John E. Brown Scholars Program

On the Other Side of the Camera

Newspaper and TV Reporting isn't the Only Career Option, Representing Companies is a Worthy Career Choice, Too

Old time movies show reporters in fedora hats racing to crime scenes and breathlessly phoning their stories in to rewrite. Today, mass communication has become more varied and sophisticated with magazines, Web pages, video and, the other side of the journalistic world, corporate media relations.

Representing companies to writers and the public is the career interest of Christine Tew, a University of Missouri Agriculture Journalism senior. This January she got a chance to apply the skills she is learning in the classroom by participating in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources' John Brown Scholars program. She spent a week at the Anheuser-Busch company in St. Louis.

There, she got a chance to see how the Fortune 500 company handles its strategic communication, media relations, corporate and brand issues, and advertising in a global marketplace.

Tew came to MU from Benton, Mo. where she served on the high school yearbook staff. It was in high school she discovered her interest in writing and editing. Coupled with an interest in 4H and other aspects of agriculture, ag journalism seemed a good career fit.

While at Mizzou she gained additional practical experience by writing for the Columbian Missourian newspaper, the MU School of Natural Resources' alumni magazine and the Missouri Department of Conservation's Missouri Conservationist magazine. Media releases that she has written appear on the SNR web page. She is also interning with the Missouri Pork Association, helping in event planning.

The scholars program seemed like a good next step in her career path. In St. Louis, she met senior members of the company's marketing team and discussed the strategic planning issues that they are facing. "I wouldn't have had these opportunities without the scholars program," she said.

A favorite project was working on a radio advertising purchase plan designed to appeal to young people like Tew. It was a great opportunity for her to take her knowledge gained in the classroom and apply it to a corporate experience.

There were surprises. She learned that general knowledge and being well-prepared are critical at this level of a large company. "It was not enough just to walk into a room and make conversation," she said. "It was important to conduct research into the subject beforehand, understand those issues and their relationship to current events, and have a sophisticated opinion on those things."

John E. Brown Scholars Program

On the Other Side of the Camera

Newspaper and TV Reporting isn't the Only Career Option, Representing Companies is a Worthy Career Choice, Too

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