News Media Archives - BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications

From the ice to the broadcast booth: BYU grad Kate Hansen in Beijing for Winter Olympics

Capri Baker — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 21:56:02 +0000

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BYU Grad Lands Photo Internship with Los Angeles Lakers After Years of Pushing the Limits

admin — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 20:31:43 +0000

It was NCAA star player Grayson Allen’s first game back after his suspension that came from deliberately tripping an opposing player. Everyone in the press room was fighting their way to him, including 20-year-old Abigail Keenan. This was only the beginning of many experiences where fighting her way through unseen obstacles would lead her to achieve her dreams. Her ability to pivot and find unique opportunities led her to photographing The Bucket List Family and to interning with the Los Angeles Lakers. With everyone surrounding Allen in the locker room, Keenan had to think fast. She knew that she wanted that shot, but how could she get it? “This was my first time rushing into the locker room, and I had no idea what to do,” Keenan said. “Being the newcomer once again, I saw a three-person deep wall surrounding Allen.” Clawing her way through eager reporters, she still couldn’t fight her way through the barricade of people surrounding Allen. Keenan reached down and tilted her camera up. She took a chance and shot between the legs of the man in front of her. With her fingers crossed that the angle was right, she snapped a picture hoping to capture where Allen was sitting. She then looked at the picture on her camera, and to her surprise, the photo was not only in focus but also in perfect lighting. What occurred that day in the press room foreshadowed the rest of Keenan’s journey — nothing is off limits. Keenan, a former Daily Universe photographer and 2019 BYU School of Communications graduate, saw what felt like a far-fetched dream became reality when she scored an internship with the Lakers. However, the path that led her there was anything but conventional. Read the full article at universe.byu.edu.

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Dale Cressman Elected ACEJMC Vice President

Morgan Reis — Thu, 30 May 2019 19:03:29 +0000

School of Communications professor Dale Cressman was elected as the vice president of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) on April 26. Cressman has worked with the organization since 2011 and appreciates the ethics it emphasizes in the specific fields of study. “ACEJMC is a great champion for free speech and diversity,” said Cressman. “It practices what it preaches, operating under the same values it expects of academic units.” ACEJMC accreditation is regarded as the premier standard of program quality in the discipline. Currently, 115 journalism and mass communications programs at universities throughout the United States, Mexico, Chile, New Zealand, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have full accreditation status. The BYU School of Communications has been ACEJMC accredited since 1984. “Accreditation is a rigorous process,” said Cressman, who started in ACEJMC as a site team member. “It is time consuming, but well worth being accredited, as it tells students, parents, administrators and peers that we meet common standards in our discipline.” Read the full story at comms.byu.edu.

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Camille Baker Talks About the Process of Discovering a Career Path

Mason Graham — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 18:22:27 +0000

Baker will speak at the School of Communications Convocation at 9 a.m. on April 26 Camille Baker returned from her mission unsure of what she wanted to study. Formerly an English major, Baker found herself searching for something new. “I didn’t really feel at home in my classes,” she said. “I felt like I couldn’t connect with some of the students and the professors. I still really loved writing and editing, and my original intent was to be a book editor, but I didn’t really want to go through BYU without having any friends in my classes. I figured I’d look around for a degree that would give me enough credibility to be a book editor.” The solution, she concluded, was the news media major. Her experience in the introduction to communications class validated that decision. “I took the prerequisites, and I was having a hard time feeling like I found purpose in my major,” Baker said. “I had friends who are studying medicine, special education and teaching. They all had these passions, and I just wanted to move commas around. “One of my classes was the Comms 101 intro-level class with professor Jessica Zurcher,” Baker continued. “She shared Elder Bednar’s talk on sharing goodness — ‘Sweep the Earth as With a Flood’ — and she said that she found her passion in communications because she realized that, in order to share the goodness of the gospel with the world, she had to learn how the world communicates.” This resonated with Baker and encouraged her to move forward with studying news media. Even with this broader vision of potential paths within communications, Baker had made up her mind to pursue book editing. “My mentors and professors knew that at the beginning, and I was kind of stubborn about it,” she said. “But, I had a really, really positive experience in my reporting classes. It completely changed the way that I saw journalism and how I saw my future. So, I decided to become a journalist.” The Daily Universe, BYU’s campus newspaper, has been central to Baker’s college experience. “I wish that news media students took advantage of the Daily Universe newsroom,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of classmates and friends in the program who will choose a different part-time job on campus that pays a little bit more and not work at the Universe. I think that they’ve really missed a good opportunity.” According to Baker, The Daily Universe benefits students in two ways: first, it gives students the opportunity to attain important work experience that will be valuable no matter their career path. Second, it puts students in contact with the faculty involved with the Universe. “They miss out on the opportunity to work with Steve Fidel and Carrie Moore, who are exceptional resources for the students there,” Baker said. “I wish that every student that went through the news media program was on the staff at the Universe, because it’s amazing.” Baker now works as the Deseret News’ newsletter coordinator, a job she received while interning for the news organization. “It was a couple weeks ago that my boss’ boss pulled me into his office and said, ‘Hey, I’ve had a lot of people come up and tell me that if there’s anybody we can’t lose after their internship, it’s you,’” Baker said. “Which was really good to hear and a very nice compliment. They didn’t have any openings at the time, but he mentioned that he had been throwing this idea around about creating a position for a newsletter coordinator. They essentially created a whole new position so that I could stay on.” Baker hopes to continue working with the Deseret News in this capacity for the next few years before moving on to be a reporter. “Eventually I would like to transition into in-depth reporting, whether that’s at the Deseret News or another news organization,” she said. “My passion lies in writing and editing.” Q&A with Camille Baker, BA ’19 Communications | Communications: News Media What’s your favorite snack to eat between classes or while on break at work? “If I didn’t have a lunch while I was working in the Universe newsroom (which was for like a year and a half), I’d grab an Uncrustables in the Brimhall vending machines. They just got me. We have Smucker’s Uncrustables at work now. Maybe it’s a good omen.” As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? “Initially, when I was in first grade, I wanted to be a first grade teacher and, when I was in second grade, I wanted to be a second grade teacher, and so forth and so on. When I was in high school, I wanted to be a chef. I had carefully planned all my credits so I could take a culinary arts class. That went out the window when I took my literature class and fell in love with writing and editing. So, teacher, chef, writer, editor and journalist.”

