Note:This post is the text of the presentation I did at the 2023 Honors Convocation at Mount Mercy University, May 12, 2023. Convocation is kind of the kick-off event of a series of events associated with commencement at MMU. The first two images below were used during the presentation, the rest are just bonus images from Annie’s time at Mount Mercy.
Annie Barkalow reflection
Hello, my name is Joe Sheller, associate professor of communication at Mount Mercy University. Many know me for being faculty advisor to the MMU Times, as well as official DJ of the Times office.
Here is an early image I made of Annie Barkalow, covering an event in fall 2020, when she came to Mount Mercy and first began writing for the Mount Mercy Times.
Fall 2020--The masked era. Annie Barkalow covering a speech for the MMU Times.
By fall of this year, she achieved the high office and dignity of Editor-in-Chief of the campus newspaper.
Fall 2022--Annie as editor recruiting students at Involvement Fair.
As you can see, some things have changed over the years. Annie has grown, partly fueled by new life experiences. She herself wrote in her final column for the Times that being on the editorial staff of the newspaper, and of the MMU literary magazine Paha, were important to her. As Annie states:
Quote: Being part of these publications was the highlight of my school experience and proved to be invaluable. Writing for the Times, I learned how to ask strategic questions, honed my writing and photography skills and met a lot of interesting people. Unquote.
Annie was quite complimentary to both me and to Dr. Mary Vermillion, advisor of Paha, and I appreciate her kind words. Kind, but heartfelt, too, because that was Annie—she has the attributes that a great journalist and writer needs: a big heart combined with a critical-thinking mind.
I am proud to have been part of Annie’s growth over the past three years. True, Reece’s Peanut Butter cups were also a part of that growth, for both of us, but I mean the growth of her skills and mind.
Every student faces a balancing act of life and school and activities, and Annie showed a lot of grit and determination completing her undergraduate degree as a non-traditional age student whose balancing act is incredibly challenging. I hope that her family shares fully in the pride those of us at MMU feel in seeing what Annie has been able to do. As a journalist for the MMU Times, Annie covered key stories with maturity, balance and insight. She wrote about MMU removing art installations in a controversy last spring. She wrote about the struggles of teachers in a challenging time for education. She covered a Holocaust remembrance ceremony in a story that was recognized as the best feature story in the state by the Iowa College Media Association. Her personal blog, Anne with an E, was recognized twice by ICMA for being among the best student journalist’s blogs in Iowa.
More than the accolades from ICMA, I think Annie will long be recalled for her clear devotion to the newspaper and its service to MMU. She innovated, creating, for example, the “Flashback” feature that is an ongoing aspect of the Times.
She wrote many of our best news stories, staff editorials and features, and made many of our best photographs, over the three years she spent on The Hill.
It is my pleasure to recognize the many contributions that Annie Barkalow has made to Mount Mercy as a journalist. The outstanding student journalist of the year for 2023 is Anne with an E, a.k.a. Annie Barkalow.
The
Iowa College Media Association award ceremony was both very familiar
and very different this year. It is usually held during the Iowa
Newspaper Association Convention, but this pandemic winter, the ICMA
convention didn’t take place.
Yet, the Thursday night award
ceremony did happen Feb. 18. The ceremony, hosted over zoom, was
different due to the remoteness of online meetings, and also familiar,
with radio awards, TV awards and then “news media” awards, mostly
newspaper categories but some online awards, too.
Mount Mercy
University’s “Mount Mercy Times” won seven awards. In particular,
student Courtney Hoffman, a senior who graduates this year and is
managing editor of the Times, was recognized multiple times. Jada
Veasey, a nursing junior who is our senior opinion editor, also won
several writing awards.
Courtney Hoffman, MMU Times Managing Editor.
The
Times has historically done well in certain categories, and again
showed the general strength of its opinion writing. The Times was
recognized with a first-place award for staff editorials.
The three
submitted were written by Jada Veasey, Courtney Hoffman and Veronica
Jons, although the whole editorial board has a hand in setting staff
positions and crafting editorials. In my opinion, providing a
thoughtful, meaningful voice on policy questions on campus is a key role
of a student newspaper, and the Times excellence in this category is
evidence that it takes that mission seriously and does well in it.
Veronica Jons, editor-in-chief of MMU Times.
Jada
Veasey, who I already mentioned, was honored as the best opinion
columnist in the state of Iowa in the past year. Jada’s humorous,
thoughtful, quirky voice has been a welcome addition to the Times, and
it’s good to see her writing recognized on the state level.
