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COLIN

M . D ONOHUE, C OORDINATOR O F S TUDENT M EDIA A ND I NSTRUCTOR


675 Winners Circle, Whitsett, NC 27377 | 336-278-5850 | cdonohue@elon.edu | www.cdonohue.com | @cmdonohue
EDUCATION
University of Memphis
Master of Arts in Journalism
Masters Project: Redesign of Newspaper Research Journal website
Graduate Assistant for Newspaper Research Journal
Elon University
Bachelor of Arts in Journalism
Minors: Political Science, French

2005-2007

2001-2005

AWARDS
Honor Roll Adviser Award (Four-Year Newspaper), College Media Advisers
CMA Presidential Citation
Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year, University of Memphis
Kappa Tau Alpha Top Scholar, University of Memphis (4.0 GPA)
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Society
Lambda Pi Eta Communications Honor Society

2010
2010, 2011
2007

2007
2004
2004
2004

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Elon University, Elon, North Carolina
Instructor Multimedia Journalism
2012-Current
Developed syllabus and overall course structure, administered grades, revamped
direction of course, placed greater emphasis on students (all seniors) creating large-scale
multimedia reporting projects for the public good that center on important news events.
Students focus on:

Producing full multimedia journalism reporting projects


Learning the appropriate tools of technology
Incorporating social media and multimedia effectively and appropriately
Pitching story ideas and planning large-scale multimedia storytelling projects,
both as individuals and in teams
Analyzing successful multimedia journalism projects/packages to gain a clearer
understanding of how journalism is practiced effectively today
Completing workshops in and out of the classroom that enhance their skills in
several areas, including building HTML/CSS pages, shooting video, exploring
social media outlets, capturing audio, researching in databases, designing
infographics and investigating successful SEO techniques


Elon University, Elon, North Carolina
Instructor Media Writing
2007-2012
Developed syllabus and overall course structure, administered grades and added
multimedia and social media aspects to this introductory level writing course. (Have also
taught Communications Fellows section of Media Writing, which is for students with high
levels of academic achievement.) Students focus on:

Writing print, broadcast, online and PR style stories


Producing hard copy and online portfolios of their work
Taking photos with their assignments
Completing studio rotations during the broadcast portion of the schedule,
including on-camera experience, camera and teleprompter operation, directing
and running sound and tape equipment

COLIN M. DONOHUE, COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA AND INSTRUCTOR

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Writing a minimum of 20 stories during the semester, all with strict deadlines of
anywhere from seven hours to 70 minutes
Using social media (primarily Twitter) to engage with course material outside
the classroom


Elon University, Elon, North Carolina
Instructor Elon 101
2012-Current
Developed syllabus and overall course structure, initiated practical discussions important
to first-year students and welcomed an atmosphere of curiosity. Students focus on:

Learning the basic fundamentals of Elons first-year core and general studies requirements
Identifying campus resources to support their academic activities
Evaluating opportunities for campus-related involvement
Fostering productive and meaningful relationships with other students
Expanding their academic and interpersonal skills
Understanding the importance of balance within their school and personal lives

Elon Academy Elon University, Elon, North Carolina
Instructor High School Journalism Writing and Multimedia Reporting
2009-2010
Developed syllabus and overall course structure, taught basic newswriting skills to high
school students, mentored students in their coverage of news stories they enterprised
and coordinated and designed the end-of-summer Elon Academy newsletter. Students
focused on:

Writing print and online-style stories


Producing basic news and features stories that covered the Elon Academy
program
Constructing news ledes and organizing stories
Interviewing sources and doing outside research
Taking photos with their assignments
Pulling together content for a newsletter that was released at the end of the
summer to the rest of the Academy

STUDENT MEDIA EXPERIENCE


Elon University, Elon, North Carolina
Adviser The Pendulum, Elons Daily Student News Organization
Directly advise students of daily student news organization, which includes about 45
executive staff members and another 50 general staffers who produce a daily online
news website, a bi-weekly newspaper and a quarterly general interest magazine. As
adviser, I also:

Emphasize importance of daily online approach to news production and push


students to focus first on publishing news to the web, not in the newspaper
Restructured organization by adding new staff positions and removing
redundant ones
Emphasized online presence by encouraging the creation of Wordpress blogs,
Garage Band podcasts, interactive and multimedia projects, weekly newscast
and consistent audio/video elements
Began the publication of a general interest magazine
Help student editor in chief manage the newspapers budget
Work with student business manager to devise successful and appropriate
methods for finding advertisers

2007-Current

COLIN M. DONOHUE, COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA AND INSTRUCTOR

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Initiate discussions about using the newspaper as a forum for deeper dialogues
about important campus and community issues and about using the website as
a delivery mechanism for breaking news
Ensure the Pendulum meets or surpasses its revenue goals
Provide written critiques of the newspaper, both through edits on the hardcopy
newspaper and through deeper comments on a blog maintained for the
Pendulum staff
Form collaborations between Pendulum student editors and faculty of
journalism courses
Encourage Pendulum students to forge stronger relationships with the
universitys other student media organizations in order to foster a more
cooperative news environment
Lead Pendulum executive editors on a weekend-long retreat at the start of every
new calendar year for the purposes of staff training, discussions and bonding

