Events

War in Ukraine: Hear from region’s journalists during virtual panel March 2

Ukraine, Russian journalists share struggles of wartime reporting

UConn students are invited to attend a free virtual discussion at 11 a.m. ET on March 2 with Russian and Ukrainian journalists to discuss the ongoing challenges to their work. The journalists will discuss their daily struggles under fire, threats from the Russian government, and efforts to seek asylum abroad and maintain a journalism practice.

The online event is hosted by the National Press Club’s Press Freedom Committee and the National Press Club Journalism Institute.

One year into Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, journalists in both countries have responded valiantly in insisting on their right to provide independent, accurate, and piercing news coverage that serves the public’s interests.

As so many of the region’s journalists have pushed themselves to the limit in covering the war and its many ramifications, the physical, mental, and emotional toll is growing. Ukrainian journalists have worked to provide coverage of the war’s ruinous impacts on their communities despite risks to their personal safety, emotional trauma, and uncertain financial prospects. And Russian journalists have made the difficult decision to leave their families, flee Russia, and make a new life abroad rather than submit to the Kremlin’s propaganda machine demands.

Speakers include:

Elizaveta Kirpanova, who worked as a special reporter of the Russian independent newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” for the past five years. In her articles, she covered problems in health care, education system, charity, and immigration. The Russian government recently revoked the newspaper’s media license for its position on the war in Ukraine.

Olga Rudenko, the editor in chief of The Kyiv Independent. Prior to 2022, she was the Managing Editor of The Kyiv Post.

Anastasia Tishchenko, a human rights reporter and news presenter with Radio Svoboda, RFE/RL’s Russian Service based in Prague since 2021. She joined RFE/RL in Moscow in 2017 as a reporter covering the deteriorating rights situation in Russia. She also has spent significant time in Ukraine.

Jessica Jerreat, who leads Voice of America’s award-winning press freedom coverage, will moderate the discussion. With a background in press freedom and international news, Jerreat has worked for organizations including the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and The Times of London. She has a master’s degree in War, Media, and Society from the University of Kent at Canterbury, with a focus on propaganda, the press, and conflict.

Event: Fireside Chat with ESPN’s Molly Qerim on March 7

espn anchor molly qerim

Molly Qerim is the familiar female face and voice who hosts the number one sports morning show, ESPN’s First Take. The Emmy Award-winning Qerim is at the helm, working alongside Stephen A. Smith and a rotating team of guests to moderate very strong personalities with both warmth and authority.

Join us as Molly shares insight into how her experience at UConn opened the door to a career in sports broadcasting.

She is a 2006 graduate from the College of Liberal Arts in Sciences with a major in Communications and a minor in Business Administration.

She will speak on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 from 6-8:00 pm in Konover Auditorium at the Dodd Center for Human Rights.

UConn Journalism major Samara Thacker '23 will moderate the discussion.

Register: https://www.events.foundation.uconn.edu/ereg/index.php?eventid=737161&

 

 

‘Landfall’ documentary screening and Q&A event on Oct. 13

The Department of Journalism will host an in-person screening and Q&A for the documentary LANDFALL, on Thursday, Oct. 13.

Screening Time: 12:30 - 2 p.m.

Filmmaker Q&A, moderated by Assistant Professor Martine Granby: 2:00 pm - 3:15pm

Location: Gant North 020

About the Film: Through shard-like glimpses of everyday life in post-Hurricane María Puerto Rico, LANDFALL is a cautionary tale for our times. Set against the backdrop of protests that toppled the US colony’s governor in 2019, the film offers a prismatic portrait of collective trauma and resistance.

While the devastation of María attracted a great deal of media coverage, the world has paid far less attention to the storm that preceded it: a 72-billion-dollar debt crisis crippling Puerto Rico well before the winds and waters hit. LANDFALL examines the kinship of these two storms—one environmental, the other economic—juxtaposing competing utopian visions of recovery.

