Max Willis is a storyteller — a multifaceted one, at that. “I can write, I can work in front of and behind the camera, I can do graphic design, I can do video editing or photo editing, I can fly a drone — I feel really well prepared,” says Willis, who will graduate with a BA in journalism and mass communication, BA in African American studies, and minor in sport and recreation management.

After an award-winning stint as a photographer with The Daily Iowan and the opportunity to document a historic women’s basketball tournament run, Grace Smith is continuing to pursue creative visual storytelling — and to photograph a favorite Iowa baller.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication hosted its annual Student Exhibition and Scholarship Celebration on April 10, 2025.

Isaiah Scales and Tim Vos were inducted into the SJMC Hall of Fame during the spring 2025 ceremony.

To celebrate twenty years of his podcast, SJMC professor, Adam Kempenaar, hosted a three-day long event, Filmspotting Fest, with the goal to celebrate the podcast’s twenty years and showcase some of their favorite memories of this journey. 

SJMC professor of practice, Jeff Grisamore has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to advance public knowledge and understanding of biotechnology and biomanufacturing in Iowa and at The University of Iowa.

Zeynep Tufekci, Princeton’s Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, presented “Why We Can’t Fact-Check Our Way Out of Misinformation,” as part of the Li Chen Distinguished Lecture series.

For the third time in six years, The Daily Iowan won the top award in the statewide contest.

Visiting associate professor Wayne Drehs led 11 journalism students to downtown Chicago for the winter class Chicago Sports Media Experience. 

The Brazil Chronicles by Professor Stephen G. Bloom offers a reflective and engaging memoir of his early years as a journalist in 1970s Rio de Janeiro. Bloom details his transition from struggling to find work in the U.S. to securing a reporting job at the Latin America Daily Post, an English-language newspaper in Brazil. After a successful journalistic career, Bloom served as a journalism educator at the University of Iowa. His teaching inspired thousands of students, many of whom have gone on to successful journalism careers.