Celebrations for the 100th anniversary began in April at a conference hosted at DePauw University in Indiana, where SPJ was originally founded. The annual SPJ conference will be held in Indianapolis with more events to further honor the century-old organization.

SPJ is a non-profit organization focused on ensuring the freedom of speech and ethical journalistic practices.

The society’s mission statement states “the Society for Professional Journalists is dedicated to the perpetuation of a free press as the cornerstone of our nation and our liberty.”

SPJ sponsors various professional contests and awards.  A few such contests are available for college students as well, with the Mark of Excellence being their foremost collegiate award.

Professor Joel Campbell, an active member of SPJ, is an instructor here at BYU. He has been a member of SPJ for over 20 years, first entering when he was a student.

“I joined as a student, had a great experience, and kept going as a professional,” Campbell said.

Campbell said SPJ helps students network with professionals to gain further training to become better journalists. Campbell has been actively involved in multiple outlets to support freedom of speech in several positions, including chairman of SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee.

Multiple SPJ chapters are found on campuses across the United States, including BYU. The BYU chapter will hold a special conference in the fall of 2009 to celebrate its half-century history.

“It’s a great opportunity to get involved,” Campbell said. “There are things you can’t learn in the classroom that you can learn in SPJ.”

Campbell described BYU’s SPJ chapter, started in 1959, as a club with a professional connection. The chapter gives members opportunities to attend regional and national conventions. The local chapter meetings and events are held on a monthly basis.

The meetings consist of various activities ranging from guest speakers and journalism movie nights to playing pool and other fun activities.

Interested students can contact Campbell, the faculty advisor for the chapter, for more information on SPJ and its upcoming events. Although there is a fee to become a member of SPJ, anyone is welcome to attend these meetings and see first-hand what SPJ is all about.

Founded in 1909, SPJ began as an honorary journalistic fraternity called Sigma Delta Chi at DePauw University. After years of expansion and growth, it changed into a professional society in 1960. The first women members were admitted to the society in 1969.

Sigma Delta Chi was renamed in 1973 as Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, then again to the current name in 1988. Despite the name change, SPJ has consistently worked for the benefit of journalism.

According to its homepage, “SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.”

SPJ also hosts a job search data base to assist members looking for a job. Named The Job Bank, it is free to use and allows users to upload resumes and post their information to be viewed by potential employers.

In addition to the search database, there are articles, training videos and podcasts available on SPJ’s official website.

SPJ has several publications listed online, such as the Quill magazine, the Diversity Sourcebook and Freedom of Press alerts.

SPJ is currently the nation’s largest organization of journalists.

More information on SPJ and its services can be found at http://www.spj.org.

We often hear about and celebrate those courageous students who return to finish their degree after a long absence, but what about professors who return to teaching after a prolonged absence?

Clark Hirschi is one such professor. Hirshi taught at the BYU Salt Lake Center seven years ago. After teaching for about four years, he had to stop, as his family continued to grow and his bishopric calling demanded much of his time. After being released from his calling, Hirschi received a call from BYU inquiring whether or not he was interested in teaching again. In the years since Hirschi had taught, BYU had moved into the Triad Center in Salt Lake City, which is just a few blocks from Temple Square, where Hirschi works as a public relations professional for the LDS Church.

Hirschi said he was excited to teach again, but things change so quickly, he felt he really needed to adapt to the new textbook so he could get a feel for how he wanted to teach.

“I originally didn’t envision teaching, but when I worked at BYU Hawaii, we all wore many hats, and it was there that I was first asked to teach,” Hirschi said.

He also noted that technology has changed greatly. “The church didn’t even have a Web site when I first taught,” he said. “Now there is social media and computers in the classroom, and technology is changing at such a pace that the textbook will never be able to keep up with new technology.”

A strength Hirschi has noticed in students is that they are computer savvy and know their way around technology. With that, Hirschi points out that students often lack awareness of news and they do not consume news they way they should. This can result in students not knowing about the world around them.

He also noted the importance of excellent writing skills. “Since we live in a world with casual conversation and instant message communication, good writing and good communication skills often fall to the wayside.”