During time as adviser, The Pendulum has won more than 100 awards from national,
regional, local and university organizations, including:

Associated Collegiate Press National Pacemaker award, 2009


Associated Collegiate Press National Pacemaker finalist (twice), 2009 and 2010
Associated Collegiate Press National Online Pacemaker finalist (four times),
2010, 2011, 2013, 2015
First-ever top-20 finish for Elon University in the Hearst Journalism Awards
Program Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition, 2013
First-ever top-20 finish for Elon University in the Hearst Journalism Awards
Program Intercollegiate Writing Competition, 2015
Eight top-20 Hearst Award Writing and Multimedia Competition honors
(enterprise reporting, 2014; team multimedia, 2013; personality/profile writing,
2013; multimedia news, 2013; breaking news reporting, 2013; feature writing,
2010; in-depth writing, 2008; spot news reporting, 2008)
Three first-place Best in Show awards from the Associated Collegiate Press,
2009-2011
Two first-place Associated Collegiate Press Best in Show Publication Website
Small School award, 2010-2011
Best all-around non-daily newspaper from Region 2 of the Society of
Professional Journalists, 2009
Society of Professional Journalists National Winner for Breaking News Reporting
(2014), Best Non-Daily Student Newspaper (2013), Photo Illustration (2013),
Best Affiliated Website (2012), Photo Illustration (2012) and Online Opinion &
Commentary (2010)
Two Roy H. Howard Collegiate Reporting Competition winners, 2007 and 2010
Four News21 Reporting Fellows, 2012
Several Society of Professional Journalists Region 2, North Carolina College
Media Association, Best of Collegiate Design, College News Design, Associated
Collegiate Press and College Media Association awards

Elon University, Elon, North Carolina
Coordinator of Student Media
2007-Current
Work directly with students and advisers of the five other student media organizations at Elon (television station, radio station,
literary magazine, yearbook and record production company) to facilitate cooperative relationships and manage transitional
strategies. As student media coordinator, I also:
Help student leaders and advisers navigate their organizations budgets
Facilitate organizations end-of-year purchase requests
Work with other organizations on establishing effective leadership transition strategies
Hold targeted discussions with other organizations at their request

COLIN M. DONOHUE, COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA AND INSTRUCTOR

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Encourage student media groups to work closely with one another to meet common goals
Established a shared server for all of student media
Streamlined the process of producing budget and purchase requests
Identify potential competitions for student media organizations to enter and encourage students to submit their work
Work closely with the chair of the Student Media Board to plan meetings, organize banquets and chart the future of
student media at Elon

Cummings High School, Burlington, North Carolina
Volunteer Adviser to the high school newspaper Cummings Voice
2009-2010
Helped re-launch the newspaper for the high school and worked closely with students and the faculty adviser of the publication
to produce two editions a year. As a volunteer adviser, I also:
Led workshops on interviewing, writing and reporting
Discussed advertising techniques
Helped with staff transition
Left plan in place to aid adviser in maintaining the health of the newspaper
Recruited Elon University students to mentor the high school staff and design the publication
RELATED EXPERIENCE
Memphis Commercial-Appeal
Reporter
Covered prep athletics, including stories for sports and features sections
Covered general news and features stories for zoned editions of the newspaper

September 2005 May 2007

Burlington Times-News
Sports Reporter
June 2003 June 2005
Covered NFL Carolina Panthers football, NHL Carolina Hurricanes hockey, prep athletics,
general features/profiles, operated AGATE functions, copy editing and pagination

ACTIVITIES/SERVICE
Handle recruiting for the School of Communications, which requires attending high school journalism conferences,
arranging for faculty to present at conferences and gaining access to local high school journalism classrooms to offer
students professional development opportunities.

Maintained School of Communications website, which requires design and update of the site and production of news
content about the School. Also wrote content related to faculty/staff achievements, student work, program news (Elon in
Los Angeles, Elon in New York City, elondocs, Imagining the Internet, Masters in Interactive Media program, etc.),
internships and national coverage of our program and students. Wrote stories and features, took photos and shot video for
the site. Designed basic structure of and maintained the North Carolina Open Government Coalition website. The NCOGC is
housed in the School of Communications. Also maintained elondocs website. (elondocs is a School of Communications
program that affords students the opportunity to produce full-length documentaries.)

Administer the social media presence of the School of Communications, which exists largely on Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram. Co-lead the Elon Interactive Media Twitter account, and also ran the North Carolina Open Government Coalition
and Elon in Los Angeles Twitter accounts.

Completed 2014 newspaper and yearbook individual and section judging for a statewide high school media contest
administered by the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association.

Began School of Communications alumni e-newsletter by compiling text, photo and video content. Covers academic and
faculty achievements, alumni updates and student projects. This initiative is in accord with Schools priority to increase and
formalize communication with its alumni.