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BYU Communications Professor to Present Research on Millennials and Media at International Conference

Sydnee Gonzalez — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 00:38:55 +0000

School of Communications professor Miles Romney was invited to present at the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) 2019 Conference in Las Vegas on April 6-9. Romney’s presentation will be based on his new book chapter titled “Tune it or Stream it? Can Millennials and the Internet save ESPN?” Read more on the School of Communications website.

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BYU News Media Student Lands Front-Page Spot in the Deseret News

Sydnee Gonzalez — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 18:29:00 +0000

Recently-graduated news media alumna McKayla Robinson’s capstone project featured the 20-year-old case of Rosie Tapia. To read more about Robinson’s project and how it was visit the School of Communications website.

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BYU Alumna Siovhan Johnson Shares Her Experience Working in the Communications Industry

Sydnee Gonzalez — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 20:30:22 +0000

Some majors direct their student into a specific career path, but that isn’t the case for those who pursue a degree in communications. BYU School of Communications alumna Siovhan Johnson is learning this lesson as she makes the transition from broadcast news to strategic communications. Read Johnson’s full story on the School of Communications website.

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BYU News Media Students Place at International Broadcasting Competition

Sydnee Gonzalez — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 04:38:22 +0000

BYU news media students Alyson Caffrey and Maren Cline placed in the Broadcast Education Association 2019 International Digital Media and Broadcast Competition. Cline took home third place in the TV hard news category for her segment on Facebook scams and Caffrey won first place in the TV news anchor category. Read more about their experience on the School of Communication’s website.

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BYU News Media Students Attend Multicultural Career Workshop

Sydnee Gonzalez — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 18:45:39 +0000

