Class of 2020 Commencement events to be held Sept. 17-19

Syracuse University will host a Commencement ceremony—delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic—and other celebratory events for the Class of 2020 during the weekend of Sept. 17–19.  

Commencement will be held Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. at the Stadium. This University-wide ceremony, where Syracuse University Chancellor and President Kent Syverud will formally confer degrees, is for all undergraduate, graduate and doctoral candidates. Doors open at 8 a.m.

Following Commencement, all 2020 Newhouse graduates and their families are invited to join Dean Mark J. Lodato and the faculty and staff for a celebratory reception. The event will include a dean’s welcome, recognition of participating graduates and an opportunity to reconnect with faculty. A precise time and location will be announced soon; stay tuned for details.

For more information about Commencement activities for the Class of 2020, see the event listing.

The Alexia Launches New Scholar Initiative for Top Visual Storytelling Students, Young Professionals 

The Alexia is launching a new scholarship program designed to offer top-tier visual storytelling students or young professionals an in-depth opportunity to explore the world of visual communications while earning a master’s degree at the Newhouse School. 

Organizers named Md. Zobayer Hossain Joati, a photographer from Dhaka, Bangladesh, as the inaugural Alexia Scholar recipient. The announcement was made earlier this month ahead of this weekend’s Alexia Fall Workshop.  

Through grants, scholarships and special projects for photographers, filmmakers and other visual creatives, The Alexia promotes the power of visual storytelling to shed light on significant issues around the world.  

The Alexia Scholar recipients will receive full credits to complete their master’s degree, serve as a paid assistant to The Alexia endowed chair, participate in the Fall Workshop, and take part in The Alexia grant judging weekend in the spring.  

The initiative is made possible through the generous support of the Newhouse School and private donors committed to empowering promising talent so that they might become influential visual storytellers. The goal is to award a scholarship on a periodic basis—and ultimately each year—pending funding, said Bruce Strong, associate professor of visual communications and The Alexia Endowed Chair at the Newhouse School.  

The Alexia began in 1991 as the Alexia Foundation, created with the mission to promote cultural understanding and peace by supporting photographers as agents for change. Peter and Aphrodite Tsairis established the foundation in partnership with the Newhouse School to honor their daughter, Alexia Tsairis.  

A photography major at Newhouse, Alexia Tsairis was killed at age 20 in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. She was returning home from a semester abroad in London. 

In 2021, the program transitioned to the Newhouse School and became The Alexia.  

Joati’s work focuses on sociopolitical issues, gender equality, cultural norms and underrepresented communities. He is a contributor to Zuma Press, a member of the VII Community and an Up-Next member of the Diversify Photo Community.  

After earning a bachelor’s degree in engineering, Joati pursued his passion and graduated with a professional diploma in photography from Counter Foto – A Center for Visual Arts in Bangladesh.

‘My Eyes Lit Up’: After An Exciting Campus Visit, Izzy Kaplan Joins First Class of Esports Majors

Emily and Stephen Kaplan could see it in their daughter’s eyes.

When then-high school junior Isabelle “Izzy” Kaplan visited Syracuse University in March 2023, the University had just announced it would be offering a new, first-of-its-kind degree program focused on esports starting in the fall of 2024. The Esports Communications and Management program would be offered jointly by the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and the Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Kaplan was already interested in majoring in communications, but she also enjoyed playing esports and was excited when she heard about this new major during her visit. When she later told her mother that she wanted to attend Syracuse and enter this groundbreaking program, Emily Kaplan wondered what took her daughter so long.

“My parents support me being happy; they want the best for me,” Kaplan says. “They were there when I was told about this program, and they saw how my eyes lit up. When I mentioned it to my mom, she said, ‘You know, I’m surprised you’re just saying something about it now because I saw how you first looked, and I’d thought you’d immediately jump on that.’”

