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We have an exciting professional development “mini-conference” coming up on July 22, 2017. Dr. Thomas Staats, clinical psychologist, will present a workshop on coping with stress. We all know that stress is a part of our careers in professional journalism, public relations, and modern media. Dr. Staats will help us understand this reality. He will also explain exercises and tips to control and reduce the stress of this hectic life-style. We hope you will join us at LSU Shreveport (Youree Drive campus) at 9:30am in the University Center. This should prove helpful and valuable to us all.
SJF’s annual Professional Development Conference is scheduled for October, 2017. Area professionals will gather to exchange information in our three Break-Out sessions on the theme “Back To The Basics.” Sessions will focus on how to get creative in your approach to story telling while maintaining a professional and credible perspective on news dissemination.
Please see the information listed under the “Conference” tab of our home page and select the dropdown option of “Information” for more details.
SHREVEPORT JOURNALISM FOUNDATION
2016 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
ORLAND DODSON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Elles Rock is a junior mass communications major (concentration in journalism) at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, with a 3.91 cumulative GPA and 4.0 in her major. Earlier this year, she wrote an article for Shreveport Magazine on “homelessness in Shreveport and the people who are working to combat this issue of poverty.”
“I was able to connect with the director of a local organization,” she wrote in her scholarship essay, “whose nonprofit is making ground-breaking strides daily … to help the homeless population in this city.”
“This piece took on a life of its own,” she wrote. “Writing (it) changed my mind about the way I looked at poverty in my city and in the world.
“Through the power of words, the power of a well-told story, tightly held opinions can change and people can start to see the world differently. This is why I want to pursue a career in journalism.
“I want to help inform people about things happening around them they may be missing. In my writing I strive to inform, but I also strive to inspire because I have witnessed the power of a well-told story.”
KERRY GARLAND MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Jessica Ingram is a senior at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, with a 2.98 cumulative GPA and 3.0 in her public relations major. “For as long as I can remember,” she wrote in her scholarship essay, “I have been asked, ‘What do you want to do with your life?’ A simple enough question without a simple answer. …The fear of committing to a path for my future was intimidating.
“Ron Torossian said it best, ‘PR is a mix of journalism, psychology and lawyering – it’s an ever-changing, always- interesting landscape.’ This is exactly why I’m drawn to public relations. I want to do something that requires a diverse skill set.”
She claims an avid love for writing, graphic arts and problem-solving; most of all she enjoys being around people. “A career in public relations (is) the perfect path for my future because I want to be challenged. I want to make a difference; and most of all I want something I can pour my heart into without completely changing who I am. I am creative but I am also a leader. I want to do something extraordinary. Public relations is exactly that.”
