Chloe Hill, a senior communication studies major with a minor in management consulting in the Fox School of Business, had an idea. Since her family is in the fire sprinkler business and her partner is a firefighter, Hill quickly became aware of the statistic that most fires reported by eyewitnesses have already progressed to the point of doing serious damage. To combat this, she came up with the idea for a solar-powered sensor that uses radio transmission to send information about wildfires to dispatch before they get big enough to harm property or take lives. Being impactful,...

You may remember Samantha Hilty, KLN '17, from a recent Bird Feeder event, where she kicked off the spring series with her colleagues at Grey NY - Elizabeth Gilchrist, senior vice president and global account director, and Evan T. Atherton, copy supervisor. The team spoke about a PSA they created for States United to Prevent Gun Violence, "Best Unbox Ever With Cayden," that has gone viral on YouTube and received widespread attention, including in Ad Week.The video uses the format of the popular "unboxing" style video, popular with children and young people on YouTube. In this...

A few months ago Christiana Dillard, a master's student in the Media Studies and Production (MSP) program and former news writer for Klein College of Media and Communication, was looking to apply for a semester-long business journalism fellowship that she was only half-interested in. That fellowship, facilitated by the National Association for Black Journalists (NABJ), led her to the NABJ website, where she would discover another fellowship launched jointly by NABJ and the Facebook Journalism Project that focuses on fact-checking for the social media behemoth.Preferring to take...

Before the social distancing requirements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many people could not imagine working from home. But Rachel Ezekiel-Fishbein, KLN '86, was ahead of her time. When she launched her public relations agency Making Headlines in December 1995, she did so from the comfort of her home using emerging technology like the Internet. Today, Making Headlines is still going strong with Ezekiel-Fishbein, who also teaches at Klein College of Media and Communication, at the helm.Making Headlines was birthed out of necessity. Ezekiel-Fishbein worked at Earle Palmer...

Xiwen Zhang describes herself as an "academic fan." Tracing her love of transnational and intercultural media all the way back to seeing The Lion King in theaters in China as a young girl, Zhang now studies popular culture fan communities, or "fandoms," as a fourth-year doctoral student at Klein College of Media and Communication.Having studied fandoms for years and considering herself an avid fan of superhero movies and comics, Zhang's most recent publication goes in-depth on this subject. The article,"Why most Chinese fans of American superhero movies are girls: A gendered...

Assistant Professor of Media Studies and Production (MSP) Andrew Iliadis has a pretty unique set of research interests; though he has a strong background in critical data studies, he recently co-edited a book titled Embodied Computing: Wearables, Implantables, Embeddables, Ingestibles with Canada Research Chair in Digital Life, Media, and Culture and a Associate Professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Isabel Pedersen, who also served as his former post-doctoral advisor. The book is a compendium of research surrounding the imagined future in which...

After a decades-long career in public relations, retired Klein College professor Jean Brodey died on April 30, 2014, at age 85. However, some of her former students are ensuring that her legacy is passed on to a new generation. Danielle Cohn, KLN '95, and Cathy Engel Menendez, KLN '93, established a campaign fund to endow a scholarship in Brodey's name. They made substantial contributions and encouraged others to give as well. Today, with help of other significant gifts - including from former student Krysta Pellegrino, KLN '00 - the fund has been endowed and the Dr. Jean...

Last month, the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ) awarded three journalism students from Klein College of Media and Communication with scholarships. Victoria Lucas, Nicolle Majette and Kyla Jackson were each recognized with $1,000 to apply toward their education. The recipients were told about the scholarships by Denise James, an adjunct instructor at Klein who is a past officer of PABJ. They used their applications as a space to express their desire to contribute to the diversity and equity of the industry, as well as promote a vision for journalism's more...

The Lew Klein College of Media and Communication recently welcomed two new members to its board of visitors: two women who have and continue to serve as role models and prime examples of what success in Philadelphia's media climate can look like.The first new member is Janet Klein, the philanthropist, historic preservationist and wife of the late Lew Klein, who both lend our college their name. A native of the Philadelphia region and an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania, Klein and her husband touched many lives through their philanthropy, supporting disciplines from...