Communication and journalism students win big at SEJC

Several Lipscomb communication and journalism students took away Best of South awards at the Southeast Journalism Conference in Atlanta, Georgia last weekend. Lipscomb took home 13 awards in the competition, which included representatives from more than 30 universities. Lipscomb’s Best of South winners include: Carly Bergthold — 8th place, Best TV News Feature Reporter Logan Butts — 6th place, Best Sports Writer Michael Fox, Kyrsten Turner, Kathryn McKinley, Marlee Vogel, Brynn Watkins — 2nd place, Best Public Service Journalism Brianna Langley — 3rd place, Best News Writer Madeline Smith — 7th place, Best TV Hard News Reporter Erin Turner — 4th place, Best Press Photographer Brianne Welch — 4th place, Best TV Journalist Cory Woodroof — 1st place, Best Arts and Entertainment Writer Cory Woodroof — 5th place, Best Multimedia Journalist Cory Woodroof — 9th place, College Journalist of the Year In addition to the student awards, Lumination Radio and TV also placed: Lumination Radio — 4th place, Best Audio News Program Lumination Radio — 3rd place, Best College Radio Station Lumination TV — 4th place, Best College Video News Program A few of the students also competed in the on-site competitions. Three of those students took away awards: Sam Webb — 3rd place, Best Sports Photography Haleigh Ker — 2nd place, Best Radio News Reporting Cory Woodroof — 1st place, Best News...
Geena Davis, local leaders advocate for change of women’s roles in media

Geena Davis, local leaders advocate for change of women’s roles in media

Geena Davis says the media’s role in reshaping the image of women in society is simple: “If they see it, they can be it.” The problem is that the media is not doing its part in representing women and men equally, Davis says, and when women are portrayed in television and film they, often are sexually provocative or stereotyped characters. Davis, who has embarked on a mission to change that and offer more hope and empowerment for young women in popular culture, brought her message to a gathering at Lipscomb’s Andrews Institute.  That institute partnered with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media Thursday for “A League of Their Own,” an event starring the acclaimed actor and also featuring Deborah Taylor Tate and female local media leaders to discuss the role of women and girls on screen. Davis — who starred in movies like A League of Their Own, Beetlejuice, and Thelma & Louise — founded her institute in 2004 after watching children’s entertainment with her daughter and realizing the lack of female characters present in TV programming and family movies. Davis’ institute, which focuses on research, education and advocacy, conducted the largest body of research on gender prevalence in the media and discovered that only 17 percent of characters in family films are women. Davis noted those few female characters often are portrayed in stereotypical or hyper-sexualized ways. It’s not just popular media.  Davis said women are not fairly represented in most areas of society, noting that the U.S. ranks 90th on the list of countries that have female representation in government. “It’s astounding,” she said. “The fact is that women...