Eli LaBan, KLN '17, has been named a Princeton in Africa Fellow for 2018. LaBan will be in Rwanda for a 12-month fellowship where he will work with the grassroots NGO Gardens For Health. After graduation, LaBan traveled to Cuba to work on a documentary about that country's Hip Hop scene before earning a fellowship in Nicaragua where he spent six months creating a series of short videos designed to promote and preserve the disappearing Rama language. The series won a College Emmy. When he returned from Nicaragua, LaBan was anxious to keep the momentum going and continue his int...
The Temple chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) has been awarded the Star Chapter designation for the second year in a row. The designation represents the highest standard for PRSSA chapters.
To qualify as a Star Chapter, PRSSA groups have to meet a series of significant requirements in addition to providing quality programing and networking opportunities to their members. Last year, Temple's PRSSA Chapter exceeded the already considerable achievements required to become a Star Chapter.
A number of chapter members applied for scholarships and a...
John Matthews, KLN '19, is already a distinguished MBA and global vice president at the software giant SAP. But rather than resting on those accomplishments, he, age 56, decided to return to Klein College to earn his MS in Communication Management as a vehicle to fuel his startup nonprofit that raises awareness and funds for lung cancer treatment.
Matthews' mother was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer and passed away in 2011. What surprised him was to learn that the illness, which receives less awareness and research support than similar conditions, is the most deadly can...
Laura Saltman, KLN '94, was focused on building her career in celebrity journalism when a series of tragedies pushed her to look deeper. Now, she's a consultant and author who helps her clients balance their career pursuits with their spiritual lives.
Saltman transferred to Klein College as an undergraduate because it offered a unique program in radio, television and film, which put more emphasis on the contemporary media of the day than the traditional journalism program which she had begun at Ohio State University.
"I just loved that Temple was a little more forward thin...
Alexandra Cahanap, KLN '21, researches pornography for its scholarly value.
It's a form of mass media markedly influential on most people and mainstream popular culture, she argued in her honors media and society research paper presented at the Gender and Women's Studies Student Research Conference at Villanova University.
Her paper, "The Penetration of Pornography in Society," resulted from research with 109 participants aged 16 to 27 — most of them 18, the large majority of them heterosexual and slightly more than half of them male — answering questions about pornography...
Cassandra Semyon, KLN '18, will be spending next summer in Washington, D.C. working directly with MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell. Semyon was hand selected by Mitchell as part of an independent study program.
Semyon, who majors in media studies and production, spent last summer interning at ABC News in Washington and was anxious to find a way back to the capital. She was hoping to work at the D.C. bureau for NBC news, but she couldn't figure out how to apply. Professor Paul Gluck, the general manager at TUTV and Semyon's mentor, was able to help. "[Gluck] found someone who knew s...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHILADELPHIA - AUG. 6, 2018 - Charles Barkley, NBA Hall of Famer and Emmy-winning broadcaster, will receive the Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Award this fall. The acclaimed analyst will be the 18th recipient of the honor at a ceremony hosted annually by Temple University's Klein College of Media and Communication to honor distinguished alumni and media figures, and to raise funds for student scholarships.
Barkley began his broadcasting career in 2000 as a studio analyst with TNT, and he has broadcast every NCAA Final Four since 2011. Today he appears on...
For Ben Otte, KLN '18, there's nothing like the "rush" of working in live television because "you only have one shot to get it right." Otte, a photojournalist for WGAL-TV in Lancaster, is among several Klein College graduates who worked on the multimedia show Temple Update, an experience that led to a full-time position in broadcasting within a month following graduation. Peter Jaroff, the assistant chair of the Department of Media Studies and Production and the executive producer of Temple Update, says at least seven new alumni found work soon after earning their degrees. Fo...
The Associated Press Media Editors Awards for Excellence in Journalism will honor the Reentry Project, a collaborative journalism project focused on bringing attention to prison issues, at their 2018 ceremony. Julie Christie, KLN '19, was cited specifically for her work on an infographic for the project.
The Reentry Project, a project of the Solutions Journalism Network, represents a new trend in reporting— collaborative journalism. The yearlong project brought together a group of reporters and news outlets to investigate issues around challenges for the formerly incarcerate...
The members of the Lambda Pi Eta National Honor Society are creating a new mentorship program to partner with incoming students and help them make the most of their time at Klein College.
According to Dr. Scott Gratson, director of the Communication Studies Program, incoming students can really benefit from having someone to talk to about their goals. Gratson remembers being told by former Provost Peter Jones that students who can identify someone who can help them reach their personal and academic goals are a third more likely to graduate.