Kaplan, who’s from Long Island, New York, is now a member of the inaugural esports class. The program is unique because it features three tracks that combine elements of Falk College and the Newhouse School – esports business and management, esports communications, and esports media and design – and as Kaplan starts her academic career, she’s leaning toward the communications track.

But for now, first things first, and Kaplan is one of about 20 students taking Esports Executive Director and Professor of Practice Joey Gawrysiak’s Introduction to Esports class. Gawrysiak says the introductory class is designed to help students understand the esports ecosystem how it operates in society and at Syracuse, and to get them excited about the major because of the hands-on opportunities they’ll experience throughout all of their courses.

“An esports education is not about just classroom learning, and it’s not just about preparing students to work in esports,” says Gawrysiak, who built the esports program at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, before coming to Syracuse. “It’s about preparing them to have a very successful career by the time they graduate in whatever career it might be, whether it’s esports, esports adjacent, the entertainment industry, traditional sports, broadcast journalism, business, or whatever they might want to get into.”

IDJC’s ElectionGraph: Surge in Negative Ads After Summer Assassination Attempt

The number of negative ads on Facebook and Instagram in the U.S. presidential race surged after a July assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump despite calls from both major parties to tone down heated rhetoric, according a new ElectionGraph report. Trump’s own ads played a significant role in the shift.

Researchers also found continued patterns of “coordinated inauthentic behavior” among some outside organizations, including a large network of Facebook pages running ads aimed at scamming the public. The analysis found an estimated $5 million spent on ads that are potential scams, or roughly 4% of the overall ad spending by outside organizations. This translates into about 234 million impressions.

These are among the findings in the third quarterly report from the ElectionGraph project at the University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship (IDJC). The report examines ads on Meta platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram, mentioning primary and general election presidential candidates between Sept. 1, 2023, and Aug. 31, 2024.

The latest report found the Democratic ticket (Biden-Harris, then Harris-Walz) outspending the Trump campaign 10-to-1—or roughly $50 million to $5 million—on Facebook and Instagram between September 2023 and August 2024. That gap expanded to 12-to-1 in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. But Trump outpaced Biden’s and Harris’ campaigns combined by about 5-to-1 in ads categorized as “uncivil.”

The data shows a 4-to-1 difference in impressions on the social media platforms, or about 1 billion impressions for the Democratic ticket compared with 250 million impressions for the GOP. This gap doesn’t take into account Trump-related spending on messaging on social platform X, Trump’s Truth Social network or other media platforms.

In addition to campaigns’ spending, nearly 3,500 Facebook pages from outside organizations have spent $55 million over the past year in an effort to influence the public this election season.

ElectionGraph seeks to identify misinformation trends in the U.S. presidential election and other top 2024 contests. The project is supported by a grant and use of analytics software from Neo4j, the world’s leading graph database and analytics company.

The ElectionGraph team’s efforts include pinpointing origins of messages and tracing misinformation by collecting and algorithmically classifying ads run on Facebook and Instagram. ElectionGraph also has developed a publicly accessible dashboard to explore its findings.

While Meta allows approved organizations to access ad data, such data is not required to be made available—and is not similarly trackable—on TikTok, Google, YouTube or Snapchat. The findings nevertheless provide a framework to visualize the fire hose of information and misinformation targeting voters from groups with a jumble of motives, ties and trustworthiness ahead of the 2024 elections.

The Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship is a joint University initiative of the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

“My concern with the ongoing scams running on Facebook and Instagram is that they look like legitimate advertisements, but they are full of falsehoods and even deepfakes, further polluting the information environment and deceiving voters,” says Jennifer Stromer-Galley, a professor in the School of Information Studies and ElectionGraph’s lead researcher.

Social media scams that exploit heightened sentiments during important moments like elections have become widespread, says Jim Webber, chief scientist at Neo4j.

