Manuelita Beck
University of New Mexico
Manuelita Beck is a senior at the University of New Mexico, where she is studying for a bachelor's degree in studio art (electronic arts emphasis) with a minor in media arts. She holds a bachelor's degree from New Mexico State University in government with a minor in journalism. She is managing editor of UNM's student newspaper, the New Mexico Daily Lobo. Her favorite artists are Piet Mondrian, Robert Rauschenberg and Sigmar Polke. Her favorite soccer players are Freddie Ljungberg and Michael Ballack.
Chasity Gunn
Belmont University
Since Chasity Gunn was young, she has had either a pen or a book in her hand. At the age of eight, Chasity was writing “novels.” Her curiosity and joy of writing has lead her into a career choice of journalism. This is her second year as a student reporter for the ONA conference. In August 2003, she worked in the online student newsroom at UNITY, a conference of journalists of color. She wrote about five stories daily and had continuous deadlines. For her senior thesis, she plans to do a multimedia news project. Next fall semester, she will be studying abroad in Mexico where she will shoot photos, record audio and conduct interviews for her senior project. In the meantime, she will continue freelance writing at The Tenessean, in Nashville, Tennessee, which is where she interned this past summer.
Brian Hamman
University of Missouri
Brian Hamman is pursuing a master's in journalism at the University of Missouri. Before going back to school he worked on digital humanities projects at Washington University in St. Louis. Brian is focusing his studies on online journalism, investigative journalism, and open source journalism. Some would say he's not focusing at all.
Cara McCoy
Ohio University
Cara McCoy is currently a junior at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. She is majoring in online journalism, a newly developed sequence within the school. Cara is also the vice president of the corresponding student organization, the Online Journalism Student Society. Her interests include all facets of Web journalism, from writing to production.
Jeff Nachtigal
University of California, Berkeley
Jeff Nachtigal attends the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley. He is currently working on a multi-media project exploring the multiple wildfire management issues in California, and how the Healthy Forests Initiative is affecting the decisions of groups ranging from the US Forest Service to the Sierra Club to rural logging communities. Previously he has produced multi-media stories about dogwalkers and spotted hyena research. When he’s not building or editing online projects, Jeff Nachtigal also writes print news stories.
Erica Ogg
University of Southern California
Erica Ogg is currently a first-year student at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication pursuing an M.A. in Print Journalism. Her journalism experience includes being a staff writer for OnlineJournalism.com. In 2004, she graduated from University of California, Davis with B.A.’s in Political Science and History. Her hometown is Ojai, California and she enjoys history, travel and sports.
Jackie Rejfek
University of Nevada, Reno
Jackie Rejfek is a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Reno. Currently, she is working as a teaching assistant for the Introduction to Media Production class. The class is designed to teach journalists web and media design. Jackie also works at the local paper, the Reno Gazette Journal, as the online intern. Her work there includes time proofing at the copy desk and posting five to seven sections of the paper five nights a week. She will graduate with a masters in journalism in May 2005.
Sarah Snyder
Belmont University
Sarah Snyder is a sophomore in the New Century Journalism Program at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a staff writer for the award winning student newspaper, The Vision and the Co-President of the Journalism Club. She has also served the industry by working at and attending the Radio and Television News Directors Association at their national conference in April 2004. On election night 2004, Sarah pulled double duty contributing to the multimedia coverage of the student media in broadcast, print and on the BelmontVision.com as well as taking polling results for the election night coverage at the CBS affiliate in Nashville. While Sarah’s main interest is broadcasting, she aspires to be a multimedia journalist. This is her first year at the Online News Association Conference and she hopes it won’t be her last.
Brendan Watson
University of Missouri
Brendan Watson is a graduate student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where he is studying new media and public policy journalism. He is a reporter for the Columbia Missourian, as well as a founding editor of MyMissourian.com, an open-source journalism website. Brendan has also worked for Cape and Islands NPR Station in Woods Hole, MA, and the Ellsworth American in Ellsworth, ME. He hails from Chicago, and loves to run, sail, cook, and listen to music when he is not working.
Beth Welsh
University of Missouri
Beth Welsh is a photojournalism graduate student at the Missouri School of Journalism. She is currently blazing new trails in participatory journalism as the photo editor of MyMissourian.com, a community-contributed site modeled after the Northwest Voice. Beth enjoys collecting job skills, which presently include desktop publishing, multimedia and website production, and writing personal bios. She invites everyone to her commencement in May, 2005, in Columbia, Missouri.
Student newsroom advisers
- Richard Core, latimes.com
- Travis Smith, hopstudios.com
- Eric Ulken, USC Annenberg / Online Journalism Review
