From music masterclass in Austin to photos at the White House, Scripps spells experience

Scripps College of Communication alumnus Ken Klein shares news about Scripps students, alumni and faculty via social media. Here is his recap of December 2022.

“Masterclass” can be an over-used hyperbole, but the superlative holds up in this context: Music Production Masterclass for students in the School of Media Arts and Studies (MDIA) over winter break.

“Working with various musical artists in Austin — live to tape — students learned everything from reverb tunnels to backwards tape loops,” said Josh Antonuccio, who directs the MDIA school and the annual Ohio University Music Industry Summit. 

Antonuccio took five students to Austin for the Music Production Masterclass in December. He also organizes a similar Masterclass in New York and takes Scripps students to the South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival and conference in Austin in March.

In Athens, music production students can get hands-on experience via Brick City Records, working with musicians to provide recording, promotion, distribution, publicity and concert booking. 

Throughout the Scripps College of Communication, options for experiential learning are coast to coast

In Washington, D.C., six Scripps students completed fall internships at media outlets, congressional offices and a trade association.

While interning at C-SPAN, Emily Hanna (visual communication junior from Aurora, Ohio) contacted New York Times photographer Doug Mills, who invited Hanna to shadow him at the White House. 

In a Dec. 21 story about Hanna’s experience, the Akron Beacon Journal highlighted her experience photographing the Marine One helicopter and several newsworthy presidential engagements.

Journalism junior Claire Schiopota created a day-in-the-life video of her fall internship at CNN in Washington, D.C.

Boosting resumes, media students traveled to Detroit to cover the Mid-American Conference football championship game Dec. 3 and to Tucson for the Barstool Arizona Bowl Dec. 30. Junior Ayden Crowley’s camera work of the Bobcats’ winning touchdown pass in overtime lit up social media. Crowley replied: “Easily the coolest thing I’ve captured.”

Highest traffic

Heaviest audience engagement in December focused on alumni connections to sports, broadcast news and photography. Top four posts:

• 2021 Journalism graduate Ethan Sands is producing content for ESPN
• WEWS Channel 5 Cleveland turned 75, with strong ties to Ohio University
• The book cover of The Best of Photojournalism 2022 published by the National Press Photographers Association featured an award-winning photo by School of Visual Communication graduate Marcus Yam
• December 2022 Journalism graduate Curtis Feder joined WGAN TV in Cedar Rapids, with college experience at WOUB

(Published) alumni expertise

AsAmNews (Asian American Media Inc) published commentary based on research by communication studies doctoral student James P. Kelly and Professor Roger C. Aden (Dec. 27, 2022).

Kelly and Aden examined commonly used high school history books, finding that “unjust government actions are erased, minimized or detached from those responsible.”

Next: Look for a national publication to feature virtual reality police training developed by the J. Warren McClure School of Emerging Communication Technologies and the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service.

Generational Gem

Jon Greenberg, Journalism ’01 graduate, is founding editor/columnist at The Athletic. He appreciated this Linkedin post about 2002 Media Arts & Studies alumna Marissa Thompson of Amazon Studios and posted this reply.