This past weekend, 15 students from the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media, including me, went to Atlanta on a networking trip to various media giants, mainly Coca-Cola, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and CNN.
Dr. Roxane Coche (second from left) took a group of journalism students on a networking trip to Atlanta.
At Coca-Cola, we met with Kate Hartman, group director of their brand public relations, who informed us on the ins and outs of her job. She showed us some of the campaigns they have been working on, like one they hope will shift focus from their main Coca-Cola soft drink to some of their other products, like Dasani, Powerade and Vitamin Water, to validate people’s diverse interests.
Another campaign showed where they got influencers to share some of their thoughts and memories about Coca-Cola, whether they be good or bad. The latter campaign included an appearance from the late Carrie Fisher.
Decorations hang from Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta.
At the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, sometimes simply known as AJC, we sat in on one of their afternoon newsroom meetings and got to see what it looks like to work in an actual newsroom from a fly-on-the-wall perspective.
We got to speak to reporters and editors who worked there and picked their brains on various topics, from career advice to how they do their jobs.
We also visited CNN, which shocked me because of the size of their operation. People probably know CNN is one of the media giants, but knowing it and seeing it are two different things.
It isn’t your local TV station. From the outside of the building, CNN appears unassuming. One would think it was a hotel by the way it looked — probably because it shares a building with an actual hotel — but on the inside, CNN operates at an enormous level, broadcasting to audiences all over the world.
We got to see some of their operation for Spanish-speaking populations and meet renowned journalists like Lynda Kinkade, a CNN anchor from Australia, and Melissa Knowles, a CNN correspondent for “Morning Express with Robin Meade†on HLN. It was such a privilege to receive advice from people who have attained such success.
All of these people, from public relations specialists to CNN anchors, are storytellers. They tell the story of people affected by devastating natural disasters, local and national elections or even just their brand and what it means to people. I have always wondered why journalism, public relations, advertising and, now, creative mass media get grouped together in the same department, and it is because they all tell stories — large and small — about people and their lives.
This trip made me realize it is time to get serious about what I want to do with my life and whom I want to be. I plan to graduate in the spring of 2019. After that, what? For the longest time, I did not know.
I chose journalism on the first day of student orientation because I had decided I needed to pursue this as my degree path, but what about my career path? What am I going to do after I walk across the stage at graduation?
This trip opened my eyes to life after college. Students may be struggling right now with assignments and tests and cannot even think about two weeks from now much less two years, but sometimes you have to take a step back and see if the choices you are making in this moment are the ones leading you to where you want to be.
