APRD

Heads of the class

Joe Arney — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:39:27 +0000

Heads of the class Joe Arney Tue, 08/18/2026 - 12:39

Joe Arney

Meghan Sobel Cohen

One of Meghan Sobel Cohen’s most lasting memories of studying journalism at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� was Cokes with Voakes—office hours that then-Dean Paul S. Voakes would host to get to know students outside of class over sodas.

It’s a tradition she carried forward in her time as chair of the communication department at Regis University, in Denver, and is excited to bring back to the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information as an associate professor of journalism.

“Coming back to CU feels like such a full-circle moment for me,” she said. “So, maybe we’ll start coffee with Cohen, or cookies with Cohen, in the fall.”

Cohen (Jour’09), an expert on media systems in authoritarian contexts and journalism’s role in peacekeeping, is among 13 new faculty—three of them alumni—joining CMDI this fall, with another set to begin in the spring.

“I am so excited by the wealth of experience that our new faculty will bring to CMDI,” said Lori Bergen, founding dean of the college. “The perspectives, knowledge and curiosity they will bring to our teaching, research and creative work will continue to enrich our students and community.”

Cohen said she’s especially excited to return to what she called “a truly inspiring campus.”

“I feel really excited and grateful to be back in Boulder,” she said. “I was here when it was a school of journalism—and it’s inspiring to see the evolution of CU alongside the changes in journalism and communication. I’m excited to become a part of that, to encourage that evolution and help change the way our students think about communication, media and journalism more broadly.”

In addition to Cohen, the following faculty will join CMDI this academic year.

Advertising, Public Relations and Design

Hyun Seung Jin, associate professor. Jin joins the college from the business school of Queensland University of Technology, in Australia. His work explores psychology, creativity and technology.

Richard Khleif (PhDMediaSt’07), assistant teaching professor. Khleif brings decades of global technology industry experience to the college. He also is an emeritus founding member of CMDI’s advisory board, and completed the integrated marketing communication program from the former School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 1999.

Communication

Lamiyah Bahrainwala, assistant professor. Bahrainwala was previously chair of the communication studies department at Southwestern University. She studies anti-Muslim sentiment through surveillance, race, the environment and more.

Alicen Rushevics, assistant professor. Key themes in Rushevics’ research include discourses of reparation and apology, indigenous human rights and U.S. imperialism in the Pacific. She completed her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2026.

Environmental Design

Sophie Weston Chien, assistant professor. After completing two master’s degrees in landscape architecture and planning from Harvard University, Chien joined CMDI as a chancellor’s postdoctoral fellow. Her research involves organizing in design, participatory textile research and fabrication, and theorizing contemporary design practice.

Pol Fité Matamoros, assistant professor. Fité Matamoros completed his PhD at the University of California–Berkeley, where he has been a designer in residence since 2025. He examines connections between visual culture, the spatial production of social and racial difference, and regime building.

Priyanka Sen, assistant professor. Sen will join CMDI in the spring after completing her PhD from Cornell University. She studies the intertwined histories of the built environment and agricultural practices tied to South Asian migration.

Nettie Skievaski (EnvDes’22), assistant teaching professor. In addition to her career in graphic design, Skievaski has been an instructor at CMDI since 2022.

Information Science

Jason Lucas, assistant professor. Lucas earned his PhD from Pennsylvania State University. He develops multilingual A.I. systems across underserved languages to advance safe, equitable technology.

Aspen K.B. Omapang, assistant professor. Another Cornell scholar, Omapang researches political relations between Indigenous peoples and settlers in managing natural resources.

Katlyn Turner, assistant professor. Turner has been a research affiliate and instructor with CMDI since 2023. Her work focuses on environmental and climate justice, technology, policy, systems, and self-determination.

Media Studies

Susan Abbott, assistant teaching professor. Abbott brings more than two decades of experience in media development, digital democracy and civil society to her teaching. She was previously a lecturer at CMDI.

Journalism

Meagan Doll, assistant professor. Doll has held postdoctoral roles at the universities of Minnesota and Washington. She studies news consumption and production, with particular interest in perceptions of news in nondemocratic contexts.

Jason Lucas

Interdisciplinary importance

New faculty called the interdisciplinary nature of the college and its work a key factor in their decisions to come here. Cohen, whose work experience includes the U.S. State Department—where she observed the disconnect between the needs of human rights organizations and the limitations of journalists who cover them, leading her to her research niche—said the changing nature of the news business is a call for educators to combine related disciplines, to better prepare students for the challenges that await them after graduation.

Jason Lucas, of information science, said the department’s values and culture of collaboration were major draws to him—though also important is that his wife, Umniya Najaer, has been a postdoctoral fellow at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� since July 2025. His work studies artificial intelligence from the lens of language.

“There are 7,000 languages spoken in the world. And only about 20 of them have sufficient digital footprints to train robust models that can be useful for end users,” Lucas said.

It’s a safety concern, not just a usability issue, he said, as models can be attacked based on the data used to train them, leaving certain communities more vulnerable to the spread of disinformation or cybercrime. “And even with reinforcement learning, we cannot solve that basic security issue,” he said. “So we have to concern ourselves with both equity and safety.”

Lucas hopes to engage with these problems through SEAL, the Secure and Ethical A.I. Research Lab, which he’ll direct at CMDI.

Pol Fité Matamoros

Pol Fité Matamoros’ education spanned design disciplines like architecture, urban design and landscape architecture, which drew him to an environmental design department that brings all these areas under one roof. His research interest—which considers the advancement of fascist movements as expressed through visual and spatial culture—draws on these disciplines, plus humanities and social sciences.

“It’s easy to fall into this trap of saying the global rise of nationalist movements we see today is the same as it was in the 1920s. And it’s not,” Fité Matamoros said. “But there are similarities, and I think understanding how fascist movements in the ’20s and ’30s operated gives us a clue as to how they operate today.”

He studies the phenomenon through the lens of his native Spain, which watched its American colonial empire fall apart following war with the United States. The country’s attention turned to Africa, seen as a bountiful land of riches that could offset Spain’s decline—a concept Franco exploited in his rise to power.

He sees some of that today in the United States, where the Trump administration has pushed to rename the Gulf of Mexico and speak of colonizing Greenland and Canada.

Renaming, he said, is not just changing a label, “it repositions a space within a broader narrative of national rebirth. These spatial moves are not only moments of rhetorical excess, they create an appealing spatial argument for a violent nationalist narrative.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

CMDI is welcoming 14 new faculty with expertise in journalism, business, surveillance, technology and more.

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Eight is enough: CMDI piles up top paper awards at influential conference

Jayden Fortner — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 20:12:06 +0000

Eight is enough: CMDI piles up top paper awards at influential conference Jayden Fortner Wed, 08/12/2026 - 14:12

Iris Serrano (Jour , StComm’26)

After working as a journalist in Bangladesh for 17 years, Ershad Khan noticed a common theme that continued to drive his work as he entered academia.