“This important research, enabled by Neo4j, can help voters and policymakers to distinguish legitimate actors from malicious ones hidden within complex networks,” Webber says. “Without this technology, achieving such insights would be almost impossible.”

Adds IDJC Kramer Director Margaret Talev: “Real, bipartisan concerns about election-related violence—accentuated by assassination attempts against former President Trump—have proved no match for the magnetic pull of negative, uncivil and attack-ad campaigning that Trump himself and his rivals consider too useful to set aside.” Talev is a journalist and professor of practice in the Newhouse School.

Newhouse Impact: Extended Reality, AI and Awards

Newhouse Impact Podcast

Have you used a virtual reality headset for playing a video game or being transported to another place through the immersive visual experience? How about augmented reality where the technology uses the space you’re in and adds computer-generated images and features?

On this episode of Newhouse Impact, professor of communications Makana Chock discusses the Extended Reality Lab she directs where they’re looking into these technologies and the impacts they can have. On the plus side, the technology can improve learning for intricate and detailed training or education. Conversely, how do people react when messages involve your senses in such an immersive way?

Listen to the full show by visiting the WAER episode page.  

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Also listen to: Women’s opportunities in sports media: On the rise?

Women’s sports have been getting more attention recently, from Olympic coverage of gymnastics, swimming and track to surges in popularity of women’s soccer and basketball. But what about the role women play in broadcasting and media of both men’s and women’s sports?

On this episode of Newhouse Impact, Olivia Stomski, professor of practice and director of the Newhouse Sports Media Center, shares her past getting a start in sports broadcasting, the obstacles and assistance she got along the way to success, and how those experiences shape the way she guides aspiring broadcasters now. Stomski also offers opinions on whether a rise in popularity of women’s sports will increase opportunities in media, and if the industry is getting past gender discrimination.

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Recent accolades, highlights and notes

Keonte Coleman guest edited a special issue of the Electronic News journal.

Rebecca Ortiz talked about winning Syracuse University’s 2024 Judith Greenberg Seinfeld Scholar Award  this past spring.

Bryce Whitwam was interviewed on the technology podcast “Never Post.”

Srivi Ramasubramanian was honored with a National Communication Association Distinguished Scholar Award and Service Engagement Award.

Milton Santiago was recognized for his win of the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Teaching Recognition Award for Early Performance in spring 2024.

Nick Bowman provided insight about AI-generated images in a Deutsche Welle article.

Jason Davis discussed AI’s detection gap in an Axios article.

Arien Rozelle, along with several Newhouse students, will be speaking and hosting a panel discussion at the upcoming PRSA Northeast District conference in November.

Kelly Leahy talked about being honored with a 2024 Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Teaching Recognition Award for Early Performance this past spring.

Midterm Madness

Starting Small

It can be hard to balance multiple classes’ worth of projects and midterms, let alone just regular coursework. The best place to start is going through all of your syllabi and writing down when all of your bigger assignments are due. Getting these tasks on your radar sooner than later will help you stay organized and plan accordingly.

When it comes to methodology, it’s completely up to you; whether you’re a chronic Quizlet-maker or a flash card stan, everybody learns differently. If you want to spice up your old study habits, you could try making a Kahoot and inviting some friends over for a study night. Another major tip I have: schedule study dates. Regardless of whether you’re studying together or doing individual work, marking down some dedicated study times with a friend helps keep you accountable. You’ll thank yourself later for setting aside some time!

Conversely, if the problem seems to be content-based, seek help. Take advantage of your professors’ office hours, your teaching assistants and Syracuse University’s tutoring services. All of this is to say that gradual preparation is key to dominating midterm season!

Study Spots

A change of scenery can sometimes set you free when you’re feeling stuck. Getting yourself into a productive and focused mindset starts with your environment. One of my favorite study spots on campus is Food.com in Newhouse. I highly recommend you check out your home college’s cafe; it’s the perfect place to grab a coffee or a snack and hone in.

