Comedy Writer Discusses America’s Complicated History with Race and Slavery

By Victoria Nickerson

AUSTIN, Texas – In a lecture on Nov. 30, Azie Dungey, creator of the satirical web series “Ask a Slave” and writer for the Emmy-nominated Netflix series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” discussed how to navigate conversations about slavery and its lingering ramifications in our current socio-political climate.

Dungey’s critically acclaimed web series was inspired by her experience working as a character interpreter on historic tours of President George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Through her portrayal of Washington’s house slave Caroline Branham, Dungey was confronted with visitors’ reactions and felt compelled to satirize the experience.

During her lecture, Dungey explained how her personal experience became a lesson depicting the racial climate in America. She shared how visitors often voiced inaccurate preconceived notions about slavery and early American history.

Writer and actor Azie Dungey explains the origin of her satire series “Ask a Slave” and how slavery still impacts our society today (photo: Viviane Mathieu).

“I found that I was sort of caught between the nostalgia that the visitor brought and the actual history that I was representing,” said Dungey. “And if memory is identity then my very presence was a threat to the visitors’ understanding of themselves as citizens, as people and as Americans.”

Dungey explained that her character portrayal became a physical embodiment of the history visitors didn’t want to accept, leading them to explain away slavery’s effects.

According to Dungey, when slavery is discussed, avoidance, denial and rationalization emerge as people grapple with the truth. In her experience, visitors often tried to modify facts by saying that the Washingtons were nice so slavery wasn’t all bad.

“No matter how good you have it, if you don’t own your own body then your life pretty much is not yours in any respect,” said Dungey. “That’s not only scary but it means that whatever potential you feel you have, you can never achieve it.”

Dungey explained that the best way to react to misconceptions and ignorance is with empathy. While we can’t help that slavery has led us to our current social situation of economic imbalance and racism, we can combat mistruths with evidence and compassion.

“Dungey’s perspective made me realize the impact that slavery still has on America today,” said Meredith Palmer, sophomore journalism major. “Although tensions remain high, she gave me hope that it’s possible to stop the cycle of resistance to the truth.”

Dungey is currently working on a book about her experiences visiting historic sites across the U.S. titled “How I Survived the 18th Century.” She is also writing for the upcoming Starz drama “Sweetbitter” based on the book by Stephanie Danler.

This lecture was sponsored by the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies, the Department of American studies and the Moody College Honors Program.

Facebook CMO Discusses Platform’s Impact on Small Businesses

By Wesley Story

AUSTIN, Texas – If you wanted to create a small business today, your startup would have more resources available than ever before, according to Gary Briggs, chief marketing officer at Facebook.  

Briggs spoke at the Moody College of Communication on Nov. 16 about the opportunities Facebook provides for small and medium-sized businesses as part of the college’s Moody Entrepreneurship Speaker Series, a lecture series dedicated to showcasing the experiences of communication professionals to encourage entrepreneurial thinking in students. 

Facebook CMO Gary Briggs (left) and advertising professor Mark Bunting (right) speaking to an auditorium full of students on Nov. 16 at the Moody College of Communication. (photo: Wesley Story).

Though the lecture series was dedicated to entrepreneurialism, Briggs said his few years in the startup world ended with failed ventures. After starting an e-commerce business with two of his friends in 1999, Briggs learned some of the ups and downs of the startup experience.  

“We eventually sold the business to Amazon, not for a lot,” said Briggs. “That was not a success, I would say. It turned out to be a really great experience from the standpoint of ‘I learned a ton about online marketing in that area.’ When I went into eBay, I was very comfortable with doing a lot of online deals.”

Prior to joining Facebook, Briggs served in various roles at Google Inc., eBay Inc. and PepsiCo Inc. Today, Briggs is responsible for Facebook’s consumer, product and platform marketing.

Advertising professor Mark Bunting, who also owns a Cajun restaurant, helped facilitate the discussion.

“There’s a lot of entrepreneurship taking place on the Facebook ecosystem by way of small and medium sized businesses,” said Bunting.

Bunting said he finds Facebook’s capabilities staggering, especially in regards to the platform’s tracking and targeting technologies. Facebook’s advertisements are uniquely generated to each user based on what they have searched online.

Gary Briggs recalls his early days working for an unsuccessful e-commerce startup (photo: Christina Van Essen).

“If I want to identify people with a Louisiana heritage … I have the ability to not only find those people but track their decision journey around whether or not they come into my store,” Bunting said. “This strategy wasn’t in the hands of small businesses before.”

As of now, Briggs said there are 5 million small to medium sized American businesses advertising on Facebook and about 60 million globally. Facebook’s targeting strategy is used to help those businesses compete against larger ones. 

But, according to Briggs, this trend of supporting small business ventures is not unique to Facebook, as Google, Amazon and other companies have all upped their advertising game. 