Journalism’s most influential theories have been developed through a Western lens. And while these frameworks have shaped decades of research, Khan doesn’t believe they fully capture the reality of journalism in countries with different political systems, languages and cultural settings.

Now, the journalism PhD student in the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information is working to broaden perspectives.

Journalism PhD student Ershad Khan, left, won a best student paper award for his work on how A.I. is reshaping the news outside of Western contexts, as well as a research award. Here, he poses with the award alongside Beverly Horvit, of the University of Missouri.

“There’s a tendency to interpret press systems outside of the West as authoritarian, but there are nuances and other factors researchers miss,” Khan said. “I want to make things more inclusive from my own experiences and from my own cultural proximity.”

His paper, Artificial Intelligence and the Journalistic Field: Reconfiguring Capital, Legitimacy and Professional Authority in Bangladesh, examined how artificial intelligence is reshaping journalism in Bangladesh and affecting the workflow of newsrooms and journalists’ perception of their work.

One of the study’s biggest findings was that A.I.’s effectiveness relies heavily on language. English-language news organizations in Bangladesh can more easily integrate A.I. tools because large language models have been trained extensively in English. A lack of training data in Bengali means native-language newsrooms struggle to integrate these tools.

“The language these tools generate in a local language is something similar to seventh graders’ standard when they want to give output for their readers,” Khan said. “So they need to heavily edit those outputs. That’s not efficient for their newsrooms.”

This work earned Khan a first-place student paper award from the international communication division at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, which took place earlier this month in New Orleans.

He was among dozens of CMDI students and faculty to be recognized, bringing home a total of eight top paper awards and contributing 47 peer-reviewed papers. Khan also won a student research grant award for his proposal, Overt and Covert Control: How Competitive Authoritarian Regimes Restrict Journalistic Autonomy. The study aims to understand state mechanisms for controlling the press in the Global South based on data collected from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Uganda.

Founded in 1912, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. Today, the nonprofit organization includes thousands of educators and students from around the globe.

“It is such an honor for the work of our faculty and students to earn recognition from a prestigious organization like AEJMC,” said Patrick Ferrucci, professor and chair of the journalism department at CMDI. “To see the incredible work coming out of all the schools who attend the conference, and to then watch so much of CMDI’s work be recognized, is incredibly humbling. It’s a testament to all the great work from faculty and grad students in journalism and APRD.”

Angie Chuang, an associate professor of journalism, also received recognition at the conference for her book, American Otherness in Journalism. She was presented with the Frank Luther/Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award, given to the best book on journalism and mass communication based on original research. She was also a finalist for the Tankard Book Award.

Angie Chuang, left, with the Frank Luther/Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award she won for her book, American Otherness in Journalism. She is pictured with Raluca Cozma, outgoing Kappa Tau Alpha president and a professor of media and communication at Kansas State University.

Her book examines how the news has historically represented different communities and how political rhetoric has influenced who gets designated, as she said, “American with an asterisk.”

While writing the book, Chuang was surprised by just how quickly political landscapes and conversations about identity can change.

“How did we go from the summer of Black Lives Matter and really examining structural racism to banning DEI and questioning birthright citizenship in just a few years?” Chuang said. “When information is so fast-paced, and you have all of these new ways of communicating, things can change fast.”

Chuang said allowing people to limit what it means to be American will create a less-inclusive society. As the news industry evolves through social media, Substack, podcasts and other outlets, she said journalists have a greater responsibility to ensure voices are represented fairly.

“Whoever the news media is going to be, whether it’s traditional journalists or new media journalists, let’s remember what our values are,” Chuang said. “It’s not biased to say we would like to include all Americans’ voices in the news.”

Chuang’s work is defined by her experience working in the newsroom as a reporter, including coverage of issues related to race and ethnicity at The Oregonian. She called the award especially meaningful because it comes from peers who have also worked in the industry.

“To have journalists-turned-academics say this is a book that feels real, and has potential use in a newsroom today—that is a really nice compliment,” Chuang said.

A full list of CMDI presentations at AEJMC follows. Names in bold are CMDI faculty and students. In addition, many CMCI faculty and students in the journalism, media studies, and advertising, public relations and design departments moderated or served on panels, or led workshops, in addition to serving as heads of different divisions.

Advertising Division

Designing LLM Chatbots to Drive Webtoon Engagement: From Attention to Retention. Won-Ki Moon (University of Florida) and Sangwook Lee (assistant professor, APRD).

Broadcast and Mobile Journalism Division

Gatekeeping in Mobile Journalism: A Comparative Framework for Autonomous and Constrained Media Environments. Mamunor Rashid (PhD student, journalism).

Journalistic Authority as Epistemic Power: Framing and Ideology in Partisan News Talk. Manwar Hossain (PhD student, journalism).

Commission on Graduate Education

Making Asynchronous as Synchronous as Possible: Designing an Isolated Website for Summer Semester Online Journalism Course Engagement. Carl Knauf (PhD student, journalism).

Realities, Challenges, and Hopes in Career Building Toward Academia, Communication, and Journalism: Insights from Faculty and Graduate Student Perspectives. Mamunor Rashid (PhD student, journalism).

Commission on LGBTQIA+ Communities

The Professional Backstaging of LGBTQ+ Identity in Sports Journalism. Ashley Carter (assistant teaching professor, journalism). Top faculty paper, third place.

Commission on the Status of Minorities

Journalistic Objectivity, Epistemic Contests, and American (U.S.) Journalism: Audience Metajournalistic Discourse in Post-George Floyd Racial Reckoning. Dennis Okeke (PhD student, journalism). Top student paper, first place.

Commission on the Status of Women

I'm Worried ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Sexual Assault. I'm Worried ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Dying’: An Intersectional Analysis of How US Women Photojournalists Experience Occupational Safety Threats. Dinfin Mulupi (assistant professor, journalism).

Intersectional Analysis of Global Menstrual Leave News for Informal Labor. Shreyoshi Ghosh (PhD student, journalism).

Communicating Science, Health, Environment, Risk Division

Message Format and Influencer Roles in Sustainability Persuasion: Evidence for Format-Source Alignment in Climate Communication on Social Media. Vaibhav Diwanji (University of Kansas), Hong Vu (associate professor, journalism), Nhung Nguyen (University of South Alabama) and Nazra Izhar (University of Kansas).

We’re Leading the Transition: How Oil Companies Use Climate-Delay Discourses to Frame Their Responsibility on Social Media. Dien Luong (University of Michigan), (Frank) Hechen Ding (University of Kansas) and Hong Vu (associate professor, journalism).

Communication Technology Division

Assessing Relationships between Higher Education Institutions and the Public on Social Media: A Quantitative Content Analysis. Bachchu Shekh (PhD student, APRD).

