News

Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media faculty, students and staff are sad to lose former colleague–Mike Blackman. He died Sept. 23 at age 77. He had been in poor health for several years.

The Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media is pleased to highlight Dr. Clark Baker’s photography exhibit titled, “Migrant Journeys.”

The world lost a news pioneer and a legend when KWTX Managing Editor, long-time adjunct faculty member and Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media alumnus Rick Bradfield, 66, passed away on Sept. 2, 2021.

The Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media department will be well represented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) annual conference on Aug. 4-7.

Congratulations to Baylor JPR&NM alumna Elvia Aguilar, a recent graduate of Leadership Corpus Christi, a training program for emerging and existing leaders that builds the needed skills, knowledge, motivation, and vision to develop a stronger community.

Baylor journalism, public relations and new media alumna Claire St. Amant’s latest project is a true crime investigative podcast about the mysterious disappearance and death of college wrestler, Dammion Heard. In week three and pretty close to 100 thousand downloads, the podcast offers listeners a front row seat to what really happened following the mysterious disappearance of a college freshman who went missing after a wrestling team party in 2014. His body was found four days later on a Colorado cliffside.

Louise Wood was a joyful, inspiring, whirlwind of activity and ideas, said friends from her variety of careers and clubs packed into her 75 years that came to an end on March 29 because of COVID-19.

Susan Duty, Grace Valentine and Lauren Kinney want you to find your best self and have published books to help you do that. Duty published “Consider the Damn Lily” in 2018. A Film & Digital Media major and now a teacher, Duty said she’s “loved writing ever since first grade.” She got caught up “in the wrong things” in high school and became a drug addict. “Through my sobriety, having a daughter and finding God again, I decided to go to Baylor. The book was made from a mass collection of writing … pulled from all sorts of places and then organized into a book,” Duty said.

In his long career at Baylor University, both as a faculty member and as chair, Dr. Doug Ferdon’s primary focus was on students. He mentored, nurtured, and empowered numerous generations of young journalists and public relations professionals. He stayed in touch. He made connections. He wrote untold letters of reference and recommendation.

Dr. Marlene Neill, APR, presented at this year’s International Public Relations Research Conference (IPRRC) and won a top paper award. Here are the details: “Employee Perceptions of Ethical Listening in U.S. Organizations” – International Public Relations Research Conference, March 4-6, 2021, Virtual Conference – Marlene S. Neill, Baylor University; Shannon Bowen, University of South Carolina. Acceptance rate 45%. Received University of Florida Employee Communication Research Award.

Mia Moody-Ramirez, Ph.D., professor and chair of journalism, public relations and new media at Baylor University and a nationally recognized author and expert on race and culture, has been named the 2021 Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year.

JPR&NM is excited to welcome Baylor communications alumna Sarah Dodd to the Journalism, Public Relations and New Media Advisory Board in the fall. Dodd is an expert public affairs strategist and award-winning former journalist. Here’s a look at what she has been doing since she graduated from Baylor University.

Focused on their area of journalistic and critical thinking expertise, three members of the Baylor Journalism, Public Relations and New Media department presented their research at this year’s virtual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Midwinter Conference hosted by the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of Oklahoma.

After spending six years in the agency world, working on behalf of top clients such as JPMorgan Chase, Verizon, Intel, BNY Mellon, Parmida Schahhosseini (’14) decided to do something more purposeful. She saw that her church, Central Presbyterian Church in New York City had an opening for a communications manager so after much prayer, she decided to pursue the position.

Robert F. Darden III, B.S.Ed. ’76, M.J., professor of journalism, public relations and new media, Master Teacher and founder of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project at Baylor University, has been honored as a Piper Professor of 2021 for the state of Texas by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation.

Brittany Burcham launched her first video on teen foster care in April, and she has since blown up on TikTok. “TikTok is cool…sixty seconds is the longest you can effectively share a message, so you have to be creative,” said Burcham, who graduated from Baylor in 2007 with a degree in public relations and a minor in political science and world affairs. She is now a senior manager of franchise communications at Marriott.

After two years of covering sports for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media alumna Alexis Cubit will soon join The State Newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, where she will cover Clemson Athletics.

