Hello friends of OU Student Media,
My name is Seth Prince and I’m honored and humbled to introduce myself to alumni as the new director of Student Media. Just like it was for so many of you during your time with us, what occurs here in Copeland Hall and our prior homes across campus — from the community served to the memories made — has been a life-changing experience for me. My predecessor, Nick Jungman, who departed a year ago for a role at the University of Kansas, once said that my life's work might be serving students here. I sincerely hope he’s correct.
In all the roles I’ve served in my 23-year professional career, I have considered myself a caretaker, striving to leave those I serve better than I inherited them. It’s a particular honor to do so as just the eighth Student Media director since the role was created in 1930. It’s all the more daunting to personally know three of the eight who previously served in the position!
Continue reading for:
📷 Photos of our remodeled offices
🏆 Student awards, placements
🗣️ Alumni updates
A little about me: I fell in love with journalism here, working on both Sooner yearbook (a little) and the Daily (a lot) under the expert guidance of Kathryn Jenson White, Jack Willis and Susan Sasso, a trio whose mentorship I now strive to pay forward to students. Those experiences helped me start my career at The Oregonian, where I worked for 14 years and rose from intern to sports editor. In 2014, my love for OU and Student Media drew me back to ultimately serve in a variety of advising roles, helping the Daily accelerate its evolution as a digitally driven news organization and Sooner transition into a nationally recognized magazine.
The bedrock of all that builds on what Student Media has done for more than a century thanks to alumni like you, which is serve our city and campus with:
I thought of alumni and smiled last week as our Copeland Hall offices were packed with students as classes started. It was a glimpse into what media organizations long were, and what we’re committed to remaining: Places rippling with energy, curiosity, creativity and, of course, laughter. As editors kicked off the fall semester, the core theme of their discussions was fulfilling the opportunity and obligation to serve campus and city during this time of profound challenge and change in local media. Student Media staffers have risen to the task of telling this community’s most important stories for generations, and I’m certain these students will do so in ways that make you proud, just as other college journalists are doing at The Daily Northwestern, The Stanford Daily and The Daily Tar Heel to name a few.
That’s the mission: To tell essential stories of local consequence that serve the public good while building tomorrow’s media professionals.
We’ll communicate with you a few times a year, to share our successes, note opportunities to help students and deepen our connections with one another. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to getting to know more of you in the years to come. If you have thoughts, questions or news to share, please let us know.
Seth Prince
OU Student Media director
OU Daily newsroom adviser
Class of 2000
sethprince@ou.edu | 405-325-6334
Meet our 2023-24 student leaders
Latest internship/job placements (email if we should update or add you)
Daily named college media outlet of year finalist for 6th time in 7 years
3 Daily reporters in top 10 of Associated Press Sports Editors' contest
Daily copy editor named Dow Jones News Fund Edward Trayes Scholar
Daily wins Gold Crown | Staffers win 22 Gold Circles
Daily staffers place in Hearst Awards for sports and explanatory reporting
Daily site, magazine win Pinnacle Awards as nation's best
Daily earns Oklahoma SPJ First Amendment honor against professionals
📷 Gallery: See our fully remodeled Student Media space
💼 Check out our refreshed Student Media website
🏈 In town for a football game this fall? We'd love to meet you, hear about your time at Student Media and give you a tour of our remodeled offices.
Baxter Holmes (’09) and Brenda Jones Barwick (’80), ESPN senior writer and Jones PR founder, respectively, will be among distinguished alumni honored by Gaylord College on Nov. 15.
Joy Mayer (’96), Trusting News director/founder, will lead training at Gaylord College in September for state news organizations via the Oklahoma Media Center. The sessions are part of OMC’s ecosystem engagement project, led by Rob Collins (’93), that includes scientific polling, academic field research, newsroom training and an engagement fund. The project’s goal is to find out where Oklahomans get local news, why they trust information and what would make them financially support local journalism.
Kayte Spillman (’03), editor-in-chief, led 405 Business Magazine to multiple national honors in the Alliance of Area Business Publishers’ 2023 Editorial Excellence Awards competition. Those included second place for best magazine, second place for best overall magazine design and first place for best feature series. All the honored entries focused on the state of Black-owned businesses.
Caitlyn Epes (’20), the team photographer for the Arizona Cardinals, had two photos selected this summer as finalists in the American football category of the World Sports Photography Awards.
Michael Purdy (’03) died July 19 at age 43 after an extended heart and kidney illness. He worked in radio and television in Tulsa for much of his professional career.
Have alumni news to share? Email us at studentmedia@ou.edu or call 405-325-6334.
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About OU Student Media
OU Student Media is the steward of the OU Daily, which for more than a century has served Norman with free independent local journalism, the city's largest reporting staff and nationally honored coverage while launching the careers of media professionals. OU Daily produces news 24/7 online and in premium print products available in approximately 50 locations around Norman year-round.