If you’d rather head to the library, Bird is an excellent candidate. The noise level decreases as you go higher up in the building, with some floors being open 24 hours a day. Bird also has study rooms you can rent, and its own cafe, Pages. For those of you who need silence to get in the zone, check out Carnegie. Being surrounded by other working students can give you that extra push of positive pressure to get to it.

On the other hand, if you’re craving a break from campus, some of my favorite close-by coffee shop study spots include Recess, Salt City, Starbucks and Peaks.

Busy Week at Newhouse Highlights Commitment to Journalism Education, Future of Storytelling 

A busy week at the Newhouse School highlights Syracuse University’s commitment to journalism education and exploring new and innovative ways to tell stories. 

The eventful period starts Tuesday with the 2024 Empire State School Press Association (ESSPA) conference and awards ceremony for high school student journalists and advisers from across New York State.  

The Newhouse Mobile Journalism Summit begins Thursday, bringing together journalists, industry leaders, students and educators for three days of programming that explores emerging trends across mobile and social media platforms. 

The annual Alexia Fall Workshop also takes place this weekend, bringing in top professionals from around the world to join Newhouse faculty in encouraging students to  

use photography, audio, video, motion graphics, design and words to become exceptional storytellers who engage the community. 

In this 60^th anniversary year of the school, the series of events emphasize Newhouse’s steadfast dedication to its founding mission to provide the best journalism education in the country.  

Empire State School Press Association Conference 

ESSPA was co-founded in 1937 by M. Lyle Spencer, dean of what was then the School of Journalism at Syracuse University, and journalism professor Douglass W. Miller. The annual conference draws aspiring journalists from high schools across the state. As journalism evolves, ESSPA seeks to inspire scholastic journalists and recognize their work and creativity through the contest program.  

Newhouse Mobile Journalism Summit 

The Newhouse Mobile Journalism Summit is highlighted by the Mobile Me & You Conference, spotlighting cutting-edge mobile journalism practices from industry leaders and educators.  Now in its 10^th year, this marks the first time the Mobile Me & You Conference has traveled to a host institution beyond the Midwest. Members of the  Journalist Association of New York will be a part of the weekend events, conducting résumé and reel reviews for students. More than 100 industry leaders, journalists, students and educators are expected to attend as they explore emerging trends across mobile journalism.   

• Mobile Me & You:  The conference, which will be hosted by Newhouse for the first time, explores how to think differently about storytelling on mobile and social media platforms to better reach the audiences of today and tomorrow. Since its inception in 2015, Mobile Me & You has helped more than 800 journalists and students learn how to better use mobile and digital tools in reporting. The conference highlights new and innovative techniques and best practices to look ahead at newsgathering in an ever-changing landscape.  

• Journalists Association of New York: Formerly known as the New York State Associated Press Association, JANY is focused on journalism training and advocacy for journalists across New York State. 

Alexia Fall Workshop 

Founded by Newhouse visual communications faculty in 1999, the Alexia Fall Workshop gives photography students the opportunity to tell visual stories about the world around them. Top professionals from around the world engage with students to identify, observe and artfully communicate enlightening stories and spotlight issues that Americans face in everyday life. 

Renowned Editor Marty Baron Speaks to Next Generation of Journalists

Renowned journalist and author Marty Baron has overseen Pulitzer Prize-winning investigations, election coverage and countless other major stories during a distinguished career that spans four-plus decades.  

Safe to say, Baron knows a thing or two about writing and reporting. But his advice to Newhouse School students about their post-graduation job search is to focus on the things they don’t know. 

“I like [to hire] people who like what they don’t know more than what they do know,” he said. 

Baron spoke Sept. 19 to a packed Hergenhan Auditorium for the Deanne Gebell Gitner Storytelling Symposium, examining journalism’s past, present and future. Aileen Gallagher, professor of magazine, news and digital journalism and associate dean of academic affairs at Newhouse, moderated the discussion. 

