Kappa Tau Alpha to Celebrate Its Centennial with a Special Presentation
Founded at Missouri, the Society Recognizes Excellence in Scholarship
Columbia, Mo. (March 4, 2010) — Kappa Tau Alpha, the nation’s seventh oldest national honor society, will celebrate its centennial with a special lecture on the anniversary of its founding.
“Journalism Ethics and Structural Change” will be presented at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10, in the Fred W. Smith Forum at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will consider the ethical implications of ongoing economic and organizational changes in journalism, along with changes in narrative forms and journalist-audience relationships.
The presentation can be viewed live at www.rjionline.org. Click on “RJI Live” link to connect.
The speaker will be the society’s national president, Jane B. Singer, PhD ’96. She is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa and a visiting professor at the University of Central Lancashire in Britain. Singer recently returned from a three-year appointment as the Johnston Press Chair in Digital Journalism at Central Lancashire. Her research explores digital journalism, including changing roles, perceptions, norms and practices. Before earning her doctorate at the Missouri School of Journalism, Singer was the first news manager of Prodigy Interactive Services. She also has worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. In 2005 Singer received the William H. Taft Outstanding Chapter Adviser Award from KTA.
KTA was founded on March 10, 1910, at Missouri, the world’s first school of journalism. It inducts journalism and mass communication students who rank in the top 10 percent of their class, promoting excellence in scholarship and honoring those who achieve it. The Greek letters convey the idea that “the truth will prevail;” the initials “KTA” also suggest the English words “knowledge, truth, accuracy,” encapsulating the mission of the society.
Since 1944, KTA has presented an annual award for the best research-based book in the field. The society also co-sponsors the KTA/AEJMC (Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication) Awards Luncheon and presents an award for the top student paper in each AEJMC division. Keith Sanders, professor emeritus at the School, serves as KTA’s executive director.
Updated: May 7, 2020