Some May Grad Updates

Last year’s editor in chief, Lindsey Hollenbaugh ’10, is now the online editor at the Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass. In addition to performing daily maintenance to the website, she is also in charge of the newspaper's social media presence, including Facebook and Twitter. She produces multimedia stories for the web, and writes stories and takes pictures for the print edition. She is also in charge of the newspaper's transition to a new mobile application that will be going live by the end of the month, and a major social media campaign that will increase readership and advertising revenue online.

She is known in the Berkshire online community as the "Baby Eagle" and blogs at http://blogtheberkshires.com/out_of_the_nest.

Former design editor Michelle Barrie ’10 is working as a marketing assistant for Psychology Press, a New York textbook and academic publisher owned by Taylor and Francis. Next month she will be traveling to England with the company’s marketing team.

Facebook Buys Hot Potato

Hot Potato, the social networking website that Vanessa Schneider ’07 joined as community manager earlier this year, has been bought by Facebook. Here's Vanessa's blog posting on the subject.

Barajas Goes Full-Time at the Times

After working at The New York Times part-time for just over two years, Nic Barajas ’08 has been hired at the paper full-time. He’ll continue as a designer and paginator for print, with stints in web design and production.

Is There Nothing She Can't Do?

Melissa Bluey ’00, assistant art director at The Atlantic magazine, has made her Atlantic writing debut in a piece suggesting that members of Congress be given iPads in an effort to bring them into the technological loop. Check out "Give Congress iPads."

Vanessa Schneider Moves from the Times to Hot Potato

After two and a half years at The New York Times, Vanessa Schneider '07 has recently joined tech start-up Hot Potato as Community Manager. Working on a team of eight in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Vanessa's job involves a variety of responsibilities, from product development to working with users to make sure they're getting the most out of their Hot Potato experience.
A little about Hot Potato: While Twitter asks users 'What's happening?' and Foursquare asks users 'Where are you?', Hot Potato asks 'What are you doing?', aggregating audiences around shared interests and events — what you're watching, reading, eating, playing, etc. HP is especially focused on interests that happen at certain points in time with large audiences — tv shows, concerts, art openings, sporting events — and connecting people during those events.
To learn more, visit www.hotpotato.com, or shoot Vanessa an e-mail at vanessa@hotpotato.com.
(Above: Vanessa with Hot Potato coworker Petey the French bulldog.)

Cusolito's Work Appears in The Nation

Former news editor Kara Cusolito ’08's story on the controversial process of “fracking” to remove natural gas from the Marcellus Shale, "The Next Drilling Disaster?" will appear in the June 21 issue of The Nation and is already available online.

Uzbekistan's Favorite Son Moves On

After three years as Scholar in Residence in the Park School journalism department, Vadim Isakov has accepted a position with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva, Switzerland. His Digital Journalism, Issues and the News and other courses influenced many of our students. Plus he introduced us to Dancing Sasquatch. He'll be missed as a teacher, colleague and friend.

Another Year Comes to an End

The Ithacan staff wrapped up another successful year for the paper and website with the annual Ithacan Banquet in Emerson Suites on May 5. The outgoing editorial board gathered for a photo at the end of the event.

Uhls Over America

Proving that the life of a Washington Post reporter is never dull, Anna Uhls ’07 took to the air with Air National Guard Lt. Colonel John Klatt to preview the air show at Andrews Airport Base this weekend. She got it all on video in "Parachute? Check. Vomit bag? Check."

A New Role for Rob Bluey

Former editor in chief Rob Bluey ’01 is leading a new journalism project at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. After spending the past three years developing the organization’s online strategy, Bluey shifted paths in March when the redesigned Heritage.org launched. His reporting will complement Heritage’s policy research by focusing on storytelling and investigative journalism. Politico and the Washington Examiner recently published two of his stories.

Tricia Nadolny Awarded Pulliam Fellowship

Tricia Nadolny ’09 has been awarded a prestigious Pulliam Journalism Fellowship for summer 2010. She will be spending two months working at the Indianapolis Star as a paid member of the newsroom staff, as well as attending writing workshops and other mentoring opportunities with the Star's seasoned reporters and editors.
Previous Ithacan staff members to receive the Pulliam include Jeff Selingo ’95, now editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Adam Ellick ’99, now a reporter with the New York Times.