The executive editor of The Washington Post from 2013-21, Baron spoke about his experiences at the newspaper and his recent book “Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post.” In October 2013, nine months after the start of Baron’s tenure, the Post was sold to then-Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Donald Trump was elected president three years later.  

Before the Post, Baron was editor of The Boston Globe. Under his leadership in 2002, the paper published groundbreaking reports uncovering rampant clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work became the inspiration for the film “Spotlight,”  which won the 2016 Oscar for Best Picture. 

Baron’s resume also includes top or senior editing roles at the Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. 

Most of Baron’s talk at Newhouse focused on better and more accurate coverage of the upcoming presidential election. It starts with being direct with readership, he said. The industry, according to Baron, can’t just tell people what’s happening, but also needs to show them. By allowing the public to fact-check the work of journalists, a level of trust is established. 

As the conversation shifted to student questions, Baron discussed the future of journalism, including the impact of artificial intelligence on the industry. Baron said he sees the ways AI can be helpful in the newsroom.  

“I don’t think that reporters are going away,” Baron said. “[AI] just means that reporters need to do their job and do it well.” 

Baron said he sees opportunities for newsrooms to use generative AI for tasks such as data analysis and creating SEO-friendly headlines. But, he said, it’s important to be cautious.

“I think in the past, with a lot of good that’s happening in the digital world, [the journalism industry] has been slow, stubborn and clumsy,” Baron said. “And I think there’s some indication now that we won’t be slow or as stubborn [with AI].”

While Baron talked primarily about the struggles that the journalism industry has had, there was a hopeful tone throughout as he addressed the next generation of journalists. 

“Do I think that people are looking for independent journalism?” Baron said. “I do.” 

The key for young journalists, according to Baron, is to just keep on learning.

“Let’s really work at it and work at it in the right way,” Baron said in an interview earlier that day. “Do the right thing, but do it in the right way. And that is to be righteous, to be honest, to be honorable, to be professional, be determined, to tell people facts in a fearless and unflinching way when we know for sure that we’ve got them.”

And for Baron, that all starts with curiosity in the next generation of journalists.

“One great thing about journalism is you get to learn and they pay you for it,” Baron said. “I mean, right here, [you] pay to learn. But later, when you graduate, they’ll pay you to learn. And so it’s great and you get to be a lifelong learner … that’s the great joy of journalism.”

NCA Honors Ramasubramanian with Distinguished Scholar Award

The National Communication Association (NCA) is honoring Srivi Ramasubramanian with a Distinguished Scholar Award, the latest accolade recognizing the Newhouse communications professor’s pioneering work addressing contemporary global issues related to media, diversity and social justice.

Ramasubramanian has also been honored with a Service Engagement Award from the NCA’s Organizational Communication Division. She and other honorees will be recognized at the NCA’s annual conference next month in New Orleans.

The highest honor bestowed by NCA, the Distinguished Scholar Award recognizes association members for a lifetime of scholarly achievement in the study of human communication. Ramasubramanian received the award in her first year of eligibility, 20 years after receiving her Ph.D. (from Pennsylvania State University in mass communication).

She is the editor-in-chief of Communication Monographs, the flagship journal of the discipline and NCA publication, and is the first woman of color to hold the position.

Ramasubramanian, who joined the Newhouse School in 2021, is widely recognized for her pioneering work on race and media, media literacy initiatives, implicit bias reduction and scholar-activism. Ramasubramanian is the first woman and person of color to hold the Newhouse Professorship, an endowed chair position at the Newhouse School. 

Ramasubramanian has over 140 publications to her credit, including work in top-tier journals, books, encyclopedias and major media outlets. Ramasubramanian is also the founder and director of  CODE^SHIFT, a multidisciplinary research lab housed in the Newhouse School, which focuses on data justice, community-focused initiatives and critical media literacy

Ramasubramanian has won over 40 awards for her scholarship, including the IDEA Scholarship, Gerald M. Phillips Distinguished Applied Comm Award, Kibler Award, Presidential Citation from NCA and the International Communication Association’s highest honor of Fellow status and the Applied/Public Policy Award.