He also acknowledged that the BYU public relations program is held in high regard by professionals in the field and by organizations such as the Public Relations Society of America. “People in the public relations profession are always commenting on the high caliber of students who come from BYU,” he said.

As for working in public relations while teaching, Hirschi said, “I remember taking classes from adjunct teachers and it was invaluable when they brought real life issues that were happening at that time and we could see real-world application.”

He also said, “BYU does an excellent job at hiring those who have real-world experience.”

He said he finds it useful to discuss with students what he is currently working on with the Church since it allows them to see how and why different situations are handled.

Hirschi notes that perhaps one of the best reasons for returning to teach is, “It keeps me young.”

BYU Broadcast Journalism graduate Jeanette Lefrandt has always envisioned a career in the spotlight. As a little girl, her mother would often find Lefrandt smeared on make-up with a hairbrush in hand, doubling as a microphone, putting on quite a show for an audience of dolls.

It was no surprise Lefrandt spent much of her time in tights pursuing her theatrical interests. However, it didn’t occur to her that broadcast journalism would be the route she’d take to indulge her love for the arts.

Lefrandt admits she wasn’t always completely invested in the idea of a serious career in broadcasting. It wasn’t until she found herself sitting in BYU Professor Robert Walz’s introduction to broadcasting class that anything but music, dance, and theatre had crossed her mind.

“The hardest part about making the decision between a career in theatre or broadcast was whether or not to cut my hair,” Lefrandt said sarcastically.

She recalled asking for advice from Walz, a reporter for ABC4, when he surprised her by saying long hair may get a date, but short hair gets the job.

“What really made all the difference is discovering my passion—that’s when my focus changed,” Lefrandt said.

Her performing background and comfort in front of the camera didn’t go unnoticed when Lefrandt was admitted into the broadcast journalism program at BYU.

“She brought so much talent with her,” said Walz. “She’s a real natural in front of the camera,” he added.

Lefrandt explained that both journalism and theatre each require a creative process of story telling.

“I happen to love them both and decided to pursue my love for the arts in a steady job that could also pay the bills,” Lefrandt said.

Lefrandt’s sense of curiosity only tempted her to dive further into the broadcasting program. She anchored for BYU’s daily live newscast, helped produce and report for BYU’s Daily News, and hosted BYU Weekly, which all eventually landed her a coveted internship with KSL’s Studio 5 morning show.

It was there Lefrandt discovered how well she’d been prepared to take on real world experiences.

Lefrandt admitted to being a little nervous her first day on the set, but the moment she saw the equipment, she felt in her element. It was the same technology and equipment she’d spent tireless hours in front of in the BYU Broadcast News lab.

“The more outside experience I received, the more I realized how incredibly prepared I’d become,” Lefrandt said. “It was at that moment where I thought, I can do this.”

However, while BYU was preparing Lefrandt for the real world of television, there wasn’t much anyone could do to prepare her to hear that her father’s brain cancer was back—and this time it wasn’t going away.

When it seemed easier to stay in bed, Lefrandt would think about what her dad would want, and those were the times her emotions seemed to fuel her ambition.

“I put a lot of effort into everything I was involved in,” Lefrandt said. “It seemed to help take my mind off things, and make that deep ache go away—even for just a moment,” she added.

Her experience with losing a father to brain cancer shed new light on what influence she could have as a news anchor.

“I found it comforting at the time to think that by informing and sharing others’ experiences with viewers, I could be a means to offer hope to someone else,” Lefrandt said.

Not long after the passing of her father, Lefrandt took on a story from a unique emotional angle about a young man who’d lost his leg in a boating accident.

The story was from the perspective of the sister and driver of the boat, who’d never publicly spoken about the incident. Lefrandt’s story was later pronounced winner of the Society of Professional Journalists Region Nine’s 2008 Television Feature competition and will advance to nationals in the fall of 2009.

Lefrandt also received the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Internship Scholarship, awarding her full tuition for an internship. She was accepted as a summer intern with Fox in Chicago, but chose to take a second internship with KSL to be closer to family.