Exploring How A.I. Technology Impacts Students’ Learning Outcomes and Self-Efficacy. Md Sazzad Hossain (University of Iowa), Shah Jahan Shuvo (University of Alabama), Bachchu Shekh (PhD student, APRD) and Jamil Marques (University of Iowa).

Community Journalism Interest Group

Vanishing Voices: Policy Failure and the Decline of Diaspora Journalism. Manwar Hossain (PhD student, journalism). Top student paper, first place.

Cultural and Critical Studies Division

At Least It Will Be 24 Hours Without Fake News’: A Thematic Analysis of Online Comments on Newsroom Strikes. Qiongye Chen (PhD student, journalism) and Ever Figueroa (assistant professor, journalism).

Journalism at the Crossroads of Culture and Climate: Journalists and Indigenous Perspectives on Environmental Reporting. Shitemi Khamadi (University of Indiana) and Dinfin Mulufi (assistant professor, journalism).

Navigating Hierarchies in Communication Journal Publishing: African Scholars’ Experiences and Strategies. Success Osayi (PhD student, journalism).

The Public Investment Fund and Saudi Sports Investment: Western Media and the Struggle for Legitimacy. Mohammed Abu Alqas (PhD student, journalism) and Huda Asiri (PhD student, journalism).

Racialized Stigma as Preoccupation or Site of Resistance: Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of Mainstream and Chinese-Language News Media Coverage of the Atlanta Spa Shootings. Wen Lei (PhD student, journalism), Angie Chuang (associate professor, journalism) and Shreyoshi Ghosh (PhD student, journalism).

Risk Without Recognition: Power, Labor and Safety in Global Conflict Reporting. Mushfique Wadud (PhD student, journalism).

International Communication Division

Artificial Intelligence and the Journalistic Field: Reconfiguring Capital, Legitimacy and Professional Authority in Bangladesh. Ershad Khan (PhD student, journalism). Top student paper, first place.

Beyond the Threat-Efficacy Gap: A Longitudinal EPPM Analysis of Climate Journalism in Bangladesh Across Crisis Events (2020–2024). Mamunor Rashid (PhD student, journalism).

Climate Change Frame-setting on Audience Emotions and Engagement: A Comparative Study of Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore’s News Media. Hong Vu (associate professor, journalism), Le Thanh Trieu (Vietnam National University), Thin Van Dang (Vietnam National University) and Tham Thi Nguyen (RMIT Vietnam).

Competing Threats, Competing Enemies: Gulf and Egyptian Elite Discourse, Blame Attribution, and the Politics of Meaning in the 2026 Gulf Escalation. Mohammed Abu Alqas (PhD student, journalism).

Media Sources and Public Perceptions: Survey from High-Risk Areas in Peshawar. Hina Ali (PhD student, journalism).

Outward-Facing Legitimacy in Saudi English-Language News: Narrating Sport Diplomacy and Managing Sportswashing Critique After the FIFA 2034 Decision. Mohammed Abu Alqas (PhD student, journalism).

Power, Profit and the Press: A Comparative Political Economy of Media Ownership and Advertising Influence in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Muhammad Ali (PhD student, journalism) and Ershad Khan (PhD student, journalism).

Role Conceptions of Journalists and NGO Practitioners: Perspectives on Covering Humanitarian News in Crisis and Disaster Zones. Rania Al Namara (postdoctoral researcher, media studies).

Mass Communication and Society Division

Framing Dissent in South Asia: A Thematic and Discourse Analysis of Al Jazeera’s Coverage of Youth-Led Movements in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Mamunor Rashid (PhD student, journalism) and Md. Sajedul Islam (Southern Mississippi).

Media Ethics Division

Seeing and Not Seeing: Gen A.I., Professional Identity and Moral Perception Among Advertising Creatives. Jianhua Lu (PhD student, APRD). Top student paper, second place.

Paradigm Destruction: How Journalism Casually Contributes to Its Own Credibility Debacle: Patrick Ferrucci (professor, journalism).

Minorities and Communication Division

Beyond the Headlines: Arab Students’ Perceived Social and Personal Effects of U.S. Press Coverage of Gaza. Mohammed Abu Alqas (PhD student, journalism).

Introducing Racialized Metajournalistic Discourse: American Journalism and Racialized Violence in Digitized Metajournalistic Discursive Sites: Dennis Okeke (PhD student, journalism).

Newspaper and Online News Division

Disseminator or Advocate? Role-Toggling in Professional Practices Among Environmental Journalists. Patrick Ferrucci (professor, journalism) and Hong Vu (associate professor, journalism).

Evaluating Texting as a Strategy for Audience Engagement: A Chicago Sun-Times Case Study. Meagan Doll (assistant professor, journalism) and Benjamin Toff (University of Minnesota).

Revisiting the Protest Paradigm: Thematic Framing and Protest Legitimacy Across Liberal and Semi-Authoritarian Media Systems. Mamunor Rashid (PhD student, journalism).

Telling The Story of a Newsroom: Organizational Narrative and The Field of Journalism. Patrick Ferrucci (professor, journalism).

Participatory Journalism Interest Group

Examining Volunteer-Newsroom Collaboration in Community Radio: A Case Study on Community Radio in the Boulder and Denver Areas. Rania Al Namara (postdoctoral researcher, media studies) and Patrick Ferrucci (professor, journalism). Top faculty paper, first place.

Disrupting the Profession: Participatory Journalism and the Audience Turn: Fahad Humayun (Ball State University) and Muhammad Ali (PhD student, journalism).

Political Communication Division

Framing Democracy After Authoritarianism: How Bangladesh’s Media Covers Established vs. Uprising-Born Parties in the 2026 Election. Mamunor Rashid (PhD student, journalism).

Qatar’s Mediation Role Under Pressure: Comparative Framing and Strategic Narratives in U.S. and Qatari Coverage of the 2025 Doha Strike. Mohammed Abu Alqas (PhD student, journalism).

Religion as a Connective Communicative Social Technology: A Theoretical Framework. Lorcan Neill (University of North Carolina), Daniel Kreiss (University of North Carolina) and Jordan Morehouse (assistant professor, APRD).

Voices Unsilenced: A.I.-Generated Political Communication in Constrained Democracies. Muhammad Ali (PhD student, journalism) and Hina Ali (PhD student, journalism).

Public Relations Division

To DEI or Not To DEI: A Multi-Source Analysis of Corporate Social Advocacy. Teresa Tackett (University of Arkansas, Fayetteville), Andrea Lorenz (Kent State University) and Bridget Barrett (assistant professor, APRD). Top faculty paper, third place.

The Dialectical Tensions of Neoliberal Narratives and Field Logic in Public Relations AI Practices: Kyle Harris (PhD student, APRD).

