March 28, 2017

Freelance journalist to discuss war in South Sudan

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. – A freelance journalist and producer who focuses on conflict, human rights, and migration will provide her insight into issues surrounding the war in South Sudan on Thursday, March 30. 

Cassandra Vinograd’s presentation is part of a symposium on crisis reporting hosted by Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s College of Mass Communication and Media Arts. Vinograd will present “Covering Conflict: Getting There and Getting It Right -- Putting a Human Face on South Sudan’s Escalating War.” 

Vinograd’s presentation is set for 11 a.m. in the Communications Building, Studio A.  The symposium is free and open to the public. There will be a Q-and-A after Vinograd’s presentation. To RSVP, contact Sherida Evans at sherida@siu.edu

Vinograd’s work on the issue is available on the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting website; visit http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/close-look-inside-south-sudans-bitter-war. 

She previously worked for NBC News, The Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal. 

In the afternoon session, in the Dean’s Conference Room, there will be a lunch and open house, and a discussion with students and faculty from 12:30 to 2 p.m. From 2 to 3:30 p.m., three students who have Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting International Reporting Fellowships will discuss their projects. 

The students who will discuss their work are Jessica Edmond, a master’s student in Mass Communication and Media Arts; Anna Spoerre, a senior in journalism; and Morgan Timms, a senior double major in photojournalism and psychology. 

From 3:30 to 4 p.m., there will be a tours of the Daily Egyptian newspaper with student reporters and Bill Recktenwald, a senior lecturer and journalist-in-residence. 

The university’s partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting gives students the opportunity to report on global issues through reporting fellowships. The School of Journalism has been part of the center’s Campus Consortium since the launch in January 2009, but the relationship between the center and SIU students goes back farther with William Freivogel, a journalism professor and a member of the center’s advisory committee. There are 30 universities and community colleges in the consortium. A total of 11 SIU students have participated in reporting in various countries. 

The event is sponsored by the School of Journalism, Global Media Research Center and the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.