News

On Friday, March 27, students and faculty traveled to Houston, Texas for the Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media's third Career Tour. 

When it comes to pioneering education and ground-breaking research, Baylor has always been on the cutting edge.

On Friday, Nov. 14, the Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media took a career tour to Austin, Texas. Around 30 students and chaperones attended the tour, traveling to Texas Monthly and The Texas Tribune.

Dr. Youngji Seo joined our faculty this August as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. Learn more about her background and journey to Baylor through this Q&A led by Bryan Cordova.

Dr. James Kendrick started his term as interim department chair in August. Get to know Dr. Kendrick better through this brief Q&A conducted by graduate student Bryan Cordova. 

As I conclude my tenure as chair of the Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media on August 1 after serving two three-year terms, I reflect on a journey that has been both deeply rewarding and highly transformative. Serving in this role for the past six years has been one of the greatest honors of my teaching career at Baylor University. It has been a time of setting goals, soul-searching, and growth — not only for me but also for our department.

Baylor’s Castellaw Communications Center, home to the Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media, is set for renovations as early as 2026. The Department of Communication's relocation to a new building last spring opened up more opportunities for the Film and Digital Media and JPR&NM departments, which will continue to share the Castellaw space.

Baylor JPR&NM faculty members emphasize academic excellence and student growth by concentrating on research and experiential learning for both undergraduate and graduate students. This balanced focus fosters a dynamic educational environment where students are motivated to present their work at conferences, collaborate with clients, and engage in various scholarly activities.

With approximately 200 majors and 125 minors, JPR&NM ranks as the eighth most popular major in the College of Arts & Sciences, led by Undergraduate Program Director Dr. Elizabeth Bates. In 2024, our program graduated 72 students, including those with majors and secondary majors (three in summer 2024, 11 in fall 2024, and 58 in spring 2025).

The launch of Friends of the Department Council, now known as Friends for Life, along with the revitalization of the JPRNM Advisory Board in 2020, has proven invaluable to the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media.

This spring, Dr. Cassy Burleson, senior lecturer and director of American Studies, retired after dedicating 25 years to Baylor University. Renowned for her passionate teaching and unwavering dedication to student success—covering marketability, placement, internships, jobs, and portfolio development—Burleson also championed diversity and inclusion. She was a beloved mentor to many.

Baylor Journalism, Public Relations and New Media will be well represented at this year’s AEJMC Conference, “Leading in Times of Momentous Change: Individual and Collective Opportunities.” The conference will be held in San Francisco, California, from August 7 to 10, and multiple faculty members and graduate students will present their research and serve on panels. 

Co-written with Dr. Stephen M. Newby, the book is a culmination of over nine years of research and interviews.

We are excited to welcome three new board members who are active in the community and corporate America. The alumni are eager to help share their ideas for improving our department. 

Welcome to the fall and winter notes from the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media chair. It has been a busy semester of activities focused on improving services for our students. As we revise our strategic plan to align with the University’s new initiative, “Baylor in Deeds,” our faculty has been actively evaluating its goals. One of our primary goals is to update the curriculum based on feedback from the 2022 accreditation team and to ensure it meets industry standards. We have incorporated relationships and marketability into our accreditation outcomes to enhance our graduates’ competitiveness and prepare them to address workforce challenges effectively.

Thanks to Lauren Spears and Office Manager Lanisa Tovar, the Baylor JPR&NM office party was a resounding success, featuring delicious food and exciting games. This year, we celebrated new faculty members, Professor Stephen Green and Dr. Tamara Welter, with special awards, including the “Willie” and “Elvis,” reintroduced by Professor Kevin Tankersley. As always, the event’s highlight was the much-anticipated gift exchange, which added a festive touch to the celebration. 

Several Baylor JPR&NM alums have recently been recognized for their achievements. From publishing books to speaking at conferences, they fling their green and gold nationwide. 

Our faculty members have been busy making their mark in academia. They have received awards, published articles, received grants, and presented at conferences. 

This fall, we welcomed new faculty, staff members, and student workers to our department. They have made a difference in the department's atmosphere, and we are thankful for their presence. 

