Issue date: 3/30/09 Section: News

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The 2009 RMU Journalism Symposium is making headlines today, as the annual event kicked off this morning at RMU's Charles L. Sewall Center.

"The event was created to help [journalism students] develop a fuller understanding of the many forms journalism can take in the 21st century," said Marc Seamon, assistant professor of communications.

This year's event, themed Journalism Today and Tomorrow: Finding Your Place in the World of Journalism, is bigger than ever after inviting more speakers, covering more topics and opening the event for the first time to high school students.

"We invited all local high schools and all colleges in western Pennsylvania within a reasonable drive," said Seamon.

"This year, we are pleased that Robert Morris students will be joined by approximately 100 middle and high school students who will attend several of the activities, including the Journalism Symposium and productions of the Colonial Theatre's production of 'Miracle Worker,'" said Barbara Levine, dean of the School of Communications and Information Systems. "Many of these younger students will experience college life for the first time."

"It's the first opportunity to reach out to potential students," said Rex Crawley, department head of communication. "It's the first college exposure to academic journalism for many of these students."

With more attendees, there are also more speakers than ever before to present 18 different journalism-themed sessions.

The symposium will cover many topics from public relations to investigative journalism, play review writing to environmental journalism, and television to graduate school.

Speakers include familiar RMU faces such as A.J. Grant, Michael DiLauro, Jim Vincent, David Jamison and Christine Holtz among many others, as well industry professionals such as Don Hopey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"The Journalism Symposium is a great opportunity for communication students to hear what it is like to be a successful journalist in the real world," said sophomore Aimee Morgan, a communication major and Features Editor of The Sentry. "There's not just print journalism, but instead all aspects of journalism are covered."

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