Recent movements like Time’s Up have focused the eyes of the world on the importance of diversity — and where it’s lacking. Two BYU news media students are doing their part to make a difference in the journalism field. Cameron Hussein and Karmen Kodia, two juniors in the broadcasting program, recently traveled to New York City to attend the two-day 2018 Multicultural Career Workshop hosted by the International Radio and Television Society (IRTS) Foundation. Kodia said that attending the conference gave her a newfound appreciation for the role she plays in diversifying the media. “The workshop opened my mind to how important diversity is,” said Kodia. “Knowing that there isn’t a lot of diversity in media fields, but also knowing that I can contribute something to help change that made me more willing to follow my dreams and do what I’ve always wanted to do because diversity is needed.” Taking New York by Storm Neither Kodia nor Hussein knew anything about the workshop until Professor Joel Campbell emailed them on a Friday afternoon telling them and a handful of other students to apply — and that they better do so quickly since the application closed the following Monday afternoon. “At the beginning I was debating if I wanted to apply or not,” said Kodia. “I didn’t think I was good enough to get in, but something told me to just apply and see what happens. I felt like I should use all the resources I have and put myself out there, and if I don’t get it, that’s fine. If I do, that would be awesome.” Hussein took the opposite approach. After receiving the email, he just applied. “I didn’t think much of it,” he said. Regardless their approach, both received a notification saying they had been accepted later that week. The workshop consisted of one day of panels and another day where students had to pitch themselves to potential employers. Both Kodia and Hussein said that the second day was more rewarding but harder. “It kind of caught us off guard,” said Hussein. Neither of the students knew beforehand that they would have to pitch themselves to top-tier companies like Sony ABC, CBS and NBC until they were informed so on the first day. Both students spent hours in the hotel the night before researching the different companies so that they would be prepared. But that was just the beginning of what would prove to be a difficult process. “I didn’t expect it to be that intense. I just thought you would meet the companies, exchange contact info and move on,” said Hussein. “But you’re pitching yourself, you’re handing your resume out to them. They’re going to make notes and they’re going to remember you. Hussein said that he started out slow, warming up with companies that he wasn’t particularly interested in working for. However, by the end of the day, he was running from booth to booth just to get in his resume and give the recruiters a chance to see his face so they’d hopefully remember him later on. “Sometimes you’re scared about what people are going of think of you when you present yourself, especially with these high-end people,” said Kodia. “But you just have to be confident in yourself and say, ‘Hey this is me, this is my experience and this is what I have to offer.” Bringing What They Learned Back to BYU Hussein and Kodia both felt that their experiences at BYU prepared them to be able to successfully pitch themselves to recruiters. “BYU prepares their students better for the jobs than a lot of East Coast schools” said Hussein. “When I was talking to recruiters about how working for Newsline is like a job, they were blown away.” Kodia stated that her experiences at BYU also helped her to wow recruiters. “I don’t think we understand how lucky we are with the communications program and how much they offer us,” said Kodia. “Just the experience of being a reporter, for example, helped me. The recruiters were so impressed with me. They want people who have those experiences, so we are privileged here at BYU that we have a program that offers those things.” Both Kodia and Hussein said students should be invited to apply for the workshop every year. Kodia said that, while the School of Communications has done things in the past to bring attention to the importance of diversity — such as symposiums, panels and incorporating the topic in classes — helping students go to workshops like these is the next step. “There’s so much more out there that we need to talk about at BYU concerning diversity,” said Kodia. “Yes we live in Utah and there’s not a lot of diversity here, but when we get out of BYU there will hopefully be a lot of diversity in the workplace. If we as students can’t communicate or associate with other people at a college, how will we be able to succeed in the workplace? It starts early, and it should start at college.” Hussein echoed Kodia’s call to make the workshop a permanent opportunity at BYU. “It was cool to be around other kids who are minorities and being able to connect with them,” he said. “I think that it’s something BYU should send students to every year just because it helps so much with career development.” “I am so grateful that BYU helped us go. I wouldn’t have been able to go on my own,” said Kodia. “That two-day conference changed my life. I think it should be required every year or an option for people to apply and go. It would be so good for the school and the students to be a part of the program and get inspired and share what they experience with other students.” Looking to the Future Both students said that interacting with the students, recruiters and panelists at the conference opened their eyes to new things. Hussein said the highlight of the conference was talking one-on-one with director and producer Kameron Mack. During his time as the University of Kansas, Mack started a personal project covering campus fashion. He landed a segment on the school’s news station that eventually led him to real-world jobs covering fashion and sports. For Hussein — who is also interested in [...]

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BYU news media students attend national journalism convention in Maryland

Courtney Jones — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 21:27:41 +0000

BYU Society of Professional Journalists’ chapter president Eleanor Cain Adams attended sessions discussing everything from resume hacks to covering sexual assault at SPJ’s three-day convention in Baltimore Fellow news media student Emma Benson and I attended the Society of Professional Journalists’ national Excellence in Journalism convention from Sept. 27-29 with faculty member and SPJ advisor Kris Boyle. The Society of Professional Journalists encourages ethical journalism and the freedom of the press, and hosts several regional conventions each year in addition to the national gathering we attended. The convention offered a variety of informational sessions to choose from each day, with a combined keynote session each afternoon and plenty of networking opportunities with journalists from around the country. In addition to networking, I loved learning new marketable skills from real professionals. A favorite session I attended was “Al’s Jaw-Droppingly Cool Tools,” where Al Tompkins from the Poynter Institute shared his favorite apps, websites and online resources for doing journalism. For me personally, the most powerful moment of the conference was when we all sat together in solidarity as the publisher of the Baltimore Sun retold the tragic events of the June 28 shooting in their newsroom and of the heroism that followed. It was a bold reminder to me of why it is so important to support and protect the free press; it was something I could never have experienced here in class at BYU and that I will never forget. Over the course of the convention I attended a variety of sessions on everything from how to get a job, cover sexual assault, freelance and podcast to covering midterm elections. As a student, I appreciated the opportunity to learn from the variety of professionals in attendance and couldn’t wait to come back to campus to share my new knowledge with other news media students. Attending SPJ’s national convention helped me realize the importance of the free press and of what SPJ does — especially here at BYU’s SPJ chapter. To learn more about SPJ and upcoming events, follow them on Facebook. By Eleanor Cain Adams

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