Strengthening our ties with the local community, our students engage in hands-on learning experiences by collaborating with various nonprofits to develop comprehensive media plans. These plans are tailored to fit each agency's unique needs and goals, ensuring that they can effectively integrate them into their broader communications strategies. 

Under the leadership of our Undergraduate Program Director, Liz Bates, we have focused on curriculum development and strategies for recruiting and retaining students. For several semesters, we have succeeded in achieving 100% first-year student retention rates for several semesters. Dr. Cassy Burleson, senior lecturer, and Professor Kim Patterson have helped students secure internships and jobs after graduation, achieving 93-100% placement rates over the last few semesters. Other goals are outlined here.

The Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication (SWECJMC) is pleased to announce the 2024 winner of its Educator Award—Dr. Mia Moody, professor and Chair of the Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media at Baylor University. The Educator Award, created in 2021, honors a faculty member at a SWECJMC member institution who has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to journalism and mass communication education and an exceptional commitment to undergraduate and graduate education through innovative practices, excellent student outcomes, and classroom-focused research. These attributes essentially describe Dr. Moody’s career.

Join us for Media Law & Ethics with Professor Mark Osler at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 31 in 245 Castellaw Communications Center. Osler advocates for sentencing and clemency policies rooted in human dignity principles. For more information, contact Fred Hartman Distinguished Professor Sommer Dean.

We are pleased to share that a new Baylor JPR&NM Study Abroad program will begin this summer. This program will take students and faculty to Vienna, Austria. The program's theme is “Communicating with Global Audiences,” and it will run from May 26 to June 27, 2025, spanning five weeks.

Through a trend analysis survey, a group of Baylor University researchers has found that public relations practitioners' and educators' expectations regarding the essential competencies for entry-level and mid-level professionals exceed realistic performance levels. This has prompted changes to the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) and the Certificate in Principles of Public Relations (CPPR) exams.

Join us for a Café Castellaw sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists- Baylor JPRNM Chapter. Come find out how you can get involved and enjoy a donut.

NPR-affiliate KWBU will host a media literacy-themed Cafe Castellaw at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 1 in the Castellaw Communications Building to promote an improved understanding of news media. The event will be held in conjunction with the "Passport to Literacy" event, which will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 2 and sponsored by Baylor Libraries, the Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media, and NPR-affiliate KWBU.

Join us at 4 p.m. Oct. 24 for  "A Conversation with Caché McClay," the inaugural Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter hired by USA TODAY Network. The event is free and will be held in room 101 of Castellaw Communications Building. A reception will follow. 

Baylor Libraries, in conjunction with the Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media, and NPR-affiliate KWBU, welcome travelers to pick up a passport and experience a journey into better media literacy on the Garden Level of Moody Memorial Library on the campus of Baylor University from 2 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 2.  

Students interested in social media careers are invited to attend an insightful panel on social media, marketing and communication on Sept. 19 from 5 to 6 p.m. in Castellaw 245. The session will feature recent graduates who work in social media roles at Baylor University.

Andrea Kosar, a Baylor JPR&NM alumna and president/CEO of the Centex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, was this year’s homecoming speaker. The homecoming theme, “You can always come home again: The importance of community,” focused on her career journey. As a Baylor University graduate in public relations and education, Kosar gained experience in marketing and public relations working in local media. At KXXV-Channel 25, she created a weekly segment, Positively Central Texas, telling stories of Waco’s organizations and businesses doing good in the community.

The Baylor Journalism, Public Relations, & New Media (JPR&NM) department proudly announces that Tiffanie Blackmon-Jones, B.A. ’05, was honored as the Alumna of the Year at the annual student awards ceremony in April. 

Writer and podcaster Claire St. Amant has been named the 2024 Radford visiting professor for the Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media. St. Amant hosts the true-crime podcast and authorizes the upcoming memoir Killer Story, which will be released in 2025 by BenBella Books. 

In this communication, I am thrilled to present the exceptional achievements of our talented faculty, staff, and students, who have been working tirelessly.

 Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media alumnus Drake Toll, a prominent figure in sports media, will deliver the keynote address at the 2024 American Studies Association of Texas conference. Toll has spent six years in sports media and is an award-winning podcaster, play-by-play broadcaster, studio host, and writer. 

Baylor-NABJ members and advisers who attended the 2024 NABJ Convention in Chicago enjoyed networking, attending various sessions, and covering a former US president.

Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media faculty, graduate students and recent alum will participate in various panel discussions, posters, and research presentations at the 2024 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Conference in Philadelphia.

Join us in congratulating Baylor’s outstanding class of 2024! We applaud both our students and faculty for their hard work and dedication.

Mark your calendars for "Passport to Literacy,"  co-sponsored by KWBU, Baylor Libraries, and Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media. On Oct. 1, Baylor JPR&NM will host a media literacy-themed Cafe Castellaw event featuring giveaways, refreshments, and an opportunity to meet Rachel Velasco, KWBU's community/membership engagement coordinator. 

A $10,000 financial gift was donated on behalf of Oscar Hoffmeyer, a 1956 journalism graduate of Baylor University. As a tribute to Oscar, his wife, Chris, wished to bestow a financial gift to Baylor JPR&NM for a worthy cause in his name. Hoffmeyer passed away on May 10, 2024, at 98. Her sons, Mike (Baylor 1971-1974), Randy (Baylor 1973 - 1977), and Tim (Baylor 1977), carried out their mother's wishes by contributing to Prichard’s Lariat student editor scholarship fund. 

Baylor alumna Ella Prichard established a Lariat newspaper editor-endowed scholarship this spring. The Lariat editor will receive $6,000 each semester thanks to her generosity. 

Baylor JPR&NM is excited to welcome the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) back to Baylor under the direction of Julie Reed, Baylor's assistant Student Media adviser. With its first meeting at Baylor in 1909, TIPA became the nation's oldest state collegiate press association and has grown into one of the country's largest collegiate groups. Reed, who has been a part of the organization for almost two decades, previously served as TIPA president, vice president, and secretary. 

Baylor students earned 156 awards across all media platforms!

Baylor’s PRSSA chapter presented Baylor students with many opportunities this year.

NABJ, co-advised by Moody-Ramirez and Burkley, hosted several meetings throughout the semester to expose students to different careers and to offer networking opportunities. Guest speakers included Claire St. Amant, Kennedy Dendy, Dallas Cowboys social media specialist, and Jasmine Lotts, KWTX television reporter/weekend anchor.

In September, our department partnered with The Waco Central (TX) Links, Incorporated, and Texas ACE (Afterschool Centers on Education) to launch the ACE Baylor Links Digital Media Program.

Baylor JPR&NM students, faculty, and staff celebrated Solar Eclipse Day with panache. JPR&NM office manager Lanisa Tovar spearheaded a special Café Castellaw offering solar eclipse glasses, refreshments, and swag. The effort resulted in lots of fun and visitors from all over campus

Students got a “hands-on” example of experiential advertising, which has existed since PLANTERS® first NUTmobile in 1935, as they heard three guest speakers and then toured the vehicle on Jan. 27. 

The Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations, and New Media focuses on preparing students for success in the communications industry. It offers five concentrations: news/editorial, public relations, advertising, photojournalism, and broadcast journalism. 

The Page Center announced the recipients of the 2024 Page/Johnson Legacy Scholar Grants. The call on ethics training was led by Dr. Marlene Neill, Ph.D., associate professor at Baylor University and Page Center senior research fellow. 

Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media faculty, graduate students and recent alums will participate in various panel discussions, posters, and research presentations at the 2024 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Conference in Philadelphia.

Baylor faculty, staff, and students are excited to welcome the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) back to Baylor.

The Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media (JPR&NM) department is proud to announce that Tiffanie Blackmon-Jones, B.A. ’05, will be honored as the Alumna of The Year at the annual, student awards ceremony.

Baylor journalism alumna Alison McMillon (‘00) has been named the Dallas Market Lead at Weber Shandwick, a global, earned-first strategic communication and consulting agency.

