Author: bloomingtonpressclub

National Sports Journalism Director Tim Franklin outlined the goals of the IU School of Journalism’s new center during his talk in January.

Franklin explained that sports journalism is one of the few areas of media that is booming, raking in ad dollars and providing jobs. The center is capitalizing on this and the sports focus in Indianapolis, where the center is located on the IUPUI campus.

Launched a year ago, the center aims to prepare young journalists for careers in sports communication as well as train professionals to be ready for new media demands. The center already offers undergraduate and graduate classes in Indianapolis and Bloomington, and the IU Board of Trustees recently approved a master’s degree program.

Franklin described the center’s efforts to connect with the sports community by hosting panel discussions with top-flight sports journalists discussing issues of the day, such as diversity in media.

Franklin said another focus for the center has been arranging internships for students at organizations such as ESPN, The Big Ten Network and MLB.com. Students are working now with more to undertake this experience this summer.

Members heard about the health of the local newspaper industry from Herald-Times publisher Mayer Maloney at the regular meeting Nov. 23, 2009.

Maloney, an IU journalism grad and Bloomington native, is publisher of the H-T as well as the Sunday Hoosier-Times, Bedford Times-Mail, Martinsville Reporter-Times and Mooresville-Decatur Times, all of which are owned by Schurz Communications, Inc.

While not immune to industry struggles, the company is doing well, Maloney said.

He talked about ways the company is using the Web to draw new readers and ad customers, and about how the newspapers are concentrating on more local coverage.

Maloney also stated that he would not recommend that his new granddaughter pursue a journalism degree when she grows up, but instead would encourage her to learn as much about the world as possible. This prompted members Marge Blewett and David Weaver to describe the IU School of Journalism’s emphasis on preparing students for new media.

The Nov. 10, 2009, fundraiser featuring Fox Sports’ Joe Buck earned about $2,000 for the Bloomington Press Club scholarship program, according to treasurer Sherry Rouse. This figure is an early estimate as some funds still may be in the mail.

For those who missed the event, Buck, fresh from calling the World Series, was in the area as the last of the IU School of Journalism’s fall Speaker Series’ guests. That evening, he appeared at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater for a free talk open to the public.

Earlier in the day, he talked to journalism students at Ernie Pyle Hall, toured the Indiana Memorial Union and soaked in some atmosphere he hadn’t enjoyed since he left to start his career in the early 1990s.

Before his talk at the theater, Buck joined BPC members at Nick’s English Hut for food and drink. He spent a few minutes reminiscing about his days as a telecommunications undergraduate and his quest to be a broadcaster like his dad, the legendary Jack Buck.

When not at the microphone, Buck worked the crowd, chatting with members and posing for photos.

The club uses the funds to support students during internships and to provide scholarships for students to attend the High School Journalism Institute at IU.

A dyed-in-the-wool IU basketball fan, Sarah Melton attended IU, talked her way into a job with IU Athletics Department’s communications team and now works for IU alumnus Mark Cuban as Dallas Mavericks’ director of basketball communications.

And each fall, she tries to return to her alma mater, often to talk to journalism students about her 11-year odyssey since collecting her degree. She made time for the Bloomington Press Club, too, as the speaker for the Sept. 14 meeting.

Melton, one of only three women in such positions in the NBA, regaled the crowd with stories of coaches, players and dilemmas she’s found herself in as one of few women amid male athletes.

“I have been privileged to work with some of the great coaches both here at IU and with the Mavs,” she said as she shared tales of IU soccer coach Jerry Yeagley and Mavs coaches Don Nelson, Avery Johnson and Rick Carlisle.

Ever the fan, though, Melton said she still is in awe of the former IU players she encounters in her work.

At the June 22, 2009, meeting, BPC members heard from some young video journalists whose program already has been a big success. Batchelor Middle School adviser Jeff Rudkin and three of his students explained what B-TV is all about and showed clips of award-winning work.

Rudkin talked about the program’s humble beginnings 14 years ago as an after-school program and its evolution to a credit course of about 300 students today. He estimates that more than 1,000 students have been through the program, which has won over 250 honors in the U.S. and internationally.

Students learn to brainstorm project ideas, develop a strategy, write, use equipment, edit and other production skills as they complete their documentaries.

Over the years, the students have created a film and a companion book about the 60th anniversary of the liberation at Auschwitz; a documentary about Max Schmeling; a documentary about the discovery of a shipwreck believed to have been Captain Kidd’s; and a film about bullying. Rudkin said students also engage in some lighter projects, such as the annual Halloween movie.

IU men’s basketball coach Tom Crean spoke to a sell-out crowd at the April 27, 2009,  meeting of the Bloomington Press Club, outlining the strategy to build on and improve from last season’s record of only six wins.

Nearly 80 members and their guests filled the Coronation Room at the IMU to hear Crean talk about his  first year heading the IU team. He was candid, optimistic and realistic during his 40-minute talk.

“What we had built on in the past was gone,” he said of players who left shortly after IU fired coach Kelvin Sampson in last spring. “What we needed was a team on the floor, since we were starting from scratch, and we did that.”

Crean said the program is “in a straight-up rebuilding phase, a long way away from having the culture of the program we want.”

how to win together, and we’re working on that this spring,” he said. “We must have guys who understand that the program has to override all else, and working hard in this off-season is a big part of that.”

Crean outlined phases toward rebuilding. Recruiting is No. 1, he said, adding that this is difficult when competing against schools with teams that had 28, 29 or 30 wins.

“But when players get better, they become your best recruiters,” he said.

He said he knew his new job would be a challenge, but he’s philosophical about the job.

“We’re having a very good spring off-season training, working on strength and athleticism,” he said. “What we say over and over again is we have to maximize the day. There’s no gray area in doing this job at Indiana.”

IU associate professor Jim Capshew shared his research for his book on longtime IU chancellor Herman B Wells at the March 23, 2009, Bloomington Press Club meeting.

The working title of the book is How Herman B Wells Built Indiana University and Shaped Higher Education Around the World, and Capshew demonstrated the logic in that title in his presentation, complete with a slideshow.

Wells was IU president (1937-1962) and chancellor (1962-2000). Capshew says his book will look at the span of his life and “his great capacity for friendship and brotherly love,” among other topics.

In his presentation, Capshew used quotes from letters and documents detailing Wells’ life from small-town Indiana boy to global traveler to the face of IU for decades, and how all of those experiences shaped a leader.

As an undergraduate in the late 1970s, Capshew was a houseboy at Wells’ residence, one in a long line of student assistants who performed chores for the revered IU icon.

“Wells always asked the houseboys how our schoolwork was going,” Capshew said, “but he was interested in all IU students, not just us.”

Many IU alumni remember Wells not for supporting research or ensuring that the arts have a place on campus, but as Santa Claus handing out candy canes in the union.

“Few university presidents would take the time to do such a thing every year, but until the very end of his days, Wells very much was students’ biggest supporter,” Capshew said.