At the mention of his name, colleagues, students and alumni beam with joy and express their fondness for Maxey Parrish and his impact on their lives. And his colleagues say that in his 17 years of teaching in JPR&NM, he’s brought a wealth of knowledge, experience, positive change, and deep kindness and dedication to the department.

Harry Marsh, Ph.D. was a very special person and one of the best people I had the opportunity to work with during my career. He joined the Baylor journalism faculty in the 1960s and with Dave Chevens, Reba Campbell, Mike Stricklin and Ed Kelton helped make Baylor journalism one of the best programs in the nation.

Award-winning author Preston Lewis, ’72, Baylor journalism, has been elected to the Texas Institute of Letters, which was established during the state’s 1936 Centennial to celebrate Texas literature and to recognize distinctive literary achievement. Lewis is one of 14 new members inducted in the class of 2021.

The Baylor Alumni Journalism/PR/New Media annual meeting, held April 16, as part of Baylor‘s 2021 Alumni Week, was a success. The event featured an update from the department Chair, Student Media Director Bruce Gietzen and an introduction of faculty and staff. The event featured presentations by two special alums: Cody Soto and Melissa Wilson.

Hello and welcome to the Spring 2021 Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media newsletter. As you all might imagine, our department has been busy this year. The pandemic brought with it numerous challenges, but we persevered through another semester of what many people labeled "impossible." We continued to make strides with the following updates to report:

Baylor Journalism alumnus Jonathan Lee Fulbright, 64, of Pecos, Texas, passed away on May 11, 2021. Jonathan was a journalist employed by the New York Herald Tribune. Following in his dad’s footsteps, he earned a degree in journalism from Baylor University.

By all accounts, Baylor journalism alumna Ella Wall Prichard is a pioneer. She is an outstanding writer, philanthropist, businesswoman and historian. In this interview with Baylor Journalism, Public, Relations & New Media Chair Mia Moody-Ramirez, Ph.D., Prichard discusses changes in journalism over the past 50 years, the importance of the Baylor alumni network, and how her degree prepared her for life.

Editorial In the 1960s and ’70s, more people from Baylor were working at United Press International than from any university. Ed DeLong was the first, and his success helped pave the way for other alumni to follow. Our accomplishments were such that when we had the dedication of the Castellaw building in 1974, the head of UPI, H.L. Stevenson, was a speaker.

Congratulations to the 2021 class of Hall of Fame honorees highlighted at the Baylor Line Foundation’s 56th Annual Hall of Fame Festival. The 2021 honorees included three graduates of the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media:

Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media offers nearly $200,000 in scholarship funds to students each year. An additional $40,000 is set aside for incoming freshman and transferring journalism majors.

Hartman was the editor and publisher of The Baytown Sun. He was the leader of a group of journalists who had studied under Dr. Charles Johnson at Baylor in the late 1920s and early ’30s. He continued to be involved in the journalism program.

Susan Duty, Grace Valentine and Lauren Kinney want you to find your best self and have published books to help you do that. Duty published “Consider the Damn Lily” in 2018. A Film & Digital Media major and now a teacher, Duty said she’s “loved writing ever since first grade.” She got caught up “in the wrong things” in high school and became a drug addict. “Through my sobriety, having a daughter and finding God again, I decided to go to Baylor. The book was made from a mass collection of writing … pulled from all sorts of places and then organized into a book,” Duty said.

Flora (Lee) Peir, Baylor Journalism, Public Relations and New Media class of 2003, recently joined the “19th*,” a newsroom focusing on gender, politics and policy, as its first news editor. In this role, she oversees daily general news and breaking stories as the newsroom expands.

After 33 years of employment by Baylor University, JPR&NM Office Manager Margaret Kramer retired May 31. “We are sincerely going to miss Ms. Kramer,” Chair Mia Moody-Ramirez, Ph.D., said. “We thank her for all that she has done for Baylor University and for our department.”

Each year, Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences presents “Betsy” awards — named in honor of retired Associate Dean Elizabeth Vardaman. The award is given to Baylor faculty members who excel in mentoring undergraduate students. This year, the College selected Baylor’s Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media Senior Lecturer Maxey Parrish as one of its honorees. The award carries with it a $1,000 cash prize and trophy.