Sports Communication Interest Group

Peripheral Mending at the Edges of Sports Journalism: Metajournalistic Discourse of the Terry Rozier Sports Gambling Scandal. Ever Figueroa (assistant professor, journalism) and Patrick Ferrucci (professor, journalism)

Visual Communication Division

Violence, Suffering and Courage: Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographs, 2003 to 2025: Lisa Krantz (University of Missouri) and Ross Taylor (associate professor, journalism). Top faculty paper, third place.

Iris Serrano graduated from CMDI in 2026 with degrees in Journalism and Strategic Communication. She covers student news and events for the college.

Faculty and student research into topics like A.I. and community journalism were recognized at this year’s AEJMC conference in New Orleans.

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2 minutes with: TEDxCU

Ellie Chase — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:37:10 +0000

2 minutes with: TEDxCU Ellie Chase Mon, 04/27/2026 - 22:37

Student speaker Leo Heuring delivers his talk in Macky Auditorium in early April. Heuring is studying creative technology and design, and was accompanied by his robotic dog, Corndog, for his speech. In his talk, Heuring explored the meaning humans convey to their robots and the positive outcomes of these meaningful connections. Photo by Jack Moody.

Ellie Chase

Learn more about TEDxCU, one of the oldest and largest university organized TEDx events in the country

Kalen Sieja, a co-curator of the 2026 TEDxCU event, speaks at the reception following the main event, On the Contrary. Sieja, who is graduating this year with a double major in political science and ecology and evolutionary biology, used his time in the spotlight to thank TEDxCU and toast to another successful year. Photo by Hannah Howell.

TEDxCU, which focuses on featuring independently licensed TED Talks, is among the oldest and largest university-organized events of its kind in the country. The student-led TEDxCU team hosts events in which talks are filmed in front of a live audience in Macky Auditorium. Students select six to nine speakers per year and work together to finance and plan the event, and coach the speakers. We’re here with Kalen Sieja, the TEDxCU co-curator, to discuss the ins and outs of the program.

Responses edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about TEDxCU.

The purpose of TED is to showcase ideas that aren’t always highlighted in dominant narratives. I think that the purpose of college and the mission of TED are the same—to get exposure to ideas worth spreading.

How do you choose speakers?

We usually get about a hundred applications from potential speakers. We select about half of our speakers from that pool. One of our speakers is always the winner of our Student Voices Speaking competition, hosted in the fall. For the remaining speakers, we reach out to folks in the community or familiar faces from TV that we think are doing cool things.

What have been some of your favorite speakers or topics?

It’s so hard to choose! Last year I coached Felony Misdemeanor, a drag queen, who talked about the history of drag and her drag household in Denver. It was so cool to get to know her through that process. We also had the world record holder in Olympic speed climbing do a talk with his coach, which was also really cool.

Best reason to join?

It is by far, the best opportunity for professional growth and development that I have had access to in college. We have a team of 60 people and a budget of more than $50,000, so you are essentially participating in a small production company—you learn skills that you can’t learn in a classroom. It is also the No. 1 thing employers will ask about on your resume.

So, help me understand: If I were to join, what work would I be doing?

We work pretty much year round to put on the event. Our members are split into 12 teams, all working on different aspects of the organization—from finance to community outreach. That’s one of the coolest things about TEDxCU—whatever major you are, we have a job tailored for your skill set.

That's amazing that so many majors are valued at TEDxCU. What CMDI-specific skills does the club help students to develop?

There’s a lot of marketing, PR and engagement. Endless communication with organizations in the community, trying to get them to participate, promote our program or even sponsor us financially. We also love folks who are good at public speaking, or want to grow their public speaking skills.

Tell me the most chaotic thing that’s ever happened during a show.

Two years ago we had some videos embedded in our slide deck. The video worked on rehearsal day, the video worked day of—and as soon as the event started, the lights dimmed and the video would not play! That was a disaster—it was video problem after video problem at that event.

If you could pick one person to speak at CU—dead or alive—who would it be?

I’m a political science nerd, so I would love to get a really iconic Supreme Court justice. Like, Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Ketanji Brown Jackson. I’d love to hear RBG talk about being a woman on the Supreme Court in a pioneering time, and her experiences and outlook on cases.

Interested in joining TEDxCU? For more information check out tedxcu.com, and follow @tedxcu on Instagram for event updates and more.

Ellie Chase is studying journalism at CMDI, with a minor in business. She covers students and student news at the college.

TEDxCU Co-curator Kalen Sieja discusses how students bring "ideas worth spreading" to life through TEDx talks.

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Trust the process

Joe Arney — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 17:02:14 +0000

Trust the process Joe Arney Fri, 04/24/2026 - 11:02

Henry Ugwu was managing communications for the Nigerian government’s pandemic response when he realized he needed more experience. That led him to CMDI and its PhD in strategic communication. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

Joe Arney

It was while managing the Nigerian government’s pandemic-related communication campaign that Henry Ugwu realized he needed more experience.

“I was all of 25 years old, running meetings with ministers and governors, and trying to guide them on what to do,” said Ugwu, who was the technical communications lead on the project. “That’s when I realized I had to up my game.”

To be fair, Ugwu’s game was already highly leveled when he arrived at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��. Most notably, he was a senior communications specialist with Credo Advisory—with offices in Nigeria and Washington, D.C.—where he worked on clients such as World Bank and the US Agency for International Development; he also was a youth fellow at the International Monetary Fund.

But coming to the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information for his PhD in strategic communication gave him a theoretical grounding that he said has dovetailed nicely with the practical skills he developed in his professional career. It was still an adjustment for Ugwu to find himself in a classroom, though.

“The industry is all about immediate results—you run a campaign, you see the data in real time, you see the impact of the work you’re doing and behaviors you’re helping to change,” he said. “Now, I apply theories to explain the phenomena of what happens in the field.

“My first semester was a bit of a learning curve, with a lot of reading to do. But I love the academic research side of things, where I explore varying topics, make a hypothesis, test it and try to publish it.”

An early advisor connection

Ugwu credited his advisor, Jolene Fisher, with helping his maturation as a student and researcher. In fact, he already knew of Fisher—an expert in strategic communication for development work and social change—from his career.

“My first introduction to Jolene was through her incredible work, and when I reached out to her to learn more, she could not have been more encouraging and personable,” he said. “I came here with all these broad ideas, and Jolene really helped me narrow things down. She has been extremely instrumental in my success as a researcher.”

Jolene Fisher

Fisher still remembers the Zoom call she took with Ugwu as he was exploring doctoral programs.

“I couldn’t believe, after doing so much research in international development and communication, that I might finally have a student who was just as into this work,” she said.

Ugwu’s work is tailor-made for the crisis development organizations are navigating. His broad interests encompass public relations, health communications and development communications; his dissertation explores issues of trust that multilateral development organizations like USAID and the United Nations are facing at a time of cutbacks and intense scrutiny of their work.