Featuring intimate encounters with Puerto Ricans as well as the newcomers flooding the island, LANDFALL reflects on a question of contemporary global relevance: when the world falls apart, who do we become?

This event is cosponsored by: Department of Journalism, Humanities Institute, el Instituto: Institute of Latina/o. Caribbean and Latin American Studies, the Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies and the Africana Studies Institute

Register for the event: s.uconn.edu/landfall

'Landfall' Movie Poster

'Landfall' Poster

Director Cecilia Aldarondo

Director Cecilia Aldarondo

Associate Producer Lale Namerrow Pastor

Associate Producer Lale Namerrow Pastor

Scenes from ‘Landfall’

Scenes from ‘Landfall’
Water bottles in a pile
Crowd in the streets of Puerto Rico

Join the 2022 Planet Forward Storytelling Summit on April 7

At a moment of urgency and crisis, stories can motivate and mobilize, inform, and engage. 

The University of Connecticut, through UConn Journalism, is now a member of the Planet Forward Consortium, a network based at George Washington University in Washington, DC dedicated to advancing solutions-oriented storytelling from students reporting about the climate, food, water, sustainability, conservation, and environmental justice. 

On Thursday, April 7 from 1-3pm, Planet Forward will host the 2022 Summit, “The Storyteller's Journey: Navigating Crisis, Seeking Solutions. The event will gather experts, media leaders, and young people from around the world to offer solutions and share narratives that address the planet’s most pressing problems.

Special guests include celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés; National Geographic Explorer Arati Kumar-Rao; Adobe Creative Cloud’s Mala Sharma; director of FAO North America Jocelyn Brown Hall; and manager of storytelling and engagement at Project Drawdown Matt Scott

 Additionally, winners will be announced from this year’s Storyfest competition, featuring the best of student environmental journalism from around the country. UConn Journalism student Zoey England is in the running for the grand prize —a trip to Alaska in June with Lindblad Expeditions to report on climate change.

Students, faculty and staff from all UConn departments are invited to cheer on Zoey and join a stellar gathering of experts and students.

Attend from your own computer or drop by Oak 439 anytime from 1-3 p.m. to be a part of this exciting event! 

We hope you will join us at the Summit for this exceptional learning and networking opportunity.  Discover how you can amplify stories and communicate strategies to help move the planet forward.

To register and learn more about Planet Forward, visit: https://www.planetforwardsummit.org

Register for our Local News Job & Internship Fair on March 26

UConn Journalism will host a Local News Job & Internship Fair on Saturday, March 26.

WHERE: UConn Journalism Department, Storrs Campus, Oak Hall, Fourth Floor South.

WHEN: Saturday, March 26 from 10 a.m. to noon.

WHY: UConn Journalism is committed to strengthening the local news landscape in Connecticut and the region. We want to help connect local newsrooms with aspiring, well-trained young journalists.

We know that strong local journalism builds social cohesion, encourages political participation, educates and empowers people. Local journalists inform and guard the public they serve. Local news helps us see, know, care about and understand our communities. It drives conversations and serves as the public record.

CONFIRMED NEWS ORGANIZATIONS: NBC Connecticut News, FOX 61 News, Hearst Connecticut, The Connecticut Mirror, WFSB Channel 3 Eyewitness News, Connecticut Health Investigative Team, The Day, Journal Inquirer, Republican-American, Willimantic Chronicle, New Britain Herald, CT Examiner, Turley Publications and Patch.

WHO: This event is co-hosted by our new UConn student SPJ chapter. It is open to all college journalism students in Connecticut, especially members of other SPJ student chapters and seniors graduating in May 2022.

PARKING: Parking is available for a fee in the South Garage at the UConn Bookstore, next to Gampel Pavilion. Lot and street parking on the Storrs Campus is free on weekends. Closest parking lots to Oak Hall are located behind the Dodd Center, Manchester Hall and Arjona Building. There is street parking available along Whitney Road.

Registration for this event has ended.