When asked where she sees herself in five years, Lefrandt replied, “ I hope I have made some significant advancements in my career . . . as well as my dating status—maybe I’ll grow my hair long again!”

*Photo courtesy of Jeanette Lefrandt

Sherwood now runs his own niche media company, Postman Right Media, LLC. The company owns ParentsGuide of Las Vegas and ParentsGuideLV.com, Deluxe Taxi Ads, LVNVjobs.com, DineLV.com and Las Vegas Golf Directory.

Sherwood graduated from BYU’s Department of Communications with an emphasis in broadcast journalism proper in 1995. His “track” was media sales & management. While at BYU, he was the Display Advertising Manager for The Daily Universe.

Sherwood left BYU for New York City, where he worked for two years at a television “Rep” firm. He then transferred to Philadelphia where he worked with ad agencies in the Mid-Atlantic, particularly in political advertising. He left television for newspaper, and worked for The Philadelphia Inquirer, in various sales and sales management positions, for eight years.

“The training at the Daily Universe made that jump possible,” Sherwood said.

“It was easy to see where the large metro newspaper business model was headed so I left to take an equity position in a weekly newspaper in Staten Island, New York,” he said.

While in Staten Island, Sherwood launched a “new homes” magazine and corresponding Web site.

After the Las Vegas Review-Journal tried twice to hire him, Sherwood finally went to work there as the advertising manager in charge of all automotive advertising.

He left that newspaper to run the sales operation of an outdoor advertising company in Las Vegas before starting Postman Right Media, LLC.

Sherwood explains his desire to start a publication for families.

“My oldest child is almost 12 years old, he said. “I have been thinking of starting a family publication for about that long.”

Sherwood wanted to launch this type of magazine three different times—once in Philadelphia, once in Staten Island and once in Las Vegas. In each case it didn’t make sense for the organization he worked for to invest in starting or acquiring a parents’ publication.

“When I knew I was finally going to be running my own media company, a parents magazine was one of the products that I wanted in my portfolio of assets,” Sherwood said.

Sherwood did his homework before starting this new venture.

“Before I launched, I looked at several successful family magazines across the country,” he explained. “Atlanta Parent was the one that I was most impressed with, so I flew out to Georgia on a best practice visit and spent some time with Liz White, the 25-year veteran publisher of Atlanta Parent.”

Sherwood said seeing what worked and didn’t work in Atlanta was a big help.

Sherwood gave another hint to those looking to start their own businesses.

“Obviously the market has to tell you that it makes sense,” he said. “I was fortunate to be in Las Vegas because there wasn’t a true monthly family magazine in the market.”

Sherwood credits his BYU education for helping him get where he is today.

“Getting my education and ‘real world’ experience from BYU professors like Russ Mouritsen, Dallas Burnett and Ralph Barney was absolutely critical to my success,” Sherwood said. “So much of what I learned in the communications classes came from the actual experience of my professors. Their curriculums served as very solid career advice.”

“Working at The Daily Universe, as both an account executive and later as the display advertising manager was the best experience I could have asked for,” Sherwood said. “The advisors of the newspaper gave us lots of responsibility, expected results and rewarded our sales efforts. To this day, working at The Daily Universe was the best media sales job I have ever had.”

Sherwood gave more helpful advice for up and coming entrepreneurs.

“Because I wanted to be an owner, I was much more entrepreneurial as an employee,” Sherwood said. “I launched multiple new products and initiatives that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue, and that in turn gave me the confidence to someday do the same thing for myself.”

“When you are doing it by yourself there is a lot less room for error,” he advised. “Unless you have a lot of capital to burn, I would recommend that anyone who wants to start their own business should ease into it.”

Sherwood shared a personal example. “I formed my LLC three years ago, but I didn’t quit my day job for another two years,” Sherwood said. “The other thing I did that was helpful was I worked at a couple of small, owner-operated, media companies so I was able to see and feel what I was getting into without taking on so much of the risk.”

As a side note, Sherwood recommends picking up the book Bootstrap Business, co-written by BYU graduate Rich Christiansen for all those starting a business on their own.

“I have read dozens of business books and this is easily the best ‘how to’ book for successfully starting your business that I have ever read,” said Sherwood.