"It's one of the big reasons that...
After over 30 years in the gaming industry, Virginia McDowell, KLN '80, has retired, but that doesn't mean that she's slowed down. McDowell sits on the boards of five nonprofit organizations, including the one she helped found: Global Gaming Women. McDowell sees a clear line from her time at Klein College as a journalism major through her groundbreaking career as the first female CEO in her industry and her continuing commitment to giving back.
From her earliest years sitting on top of the card catalog in the library of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, where her father was the...
This year, six Klein College seniors will graduated with a major of distinction in the Communication Studies Program. The program allows students to build an interdisciplinary course of study across departments within the college, and is particularly rigorous including an undergraduate thesis.
On May 7, Maya Minhas, KLN '18, defended her thesis as part of the program. Minhas, who graduated summa cum laude, majored in communication studies with a concentration in international communication and a minor in Spanish.
Minhas' thesis, "Americanism," considers American cultural ide...
Paula Cuerquis, KLN '18, recently won first place in the Philly Ad Club scholarship competition. Each year, Philadelphia colleges and universities nominate students for the award and this is the second year in a row a Klein College student earned first place.
Cuerquis was required to submit a nomination form before proceeding to a conversation with four judges. Local professionals taking part in judging included Alan Tempest, owner of Tempest Communications, Stephen Facenda, owner and operator of Philadelphia's Viamark office, Elizabeth Howarth, manager at Aloysius Butler &...
For the first time ever, Temple students on the National Student Advertising team came in second place in the district at the annual National Student Advertising Competition—only two points away from first. Temple has participated in the conference before but this was the best finish in college history.
Each year, one client sponsors the event and students are asked to create its campaign. This year, the client was Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, and students were given a hypothetical $5 million dollar budget to create a campaign to reach millennials. The team traveled to New Y...
In just six months, two Temple University sophomores and their buddy from Purdue University built themselves a sustainable business.
They call it Obie Media LLC, a wedding and corporate video production company run by Chief Executive Officer Skyeler O'Brien, KLN '20; Chief Technology Officer Harrison Miller, ENG '20; and Chief Operating Officer Jacob Irvin.
"We know now that we have a job after college," said O'Brien, who incorporated the business in November while maintaining a full-time commitment to Klein College, majoring in media studies and production and specializing in...
Klein College graduate Lexy Williams, KLN '18, looked to the hair of 26 models to cap her senior project and spark a discussion about race, identity and culture.
"It's Just Hair, Right?" — the event Williams described as a visual project about "cultural appropriation, cultural assimilation and cultural appreciation"— brought about 100 people to the Annenberg Atrium on April 30.
"I kind of realized there are a lot of blurred lines within the topic — what is cultural assimilation, appropriation, appreciation — I wanted to talk about the boundaries," said Williams, who has...
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), in partnership with the Facebook Journalism Project, recently awarded a $10,000 scholarship to Klein College alumnus, adjunct instructor and TUTV Spanish-language show creator and host Rafael Logroño.
The NAHJ bills itself as the largest organization of Latino journalists in the United States—about 2,200 members—that works toward advancing the role of Latino journalists and accurate representations of Latinos in the news business. Facebook in January announced that it had established scholarships and that, for the 201...
Besides embarrassment, Ekemini Stephen, KLN '19, felt powerless when a lecherous comedian more than twice her age incorporated her into his routine, proposing she marry him on stage during her father's retirement party.
"I looked at my dad and he was uncomfortable," Stephen told an assembly in April as part of a new Klein College course on communication and civic engagement. She was 15 at the time and growing up in Nigeria, "a patriarchal society that uses culture and religion as justification for gender inequality," she said.
By 16, a frustrated Stephen had stopped wearing m...
Deana Gamble, KLN '06, was eager to serve her city and hoped to do it in anyway possible. Through her professional opportunities throughout college and her career, she worked her way up, serving as the director of communications for the Philadelphia mayor's office.
When Gamble started at Temple, she studied a variety of topics, including journalism, public relations and advertising, but decided to major in organizational communication with a concentration in public relations—double majoring in spanish. She was also a member of Temple Public Relations Student Society of America...
A crowded room and a ticking clock may not be the ideal environment for creative work. Still, Quyen Truong, KLN '19, and her team kept their cool in the Temple Adobe Creative Jam and walked away with both the Judges' Choice and the People's Choice awards in the high-pressure design competition. The competition gives designers a theme and just three hours to come up with a complete creative product. Kathy Mueller, assistant professor of advertising, made clear that the Creative Jam is a big challenge and it takes guts to enter—and she should know. Mueller and her teammate Davi...