Here Comes the Bride

Bride-to-be Liz Crowley ’04 and bridesmaid-to-be Kelli Grant ’04 were recently featured in a New York Times story, "Brides Magazine Hosts a Newlywed Nest." The wedding is scheduled for the end of October.

Anne and Roger Return to Ithaca

Former editor in chief Anne Walters Custer ’05 and husband Roger Custer ’04 came to town Wednesday night and stopped by the Ithacan office to meet the current crew. In addition to meeting students, Anne also got to meet some of the journalism faculty who have come on board since she graduated. Roger was here to spend time with politics professor Marty Brownstein before his retirement at the end of the semester. Anne is a reporter and editor with Deutsche Presse-Agentur in Washington, D.C., and Roger is a conference director with Young America's Foundation.

Treasures from Overseas

Our own Adam Ellick ’99 was featured in a "Talk of the Town" piece in the April 19 issue of The New Yorker magazine. "Show-and-Tell" described a "Tchotchke Night" meeting of the Overseas Press Club of America, during which members shared items they've brought back from war zones. Ellick, who is a New York Times reporter, brought a "burka bottle cover" from Afghanistan: "a miniature green burka, about the size of a fifth of vodka." Another correspondent countered that what Ellick had was not a bottle cover at all, but a burka for a Barbie.

Design Across a Decade

Former Ithacan design editor (and later managing editor) Melissa Bluey ’00 (left) stopped in the office Saturday to sit down with current design editor Michelle Barrie ’10 to discuss magazine work and careers. Missy is assistant art director at The Atlantic magazine. She and her husband, former Ithacan editor in chief Rob Bluey ’01, were in town along with 1-year-old baby Ben so Rob could attend the college Alumni Association Board of Directors meeting.

Ithaca College in the Times

Check out this article from yesterday's New York Times, "At Upstate Campus, Saving Energy is Part of Dorm Life," which quotes Ithacan sustainability blogger Becky Webster, among others. Apparently we're "a campus known for its embrace of all things sustainable."

Libby Sile ’11 Named Ithacan Editor in Chief

The Ithaca College Board of Student Publications has selected Libby Sile ’11 to serve as the 2010–11 editor in chief of The Ithacan. The board met Tuesday night and conducted the candidate interview with Sile, who is currently studying in Dublin, via Skype.

Sile, a Park Scholar, is a junior with a double major in journalism and politics. She has worked as an Ithacan reporter, assistant news editor, news editor and opinion editor. In addition, she has interned at the Hartford (Conn.) Courant and the Ithaca Journal, and has been awarded a prestigious American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) internship for summer 2010. She was recently named a winner of the 2010 Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition.

Ithacan Named Best in the Northeast

The Society of Professional Journalists has named The Ithacan the Best Non-Daily Newspaper in the Northeast region for 2009.

The paper received the First Place Mark of Excellence Award on April 10 at the SPJ's Region 1 spring conference at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in New York. It now goes on to compete against the winners in the other 11 SPJ regions for the national Mark of Excellence award, which will be announced at SPJ's national conference October 3–5 in Las Vegas.

This is the third year in a row The Ithacan has been named best in the Northeast by SPJ; two years ago the paper was ranked number two in the country.

In addition, the following students received awards for work published in The Ithacan in 2009:

Allison Wassink ”09: Second place, sports photography

Andy Swift ’09: Third place, feature story

Allison Usavage ’11: Third place, photo illustration

Shown in photo (from left): Ithacan Editor in Chief Lindsey Hollenbaugh ’10 and Ithaca College SPJ Chapter President Jackie Palochko ’11 with the award certificate.

Behind the Scenes with Vanessa at the Times

Vanessa Schneider ’07 made her New York Times video debut in today's segment of "Times Cast," the Times Web site's feature offering an look inside the newsroom and some of the stories being covered. Vanessa is a Social Media News Assistant at the Times. She comes in around minute 4:50, discussing reader reaction to a leaked video showing an American helicopter firing on Iraqi civilians.

Gleason Comments Quoted by Times

Former Ithacan photo editor Connor Gleason ’08 was quoted yesterday in the follow-up to a New York Times story on the problems professional photographers are facing as the newspaper and magazine businesses decline. “Pros and Amateurs Debate: Is Photography in Trouble?” included comments by five photographers, including Connor. You can find his new Web site here.