University of Montana School of Journalism Archives

Thank you

December 19, 2012 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

My semester as the T. Anthony Pollner professor at the University of Montana’s School of Journalism has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. (Yes, ever.) Thank you students, faculty, Kaimin staff and especially Carol Van Valkenburg. And, miles away but often in our thoughts, Alice Thorpe, Ben Pollner and friends and family of Anthony Pollner.

I’m off. The shortest way back to D.C. is obviously west to Seattle then down to Oregon, then California, then New Mexico, then Kansas, then Texas. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): More readings for further study …

December 17, 2012 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

Reading is the only way to learn how to write. I kept pushing this point all semester and I certainly assigned a lot of readings. This being college, and these being college students, we operate with this wonderful notion that everyone has the time and desire to read it all.

But anyone who ever went to college knows that’s not true. Although I “loved to read” as a teenager and college student, I didn’t truly get busy reading until after I left college. At about age 22 or 23, I suddenly wanted to read everything, especially longform feature writing, nonfiction books, cultural criticism and serious magazines and newspapers. I started reading not only for content, but to study the craftsmanship.

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Dec. 13 — The final critiques

December 17, 2012 by Hank Stuever 2 Comments

We were up before dawn on Thursday to meet one last time for a group critique of the final stories. The professor worked hard not to get verklempt, but that got exponentially more difficult when he was presented with this amazing poster (above), a gift from the class, designed by Carli Krueger.

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Dec. 5 — life is long

December 7, 2012 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

Wednesday was our last official class, which I set aside for just general gabbing and pre-goodbyes. Any questions? Any advice I can give? Anything?

I was prepared to just tell them what a real joy it’s been to be here in Montana and work with them, and, once that was done, let class out early — especially for those still sweating the 5 p.m. deadline for their final stories.

It turns out we had plenty to talk about for the whole 80 minutes.

But before I forget:

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Dec. 3 — reviewing the reviewers

December 3, 2012 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

Continuing my end-of-semester metaphor — this is what it’s like:

Today, however, we turned our attention to the criticism/reviews that students filed this semester. The TV recappers — Heather Jurva, Levi Hunt, Caitlyn Walsh — had to file five, 500-word recaps of consecutive episodes, and did so quite ably. Levi nitpicked “The Walking Dead,” even as he praised it; Caitlyn hilariously broke down this extra-loony season of “Dexter”; and Heather called “American Horror Story” on its own BS and took it to task for being such a mess this season.

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Nov. 28 — Emergency landings

November 29, 2012 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

Mayday! Jour494 is circling for a landing. And the pilot is losing consciousness. And the wing is on fire. No, wait, both wings are on fire! Which is to say that some people are still trying to find a story to write for their final assignment. The only good news is that there are no motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane.

I can’t look. Tell me what happens. All I know is: WE ARE CRASHING.

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Nov. 26 — name of dog, brand of beer

November 26, 2012 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

On Monday, we finished up critiquing the Nov. 7 scene stories. For my general diagnoses of these stories as a whole, please see the Nov. 19 recap. Meanwhile, here are excerpts from the three stories that I liked best, and why. (I haven’t fixed anything — the copy you’ll read here is exactly as it was filed to me.)

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Nov. 19 — scene story critiques

November 20, 2012 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

Kaimin photo: Tim Goessman

On Monday we went around our beautiful circular wooden classroom table and began critiquing the scene stories that were filed Nov. 7.

Some of the stories have been published in the Kaimin once the writers filed to me first: Dustin Askim’s story on the campus Belegarth scene grew a little in word-count and became a Friday Kaimin cover story on Nov. 9, just when the editors needed it most.

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recap for Nov. 14 — Won’t you be my neighbor?

November 15, 2012 by Hank Stuever 2 Comments

We spent a fair amount of time Wednesday discussing Tom Junod’s 8,100-word profile of Mister Rogers. It ran 14 (!!) years ago in Esquire and it’s still one of those pieces that makes me tear up. It’s beautifully constructed. Its paragraphs are dense but many of its sentences are deliberately simple, mirroring Fred Rogers’s way of speaking to children. Yet the story is also very deeply felt and intellectually considered.

Popular Culture Journalism (JOUR494): Class recaps for Nov. 5 and 7 — Weingarten week!

November 11, 2012 by Hank Stuever Leave a Comment

Sorry for the delay in recapping. You can tell that the semester has reached the frenzy point here at the School of Journalism. My crew in the Pollner seminar (aka this class) is spread so thin that you can hear the knives clanking in their mayonnaise jars; just being around them makes me vicariously exhausted. I remember this part of college quite well: all the term papers coming due at once, the looming finals, the registration (and graduation) deadlines for next semester, and the inescapable realization that the student newspaper still has to come out. A good number of my students went to Helena on Tuesday to cover election night for their advanced reporting classes, but managed to return, bleary-eyed, in time for our Wednesday Skype session with the multi-Pulitzered Gene Weingarten. (Depicted above, as he is every Sunday in the Washington Post Magazine, by illustrator Eric Shansby.)