Ever since Laura Ashby was admitted into the public relations program at BYU, she knew she wanted to do a summer internship in New York City.

However, she had to work extremely hard to get there. Aside from the extensive interviewing process, she had to appeal to take two of the most difficult and time-consuming prerequisite courses during the same semester, including writing for the Daily Universe and doing public relations work for Habitat for Humanity.

“Laura was a great student,” said Kaye Nelson, Ashby’s former editor at The Daily Universe. “We would have loved to keep her had she stayed around!”

Ashby worked as a healthcare intern at Fleishman-Hillard in New York during the summer of 2009.

“I feel like New York is a great place to get experience and launch a career, so I made it a goal of mine to do an internship out here,” said Ashby, a senior from Farmington, Utah.

Some of her daily responsibilities included monitoring reports for her clients, and research, including media, medical and competitive research. She also had the opportunity to pitch to the media, draft a strategic campaign and do a research project for the PRSA Foundation. Ashby credits her knowledge of these skills to her experiences at BYU.

“I really feel BYU’s PR program is one of the best preparations for an internship and a career,” she said. “At BYU, I was able to get real work experiences. Managing all of the PR work for a client gave me great experience in pitching, writing and strategic planning—skills I’ve been able to apply to my internship this summer.”

Ashby said she has learned a lot from her internship and has had great experiences learning from the seasoned practitioners at Fleishman-Hillard. She has also learned about teamwork, and how to provide value to a client—especially during the pandemic caused by swine flu.

Ashby has also enjoyed studying at BYU because of the unique environment it provides.

“Having the gospel in my life through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has helped me have a solid foundation when entering a new culture such as New York,” she said. “I have been able to meet many diverse people in the city and share with them the beliefs I hold dear as they share theirs with me.”

Ashby will graduate in April 2010. She plans to work in public relations for a few years and then hopes to pursue an MBA in marketing someday.

*Photo courtesy of Laura Ashby

Being a new student at BYU can be an intimidating and frightening experience. But being new to BYU, and new to the country, can be even harder.

BYU’s Department of Communications accepts several international students each semester. Alice Alecu, a recent international graduate from the public relations program, remains grateful to BYU for her experiences and knowledge gained at the university.

“(BYU) was a mind-opening experience that left me well prepared for the future,” Alecu said.

Alecu, originally from Romania, graduated in April 2009. She was an account executive for the Bradley Public Relations Agency, and completed an internship with Porter Novelli in winter 2009.

Alecu looks positively at her time spent at BYU, but also expresses the challenges and difficulties of being an international student in a different country, surrounded by a different culture.

“It has not necessarily been hard because of the language, although even that was a little difficult at first, but more for cultural reasons,” Alecu said. “Not knowing when to laugh, not understanding people’s opinions and their reactions, or why they would take something more serious than I thought it should be taken, has been hard.”

One difficulty that took some time getting used to was the way people interacted with each other in the United States compared to her home country, Romania.

“Where I came from, people tended to be closer with each other,” Alecu said, “getting in each other’s lives more. The other big difference is that in my school back home, people weren’t competitive; they were more community-oriented, while at BYU it seemed to me that the students tend to be more individualistic and competitive.”

Even with the culture change, Alecu said she felt the communications department at BYU was able to greatly prepare her for the future. She felt a strong bond to teachers and felt the classes were engaging and valuable to her learning.

“I like how dynamic it is,” Alecu said. “The teachers are more approachable and the majority treat their students as their equals. I also like the hands-on experience teachers try to give the students.”

BYU public relations senior Jill Tuttle Taylor, from El Dorado Hills, Calif., says it is easy to get discouraged about the future job market. But the preparations she has made through her BYU education keep her thinking positively.

“My BYU education has helped me feel confident, despite the economy,” Taylor said. “I know that I will have to work harder, get outside experience and make myself unique from other applicants to get that dream job offer, but I know it is possible.”

Taylor has been making an effort to be competitive in the tough job market, even before she graduates. She was recently awarded the Bruce Olsen Scholarship, which provided her a full tuition scholarship and an internship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With this scholarship, Taylor was able to learn and grow from her internship without the financial stress. She was grateful for this opportunity, not only for the public relations experience, but also for the generosity of the donors.