NABJ-Baylor attendees gained valuable insights from their participation in the 2024 "Controlling the Narrative: The Intersection of AI, PR Measurement & Storytelling Media Institute"

This fall, Leadership, Education and Development (LEAD) participants visited Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media to learn more about job opportunities in the media industry.

Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media is pleased to have Andrea Kosar, a Baylor JPR&NM alum and president/CEO of the Centex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, as this year’s homecoming speaker.

The Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media (JPR&NM) is excited to partner with Hearne & Calvert ISDs and the Waco Central (TX) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, for the Texas ACE Afterschool Program. The digital media program launched in September 2023. 

Marlene Neill, Ph.D, APR, Fellow PRSA has been named one of seven senior research fellows through the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication at Pennsylvania State University.

Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media were well-represented at AEJMC’s 2023 conference, “Fostering Freedom and Defending Democracy: AEJMC’s Impact Over 100 Years and Beyond."

Andrew Church will be joining the department in the fall as a temporary lecturer teaching photography, videography and editing.

Media photography and videography Senior Lecturer Curtis Callaway is retiring this spring after 14 years in the department.

Dr. Brad Owens recounts his time in the department and details his plans for retirement.

” I’ve been honored this semester to serve as interim chair of the Journalism, Public Relations and New Media Department

Professor Sharon Gripp has received an award from the National Federation of Press Women.

Professors seek out opportunities for students to gain real-world experience.

Darden’s impact on the journalism department and the goals he accomplished not only as a professor, but as an author and journalist, will always be remembered.

Professor Kevin Tankersley was awarded the Light Your World award from Phi Kappa Chi.

Director of Student Media, Bruce Gietzen, will retire in August after mentoring hundreds of students in broadcast

In addition to research, Dr. Rosalynn Vasquez is passionate about giving back through teaching and mentorship to the next generation of public relations practitioners.

Following almost 30 years working tirelessly in higher education public relations, Kim Patterson will be joining Baylor’s Journalism, Public Relations & New Media department as a lecturer this upcoming fall.

Marlene Neill, Ph.D.,joins prominent organization for world’s leading communicators.  Marlene Neill, Ph.D., APR, associate professor and graduate program director in journalism, public relations and new media at Baylor University, has been accepted into the prestigious Arthur W. Page Society. The good news comes on the heels of Neill's recent win of PRSA's 2022 Outstanding Educator Award.

 Marlene Neill, Ph.D., APR, associate professor and graduate program director in journalism, public relations and new media at Baylor University, will be presented with the Outstanding Educator Award by the Public Relations Society of America, the nation's leading professional organization serving the communications community, during PRSA's ICON 2022 conference Nov. 13-15 in Grapevine. 

Congratulations to Baylor JPR&NM alumnus Thomas Patrick Moran!!

We are excited to present the spring 2022 Castellaw Connect newsletter. 

WACO, Texas (May 22, 2022) – The final vote at the April 2022 Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications Council meeting confirmed the reaccreditation of the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media for the next six years.

“Swim for the sun. Take only what you can carry. Memories and children first … Jettison the baggage. Don’t try to save those who drag you down. Reach out to hands that are offered, But not to those trying to pull you under.” ~ Rick Bradfield

Baylor journalism students will be able to select Broadcast Journalism as a degree plan starting in the fall of 2023.

Baylor’s Department of Student Media had a banner year, capturing 147 state, regional and national awards despite two-thirds of the student staff being freshmen or in their first year in the program.

The Baylor Chapter of NABJ allows students to get involved and make a difference! Students learn more about the media industry by networking with professionals. Benefits include professional mentors, workshops, internships and training sessions.

Senior lecturer Kevin Tankersley applied for and was awarded two fellowships for the summer.

We are very excited to re-launch the Baylor American Studies Program during the Fall 2022. American Studies offers a comprehensive knowledge of American institutions and culture and prepares students for the world of practical affairs.

