2012 Missouri Honor Medalists to Speak on Experience, World Issues

Master’s Classes Scheduled for Monday, Oct. 15

By Celia Darrough
Master’s Student

Columbia, Mo. (Sept. 27, 2012) — Free speech, the changing times of journalism, deep investigative reporting and looking into hidden cultures are topics that recipients of the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism will speak about a daylong series of master classes, which are free and open to the public, will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Master Class Schedule
at a Glance
Lifting a Curtain on Closed Worlds
8:30-9:45 a.m.
Fred W. Smith Forum
Jodi CobbHow Twitter Saved My Life and Other Adventures on Social Media
10-10:50 a.m.
Fred W. Smith Forum
Mona EltahawyThe Digital First Amendment: Free Speech in the Age of Social Media
11-11:50 a.m.
Fisher Auditorium
Ken PaulsonAmbidextrous Journalism:
How to Work Old and New Media
at the Same Time
1-1:50 p.m.
Fred W. Smith Forum
Adam MossChanging Majors
2-2:50 p.m.
Tucker Forum, Gannett Hall
Fred PapertPublic Interest, Public Policy
2-3:15 p.m.
Fred W. Smith Forum
John Ferrugia

Information Graphics at
The New York Times

3-3:50 p.m.
Geological Sciences Building 123
Presented by Kevin Quealy

Media as a Change Agent in a Transition Country: Pakistan as a Case Study
3:30-4:45 p.m.
Fred W. Smith Forum
Umar Cheema

From Missouri to The Washington Post: An Investigative Odyssey
4-4:50 p.m.
Anheuser Busch Natural Resources 111
Jeff Leen

The speakers, a group of investigative journalists, photographers, innovative editors and executives, will be honored at a banquet that evening. The reception begins at 6 p.m., with dinner to follow at 7 p.m.

  • Jodi Cobb
    Jodi Cobb

    Lifting a Curtain on Closed Worlds
    8:30-9:45 a.m. Fred W. Smith Forum

    Jodi Cobb, international photographer and author, is one of four women to have held a staff photographer position at National Geographic. Cobb, BJ ’68, MA ’71, has worked in more than 65 countries where she lifted the curtain on worlds that are closed to outsiders. She traveled across China after it was reopened to the West, photographed the lives of Saudi Arabian women and wrote a book on Japan’s geishas. Cobb has received awards from Pictures of the Year International, the National Press Photographers Association and the American Society of Media Photographers.

  • Mona Eltahawy
    Mona Eltahawy

    How Twitter Saved My Life and Other Adventures on Social Media
    10-10:50 a.m. Fred W. Smith Forum

    Mona Eltahawy, columnist and international speaker on Arab and Muslim issues, has been named one of Newsweek magazine’s “150 Fearless Women of 2012,” one of Time magazine’s “People of the Year” and one of Arabian Business magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Arab Women.” Eltahawy’s opinion pieces have been published in The Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune and other media across the world. Eltahawy, who calls herself a proud liberal Muslim, lectures and researches on the importance of social media in the Arab world. She has spoken at the first TEDWomen about the virtues of confusion in breaking stereotypes of Muslim women, and she has received several awards for her writing and leadership.

  • Ken Paulson, BJ '75
    Ken Paulson, BJ ’75

    The Digital First Amendment: Free Speech in the Age of Social Media
    11-11:50 a.m. Fisher Auditorium

    Ken Paulson, president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C., uses his background as a journalist and lawyer to influence his career. Paulson, BJ ’75, has served as the editor or managing editor at newspapers in five states, launched online newspapers and was part of the team who founded USA Today in 1982. He has served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today and is now a columnist on its board of contributors writing about First Amendment issues. Paulson has worked determinedly to promote understanding of the First Amendment. He founded “1 for All,” a national campaign for the First Amendment, wrote Freedom Sings, a stage show that tells the history of free speech with music, is the past-president of the American Society of News Editors and was the host of the Emmy-honored television show “Speaking Freely.” Paulson has been honored by the American Press Institute, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Southern Regional Press Institute and the University of Illinois.