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Named Imagining the Internet Fellow and led teams of students to four Internet Governance Forums in Washington, D.C.,
for four summers. Reported and tweeted live from several sessions, while also directing the students efforts to report, blog,
tweet, photograph and film for the Imagining the Internet and IGF-USA websites. The student teams provided the only
historical documentation of all four conferences. Slated to take a team of students to Dallas in March.

Hand selected as Chair of the New Media Committee for College Media Advisers by the CMA President. Coordinated
speakers and sessions at both the fall 2011 and spring 2012 conferences for presentations relating to new media or social
media.

Selected to serve on the Programming Committee for College Media Advisers after the old organizational structure was
reconfigured. Held the position for two years.

Brought students in fall 2012 Multimedia Journalism class to Charlotte to report on the Democratic National Convention
for a local publication. Students provided one full days worth of coverage for the website of Creative Loafing, an alternate
weekly publication.

Led students on academic trips to college media conferences and conventions. Have traveled to Associated Collegiate
Press, College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalist gatherings every semester since 2007.

Served on the School of Communications Fellows Selection Committee. Help select and rank students for acceptance into
the prestigious School of Communications Fellows program.

Chaired the School of Communications Awards Committee. Developed a list of competitions students could enter based on
their majors, and helped select School of Communications student award and scholarship winners.

Worked as Assistant Editor of Media History Monographs, for which I reviewed manuscripts and laid out pages for the
online-only journal.

Reviewed presentation proposals for the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Southeast
Colloquium, for which I read and judge papers being submitted for possible presentation.

Assist the School of Communications FreshTV program, which is an accelerated training program for first-year students that
prepares them for successful careers in the areas of cinema, journalism and broadcast production. It is a 15-week
experience, during which students are trained to use camera equipment and taught how to tell stories through pictures and
words.

Serve as both chair of the Awards Committee and a member of the Steering Committee for the North Carolina College
Media Association. Help judge award submissions from student newspapers throughout the state and provide insight on the
future of the organization.

Helped organize and re-launch newspaper at Cummings High School in conjunction with Elon University. Worked with
several students at Cummings, a low-income, diverse school, to design and produce two editions per year.

Designed quarterly newsletter for Womens Resource Center in Burlington, N.C. Received and copy edited all content and
designed newsletter, which is sent out to the Centers members.

Taught Journalism Writing and Multimedia Reporting in the Elon Academy, which consists of academically oriented high
school students who are often underrepresented on college and university campuses. The Academy helps spur the students
toward pursuing higher education, building leadership skills and developing an active sense of social responsibility.

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Helped organize the North Carolina College Media Association conference held at Elon University in 2010. Recruited
speakers and organized several sessions.

Worked as Conference Director for the Society of Professional Journalists Region 2 conference, which was held at Elon
University in the spring of 2012. Was in charge of coordinating speakers, publicizing event and presenting awards, among
other responsibilities.

Appointed to Elon Universitys Young Alumni Council. Participated on the Event Planning and Programming committees
and led a subcommittee that initiated and implemented an online traditions book for Elon University.

Wrote a feature story for the Elon Magazine about a student-faculty trip to Wilmington, N.C., to help residents experience
a smooth transition from analog to digital television. (Wilmington was the first city in the United States to make the
switch.) Traveled to Wilmington to document the event.

Served as Graduate Assistant at the University of Memphis. Worked as business manager and copy editor of Newspaper
Research Journal. Copy edited every journal article that appeared in the eight editions that were produced during a two-year
period. Analyzed manuscripts for inclusion in the Journal, helped write headlines and maintained the budget and
subscriptions.
PUBLICATIONS, PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS
Careful Editing and Consistent Coaching: Bringing Credibility to You and Your News Product
Presentation at the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association Summer Workshop, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Effective Hybrid or Multi-Headed Hydra?
Co-Presentation at Thresholds to Learning, Elon Teaching and Learning Conference, Elon, N.C.

Starting a Professional Student Org Website
Co-Presentation at College Media Advisers Conference, New York




Advanced Student Media Websites: Content, Marketing, Technology and Revenue
Co-Presentation at College Media Advisers Conference, New York




Review: Baseball and the Media: How Fans Lose in Todays Coverage of the Game
Reviewed book by George Castle for Newspaper Research Journal

2013

2011

2010

2010

2007

Free Speech Privileges: History and Newspaper Coverage of Sedition Laws in America
Paper presented at North Carolina State CommUnion Conference, Raleigh, N.C.

2005

Globals Impact
Paper presented at annual Global Fusion Conference in St. Louis

2004

SKILLS
HTML and CSS markup skills, Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop and Dreamweaver), PageMaker, QuarkXPress,
Microsoft Office and AGATE, various DSLR and video cameras, knowledge of Final Cut Pro and Avid
MEMBERSHIPS
College Media Advisers
North Carolina College Media Association, Chair of Awards Committee and Member of Steering Committee

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