Jada Veasey, senior opinion editor.
The
Times links its web site to blogs written by editors and staff
writers—and two of those won recognition. The best newspaper blog in the
state, according to ICMA, is written by Courtney Hoffman, managing
editor of the Times. The second best is by staff writer Annie Barkalow.
Image of Annie from her blog.
Annie
is a nontraditional age student, and I’m glad that she was able to view the
zoom award ceremony Feb. 18. The next day, she told me that she had
informed her family of her second-place win, and said her teenage
daughter’s reaction was, “mom, it wasn’t first place.” Ouch. In Roman
times, to keep a victorious general from having too much hubris, a slave
would stand with him in his chariot and whisper in his ear that he was
only a flawed human during the general’s victory parade. As a father, I
guess I can see that one’s teen offspring often serve the same purpose.
Well,
congratulations to the talented student journalist who serve an
important role at Mount Mercy by providing the community with a vibrant
student news outlet. MMU would be a poorer place without that.
In addition to the first-place awards, the Times won awards in feature photos, profile story and page one design.
Below is a list of the seven awards won by the MMU
Times, by category. With each is the name of the student or students
from MMU honored in the award, comments on the individual entry from the
contest judges (professional Iowa journalists provided by INA) and, in
some cases, category comments, which were notes from the category judge on the whole let of
entries in that category from all Iowa college newspapers.
Here are the awards the Times won:
Best Feature Photo, Second Place, Mount Mercy University- The Mount Mercy Times Accident Leads Back to School—Hands; Courtney Hoffman Judge’s comment: The portrait of hands clutching a cane powerfully reinforces the message of "true grit." Best Profile Story, Third Place, Mount Mercy University- The Mount Mercy Times Accident Leads Back to School; Courtney Hoffman Judge’s
comment: A nice story that maybe could have used an additional source
or two. I would have liked to have seen the social work get moved up to
the front. Feels like it could have been shorter. Category comment:
Everybody has a story. The winners in this category run the gamut from
people who have an obvious story to people who maybe aren't so obvious.
The key to a good profile is a good interview while multiple sources can
help flesh out a story. There were a lot of one-source stories in this
category.
Best Opinion Writing, First Place, Mount Mercy University- The Mount Mercy Times Opinion Columns by Jada Veasey Judge’s
comment: A refreshing and engaging writing style made these columns
enjoyable to read. The use of analogy and reasoning made them
thought-provoking, as well.
Best Blog, First Place, Mount Mercy University- The Mount Mercy Times Curious Consultations: unsolicited anecdotal advice by Courtney Hoffman Judge’s
comment: Courtney is a conversational and entertaining writer who
brings relatable topics front and center for her college audience. Best Blog, Second Place, Mount Mercy University- The Mount Mercy Times Anne with an E by Annie Barkalow Judge’s
comment: Through her lens as a nontraditional student, Anne brings her
own brand of challenges to the college scene -- and her blog.
Best Staff Editorial(s), First Place, Mount Mercy University- The Mount Mercy Times Mount Mercy Times staff editorials-Jada Veasey, Veronica Jons, Courtney Hoffman Judge’s
comment: The strength of these staff editorials addressing timely,
relevant social issues lay in the numerous examples used to connect them
with the local university culture. The specific recommendations offered
move each piece beyond mere words into action.
Best Page 1, Third Place, Mount Mercy University- The Mount Mercy Times Derecho and President Departs by Veronica Jons Judge’s
comment: Very newsy content. Masthead is too large for the page and
slightly stronger writing might have pushed this into second. Category
comment: Two things—really focus on your local community. The winners
in this category were newspapers that knew their audience and provided
information that audience could only get from them. Look at your
mastheads and how they balance against the news portion of your page.
Watch the use of reverse type, it's hard to read although it can
sometimes be an attractive design option used in serious moderation.
Final
thought: Iowa universities are beset by many challenges, including, at
the state level, a wrong-headed GOP legislature that seems to want to
cure was it perceives as free expression problems on campus by a weird
series of laws that, in effect, would muzzle expression.
Sort of like in
"I Cladius" when the crazy emperor cured a boy's cough by chopping his
head off.
Anyway, the Times, like other student media, stands for free
expression. As another faculty member reminded us at the ICMA awards ceremony, nobody in your audience cares
what you did yesterday, so the challenge is to go out and do it even
better tomorrow. I would add, with courage.
My wish for you (link in case video does not show, it doesn't on my phone but does on computer), MMU student journalists and all Iowa student journalists:
