J-School gives away record amount
at 48th Dean Stone Banquet

photo by David Erickson

Dean Brown cracks a few jokes with the crowd before giving his "State of the J-School" address.

Check out more pictures from Dean Stone Night

By Bennett Jacobs
J-School Web reporter

The smell of money, not to mention hotel cuisine, was in the air on April 15 as the UM School of Journalism celebrated its 48th annual Dean Stone Awards Banquet at the Holiday Inn Parkside in Missoula.

This year, the school gave away more than $90,000 in awards and scholarships to students who had distinguished themselves.

After helping serve drinks to hasten the snail-paced bar line, Dean Jerry Brown did his best to calm the boisterous crowd of students, professors and guests and begin the night’s awards by shouting into the mike, “I was the bartender; remember me!”

Through repeated interruptions of applause and cheering, the dean gave his annual “State of the J-school” address.

“A J-school is only as good as what its students do,” said Brown. “If you look good, we look good.”

Following the dean’s introduction of guests, NewsLab Director Deborah Potter, who was the previous evening’s keynote speaker, offered four imperatives to being a good journalist.

• Curiosity: “A good reporter is always astonished by the obvious.”

• Commitment: “Journalists who seek to do excellent work don’t give up easy.”

• Caring: “That may seem counter-intuitive, but reporters, at heart are do-gooders who just happen to hate math.”

• Courage. “I know, Dan Rather made the word a joke when he used it as his sign-off for a brief time,” Potter said of her former CBS co-worker. “But great journalists need to be courageous, to tell stories people may not want to hear.”

photo by David Erickson

Trista Steers, left, and Kari Friedman, share a laugh after Steers received a scholarship.

Potter closed her brief lecture by saying, “Journalism is a noble profession. For many of us it’s a calling, a public service. It needs you, the best of the next generation, to practice it and protect it.”

The awards ceremony that followed was anything but subdued. Most recipients drew a standing ovation from sections of the crowd as well as an onslaught of cheers.

“Seeing students cheer for each other lifts everyone’s spirits,” said Brown. “Especially those of the faculty and this dean.”

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