My summer plans

The 2022-23 academic year at UNC-Chapel Hill is over. We made it! Here is my agenda for the summer: Lead a week-long residency for our online master’s program in digital communication. A dozen students will get training in video production from my colleague Chad Heartwood. I will meet with them for brainstorming sessions for their…

Q&A with Ellie Heffernan of Mountain State Spotlight

Ellie Heffernan is a Report for America corps member and community watchdog reporter at Mountain State Spotlight, based in Charleston, West Virginia. She is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and has written for several North Carolina publications, including INDY Week. In this interview, conducted by email, Heffernan discusses her role at Mountain State Spotlight, including…

A wealth of reporting from Puerto Rico

This semester, students in a multimedia course at UNC-Chapel Hill traveled to Puerto Rico during spring break. Their mission: Cover issues affecting the island and its people five years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck. After their trip, students in my News Editing course back on the mainland contributed by editing drafts of feature stories…

Great guests

Paola Pérez of The News & Observer meets with an editing class via Zoom. The conversation covered topics such as how the N&O uses email newsletters and social media platforms. The 2022-23 academic year is in the home stretch. The last day of class at UNC-Chapel Hill is April 28, followed by exam week and…

Your guides to AP style

Christine Steele, Andy Bechtel and Lisa McLendon at the ACES conference in Columbus, Ohio. The annual conference of ACES: The Society for Editing is in full swing in Columbus, Ohio. More than 500 editors from news, government, academia, corporations and freelance are attending — and yes, we are nerding out on everything editing. Here's what I…

How I spent spring break

UNC-Chapel Hill's spring break is wrapping up. Classes resume on Monday. Here's how I spent my break: graded midterm exams and other assignments; reviewed applications for an online master’s program in digital communication; prepared presentations and assignments for classes; prepared for a panel for the upcoming conference of ACES: The Society for Editing; took care of mundane…

Q&A with Adrienne Lu of the Chronicle of Higher Education

Adrienne Lu is a senior reporter at the Chronicle of Higher Education. She has previously worked at Stateline, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The (Bergen County) Record in New Jersey, and The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. This interview was conducted by email. Q. Describe your job. What is your typical workweek like? A. I…

Amazon frown

Last week, I was sad to hear that Amazon is ending Amazon Smile. The program allowed customers to have a sliver of each Amazon purchase donated to charity. Amazon says the program "has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped" since its creation in 2013. The program will end in February…

Come to Columbus for ACES Evolve

The national conference of ACES: The Society for Editing will take place March 23-25 in Columbus, Ohio. I’ll be there. The conference's theme is "ACES Evolve, The Power of Editing," and the gathering will have sessions that will appeal to editors across disciplines. I'll be on a panel about teaching editing. We’ll learn who won the headline contest,…

What I am teaching this semester

The spring 2023 semester at UNC-Chapel Hill begins on Monday, Jan. 9. Here's what I am teaching this term: MEJO 153, Writing and Reporting. In this course, students learn the essentials of writing and information gathering for journalism and public relations. The class meets twice a week and has 20 students. Here is the syllabus.…