Sonoma State University Communication & Media Studies Department

Are you "feeling the Bern" to learn? Have a GREAT spring semester, everyone!

Our amazing alum, Jenna Valle-Riestra, will be speaking Thursday at this DNC panel on digital storytelling during the election. She will be talking about her experience working on the Biden campaign with her boss, Senator Bob Casey Jr. If you want to support our alum and learn more about her position, you can register for the event here: https://events.democrats.org/event/365520/

Studio Blue, our video production media outlet, had a GREAT alumni panel discussion today, featuring Anna Luna ('16), Sean Tadlock ('16), Sam Hauser ('18) and Ryan Harvey ('20). They shared important tips for making a career in film/video production. If YOU'RE a Coms grad and would like to share your story with our students, contact department chair Ed Beebout at: [email protected]

Two Communication and Media Studies professors are among the 2020-21 recipients of the prestigious Koret Scholars Award. Associate Professor Emily Acosta Lewis and Assistant Professor Talena Sanders were awarded $8,000 each for two separate proposals. Acosta Lewis was selected for her proposal, "Diversity of Portrayals in Holiday Movies: Racial Stereotypes and Underrepresented Groups". Sanders's submission was "Fiction Film Research & Development and Documentary Film Distribu...tion Planning". Award selections are based on both the quality of the proposal and the dedication to high impact practice of engaging undergraduate students in research and creative experiences. Each award provides funding for one faculty mentor working with four undergraduate SSU students. Priority is given to applications that demonstrate diversity through the inclusion of student groups that have been shown to be underrepresented in higher education. The Koret Scholars Awards are made possible by a grant from the Koret Foundation.

Do journalists need to focus on something more important than objectivity to better serve the public? Read Asst. Professor Gina Baleria's interesting take in her article for the Poynter Institute. https://www.poynter.org//its-time-for-journalism-educator/