New Distinguished Industry Ambassadors Program Launches at Missouri
Digital Senior Editor for McClatchy Anna Buchmann has been named as the first Distinguished Industry Ambassador at the Missouri School of Journalism. She will serve in this role on the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus Oct. 8-12.
McClatchy Digital Senior Editor Anna Buchmann to Be the First Ambassador
Columbia, Mo. (Oct. 5, 2018) — The Missouri School of Journalism today announced a new Distinguished Industry Ambassadors Program that will create real-time academe-industry engagement opportunities. Among the goals are to exchange resources, collaborate on ways to implement new technologies and enhance storytelling on multiple digital platforms.
Ambassadors will be embedded into one or more of the School’s eight professional newsrooms and agencies. They will spend multiple days on campus as a member of the team that manages the outlets’ day-to-day operations and activities, interacting with faculty and students to identify challenges and solutions.
Missouri has a unique combination of talent, professional newsrooms, the Futures Lab, entrepreneurial spirit, industry connections, global reach and more that makes problem solving on the highest levels possible, said Ruby Bailey, director of the program. She serves as the School’s Missouri Community Newspaper Management Chair and executive editor of the Columbia Missourian.
“The School is magnet for smart, creative people with ideas and energy,” she said. “We are excited to partner with industry to tackle big problems and accelerate the kind of change needed in journalism.”
McClatchy Digital Senior Editor Anna Buchmann will serve as the first Distinguished Industry Ambassador. Buchmann, based at the Sacramento Bee in California since 2000, leads numerous initiatives related to audience development, social media, multi-platform storytelling, breaking news and more. She will be on the Columbia campus Oct. 8-12.
Future ambassador selection will be based on areas of expertise, specific needs and availability. Some members of the School’s faculty will be embedded in other newsrooms as the program expands.
The program is funded through contributions from the Community Newspaper Management Chair held by Bailey; the Knight Chair in Digital Editing and Producing held by Damon Kiesow; the Houston Harte Endowed Chair held by Mike Jenner; the Reynolds Journalism Institute and the 1908 Society.
The Missouri School of Journalism, the world’s first, is the international leader in journalism education. Some of the best journalists in the world have learned their profession through the Missouri Method, which provides practical hands-on training in six professional news outlets – Columbia Missourian, KOMU-TV, KBIA-FM, Vox Magazine, Global Journalist, Missouri Business Alert – and two strategic communication agencies – AdZou and MOJO Ad. Students and faculty regularly earn more than 500 top awards and recognitions from international, national and other organizations.
The School works with the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute to help create a bright future for journalism. RJI, along with the many institutes and centers headquartered at the School, provide resources to support a variety of research, networking and partnership opportunities.
Updated: November 5, 2020