“The legitimacy of organizations like the World Bank and the UN is coming from critics who say that, since they’ve been established, they haven’t met their missions of driving development and eradicating poverty,” Ugwu said, noting the significant positive impact such organizations have had in addressing the world’s most complex issues. “But it’s important to examine the impact and relevance of these organizations from the perspective of communications professionals who are managing this emerging crisis.”

One thing he’s interested in, for instance, is localization—involving stakeholders in a solution, rather than prescribing answers from faraway places.

“It’s listening to what the needs are and having people at the grassroots lead in identifying and working toward solutions,” Ugwu said. “This kind of work is important to anyone working on communications in global health or in international development.”

There is extensive scholarly work on development communication, but Fisher said Ugwu’s work represents a novel approach in thinking about how these kinds of relationships are created and managed through the lens of public relations.

As seismic shifts test those partnerships and strain resources, “it’s more important than ever to understand how we think about who holds the power to make decisions about development projects,” she said. “And his fieldwork really helps him see these challenges and bring them to life for the students in his classes, who may not appreciate the different places their strategic communication education can take them.”

Combining work experience, research insights

The chance to bring the observations from his life and work in Nigeria to the field was a key reason Ugwu was excited about doing a PhD.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to contribute to revisiting, and maybe improving, some existing theories—or potentially developing a new one,” he said.

Henry Ugwu’s work in the field ‘really helps him see these challenges and bring them to life for the students in his classes,’ says his advisor, Jolene Fisher. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

Ugwu hopes to research and teach in academia—he recently won a Graduate Part-Time Instructors Teaching Excellence award from the Graduate School and a research and academic achievement award from CMDI—but plans to keep active in industry so that he’s able to bring trends and insights to his students. He shared the story of fueling up his car during the worst of COVID and overhearing a conversation where a woman claimed the disease wasn’t real, in spite of all Ugwu and his team were doing to change behavior and ensure positive health outcomes for residents.

“That was hard to hear—despite being aware of such skeptics from our polling data—but it forced us to change our approach, which had been really high-level communications,” he said. “We realized we needed more grassroots engagement to complement what we were doing on radio, television and social media.

“Conducting research that helps people better understand the scale of the problem was fulfilling. And that’s something I want to be able to offer to students—because there are some lessons that you can really only learn from being out there and doing the work.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

Celebrating the Class of 2026

The transition from industry to PhD work was an adjustment for Henry Ugwu when he arrived at CMDI. Learning new perspectives helped him create novel research on trust.

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2026 Graduation Celebration

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And the Grammy goes to…

Jayden Fortner — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:27:35 +0000

And the Grammy goes to… Jayden Fortner Thu, 04/09/2026 - 08:27

Len Brown, senior manager of hip-hop, R&B and reggae at the Recording Academy, came to Boulder last month and met students throughout the college. ‘I always knew I wanted to be in the entertainment industry, but I didn’t start there,’ Brown—at center, giving a peace sign—said during a Q&A session at a joint student group meeting. Throughout his visit, he shared about his time in the industry, saying he hoped his insights might be inspiring for students. Courtesy of Radio 1190.

Hannah Stewart

Len Brown, of the Recording Academy, came to Boulder last month to meet with students across the college. 'I always knew I wanted to be in the entertainment industry, but I didn't start there,' Brown, giving a peace sign at center, said during a Q&A session at a joint student group meeting. Throughout his visit, he shared his time in the industry, saying he hoped his insights would be inspiring for students. Photo courtesy of Radio 1190.

It was the third day of being the special guest at various meet and greets with ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� students, but Len Brown felt anything but drained.

Last month, Brown visited the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information to share his experiences working in the music industry. Now a senior manager of hip-hop, R&B and reggae at the Recording Academy, Brown lives and breathes music—not necessarily picking Grammy winners, but educating people about joining the academy and how to get nominated.

In a Q&A session at a joint student group meeting, he explained that day-to-day, he works with many teams to develop business strategies, and finds a lot of joy in the interpersonal responsibilities of his job, like managing artist and media relations as well as connecting with students during visits to campuses like ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��.

��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America and Ad Club invited him to their meeting last month to learn more about the industry. Both organizations have a strong presence within CMDI, and the room was nearly full with the number of students who showed up for the conversation.

Over the course of an hour, Brown fielded questions covering everything from his experience breaking into the music industry to whether or not he was concerned about generative artificial intelligence. (He’s not a fan, but thinks it can be a tool, and hopes there will ever be an A.I. category at the Grammy’s).

As a senior manager at the Recording Academy, it was natural for Len Brown, right, to stop by Radio 1190, where he chatted with students like Elliana Nickel about what it's like to work in the industry. Photo by Ella Krelovich.

“It’s important, in any industry, to be inquisitive, open minded, willing to ask the hard questions—so it feels pretty good and refreshing to be able to speak to students that are genuinely curious,” he said.

The Grammys’ mission is to advance a strong culture of diversity, largely through advocating for and educating music creators. Brown’s role directly plays into this goal through his personal mission of including more voices in the academy for voting purposes. For example, although he doesn’t directly work with Grammy U, he said the program is a worthwhile way for young people to get, and hopefully stay, involved in the industry.

“I would love to speak to more students. I just hope my perspective and experiences can help people,” he said. “You should never stop learning, and I’ve learned a lot just by interacting with the student body here. There’s a bright future ahead for them.”

Even after the event formally ended, a number of students stuck around to ask Brown additional questions, many remarking that the conversation gave good insight into the industry.

“I thought it was super beneficial to hear how Len made the shift from working in other fields to being in music and then being super dialed in,” said Zoe Stillman, a strategic communication junior and member of the Ad Club who will be president of the organization in the fall. “The recording academy is a dream company. I've always wanted to work in music.”

This semester, Stillman is interning with Boulder’s Sterling-Rice Group, an independent, female-owned creative agency who has done work for clients like Snooze, Avocados from Mexico and Almond Board of California. Working as an account intern, Stillman has learned a lot about the logistical side of advertising and loves it.

“I now have a good foundation of how things work at an agency,” she said. “So now, no matter who the client is—whether it’s culinary or entertainment—I know how to communicate with clients in a way that's beneficial and feel confident I can take that experience and implement it if I were to get a job in music.”

That’s a reason Josh Shepperd, an associate professor and undergraduate chair of media studies, brought Brown to campus.

“We teach our students how to build and engage a team, but it’s important to not just talk about it,” Shepperd said. “You have to see it in action by meeting the people who’ve made it to the top—that’s why we invited Len.”

Hannah Stewart graduated from CMDI in 2019 with a degree in communication. She covers student news for the college.

Len Brown was a special guest to CMDI last month for a series of talks and Q&As on hip-hop, sound and careers in the music industry.

