Five to receive journalism awards

Five communications professionals will be honored for their contributions at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication spring banquet Friday, April 20.

Receiving the school’s award for distinguished service will be Jack Hart (Ph.D., 1975), managing editor of The Oregonian in Portland, Ore.; Steven J. Smith (BA, communication arts, 1972), board chair and chief executive officer of Journal Communications in Milwaukee; and Carol Towers Toussaint (BA, 1951), a Madison-based public relations consultant.

Jason Philip Cohen (BA, journalism and communication arts, 1994), a San Francisco documentary filmmaker, will receive the Ralph O. Nafziger Award for outstanding achievement within 10 years of graduation. Cohen’s film, “Black Tar Heroin: Dark End of the Street,” was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Daniel B. Wackman (BS 1963, MS 1965, Ph.D. 1968), professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Minnesota, will receive the Harold L. Nelson Award for outstanding contributions to journalism education.

The annual awards recognize excellence in professions that are becoming increasingly important to society, says Sharon Dunwoody, director of the school. “Media messages form a kind of surrogate reality for what we can’t experience personally,” she says. “While we can — and all too often do — complain when that surrogate reality seems flawed, it’s probably a lot more useful to praise good work than denigrate bad.”

The banquet will begin with a social hour at 6 p.m. in Tripp Commons at the Memorial Union. Reservations are required and can be made through the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, (608) 263-4080. Deadline: Friday, April 13.