On Sunday, February 23, students from PRSSA will present the fifth annual Curtain Call Awards.  The contest highlights outstanding high school classical singing talent throughout New Jersey. Read the full story here.

Bill Odenkirk has been a writer and co-executive producer for "The Simpsons" for eleven years, and he will be our guest for the February 18 Colloquium.  More of his biography can be found here.

On February 16, the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center will sponsor a bus tour to see "Bronx Bombers," the new Broadway play about the New York Yankees, at Circle in the Square Theater. Package includes two-way bus transportation, snack and theater ticket. Tickets: $85 ($75 for museum members). 1:00 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. To RSVP call (973) 655-2378. 

Scott Webb, former Creative Director at Nickelodeon, will discuss the changing television business and media design during the February 26 Colloquium event. For more information, and to register, go here. 

On March 27, Ken Auletta, media writer for The New Yorker magazine and the author of several books (e.g., Warriors of the Information Superhighway) will discuss journalism and media in Leshowitz Recital Hall at 8:00pm. This year's Terhune Journalism Lecture is being cosponsored by the English Department and the School of Communication and Media.

Merrill Brown, director of SCM, published on Forbes.com a post titled "Patch's Biggest Blunder: Ignoring Cities." In the piece, Brown analyzed the challenges that have faced the news website Patch.com. He also reflected on the future of local media. View full article here. 

Brown was also featured on a FIOS1 TV news segment on Facebook's 10th anniversary.  In the interview, he provided insight on the features of Facebook that led it to become very popular and the communication challenges the website addresses. View the interview here.

Karl Nussbaum (along with his artist wife, Jenny Lynn McNutt) has been awarded another summer artist residency in Amsterdam at the M4Gastatelier, Tetterode Art Center. He plans to start work on a new 3D video performance piece entitled "Topology."

  

Michelle Miller and CBS News filmed a segment on a famous Babe Ruth baseball, which he gave to a hospitalized 11-year-old boy named Johnny Sylvester after promising to hit a home run for him in the 1926 World Series. Segment aired on CBS on February 6.

  

Debbie Galant wrote about the open records implications of the Christie bridge-delay scandal in a post for the Dodge Foundation Blog, "Journalism by Subpoena," published on January 21. 

 

Marc Rosenweig was a guest on the NJ News Commons podcast to discuss how NJ press have covered preparations for the Super Bowl. 

  
Dr. Hugh Curnutt's recent op-ed for The Record is a reaction to Oxford Dictionary naming "selfie" its word of the year. In it he discusses the selfie phenomenon in terms of the cultural logic governing contemporary celebrity and the evolving relationship between producers and consumers brought about by mobile technologies and self-authored media content. View full article here. 

Dr. Yi Luo's lead-authored article "Effective Public Relations Leadership in Organizational Transformation" is in press from the Journal of Public Relations Research. Another lead-authored article "Empowerment and Internal Activism during Organizational Change" was also in press from the International Journal of Strategic Communication. 

  

The Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center screened "Lenny Cooke: The Documentary," on Wednesday, February 12.  The acclaimed documentary focuses on Cooke, who was rated ahead of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in high school, but never made it to the NBA.  The film was followed by a discussion with Harvey Araton of the New York Times and the film's producer Adam Shopkorn.  For more information, click here.

Lexi Alexander is a German-born film director. She is a former World Point Fighting and Karate Champion who, after retiring from professional fighting the age 19, found her way into film through a role in "Mortal Kombat: Live Tour."  While working as a stunt woman she began directing award-winning films including "Johnny Flynton"  and "Green Street Hooligans." Other films include the cult classic Punisher: War Zone and the spiritual movie "Lifted."  

On February 6, the Center for Cooperative Media and NJ News Commons held an event for former Patch employees in the wake of mass layoffs.   NJ News Commons also produced a podcast on the layoffs and future plans for Patch, featuring Associate Professor for Digital Media Steve Johnson and Patch's Senior Regional Editor for Pennsylvania and New Jersey Tom Davis. Listen here.  

On February 4, award winning, Los Angeles based filmmaker, choreographer and video artist, Cari Ann Shim Sham was the featured guest.   Read more here.

A special exhibit - "Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America," opened on January 29 at the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center. The exhibit is courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution and New Jersey Council for the Humanities. The story is here.

Writer, producer, director, Seth Kramer, the cofounder of Ironbound Films, a company noted for such documentaries as "The Morton Downey Jr. Movie," "The New Recruits," and "The Linguists" was the featured guest.   Read more.