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Seeking a sports media career? Don’t sit on the sidelines

Joe Arney — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Seeking a sports media career? Don’t sit on the sidelines Joe Arney Mon, 03/23/2026 - 05:00

Alumni Michael Davies, a Fox Sports senior vice president, left, and X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom during a fireside chat at the CMDI Sports Media Summit. More than 200 students attended this year’s event. Photo by Hannah Howell.

Iris Serrano

Success, in sports, comes down to the athlete willing to go the extra mile and push the limits of endurance to accomplish what seems impossible.

Success in sports media often amounts to the same thing.

That was the lesson Izabelle Stewart-Adams took away from this month’s Sports Media Summit, hosted by the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��.

“A dream job for me would be working anywhere in the sports events world—whether that's X Games, Olympics, World Cups,” Stewart-Adams said. “The biggest piece of advice that I've been given today is to show how hungry you are to stand out.”

“Find your tenacity, and show whoever you’re interviewing with, ‘I am here to work. I’m here to prove myself.’”

Jeremy Bloom (A&S ex’06), CEO, X Games

The senior journalism major was one of more than 200 students to attend the two-day event, which was supported by alumni Neal Scarbrough (Jour’84) and Michael Davies (Jour’94). As co-chairs, both brought alumni and industry professionals with distinguished careers in journalism, marketing, production, technology and more to the event.

The highlight of the summit was a fireside chat between Davies, a senior vice president with Fox Sports, and X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom (A&S ex’06), who played football for the Buffs and in the NFL, and was a three-time world champion skier.

Bloom talked about the drive and dedication it takes to make it in such a competitive field—but also the rewards and enjoyment he draws from his work.

“I want to find people who have passion and love for the product that is at our company, and somebody who's got that look in their eye that they're on a mission and they're going to do whatever it takes to help us become more successful,” he said. “Find your tenacity, and show whoever you’re interviewing with, ‘I am here to work. I’m here to prove myself.’”

‘When you are sitting down and that camera’s in front of your face, then you know it’s all worth it,’ Justin Adams (Jour’09), a reporter and sports anchor for CBS Denver, said at the event. Fellow panelist Cassidy Davis (StComm’23) listens in. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

A full Touchdown Club at Folsom Field listens to a panel discussion on how media rights and streaming technologies are forcing journalists and others to reimagine fan engagement and attention. Photo by Hannah Howell.

Panel and networking sessions featured a mix of professionals in terms of their industries and experience levels—from reporters who cover games from the broadcast booth to Scarbrough, a vice president and general manager at Marketplace who’s worked in sports for ESPN and The Denver Post. During the main program day, discussions explored sports consumption, audience engagement and the growing impact of generative artificial intelligence and how it is changing the field, especially within marketing and fan engagement.

Students also took advantage of a new addition to this year’s program—an hourlong networking lunch where they were encouraged to ask questions and build meaningful connections to the invited panelists.

Passion, but pressure

Cassidy Davis (StComm’23) remembers attending the summit right after she graduated to get some motivation and perspective from speakers. Now, as a corporate partnerships coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, she paid it forward by attending as a panelist and sharing her own experiences with students: An hour after the event ended, she was still fielding questions from attendees.

“These students are so interested in the sports industry, and they know that's where they want to be,” she said. “As alumni, we were in their exact shoes, so we can provide inspiration and hopefully answer some of those questions that they're hungry to learn more about.”

Davis said while students are passionate about the industry as a career, they’re also feeling pressure.

“Students are more concerned with how they stand out against all of these competitors they're going up against,” Davis said. “I've been telling them to find places where you can prove that you can provide value to a team, where you can add a new perspective.”

Joining Davis on a panel about early-career professionals was Carey Kronhart, a junior majoring in media production with a minor in sports media. The aspiring operations manager’s biggest piece of advice to fellow students was to “network, network, network.”

Event co-chair Neal Scarbrough (Jour’84), left, talks with a student during a break in the action at the Sports Media Summit. Prior to his work with Marketplace, Scarbrough had a distinguished sports career, including work at The Denver Post and ESPN. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

Last year at the summit, he bonded with Michael Davies over a shared love of motorsports—a connection that led to freelance work as a production assistant for Fox Sports.

“He offered to let me go to a few races with a NASCAR crew,” Kronhart said. “I started on as a production assistant and runner, learning the ins and outs—it was really like drinking from the fire hose. But my boss took a shine to me, asked me what I was doing for the next three races. One thing just led to another, and it’s all from having that first conversation with Mike.”

Justin Adams (Jour’09), a reporter and sports anchor for CBS Denver, also shared how network connections gave him a head start in his journalism career. Early in his career, he sent a cold message to Rick George, now emeritus director for CU Athletics, asking for help in making connections that could help him call Pac-12 games.

George introduced him to the conference president, which led him to the broadcast booth almost immediately.

“Take that initiative, shake that hand, have that conversation, get that contact and make sure that your face is shown. That’s doing the hard work,” Adams said. “And when you are sitting down and that camera's in front of your face, then you know it's all worth it.”

Iris Serrano is studying strategic communication and journalism at CMDI. She covers student news and events for the college.

More than 200 students attended this year’s CMDI Sports Media Summit, learning from industry professionals how to break into journalism, media production, technology and more.

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Prompt response

Joe Arney — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:24:09 +0000

Prompt response Joe Arney Tue, 03/10/2026 - 09:24

Courtesy Anthropic

Joe Arney

Pooja Iyer laughed when she saw the Anthropic Super Bowl ad about a skinny guy looking for tips to get stronger. When he asks his trainer—a chatbot—for help getting swole, he also gets sold an ad for shoe inserts.

Courtesy Anthropic

“Ads are coming to A.I.” the onscreen overlay reads. “But not to Claude.”

“I was one of the early adopters to ChatGPT, because I like to experiment with new technology,” said Iyer, an assistant professor of advertising at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information. “And I remember immediately thinking this was search on steroids—so, personalized ads on steroids.”

Iyer said advertising on generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT was “inevitable,” especially if you consider how services like Google and Facebook monetized personal data to enable targeted advertising as core components of their products. And a chatbot that claims it will never rely on advertising should probably encourage its marketing and accounting departments to talk.

“There’s the cost of building and training a large language model, building data centers, hiring advertising and software teams—all that money has to come from somewhere,” she said. “Subscriptions, which are already higher than most streaming services, only get you so far. Newspapers ran because they were supported by advertising. If it was just subscriber money, newspapers would be long dead.”

Practical and academic expertise

Iyer studies advertising from the standpoint of data and technology, especially the consequences to consumers, who must surrender their data and privacy to use popular platforms. Her perspective is rooted in the pragmatic, as Iyer worked as an associate media director before earning her PhD in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin.