Many of Baylor University’s smaller departments took on more responsibilities during the pandemic. Robbie Rogers, director of photography, had to adapt to the quickly changing campus environment. “My two favorite words in photojournalism are intentional and intimate,” Rogers said. “How are you intimate when you’re 6 feet away from people? The faces and that intimacy of people being together are what brings the story together.”

The Academy for Leadership Development concluded its Academy Speaker Series for this semester with a session Thursday night led by Baylor graduate Derwin Graham who currently works on the ESPN Films production team for 30 for 30.

The Baylor Student Media department is celebrating its students’ great success this year in state, regional and national journalism competitions. The Lariat, Lariat TV News, Roundup and Focus have nabbed 147 awards for 2020-2021 so far, despite the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media is excited to honor this year’s graduating seniors. Congratulations class of 2021.

Just recently, a female reporter on horseback with microphone in hand interviewed jockey Johnny Velasquez, a four-time Kentucky Derby winner, minutes after the horse he was riding, Medina Spirit, crossed the finish line ahead of the 18 other horses in the race. I imagine the young woman had no idea that 51 years ago, another woman, my wife, Kay Wheeler Moore, Baylor Journalism, broke the gender barrier in the Derby’s sacrosanct all-male press room at Churchill Downs.

Editorial At 6:05 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. As darkness fell and anger swelled, all hell was about to break loose across the nation. Why would it be any different in Houston, then the seventh largest U.S. city?

Congratulations to the 2021 class of Hall of Fame honorees highlighted at the Baylor Line Foundation’s 56th Annual Hall of Fame Festival. The 2021 honorees included three graduates of the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media:

WACO, Texas (April 12, 2021) — Managers should listen more, be empathetic and be sure they give feedback — even if they cannot solve a problem immediately, according to a Baylor University study that focused on workplace communication during the pandemic.

A new book, PR Women with Influence: Breaking Through the Ethical and Leadership Challenges, explores how women in the profession of public relations and communication navigate through attitudinal, structural and social barriers in advancing their leadership roles.

My father-in-law Dick Wall was a member of the Baylor class of 1930, a journalism major and editor of the Round-Up. For years he had lunch every week with friends, especially some he had gone to Baylor with.

Dr. Doug Ferdon had increased the faculty from six to 14 when he retired in 2014. Ferdon was on the hiring team for Drs. Clark Baker, Marlene Neil, JPR&NM Chair Mia Moody-Ramirez and Burleson, as well as Robert “Bob” Darden, Maxey Parrish, Sharon Gripp, Kevin Tankersley, and former faculty member, Dr. Amanda Sturgill, now a tenured associate professor at Elon University in North Carolina.

We are excited to introduce the new Baylor, Journalism, Public Relations & New Media Advisory Board. Members of this esteemed group of journalists, PR professionals, attorneys, entrepreneurs, educators are committed to giving back to the next generation of writers, reporters, and communicators.

Despite the challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the department’s goals to assist our current students and reach prospective students have remained the same. Specifically, we offered more summer classes than ever before to help our students gain valuable skills and make progress towards graduation on time.

The Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media department offers more than $200,000 in annual scholarship funds to students. An additional $40,000 is set aside for incoming freshman and transferring journalism majors.

Baylor Student Media earned a number of prestigious awards this semester, including Editor & Publishers’ national EPPY Award, long considered the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism. This award for Best College Campus Website recognized baylorlariat.com for its stellar multimedia coverage over the past year.

The Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media Alumni Engagement committee was very busy during the 2019-20 academic year. Committee members planned various activities throughout the year to connect with alumni in meaningful ways. Prior to these efforts, alumni, faculty and staff reported feeling disconnected.

Without a doubt, this semester has been the most challenging in all my 19 years of teaching in the Baylor University Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media. Kudos to our majors for making it through the term, despite the many obstacles they faced.

The Baylor University Journalism, Public Relations and New Media department seeks a dynamic individual to fill this position beginning Fall 2021.