Throughout her internship in Salt Lake City, Taylor was a part of the new media team within the public affairs department of the Church. She was responsible for updating the LDS newsroom, (newsroom.lds.org) where reporters from all over the world can go to obtain information about the church. She was also responsible for tracking trends on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. In addition, Taylor was able to help with larger projects the LDS church was working on.

“There have been some exciting opportunities as an intern,” Taylor said. “I have worked with people who are very experienced in the field, but I have also been able to contribute some of my own ideas. My classes in the communications department helped prepare me for a lot of the things I was asked to do. I feel like my time with the LDS Public Affairs has really given me the perspective that I need for my career in public relations.”

After her experience with the LDS Church Public Affairs, Taylor plans to work with Qualtrics, a software company in Provo. She will be performing public relations work for them, while attending BYU part time to finish her capstone classes.

Taylor believes that BYU’s teachers, resources and connections make BYU stand out among other programs throughout the country. Tyler Page, a Qualtrics employee who is also a BYU graduate, shares Taylor’s sentiments about the program.

“BYU Communications graduates boast writing and strategic skills that are superior to their peers in other programs,” he said. “In looking for a marketing or public relations intern, we posted the opening on the BYU Communications web site because we needed someone who could write, edit, do basic graphic design and think strategically. I can think of no better place to find students with those qualities than the BYU Communications program.”

It’s graduation day. You hold your diploma, take your photo and shake a hand or two. You’ve waited your whole life for this moment, but now what?

Many students decide to work for a time and then attend graduate school. For many, this break may be a just few years long. But student Christel Swasey proves that even after waiting almost 20 years, graduate school is still an excellent option for learning.

Swasey, a Heber City, Utah resident, graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in English. After eight years of teaching, writing for the Deseret News and starting her family, she decided to return to school.

“I didn’t have any idea how hard and rewarding it would be,” Swasey said. “I feel as though my window of the world is bigger because of the research I learned how to do, and because of the interesting ideas I was exposed to in this program.”

When Swasey first decided to pursue her master’s degree, she was interested in the English program. When she found out about the communications program, she said it just fit well, so she took that route instead.

Swasey began the program in 2007 and started writing her thesis on ethnographic literary journalism at the end of 2008. At the beginning of her graduate work, Swasey took a literary journalism course which sparked her interest on this topic.

“I found [this topic] fascinating and couldn’t stop studying, asking questions or reading examples of this type of work,” Swasey said.

She explains ethnographic literary journalism as a combination of journalism and anthropology. Some of the people who practice this intense type of journalism will spend up to six years writing about just one subject.

Swasey said it became an addicting subject. She found herself being a detective following a very sparse trail.

“There was basically no scholarship on this subject,” she said. “This is not an area that many people are interested in.”

Through her months of research, Swasey found that there had not been a real merger between the two subjects, yet they needed each other.

“Journalists need the credibility of anthropologists and anthropologists need the writing skills of journalists,” she said.

Swasey’s finished thesis is around 400 pages. Because of her great amount of research, she had the opportunity to present her work at the International Literary Journalism Association Conference in Evanston, Illinois, in May 2009.

Dr. Steven Thomsen, the graduate studies coordinator, said BYU’s graduate program in mass communications is not considered a pre-professional program, but rather, it is focused on research and theory.

“Students like Swasey take what they have learned throughout these research and theory classes and pick a thesis topic on their area of interest,” he said.

According to the BYU Communications Department Web site, there are 45 students in the masters of mass communications program working on theses. The average time for these students to complete the program is between two and three years.

Swasey has met this goal with a graduation date of August, 2009, so her hard work is mostly done. She said her time in the program was hard, but worth it.

“I feel so thankful to the communications program,” she said. “I feel it is a privilege and an honor to go to BYU.”

Though Swasey was interested in her topic, she still found it hard to find time to work. She has two children and was working while attending graduate school. She once took some advice from her mom, which helped her get through her busy schedule.