Congratulations to Midway High School Teacher Jamie Beavers, a Baylor Journalism alumna, who was recently selected as the 2022 Content Generation Award Educator Winner! Distributed by Class Intercom, this award celebrates educators for their creative use of social media to connect with students and school districts.

The Baylor Student Senate passed a bill of support to say thank you to the Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media Department for conducting “The Plight of the American Criminal Justice System” Symposium in the spring of 2022.

Fostering engaged and experiential learning, Professor Matthew Brammer encouraged students in his JOU 3367 Principles of Advertising and Public Relations class to create a project to help families in war-torn Ukraine. The result was “Bears Helping Babies,” a collaborative effort with students in JOU 4340 Writing and Editing for Online Media.

Lakesyn Melia, a junior public relations and political science major from Franklin, Tennessee, will be the first in her family to complete her college degree.

We are pleased to welcome Lisa Schwartz and Preston Lewis to the Baylor JPR&NM Advisory Board

Beginning in Fall 2021, Professor Robert Darden resumed a collaboration Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. that began with the PBS documentary special, “The Black Church,” which aired in Fall 2020. Darden was interviewed multiple times in “The Black Church” about the intersection of Black sacred music and the Black church. The series also used digitized music and excerpt of sermons from Baylor’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project (BGMRP), which Darden founded in 2016.

Sommer Ingram Dean, J.D., joined the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media in the fall as the Fred Hartman Distinguished Professor and Baylor University.

Spring 2022 Castellaw Kudos We are excited to highlight these JPR&NM alumni in the spring 2022 “Castellaw Connect.”

Baylor University is pleased to announce the recent launch of its online Master of Arts in Journalism with a concentration in public relations and advertising. This program will equip graduates with leadership, research and creative skills that are mandatory to succeed in the fields of advertising and public relations. The coursework is designed to meet the job demands and needs of communication professionals who aspire to rise to management roles in advertising and public relations.

After a nearly two-year gestation period, the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media and the Waco Tribune-Herald will launch a new internship program with an accompanying scholarship in the fall of 2022.

Maxey Parrish, senior lecturer of journalism, public relations and new media in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences, is retiring after 21 years as a professor. Parrish has been in the Baylor family for 41 years in various departments. Parrish first worked in the athletics department for 20 years, where he founded the athletics website.

“The department as a whole had an outlook of service and preparing students for careers that would benefit society. This instilled a desire to be involved in my community,” said Pablo Gonzales, a 2018 alumnus of Baylor University’s Journalism, Public Relations, and New Media Department. Gonzales shared how Baylor’s undergraduate program prepared him for the position he is in now: a Fulbright Scholar serving in Mexico City, Mexico.

"Organizational change is necessary for entities to succeed," said Mia Moody-Ramirez, Ph.D., the 2021 recipient of The Cornelia Marschall Smith Award, during her keynote speech titled "Organizational Change in an Age of Covid-19 and Social Unrest." The speech was given in February by Dr. Moody-Ramirez, who is professor and chair of the Baylor University Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media.

As a final requirement before graduation, Hannah Smith, a Baylor graduate student, completed a defense for her master’s project, which highlights the beauty of Waco’s past, present, and future. Smith drew inspiration from Fred Gildersleeve, a documentary-style photographer who captured thousands of photos of Waco sites in the early 1900s, to look back on Waco’s history to understand its past and be able to document its growth.

A new broadcast concentration, which will integrate current and new courses designed explicitly for the concentration, was recently approved by the university and will be available to Baylor students in the upcoming fall semester.

Baylor University’s Journalism, Public Relations and New Media Department hosted the annual student awards ceremony for 2022 in the Paul & Jane Meyer Conference Room at Foster Business School on Friday, April 22, featuring guest speaker and alumna, Claire St. Amant. For many students, this was the first time to attend the ceremony in person due to the pandemic, which required the ceremony to be held online in 2020 and 2021.

Baylor graduate student Jaden Jennings will be graduating on May 13. She provided her perspective regarding what it is like to be a part of Baylor's Graduate Journalism program.

Baylor JPR&NM alumna Kennedy Dendy (‘19) has accepted a position with Action News Jax in Jacksonville, Florida.