BYU Society of Professional Journalists presents...
Q & A with
John Hughes
Former editor, The Christian Science Monitor
Former assistant secretary-general, United Nations
Thursday Nov. 19
11 a.m. • 107 JSB
Refreshments will be provided by
Flour Girls & Dough Boys Bakery
Please come with questions!
John Hughes was editor of the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City from 1997 to 2006, and returned to BYU as a professor of communications in 2007. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former editor of The Christian Science Monitor.
Hughes has also served as U.S. assistant secretary of state and as assistant secretary-general of the United Nations, and he has chaired presidential and congressional commissions on international broadcasting.
Born in Wales and educated in England, Hughes served for six years as the Monitor’s Africa correspondent and six years as Far East correspondent before serving for nine years as the paper’s editor. For three of those years he was both editor and publisher.
He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, and he won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Indonesia and the Overseas Press Club award for an investigation into the international narcotics traffic. He is a former president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Hughes has written two books and writes a nationally-syndicated column for The Christian Science Monitor.
Internship show-and-tell & chili extravaganza!
Thanks all who came, presented, and brought food for our activity last night. Here are some highlights from our awesome presenters:
Sara interned with the Deseret News over the summer, and she is now working there—way to go! She had a lot of great advice to offer. For example, if you’re not understanding what your interviewee is talking about, she suggests asking something like, “Can you explain a little more so I can explain this to the average reader?” And want to impress your editors with great story ideas? Check out Poynter’s Al’s Morning Meeting blog, which has a roundup of story ideas that you could localize.
Steve, who is double majoring in journalism and political science, started an online magazine, Rhombus, this summer. Since then, they’ve been getting about 6,000 hits a month. The objective, Steve said, is to fill a need for more meaningful content to young people in Utah Valley. Definitely, check out Rhombus. As the About page says, “it may not cure cancer, but it will at least make life more interesting.” Also, Steve and his team are always looking for good contributors—contact them at rhombusmag@gmail.com.
Heather told us about her internship with the Church magazines, where she worked on articles for the Liahona and news of the Church. She emphasized that it’s helpful to name drop. But how do you name drop properly? She recommends doing it in your cover letter; you can write something like “I am eager to learn more about this internship, since I have already heard many wonderful things from your previous intern, [name].” Heather also suggested learning as much as you can about the organization you’re applying for. She talked to friends who had already had the internship, and got tips about what interview questions to prepare for. Her preparation definitely paid off, since she got the internship that had more than 300 students apply.
Adam told us about some of his experiences working for BYU Broadcasting. (Remember, SPJ is for broadcasters, too!) He emphasized the value of networking—it’s who you know that counts. He also said that being willing to take on projects that others don’t want shows employers that you’re a hard worker. For Adam, that meant several promotions!
Emily did an internship in New York and while she was there, she took a food writing class at NYU. She recommends taking any opportunity to experience journalism outside of BYU. “Anything you can do to expand your horizons is great,” she said. Also, the uniqueness of the food writing class has already helped Emily. She says that it’s been great to include it on her résumé, because it’s always a great conversation starter during job interviews!
Also, McKay provided a handout with information on a variety of internship opportunities throughout the U.S. Comment on this post if you’d like to get that info!
ALSO also, we are going to have a letter-writing activity for fundraising soon ... be excited!
Sara interned with the Deseret News over the summer, and she is now working there—way to go! She had a lot of great advice to offer. For example, if you’re not understanding what your interviewee is talking about, she suggests asking something like, “Can you explain a little more so I can explain this to the average reader?” And want to impress your editors with great story ideas? Check out Poynter’s Al’s Morning Meeting blog, which has a roundup of story ideas that you could localize.
Steve, who is double majoring in journalism and political science, started an online magazine, Rhombus, this summer. Since then, they’ve been getting about 6,000 hits a month. The objective, Steve said, is to fill a need for more meaningful content to young people in Utah Valley. Definitely, check out Rhombus. As the About page says, “it may not cure cancer, but it will at least make life more interesting.” Also, Steve and his team are always looking for good contributors—contact them at rhombusmag@gmail.com.
Heather told us about her internship with the Church magazines, where she worked on articles for the Liahona and news of the Church. She emphasized that it’s helpful to name drop. But how do you name drop properly? She recommends doing it in your cover letter; you can write something like “I am eager to learn more about this internship, since I have already heard many wonderful things from your previous intern, [name].” Heather also suggested learning as much as you can about the organization you’re applying for. She talked to friends who had already had the internship, and got tips about what interview questions to prepare for. Her preparation definitely paid off, since she got the internship that had more than 300 students apply.
Adam told us about some of his experiences working for BYU Broadcasting. (Remember, SPJ is for broadcasters, too!) He emphasized the value of networking—it’s who you know that counts. He also said that being willing to take on projects that others don’t want shows employers that you’re a hard worker. For Adam, that meant several promotions!
Emily did an internship in New York and while she was there, she took a food writing class at NYU. She recommends taking any opportunity to experience journalism outside of BYU. “Anything you can do to expand your horizons is great,” she said. Also, the uniqueness of the food writing class has already helped Emily. She says that it’s been great to include it on her résumé, because it’s always a great conversation starter during job interviews!