“I realized you can do anything you want in life,” she said, “but you can’t do everything you want.”

She had to find creative ways to get her work done. With a six year-old at home, she said it was difficult to find time to work. “I gave him six cards and he could give up a card every time he needed something,” she said. “When the cards were gone he had to stop asking me for things.”

During her education, her house was not perfectly clean or her hair perfectly done, but she was happy with her choice to attend graduate school. Swasey is not a traditional student, having entered the program at age 38. However, she feels that this was the right choice for her.

“I am more serious and interested in school now than I was in my undergrad,” she said. “I have had a lot of life experience that has helped me with my degree.”

These labs include the Daily Universe, the Broadcast News Lab, the Advanced Advertising Lab and the Bradley Public Relations Agency. These labs produce award-winning media products that are read by and aired to audiences larger than many community newspapers and regional stations. They also serve world-class clients and create strategic messages and national campaigns. But most importantly, under the direction of our talented faculty and staff, the labs provide a continuous learning and improvement environment that enhances the quality of what we do and prepares students for the professional world. Our labs truly are the intersection of knowledge and experience for our students.

Scarcely a week goes by that I don’t encounter a former student who tells me how grateful he or she is to have had a BYU Communications Department lab experience. Our students’ employers and internship providers say the same—and they tell us that the lab experience gives our students a competitive advantage that’s easy to see and hard to beat.

We encourage you to get to know our student labs—whether for the first time or as an old friend. We think you’ll be pleased and proud of how far we’ve come. If you’d like a tour of the labs, just drop by the Communications Department office and we’ll be happy to arrange one. In addition, if you are an advertising or public relations professional looking for high-quality, creative and affordable resources, we invite you to consider the Advanced Advertising Lab and Bradley Public Relations Agency. An excellent value for the cost, these labs are seeking new clients and external funding to support pro-bono work that benefits society. Please contact Jeff Sheets, director, Advanced Advertising Lab, (801) 422-3524, and Jeff DuBois, director, Bradley Public Relations, (801) 422-4946, for more information.

To those of you who have contributed to the past success of our labs—whether as a student, faculty, staff, client, or volunteer—we thank you. If you are becoming involved for the first time, we welcome you. We look forward to working with you all as we continue to build the BYU Communications Department Legacy.

Susan Balcom Walton
Associate Chair, Student Media
Susan_walton@byu.edu

These labs include the Daily Universe, the Broadcast News Lab, the Advanced Advertising Lab and the Bradley Public Relations Firm.  These labs produce award-winning media products that are read by and aired to audiences larger than many community newspapers and regional stations.  They also serve world-class clients and create strategic messages and national campaigns.  But most importantly, under the direction of our talented faculty and staff, the labs provide a continuous learning and improvement environment that enhances the quality of what we do and prepares students for the professional world.  Our labs truly are the intersection of knowledge and experience for our students.

Scarcely a week goes by that I don’t encounter a former student who tells me how grateful he or she is to have had a BYU Communications Department lab experience.  Our students’ employers and internship providers say the same—and they tell us that the lab experience gives our students a competitive advantage that’s easy to see and hard to beat.

We encourage you to get to know our student labs—whether for the first time or as an old friend.  We think you’ll be pleased and proud of how far we’ve come.  If you’d like a tour of the labs, just drop by the Communications Department office and we’ll be happy to arrange one.  In addition, if you are an advertising or public relations professional looking for high-quality, creative and affordable resources, we invite you to consider the Advanced Advertising Lab and Bradley Public Relations Firm.  An excellent value for the cost, these labs are seeking new clients and external funding to support pro-bono work that benefits society.   Please contact Jeff Sheets, director, Advanced Advertising Lab, (801) 422-3524, and Jeff DuBois, director, Bradley Public Relations, (801) 422-4946, for more information.

To those of you who have contributed to the past success of our labs—whether as a student, faculty, staff, client, or volunteer—we thank you.  If you are becoming involved for the first time, we welcome you.  We look forward to working with you all as we continue to build the BYU Communications Department Legacy.

Susan Balcom Walton

Associate Chair, Student Media

Susan_walton@byu.edu