleas. Professor Elizabeth Arnold said this about her: "In her role as station manager of KRUA-FM, Audri continues to exemplify the integrity required to ensure employees, volunteers, and listeners a supportive and rewarding environment and experience. Whether it's settling a workplace dispute, monitoring content or simply providing a much needed pat on the back, Audri has set a standard of integrity at KRUA-FM and in the classroom that serves as a model."

The Max Llanes "Behind the Camera" Award was established by the Llanes family to commemorate the life of student Max Llanes, who died in December 2011. He was an avid photographer and videographer. 

Junior Nicole Luchaco was honored with this award. Professor red bradley said this about Nicole: "At UAA we see students come and go. Some make their way through the process and graduate; some excel; and then there are the few that inhale the craft of visual storytelling and run. In the professional community we usually refer to them as those with the 'golden touch.'" He said Max had it, and he sees that gift in Nicole.

The Alaska Filmmakers Institute will be reactivated in the summer of 2014 with workshops in 16mm film production
and Location Audio Techniques.

The Alaska Filmmakers Institute was conceived in 2005 by red bradley and Dr. Fred Pearce. The key component
of the institute was its partnerships with leading industry educators and manufacturers.

Additional details about 2014 workshops will be posted as they become available.

Led by adjunct professor D.K. Johnston, students of the Documentary Film class at JPC have been hard at work on their final project, "The Turnagain Path".  This documentary about snow machine racing in Alaska has been their main focus for the semester.

In addition to making their own documentary the class has also been learning the ins and outs of film making in Alaska including, pre-production, production and post production.

Their final product will be shown on May 3rd at 7 p.m. in RH 117

Jessica Bjornstad of red bradley's Commercial Photography class spent several hours Wednesday taking photographs of the edible artwork from Chong's Tokyo Garden.  Chong has always been willing to host students from Journalism and Public Communications; who have taking a large number of her promotional photographs as well as constructed television commercials for her.  These four photos were selected from today's shoot.

Shawna Sweeney (second from left) and Bryce Hyslip (not pictured) of JPC have won at the annual UAA Student Showcase.  The Student Showcase features some of the best work of UAA student in research, projects, art and performance every year.  Their work is judged by a panel of experts from the community and from UAA. 

Both of their projects come from professor Dr. Joy Mapaye's Communications and Media Research class, which instructs JPC students how to conduct graduate level research.  Shawna's piece was entitled "Looking at College News: A Content Analysis of Online College Newspapers Using Eye Tracking Methodology" and Bryce's was "A Crude Relationship: In-Depth Interviews Concerning the Viewpoints of Alaska's Oil and Media."

Congratulations to all who entered the Student Showcase.

This semester the students were also encouraged to share their work outside of class through marketing techniques, targeting audiences related to their material, as well as the local film community. Students Dmitry Surnin and Philip Ginther recently submitted, and were accepted, to screen a trailer for their final project entitled "The Turnagain Path" at Anchorage's Open Projector Night (OPN).The event will screen at the Bear Tooth Theater on Thursday March 28th starting at 10 p.m. Final projects for the class will be screening at UAA.  The course is headed up this semester by Adjunct Professor D.K. Johnston.

The Broadcast News class lead by professor Gina Romero will start its annual news broadcast shortly. UAA News goes live at 12 Noon Alaska time on March 28, April 4 and April 11.  These news updates feature information about UAA that directly impacts students, staff and faculty as well as events around Anchorage that involve the university.

Four commercials have been concepted, scripted, shot and edited by JPC students for their class work.  They will begin airing on KTUU and GCI cable Feb. 21 as the official commercials for the 2013 Fur Rondy.

The Video and Commercial Photography classes are also the official photographers of the 2013 Rondy, gathering stock footage for next years Rondy promotional items and commercials.

Click to watch their hard work on You Tube...

Three students from the Department of Journalism and Public Communications have been selected to participate in the 39th annual DePauw University Undergraduate Honors Conference. Krystal Garrison, Bryce Hyslip and Emily Rosa will all respresent JPC.

The national conference brings together students from around the country to discuss and disseminate research in communication and related disciplines.

The students’ research papers examined BP’s Facebook response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the evolutionary concept of sexual selection in advertising and the relationship between Alaska’s oil and media companies. The research papers were developed as part of the capstone course JPC 403 Communications and Media Research. This is the first year students from JPC and UAA have been selected to participate in the conference April 4-6 in Greencastle, Indiana.

For close to 40 years, the DePauw University conference has fostered a tradition of research and jourrnalism excellence. The Society of Professional Journalists, one of the most prominent journalism organizations, was founded at DePauw in 1909.