Reena Patel, a nutrition junior who attended the event, said the small business opportunities discussed during the lecture give her hope for one day starting her own business.

“I’ve always known I wanted to own my own business,” Patel said. “I just didn’t realize all the existing structures that are available and were designed to help me reach that goal.”

Radio Reporter Lectures on Best Practices for PR Professionals

By Viviane Mathieu

AUSTIN, Texas –Understanding how to work with reporters in public radio is extremely important, said Joy Diaz, producer and reporter for the Texas Standard, during a guest lecture to the PR 348 class at the University of Texas at Austin on Nov. 16.

Joy Diaz, Mexican-native and mother of two, has garnered considerable recognition for her work in public media reporting. She currently works for the Texas Standard, a show produced by KUT, Austin’s NPR station. Diaz covers many stories concerning education, healthcare, immigration, politics and city news.

With 11 years under her belt, Diaz described from her experiences how to work best with reporters. She started with her most valuable piece of advice which is knowing how to write a good press release that is compelling and attention-grabbing.

“Write a story. Don’t just tell me to talk about a product, because when you are telling a reporter that you want them to cover something, talk about how it changed someone’s life,” Diaz said. “Remember to always ask the question ‘Why should I care?’”

Joy Diaz, reporter for the Texas Standard, shares one of the stories she produced while giving advice about how to be a better PR professional (photo: Viviane Mathieu).

Diaz told the students, as public relations professionals, to make sure they know the different media outlets. Diaz recalled many experiences where conflict arose because publicists did not know how radio promotions were handled.

“In a way you will have to craft your press releases according to the people who are going to read them,” Diaz said. “You will not only have to learn who your audience is, but you also need to learn how you are trying to position the story.”

According to Diaz, every PR student should know exactly what a reporter needs when on a tight deadline. Her best experience was working with the former publicist for Seton Medical Center who knew exactly what she needed. It’s very helpful, she said, when PR professionals bring all the needed elements together when the reporter is pressed for time.

“Part of your job is making sure that your client is taken care of, but you also have to think about the reporters, that we have time constraints and that your job will be to act as a facilitator,” Diaz said. “Making sure that two worlds are communicating with each other well is crucial in this business.”

Diaz concluded her lecture by emphasizing the idea that journalists and PR professionals oftentimes have to work together to accomplish their individual goals.

“Knowing the different media outlets was interesting to me because I hadn’t realized how different each field in media was with content and interviews,” said Chris Pham, a student in PR 348.

Climate Science Communicators Must Build Trust, Says Goodwin

By Lauren McBride

AUSTIN, Texas ー On Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the Belo Center for New Media, the Media Ethics Initiative hosted professor Jean Goodwin, who gave a lecture on communication theory and how scientists can use it to converse effectively with the public.

Goodwin, a communications professor at North Carolina State University, began by explaining her research goal of achieving what she calls good deliberations, or having productive debates despite disagreements.

Jean Goodwin, a professor at North Carolina State University, explains how climate scientists should communicate with the public. (Photo: Olivia Tanner)

“The best way to solve any civic issue, would be to talk to each other,” said Goodwin. “Not only would the exchange of reasons and information lead to better decisions on merits, but talking in a respectful way, and just as importantly, listening to other people talk, is the best way to form civic bonds.”

Goodwin’s theory is that the audience plays a larger role than typically thought in deciding what they do and don’t listen to.

“Unless you establish basic trust between the speaker and the audience, that message isn’t even going to get through,” said Goodwin

She suggests that an approach to this problem is to make commitments. If the speaker commits to the information and gives a personal guarantee that it is true, the listener has a reason to believe it.

Goodwin continued by saying that scientists can use the ability to make commitments to earn the audience’s trust and persuade them.

“Scientists can play appropriate roles in civic discourse, even when it’s quite controversial,” said Goodwin. “They can possibly rebuild relationships to get scientific information across to broader audiences.”

However, Goodwin argues that scientists undertake an obligation when they make a commitment. Claiming the existence of scientific consensus in climate change debates requires scientists to provide proof of one, which raises ethical issues when proof can’t be provided.

Goodwin concluded her lecture by comparing the value of claiming a consensus to the value of a debate over the facts of climate change. According to her research, arguing the existence of a consensus is not as productive of a debate as one based purely on the science itself.

“Dr. Goodwin’s lecture was able to highlight the importance of understanding how the communication process works not only for civic situations but political debates as well,” said Jinna Kim, public relations junior. “This lecture made me rethink how I perceive and react to messages as a listener in the process of good and bad deliberations”.

The lecture was a part of the Media Ethics Initiative speaker series, which is designed to encourage awareness of media use through showcasing research that explores issues of ethics in media and communication.