  • Adam Moss
    Adam Moss

    Ambidextrous Journalism: How to Work Old and New Media at the Same Time
    1-1:50 p.m. Fred W. Smith Forum

    Adam Moss, editor-in-chief of New York magazine, is responsible for an extensive revamping of both the print magazine and the website, nymag.com. During Moss’s time at New York magazine, he renovated the magazine to emphasize commitment to the city’s cultural happenings, launched new columns, increased political and business coverage, oversaw a redesign of the website, directed the development of Vulture into a leading entertainment website and increased monthly unique users of the site. It’s not surprising that the magazine has been recognized for editorial excellence and received many national awards for general excellence, writing and design under Moss’s leadership. Moss previously served as the assistant managing editor for features at the New York Times, editor of the New York Times magazine and worked in a variety of positions at Esquire and Rolling Stone.

  • John Ferrugia
    John Ferrugia

    Public Interest, Public Policy
    2-3:15 p.m. Fred W. Smith Forum

    John Ferrugia, investigative journalist and news anchor at KMGH-TV in Denver, has produced reports that resulted in new laws and created changes in public policy, government and public safety in Colorado. Known as a respected investigative reporter, Ferrugia, BJ ’75, has reported on the Pentagon, sexual assaults of female cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy and deaths at the Pueblo Colorado State Mental Institute. He has received multiple awards including the National Edward R. Murrow Award, the DuPont-Columbia Award, three George Foster Peabody Awards, a Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and others from the Colorado Broadcasters Association, the Missouri Broadcasters Association and the Associated Press.

  • Fred Papert
    Fred Papert

    Changing Majors
    2-2:50 p.m., Tucker Forum, Gannett Hall

    Fred Papert, international advertising executive and New York City community developer, began working as a clothing salesman and unpaid writer of newspaper ads, moved to advertising jobs and dozens of agencies in New York before forming Papert Koenig Lois in 1960. PKL held clients such as Proctor & Gamble, Quaker Oats, Xerox and Robert F. Kennedy. Eventually, Papert became involved in planning and development, and PKL was replaced by the nonprofit 42nd Street Development Corporation, which rescued the far west end of the New York Street from misuse, and the 42nd Street Fund, which helps fund the nonprofit’s projects. Papert is president of both.

  • New York Times Graphics Department
    NYT Graphics

    Information Graphics at The New York Times
    3-3:50 p.m. Geological Sciences Building 123

    The New York Times Graphics Department, a group of 25 visual journalists who explain, illustrate and conceptualize the news, have created some of the best interactive graphics and maps including a 3D-video of how a Yankee pitcher dominates batters, before-and-after satellite maps of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and an interactive budget puzzle. The department specializes in design, architecture, cartography, 3D-modeling, statistics and journalism and has won many national and international awards. Graphics editor Kevin Quealy, MA ’08, will represent the department.

  • Umar Cheema
    Umar Cheema

    Media as a Change Agent in a Transition Country: Pakistan as a Case Study
    3:30-4:45 p.m. Fred W. Smith Forum

    Umar Cheema, investigative reporter for the Pakistani newspaper The News, has been abducted, beaten, run over by a car and anonymously threatened – all because of his writing on issues in the country. Cheema writes on corruption, politics, national security and unaccountable intelligence agencies. During his abduction, Cheema was beaten, his head, eyebrows and mustache were shaved, and he was stripped naked and photographed. His attackers asked him if he was trying to discredit the government. Cheema has received the 2011 International Press Freedom Award, the 2011 Tully Center Free Speech Award of Syracuse University and a Daniel Pearl Fellowship.

  • Jeff Leen
    Jeff Leen

    From Missouri to The Washington Post: An Investigative Odyssey
    4-4:50 p.m. Anheuser Busch Natural Resources Building 111

    Jeff Leen, assistant managing editor in charge of The Washington Post‘s investigative unit, has worked as a reporter or editor on investigations honored with seven Pulitzer Prizes. Those include Hurricane Andrew’s impact on south Florida, abuse in D.C. group homes, the Sept. 11 plot and others. Leen, MA ’82, was notably part of a four-reporter team who looked at police shootings in Washington D.C. and earned a Pulitzer Gold Medal for Meritorious Public Service in 1999. Leen has worked for The Post as an investigative reporter and investigations editor, the Miami Herald on the investigative team and a general assignment reporter.

After the classes, a reception and banquet will be held at the Reynolds Alumni Center. The reception will be from 6 to 7 p.m., with the banquet beginning afterward.

Updated: July 10, 2020

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