Journalism

Wyoming Public Radio has won two national first-place awards from Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI). Reporter Melodie Edwards won first place for Best Use of Sound in Division B which recognizes stations with news staff sizes between 4 and 7 people. HumaNature also won first place in Division B for Best Station Podcast.  

Newsroom staff at the Casper Star-Tribune are starting the process of forming a union.

An interaction between the UW Police Department and the UW student newspaper has prompted the university to clarify its policy regarding the rights and obligations of student journalists.

In a November 3 article, Branding Iron reporter Destiny Irwin reported on allegations that an unnamed resident assistant sexually assaulted women in a dorm. Irwin quoted Resident Assistant Rachel MacDonald, who said the incidents caused Residence Life to change its hiring practices.

The National Scholastic Press Association has awarded a Wyoming high school student second place for Broadcast News Story of the Year.

Vicky Morales, a junior at Cody High School, won the award for a news story she produced last year on organ donation month.

The Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled that government agencies can charge media organizations and individuals for certain costs associated with producing electronic public records.

The Board of Trustees at Northwest College in Powell voted Monday night to eliminate the college’s journalism program, along with two other programs.

Trustees voted 4 to 2 to cut the journalism program. Northwest President Stefani Hicswa had recommended the cut amid a $2 million budget shortfall.

A spokesperson for the college said the recommendation was made after a thorough cost-benefit analysis. 

Journalism professor Rob Breeding is disappointed that the decades-old program is going away.

As Northwest College in Powell faces a $2 million budget crunch, its president is recommending cutting a handful of programs to save some money. One is the school’s journalism program, which supports its student newspaper.

Professor Rob Breeding is the entire journalism department at Northwest, and advisor to The Northwest Trail student paper. He says the move to cut journalism is about more than cost-savings.

“There are ulterior motives,” says Breeding. “It relates to silencing the first amendment rights of this student newspaper.”

Journalist Bob Woodward, famous for exposing the Watergate Scandal, was the keynote speaker at the 2014 Wyoming Forum in Cheyenne yesterday.

He talked about the work he did with Carl Bernstein at the Washington Post that contributed to President Nixon’s resignation. He also discussed the presidency of Obama, who he characterized as failing to connect with Congress or convey strength abroad, despite his admirable goals.

Woodward says he’s concerned about growing polarization in American society.