IMA grad Samantha Farinella’s film Without a Scratch wins Best Experimental Film at the Columbus International Film and Animation Festival.

Former CNN reporter Mary Snow taught Hunter News Now students an important lesson about a journalist’s job during an emergency: report on what you know. “Your job is to get the facts out without adding to the sense of panic,” said Snow, who was a CNN correspondent for 11 years. “Do not report anything you are not 100 percent sure of.”

Snow told students that lesson has always served her well, especially when making split-second decisions before going on air. That’s precisely what happened just before a live shot in Newtown, Conn. in 2012 after a school shooting left 26 dead. Reporters heard an early report of the gunman’s name, but since Snow could not verify it, she did not mention it in her update. In fact, the name was wrong—the one that was circulating was the gunman’s brother. “There’s a huge potential for misinformation in these situations.. and so much pressure to get the story first, but accuracy always trumps speed,” Snow said.

Journalism student Colleen Digney has been awarded the Pulitzer Center’s International Reporting Fellowship. Colleen will receive a grant to travel to Vietnam to report and produce a story about a humanitarian group that is removing landmines left over from the Vietnam War and then reclaiming the land to then build schools and libraries. You can read more about Colleen’s project on the Journalism Program website. Congratulations Colleen!