Pooja Iyer

A major problem she’s trying to solve is a lack of clarity on what data consumers are comfortable sharing with advertisers. It’s important to get that right, because while consumers generally are supportive of targeted digital advertising—studies consistently find about three in four consumers prefer ads tailored to their interests—there are plenty of cases where companies went too far. For instance, the pro-life Veritas Society used cellphone location data to serve anti-abortion ads to women who visited Planned Parenthood clinics.

“We are really lacking in research in that area of what people want, or will tolerate,” Iyer said. “We have asked questions to help understand how much and to what extent people are willing to share, but a lot depends on who you are. If I am in a vulnerable part of the country, or an immigrant, or of a certain gender or race, my level of comfort sharing data is very different than how you may share your data.”

Those consequences, right now, are not part of the digital advertising playbook. The entry of A.I. into this space—OpenAI has already started serving ads to ChatGPT users—adds urgency to bring a more ethical approach to how companies serve up ads in the future.

Privacy in class

And it’s even more interesting in the context of Iyer’s classes, which often visit topics around digital advertising, ethical data use and A.I.

“I’ll say something like, ‘I can target the people in this room, if I want to,’ and while plenty of them are taken aback, a lot just shrug,” Iyer said. “Privacy is only a concern if you know that you had privacy once. But if you were born in a world where that didn’t exist, you may not care.”

Part of what concerns her about ChatGPT and advertising is how quickly the platform has been adopted. From its public launch in November 2022, it has grown to 900 million active weekly users. No other technology has been adopted so quickly, or broadly, so there’s some uncertainty as to what advertising on the platform will look like.

“How do we build this balance of being ethical and mindful about using consumer data? That’s the question the industry needs to answer.”

Pooja Iyer, assistant professor, APRD

“I think Chat will take all your data, synthesize it and show you ads that may not be related to your query,” Iyer said. “You might ask it to help you become fit, and instead of a sneaker ad, you get something based on other life issues or queries you’ve put in.

“Chat says you’ll get mindful, context-aware ads, but I don’t know what that means. If I’m using Chat as my therapist, will I see ads aimed at uplifting me in some way? Or will it tell me to go shopping, and try retail therapy?”

It’s too early to share findings on her research, but Iyer hopes her work helps companies advertise in ways that are informative without being intrusive.

“Like A.I., advertising is here to stay. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” she said. “But how do we build this balance of being ethical and mindful about using consumer data? That’s the question the industry needs to answer.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

How will advertisers operate on ChatGPT and other A.I. platforms? A CMDI expert is exploring the limits of data use in targeting customers.

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Nextdoor labor

Joe Arney — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 16:55:45 +0000

Nextdoor labor Joe Arney Mon, 02/23/2026 - 09:55

Joe Arney

If your window to the outdoor world is Nextdoor, you might believe your neighborhood is awash in porch pirates, pooch poop, poor drivers and problematic people.

But as more municipalities find themselves without local journalism outlets, your neighbors might be the best source of community news that you have—which is dangerous, said researchers at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��.

“You could say Nextdoor is increasingly serving a need that has been historically served by local news outlets that don’t exist anymore,” said Toby Hopp, an associate professor in the advertising, public relations and design department. “But Nextdoor’s business model is built around retaining audience attention and serving advertisements—it isn’t linked to journalistic norms like balance, fairness and verified reporting.”

In a new paper in New Media & Society, Hopp and Patrick Ferrucci, professor of journalism, found Nextdoor users are more concerned about crime—and more likely to support aggressive policing tactics, even as Americans demonstrate against the methods employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

The authors—which include Hunter (Reeves) Krajewski, a PhD student in APRD—expected Nextdoor users who were less trustful of their neighbors would be more concerned about crime, but in fact, it was the users with high levels of social trust who had that worry.

“Because those folks trust their neighbors, they’re more likely to take reports of crime seriously, which is associated with enhanced concern and an openness to more aggressive policing,” Hopp said.

Notably, the researchers’ survey did not establish a causal link between people concerned about crime and Nextdoor use, meaning they couldn’t determine whether users signed up for the service because they were fearful of crime. But their work is still illuminating as the national conversation remains fixated on immigration, incarceration and technology.

Losing the context

Major crime in metropolitan areas has been in decline since rising in the early part of the decade. But with neighbors venting every grievance on Nextdoor, “it maybe gives people the idea that stolen packages, or loitering, are far more prevalent, and they’re not put in the context of policing,” Ferrucci said.

A missing Amazon package is not the same as seeing ICE agents execute demonstrators or separate children from their parents. But when we lose the context of understanding crime beyond our block, it becomes easier to imagine that more aggressive law enforcement is an answer. Hopp said he was surprised by respondents’ willingness to consider ideas like stop and frisk, vehicle searches during routine traffic stops, and equipping police with military-grade weapons.

“Each of these questions presents real constitutional concerns,” he said. “And if you think about what you’re willing to accept in your community, are you more willing to support these kinds of things in other communities?”

It’s not just ICE tactics or Fourth Amendment questions that are in the news—it’s the data gathered by companies that sell digitized surveillance. That’s not Nextdoor’s model, but it’s not a leap to see how increased concerns about crime could lead to adoption of camera technologies like Ring or Flock.

A collaboration between the companies—announced in a Super Bowl ad—was called off amid backlash that the new feature would create a dragnet to allow police to search for suspects, immigrants and others, instead of just missing pets.

“I think we’re finding these kinds of services, generally speaking, can’t be trusted,” Ferrucci said. “And there’s no appetite from a regulatory body to intervene and protect consumers, who have been slowly giving away their privacy for decades.”

Hopp and Ferrucci bring different research specialties to the problem, which offers them broader insights on topics like these. That’s a core value of CMDI, which was created to equip students and faculty to seek opportunities in areas where different fields intersect—especially as traditional disciplinary boundaries fall in the workplace.

“I don’t know that it makes sense to silo people as journalism researchers, or advertising researchers, and so on, because all institutions are producing and distributing information in a variety of ways,” Hopp said. “To parcel that off as just journalism, or just advertising, or just public relations, becomes increasingly difficult.

“We need to understand that we are researchers of the media—whatever the media might be at any given moment.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

Does using Nextdoor make you more likely to support aggressive policing tactics? A new paper from two CMDI experts sheds interesting light on the platform.

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2 minutes with: Michael Kerner and Cassidy Davis

Joe Arney — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 19:42:12 +0000

2 minutes with: Michael Kerner and Cassidy Davis Joe Arney Fri, 02/06/2026 - 12:42

Hannah Howell

Michael Kerner (Jour’12) and Cassidy Davis (StComm’23)

Michael Kerner

For Cassidy Davis, breaking into the sports media world comes down to three words: “Go for no.”

Saying yes to every opportunity is how she’s found herself, just a few years out of college, working in the bright lights of the Super Bowl.