 

Concept Artist Shares Inspiration Behind Pixar’s Newest Movie, Coco

By Ashton Fielder

AUSTIN, Texas- On Thursday, Nov. 9, Ana Ramirez, a concept artist for Pixar, spoke to students at the University of Texas about working on the film Coco, or her “love letter to Mexico” as she gave a sneak preview of the Disney and Pixar project.

Coco tells the story of Miguel, a 12-year-old from a small Mexican village, who comes from a family of cobblers that have sworn off music after Miguel’s great-great-grandfather abandoned them to become a musician. Unbeknownst to his family, Miguel develops a passion for music. As Miguel tries to uncover the truth about his family, he finds himself in the Land of the Dead, where he meets his ancestors on his journey home.

Guest speaker and Pixar concept artist, Ana Ramirez, holding the poster of her latest project and Disney and Pixar’s latest film, Coco. The film premiered on Nov. 22. (Photo: Ashton Fielder)

Although Coco follows Miguel’s story, according to Ramirez, the true stars of the film are the rich culture of Mexico and Dia de Los Muertos. In order to accurately represent Mexico, the Pixar animation team performed extensive on-site research that helped inspire everything from the character development to the lighting of each scene.

“We designed every (character) from scratch so that it was authentic to its region,” said Ramirez. “As a student, no one really told me how important research is, but it’s important to have a cohesive, final product.”

Pixar recruited Ramirez during her portfolio showing at the California Institute of the Arts where they offered her an internship.

“I got a call back from Pixar and they spelled my name wrong, so I didn’t believe it was for me,” noted Ramirez on the surreal feeling of landing her dream job.

After creating art for Coco as an intern, Pixar eventually hired Ramirez full-time as a concept artist for the film.

“I feel like I cried every day of my internship because I was so emotional that (Pixar) was making a movie about my culture,” said Ramirez.

Ramirez shared pictures she took in Mexico for inspiration, showing how every detail in the movie had cultural significance. Even the embroidery on Miguel’s great-grandmother’s dress was inspired by Otomi embroidery that is indigenous to Mexico.

“It’s so exciting that a studio as large as Pixar created a movie that accurately portrays Mexican culture,” said Paty Gomez, a junior film student from Mexico City.

Coco premiered nationwide on Nov. 22.

Valeria Luiselli Challenges Perception of Immigration

By Samantha Trottier

AUSTIN, Texas – On Oct. 26, the Moody College of Communication hosted author and professor Valeria Luiselli for a reading and discussion of her recent book, “Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions.”

Valeria Luiselli engages the audience in the details of young migrant children’s stories. She explains that many children leave their home country due to violence (photo: Evelyn Moreno).

In the talk, Luiselli shared some background about the book, which is based on her experience as an interpreter for detained migrant children.

She explained how, in 2015, nearly 80,000 children from Central and South America arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border, leading to what became a public and policy crisis. The Obama Administration, she said, created a policy that failed to recognize the the situation of the children.

“The Obama Administration created the priority docket,” said Luiselli. “In the case of this group of children, this priority meant nothing good. It was a priority of being deported first.”

In March 2015, shortly after the sudden immigration surge, Luiselli began volunteering as an interpreter for New York City’s Federal Immigration Court. Her book was written in response to this refugee crisis and is based on the 40-question intake questionnaire she was required to use.

“The children’s stories are always shuffled, stuttered, always shattered beyond repair of a narrative order,” said Luiselli, reading an excerpt from her book. “The problem with trying to tell their story is that it has no beginning, no middle, and no end.”

Luiselli said that she wanted her book to act as an x-ray of the immigration system and give the reader insight into the court and the children’s stories.

Luiselli signs copies of her newest book for event attendants after the discussion (photo: Evelyn Moreno).

Another reason, she said, was to to address the language surrounding immigration.

“Basically, the book is centered on that preoccupation, saying ‘no, the term is not illegal, the term is undocumented,’” said Luiselli. “It’s not even about political correctness, it’s about being precise, being accurate. People are not illegal. It’s nonsensical.”

Terms like illegal, alien and removal create inaccurate depictions of immigration. According to Luiselli, throughout history, language has sugarcoated shameful realities, allowing them to become systematic and institutionalized.

The lecture opened a discussion to students, faculty, and the public on the perceptions of immigration and the realities for these migrant children.

“It’s easy to look at numbers and make your conclusion,” said Conner Jansen, a first-year honors student and third-year audiology major. “But whenever you hear the stories and what is actually happening, it definitely moves you in a way that she wants: as a call to action.”

Luiselli poses for a photo with Dave Junker, director of the Moody College Honors Program, and students (photo: Evelyn Moreno).