Also, McKay provided a handout with information on a variety of internship opportunities throughout the U.S. Comment on this post if you’d like to get that info!
ALSO also, we are going to have a letter-writing activity for fundraising soon ... be excited!
November Activity: Internships!
Hi friends and members!
SPJ is holding a November acitivty and all out invited to attend! There will be dinner and presentations by communications students who have completed various interships throughout the world! This is a great opportunity to learn about the internship requirement for many communications majors. We hope all can come; it is going to be a great night!
Details:
What: SPJ Internship Show and Tell + Chili Dinner
When: November 11th, 7:30 PM
Where: 2nd floor atrium of the Brimhall Building, BYU Campus
Don't forget to add us on Twitter for instant news about SPJ!
SPJ is holding a November acitivty and all out invited to attend! There will be dinner and presentations by communications students who have completed various interships throughout the world! This is a great opportunity to learn about the internship requirement for many communications majors. We hope all can come; it is going to be a great night!
Details:
What: SPJ Internship Show and Tell + Chili Dinner
When: November 11th, 7:30 PM
Where: 2nd floor atrium of the Brimhall Building, BYU Campus
Don't forget to add us on Twitter for instant news about SPJ!
Follow us on Twitter!
Yes, we are on Twitter! Check out @BYUSPJ for more info about activities, meetings and fun! Our Twitter account is run by our chapter Vice President, so the information comes straight from the source. Click the link to follow BYU SPJ.
Follow us here!
Also, our chapter Advisor, Joel Campbell, has a Twitter. Click here to follow his tweets about journalism.
Follow us here!
Also, our chapter Advisor, Joel Campbell, has a Twitter. Click here to follow his tweets about journalism.
This week's conversation: Rising from the ashes
Today's New York Times has a story on a journalist from the late Rocky Mountain News who has risen from the ashes, pulled himself up by the bootstraps, and possibly conquered other hackneyed metaphors. He bought a newspaper.
After losing his job with the closing of the Rocky Mountain News in February 2009, former Washington correspondent M. E. Sprengelmeyer moved to New Mexico and is now the "owner, publisher, editor, primary writer and sometime ad salesman, photographer and deliverer of the weekly Guadalupe County Communicator, circulation about 2,000."
Apparently Sprengelmeyer has several part-time employees, and he has some of his former colleagues do freelance for the paper.
"It’s the Tom Sawyer business plan: I’m trying to convince all my friends how much fun it would be to help me," Mr. Sprengelmeyer told the Times.
For those about to stick with journalism even though your former paper folded (pun intended), we salute you.
After losing his job with the closing of the Rocky Mountain News in February 2009, former Washington correspondent M. E. Sprengelmeyer moved to New Mexico and is now the "owner, publisher, editor, primary writer and sometime ad salesman, photographer and deliverer of the weekly Guadalupe County Communicator, circulation about 2,000."
Apparently Sprengelmeyer has several part-time employees, and he has some of his former colleagues do freelance for the paper.
"It’s the Tom Sawyer business plan: I’m trying to convince all my friends how much fun it would be to help me," Mr. Sprengelmeyer told the Times.
For those about to stick with journalism even though your former paper folded (pun intended), we salute you.
Opening social recap
Thanks to all who came to the SPJ opening social last week! And thanks to all the folks who provided treats, as the lovely still life shot above displays. Things were a little thrown off due to a New York Internship orientation meeting scheduled at the same, but it worked out well anyway. Spencer showed us a few clips from the New York Times's One In 8 Million series, which profiles random New Yorkers with in a compelling audio/photo slideshow format. We had a nice discussion about how journalists are storytellers and how new media is actually pretty cool. :) Then I had to leave, so if anyone would like to comment and describe the awesomeness of the movie and Professor Campbell's lecture, feel free.
Just for fun: Auto-Tune the news
Wonder what it would be like if Katie Couric, Arianna Huffington, Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, and Nancy Pelosi sang their commentary? This series of YouTube videos makes it clear: AWESOME. And kind of weird.
SPJ Opening Social
Join us for the opening social of BYU's Society of Professional Journalists!
Wednesday, Oct. 7 @ 270 BRMB
7 p.m. - Food, socializing, and a brief lecture on investigative reporting by Professor Campbell
7:30 p.m. - Film viewing of “State of Play”
Note: “State of Play” is rated PG-13 for some violence, language including sexual references, and brief drug content. This film viewing is compliant with copyright law.
Wednesday, Oct. 7 @ 270 BRMB
7 p.m. - Food, socializing, and a brief lecture on investigative reporting by Professor Campbell
7:30 p.m. - Film viewing of “State of Play”
Note: “State of Play” is rated PG-13 for some violence, language including sexual references, and brief drug content. This film viewing is compliant with copyright law.
Welcome to the new blog
Welcome to the official blog for the BYU Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Throughout the semester, we'll let you know about club activities (or any other journalism-related goings-on) and hopefully provide a useful resource for anyone wanting to keep up-to-date on the journalism scene.
Want to join us? You can subscribe to this blog's RSS, join our group on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or, if you're the old-fashioned type, talk to our faculty advisor, Professor Campbell.
Want to join us? You can subscribe to this blog's RSS, join our group on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or, if you're the old-fashioned type, talk to our faculty advisor, Professor Campbell.