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ISU alum Strong: Newspapers are here to stay

By Bethany Pint
Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication

(Published Oct. 13, 2009)

What began as a love for the crossword puzzle in the Iowa State Daily developed into a passion and a full-time reporting job at the Des Moines Register for one Iowa State alumnus.

Jared Strong, a 2000 graduate of Atlantic High School and 2005 graduate of Iowa State University, came to ISU for a degree in computer science.

“I was really bored in class as a sophomore,” Strong said. “I was at Iowa State, a computer science student and I started doing crosswords in class and that turned me on to other parts of the newspaper.”

Strong said he became interested in the opinion section of the paper and started writing letters to the editor and eventually columns. In his senior year, Strong enrolled in journalism courses. He spent three semesters finishing the required courses and obtained two degrees – one in journalism and one in computer science- and chose to “make a lot less money but have a lot more fun.”

Strong talked to a family friend, Chuck Offenburger, a former Register columnist, about working for Offenburger’s Web site, Offenburger.com. Strong interned for Offenburger in the summer of 2005.

“He taught me to love Iowa; he taught me to love small stories that other people may not take interest in,” Strong said. “It helped me hone my small-town news sense and my interest in people. A lot of reporters don’t have that interest in people.”

That same summer, Strong married his high school sweetheart, Jesse Jones at her parent’s farm. Jesse is currently a teacher at Carver Elementary School in Des Moines, and they reside in Norwalk.

Connections with Offenburger landed Strong an internship for the Register in the fall of 2005 and he’s never left. He was hired by the Register in the summer of 2006 and has since then reported on issues regarding Clive, West Des Moines, Dallas County and the south side of Des Moines. Strong also serves as president of the professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in Des Moines.

“Being fair and being as personable as possible” has helped Strong make connections and break stories before other news outlets. Despite staff reductions at the Register and at papers throughout the country, Strong said newspapers are here to stay.

“Newspapers, whatever form they’re in, they’re never gonna go away because nobody does what we can, nobody has the staff to cover all that news that we do,” he said. “Our job of gathering information and being able to put it together in a way that people can easily understand and get their hands on – that’s going to ensure our industry, that it will continue.”  

(archived stories)

Daily named top in the country by SPJ

The Iowa State Daily has been named the top daily collegiate newspaper by the Society of Professional Journalists.

The Daily editors and adviser Mark Witherspoon will be collecting their national championship award at the annual SPJ Conference in Atlanta in September.

"I am so glad to see the Daily students' hard work being rewarded," Witherspoon said. "They have tackled the tasks necessary to rebuild newsroom morale and skills in the last few years while at the same time meeting the challenges of the changing technological delivery systems for the excellent journalism they have been doing."

The runners-up were the student papers at the University of Utah and Michigan State University.

The announcement came in mid-May. Earlier, the Daily won the Region VII honor. Region VII includes Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.

ISU poly sci prof gives gonzo lecture at regional

A room filled with professional and student journalists was apprised of the state of modern journalism and how it is affected by the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson on Saturday in the Scheman Building.

Steffen Schmidt, university professor in political science, was the keynote speaker of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Region VII Conference. The conference featured speeches by a variety of seasoned journalists and young working professionals, including Michael Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Dave Kraemer, editor of the Ames Tribune, and Carolyn Washburn, vice president and editor of the Des Moines Register.

Schmidt began his lecture by running down the history and effect that Thompson’s subjective style of journalism, which emerged in the 1950 and ’60s as a reaction to the “top-down, serious and passive style of journalism,” coupled with the unpopular war in Vietnam.

Journalism, for the first time, was bringing graphic and uncensored images of war to the American people on nightly newscasts, compounding the growing dislike of the conflict in Vietnam, he said.

“There was a paradigm shift as well, as television news showed a war that people could enjoy in their living rooms,” he said. “It was unfolding graphically in front of American faces.”

Fast forward to the present, where media consolidation and fractionalization due to the presence of the Internet have caused paper circulation sizes to fall and a mass migration of readers who have started to use new media, such as YouTube, Schmidt said, sources that could be could be used for “good, ill or evil.”

But due to all these new media devices, Schmidt said, customers expect many different choices in the way media is presented to them. Readers want to choose how and when they consume media, he said.

“There has been an explosion of new media and a polarization of the broadcast media,” he said. “The whole system has become about ‘producers and consumers.’ Journalists used to see themselves as stewards of democracy.”

The concept of digital convergence changing how journalists perform their duties to society was a common theme of the event, one that was summed up perfectly by the Greenlee School's Bugeja.

“The language we speak in the newsroom has changed because of technology,” Bugeja said. “How can we be online, but what are we doing to remind people that we are still there?”

As a final word of advice for rookie journalists in a time of uncertainty, Schmidt said to conscientiously draw a distinct line between the truth and gonzo journalism.

“Do your truth, and not Hunter J. Thompson’s version of the world,” he said.

Iowa State Daily named top paper in region

Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication

The Iowa State Daily took first place among daily newspapers in the SPJ Regional Mark of Excellence Awards annonced Saturday (April 5) in Ames.

The Daily had four other first-place winners: Kyle Miller for breaking news in the reporting competition; and in photography, Eloisa Perez-Lozano (general news photography); Gary Ross LaDue (feature photography); and Josh Harrell (sports photography). All first-place finishers automatically advance to the national SPJ competition.

The ISU newspaper had four second-place finisher. Sarah Thiele was second in general news reporting. LaDue was second in general news photography and sports photography. Dan McClanahan's second came in breaking news photography.

The paper had three third-place finishers: Lisa Jefferson (general column writing); Chris Conetskey (in-depth reporting); and Harrell and Rashah McChesney (general news photography).

Another entry from Greenlee School, Ethos, finished third in the best magazine category.

The Mark of Excellence Awards were given at the SPJ Region VII Conference held at the Scheman Building.

A total of 84 attended the conference. ISU political science professor Steffen Schmidt, Des Moines Register editor Carolyn Washburn and Greenlee School director Michael Bugeja gave lectures.

Students from Iowa State, the University of Iowa, University of Missouri, Truman State University and Drake University attended the regional.

SPJ announced the formation of a new professional chapter in Des Moines. Executive officers Rachel Weber, Maria Oliver and Jared Strong were all on hand for the event.

The event organizers want to thank the following for their donations: Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation; Meredith Corp.; University of Iowa Student Chapter of SPJ; University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication; Iowa Newspaper Fund; and the Nebraska Press Association.

David Bulla, the ISU student adviser, also wants to thank the following people for their help in making the event possible: Dick Johns, the adviser at the University of Iowa; Ron Sylvester, the Region VII director; Clint Brewer and Dave Aeikens, the SPJ national president and president elect, respectively; ISU students Emily Keats and Sarah Barrow; Mark Witherspoon, the adviser of the Iowa State Daily; Melinda Schlosser of the Iowa State Center; and Trina Flack.

Latest edition of Quill focuses on ethics

The latest editon of The Quill, SPJ's magazine, is out, and it focuses on ethics.

Read SPJ President Clint Brewer's column on ethics .

Ethics in Journalism Week is fast approaching. This year it is scheduled for April 21-27.

Click on The Quill to read online.

Pro chapter re-starting in Des Moines

The Professional Chapter of SPJ in Des Moines is just resuming after a long hiatus.

Chapter President Rachel Weber reports "a positive response from journalists in the area."

"Once we reach 20 members, we can apply to receive our charter," Weber said. "One of our next events will be a writing workshop at Drake on May 24."

For more information, contact Weber at this e-mail address.