That attitude is how both Davis (StComm’23) and Michael Kerner (Jour’12) are finding themselves at the big game. They have very different roles, but are both vital to one of the most anticipated media days of the year. Kerner is a manager for on-air graphics with NBC Sports, while Davis is a corporate partnerships coordinator for the Seahawks. They both credited extracurricular clubs at CMDI for playing vital roles in their college journeys.

Responses edited for length and clarity.

What responsibilities will you have for the Super Bowl?
Davis: Leading up to the big game, we've worked in partnership with brands to create memories for our fans and celebrate this season—including big events such as a drone show over the Space Needle, presented by Snoqualmie Casino & Hotel.

Kerner: I help manage and produce the graphics you see onscreen, from the early design stages through final delivery, when we send the graphics to the various trucks, studios and vendors that will air them. Our team started on this work almost a year ago.

Something you’re most looking forward to?
Davis: I am most looking forward to seeing the incredible hard work our team has put in throughout the season come to an incredible conclusion. Every moment has led to this one game, and I am so excited to experience the Super Bowl alongside my teammates.

Cassidy Davis

Thinking back—and Michael, this will be more of a stretch for you—can you share a CMDI class or professor that best prepared you for working on such a big stage?
Davis: Dawn Doty. She was so dedicated to forming personal relationships with each of her students. Dawn was instrumental in getting me to where I am today, both as a student and a member of the Public Relations Student Society of America,

Kerner: For me, it was CU Sports Mag—now Sko Buffs Sports. I knew I wanted to work in sports TV in college, and that club gave me invaluable experience. I got to try every position you’d find in a broadcast studio—running cameras, directing, editing, technical directing—and was on the field during CU football games, filming the action and Ralphie’s runs.

It’s great to hear you both talk about the value extracurricular clubs played in your careers. What about some advice for students dreaming of covering events like this?
Kerner: Be a sponge. Absorb everything and learn as many roles and skills as you can.

Davis: Lean on your passions to set yourself apart from other applicants. You can market yourself in so many different ways based on the experiences you've had throughout your life.

Hannah Howell is a sophomore majoring in media production, with a concentration in documentary film, and a sports media minor.

Two CMDI alumni are leaning on what they learned in college as they prepare for very different roles at the Super Bowl.

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Playbook for a winning Super Bowl ad: Embrace risk, seek emotion

Joe Arney — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:19:23 +0000

Playbook for a winning Super Bowl ad: Embrace risk, seek emotion Joe Arney Fri, 01/30/2026 - 09:19

Courtesy Coca-Cola

Ryan Huff

On Super Bowl Sunday, playing it safe is a guaranteed fumble.

At least when it comes to the commercials.

Courtesy Coca-Cola

“If you show up at the Super Bowl and your ad is just OK and nobody talks about you, you've wasted millions of dollars,” said Jeff Gillette, an assistant teaching professor of advertising at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information. “If people are divided about whether they love you or hate you and they're talking about you, that's a big win.”

Gillette, a former creative director with 20 years in the advertising business, knows how nerve-wracking it can be to view the commercials and hope for the best as public reaction unfolds. He helped create Coca-Cola spots for six Super Bowls at renowned ad agency Wieden+Kennedy.

Coke’s 2014 Super Bowl ad was particularly memorable for Gillette. The 60-second spot featured young American women signing “America the Beautiful” in a blend of English and their native tongues—including Hebrew, Spanish and a Native American dialect—to celebrate the nation’s diversity.

The scrutiny started immediately, with the ad content debated for days on Facebook feeds and morning news shows.

“We told the Coca-Cola marketing team beforehand, ‘You are going to get backlash, and we need you to back it up,’” Gillette said. And in doing so, they were rewarded: “After it aired, they saw a dip in consumer sentiment for maybe a minute, but then it spiked afterward. There were significantly more people who defended that spot than tried to tear it down.”

Jeff Gillette

Gillette is now co-director of the strategic communication design master’s program, popularly known as The Brand Studios. As he tells his students, airing Super Bowl commercials isn’t for every client. To ensure that today’s going rate of $8 million for 30 seconds of airtime is money well-spent, companies need to have broad appeal to the 125 million people watching.

“If you're in a space that has a lot of competition—like beer, soda, cars—it’s a great opportunity,” he said. “The purpose of Super Bowl marketing is for an established company to persuade you with brand affection and brand emotion. It works when it’s either funny or pulls on your emotional heart strings. It needs to be big and bold, and not trying to sell you something. It’s about communicating on an emotional level.”

Gillette has also seen plenty of flops in his day, too. One that sticks out for him was Mountain Dew’s “Puppy Monkey Baby” campaign during the Denver Broncos’ win in 2016. The spot features a diaper-clad, pug-faced, dancing monkey handing out beverages to three young men on a couch.

“Somebody brainstormed that puppies, monkeys and babies all do well for the Super Bowl. So, what if we mixed them all together?” Gillette said. “You want to be out there and memorable. But you can't just be weird without any kind of a message. Even though some people liked the ad, it didn’t connect with me emotionally.”

Others, though, did make the connection—some critics called it that year’s best ad while others labeled it the worst, creating the divisive buzz Gillette said can lead to consumer attention.

While some companies’ ad concepts only get one Super Bowl in the spotlight, others continue to feature their stable of mainstays. Budweiser has their Clydesdales. Doritos loves user-generated content. And Coca-Cola’s polar bears—icons that began with 1920s French print ads—made a comeback during the 2012 Super Bowl.

Gillette and fellow creative director Hal Curtis dreamed up a fresh angle for those fluffy carnivores beyond the standard in-game advertisement. Would the audience watch a livestream of the bears watching the game?

The creative team used Xbox controllers—this was 2012, after all—to puppet the computer-generated imagery with prepared actions. This enabled the bears—one a Patriots fan, the other a Giants fan—to react with cheers and disgust to the game, halftime show and commercials in real time.

The risk paid off. Nine million people tuned in on phones and laptops for an average of 28 minutes.

“You never get that length of time for somebody to engage with your brand,” Gillette said. “At no time were we like, ‘Hey, go have a Coca-Cola.’ It wasn’t a hard pitch. It was just a brand experience that people seemed to like, because people love the polar bears.”

And apparently, on the eve of this year’s Super Bowl, Pepsi now loves the polar bears, too. More than a week before the big game, Pepsi rolled out a playful twist where a polar bear unexpectedly prefers Pepsi over Coke in a blind taste test of its zero-sugar sodas.

Game on. What’s Coke’s next play?

“If I were Coke, I’d ignore it and concentrate on making better advertising,” Gillette said. “What they shouldn't do is react. If they do, Pepsi gets what they were after: some much-needed attention as the No. 2.

“I don’t blame them, though. Pepsi has always been the challenger brand—and when you’re in that spot, you got to poke, you know, the bear.”

Ryan Huff is the assistant dean of communications and engagement at CMDI.

An advertising professor who’s produced Super spots for Coca-Cola shares what makes a commercial memorable during the big game.

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