Ramasubramanian is the second Syracuse University faculty member in three years to win the prestigious honor. Charles E. Morris III, a professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies and affiliated professor of LGBT studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, was named an NCA Distinguished Scholar in 2022.

New Interactive Project Highlights Breadth, Scope of American Dream

The concept of the American Dream can mean so many different things to so many people.

A new interactive website and multimedia project highlights the breadth and diversity of goals and aspirations of Americans, while also seeking to inspire users to keep dreaming.

“Make America Dream” launched Oct. 7 with a series of events at the Hergenhan Auditorium, including a pop-up gallery and conversation between Charisse L’Pree, an associate professor of communications who created the initiative, and Ndidi Massay, vice president of cultural initiatives and diversity at CBS Sports.

“Make America Dream” also serves as the project that will culminate L’Pree’s tenure as the Newhouse Endowed Chair of Public Communications (2022-2025).

“Despite being coined in the 20th century, the sentiment of the American Dream has been present for over 500 years,” L’Pree said. “The notion of a physical place promising a better individual place, that one’s life will be better by simply being within the geographic, political or cultural confines of the United States.”

“But the power of the phrase ‘American Dream’ comes from the fact that it means different things to different people,” L’Pree added.

The only way to understand the concept of the American Dream is to engage with a multitude of dreams, L’Pree said. “Make America Dream” is a digital collection of 1-minute dreams that invites users to explore different dreams from many people. Each dream or media artifact comes from interviews conducted since 2020 by Newhouse students, who worked with L’Pree.

Users can explore more than 100 American Dreams from interviewees and sort by demographics like race, gender, sexuality and socioeconomic class across generations. Dreams can also be sorted based on geographic and thematic markers.

 “We need to dream the dreams we have not yet dreamt,” L’Pree said. “We need to dream the dreams that others are dreaming.”

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Note: Those interested in taking part in “Make America Dream” can sign up at  charisselpree.me/tellmydream.

Award-Winning Faculty: Milton Santiago 

One of the first tenets of Milton Santiago’s teaching philosophy puts an emphasis on encouraging students to take risks. Then, he’ll teach them the skills to master the field of cinematography. 

“Students need to take big creative swings free from the fear of failure. I want students to know that they can take creative risks in their projects and that I’ll support them every step of the way,” said Santiago, an assistant professor of visual communications. 

Santiago earned the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Teaching Recognition Award for Early Performance this past spring; the honor symbolizes teaching excellence among tenure-track faculty in their first five years; promotes teaching excellence; and encourages a culture of collegial mentoring among members of the Syracuse faculty. 

“I am incredibly grateful to have been tapped for this recognition,” Santiago said. “I love working with students, so what I have drawn from the award more than anything is encouragement. I am energized that the atmosphere I strive to create in my classroom is helping students find their power in visual storytelling.” 

After a 15-year career as a content creator, director of photography and then professor at Columbia College Hollywood in Los Angeles, Santiago brought his expertise east to the Newhouse School in 2021. 

Santiago is inspired by his students each day. He strives to have his students absorb lessons in the classroom and use all they’ve learned to tell moving stories.  

“Nothing we do [in class] goes to waste,” he said. He wants students to walk away from their time in his classroom by embracing their own abilities to confidently tell stories. 

“Cinematography and visual communication are powerful vessels for the telling of diverse stories reflecting a multiplicity of perspectives and experiences,” he said. “Through this discipline, students can learn to make the specific universal and in doing so evoke emotions in their audiences that lead to understanding, empathy and impact.” 

This is the fourth in a series of four stories about Newhouse faculty honored by Syracuse University in 2024 for teaching and research excellence.