Media Ethics Panel Shines Light on the Dark Issues of Social Media

By Angela Whiteley

AUSTIN, Texas- The Media Ethics Initiative hosted a speaker panel featuring professor Angeline Close on Monday, Nov. 6, at the Belo Center for New Media. Close discussed her new book, “The Dark Side of Social Media,” which explores the misuses and consequences of online social platforms.

Close began the conversation by explaining that the use of social media has many unintended consequences, which she calls digital drama, defined as “the occurrence of and reactions to negative online consumer behavior.”

Angeline Close, professor at the University of Texas at Austin, explains how the use of social media has several unintended consequences (photo: Angela Whiteley).

“Social media has transcended the way that we think,” said Close. “It’s tainted our perception of reality.”

Other members of the panel included Allye Doorey from The Richards Group, Jonathan Henson, a doctoral student in the Department of Communication Studies, and Scott R. Stroud, the founding director of the Media Ethics Initiative.

Henson and Stroud discussed revenge pornography as an example of the digital drama Close writes about in her book.

Revenge porn involves the exchange of sexually explicit images between two individuals in a relationship. The images are then uploaded to the internet by one or both parties after the relationship has ended, without given consent. The result is an irreversible invasion of privacy and the publication of sensitive material.

“There are over 3,000 websites that host this activity,” Henson said. “They’re set up like social media sites, where they post these pictures and then ask for identifying characteristics.”

The issues surrounding revenge porn include its increasing frequency, as well as existing legislation established to address it. Stroud explained that these laws are insufficient and do not speak to the complete scope of the problem.

“Part of the challenge to law is keeping up with technology,” said Stroud. The circumstantial dimensions of consent and intent make this topic “a complex online phenomenon.”

Stroud described how these elements vary on a case by case basis, which complicates the creation of law. Not every case of revenge porn is entirely nonconsensual and the uploader’s intent is not always to cause harm.

A panel including professor Angeline Close, Allye Doorey from The Richards Group, doctoral student Jonathan Henson and Scott Stroud, director of the Media Ethics Initiative, discussed different types of digital drama (photo: Kyla Canavan).

To combat the rise of revenge porn and other unintended consequences of digital drama, the panel advised the audience to build awareness by continuing the conversation regarding media ethics and responsible online behavior.

“As a communication major, I’m more aware of the downsides of social media than most people,” said Kyla Canavan, a third year public relations student who attended the event. “I feel like those of us with this awareness have a duty to teach others about the importance of maintaining an ethical online presence.”

The Moody College Announces Study Abroad Photo Contest Winners

By Evelyn Davidson

On Tuesday, Oct. 3, the Moody College of Communication announced the three winners of their annual Study Abroad Photo Contest. The winning photos were selected from over 30 submissions.

First place went to Caitlin Ward’s photograph, which was taken at a fish market in Nicaragua. Ashley Ephraim won second place with a photo taken in Prague, and Michael Herrera, whose photo was also taken in Prague, won third.

Caitlin Ward’s winning photograph was taken at an early morning fish market in Nicaragua. (Photo: Caitlin Ward)

“I was walking through the central market… much earlier than I was normally out and about, and happened upon the bustling daybreak fish market,” said Ward about her winning photo. “I luckily had my camera on me and was able to talk a few of the vendors into letting me snap a few photos in the midst of the chaos.”

Three honorable mentions were given to Jenkins Bender, Tinette Phan and Jennifer Jin, who took a photo of a friend in Seoul, South Korea.

“In that moment, I wasn’t trying to impress anyone,” said Jin, in an article from the Daily Texan. “I just wanted him to have some memories to take back when he went home.”

The unveiling was cut off by the fire alarm that went off 15 minutes into the presentation, forcing everyone to evacuate the building. As a result, attendees got to hear about the value of studying abroad, but did not get to hear about the photographs that won the contest.

“I believe [studying abroad] is important because it has the potential to change your lives,” said Karen Wilkens, professor and associate dean at the Moody College. “I think in order to be a better citizen and in order to be a better person, part of that means getting out of our comfort zones.”

The event included a presentation about the study abroad program, as well as the announcement of the winning photographs. (Photo: Evelyn Davidson)

Jeff Hallock, an academic advisor at UT, acknowledged that many students do not study abroad for financial reasons, but emphasized that money should not prevent a student from pursuing those opportunities.

“I can send any of you abroad for less than it’s going to cost you for a full semester at UT,” said Hallock. “The affordability piece should not be what stops you from going abroad. There’s also about a million in change that the university gives out in study abroad funds alone.”

Ali Aston, a senior public relations major, studied abroad in Florence, Italy for a semester during her junior year.

“It was the best decision I have ever made,” said Aston. “You think you are going to miss your friends and miss out on everything. Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends, but being abroad is so much better and is such a great experience.”

To learn more about how study abroad, visit UT’s International Office website.