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22 communications students spent six weeks in the media capital of the world. Brooklyn Riepl plans to work in communications in a big city, but she wanted to get a taste of what it would be like before she graduated. The School of Communications’ New York Field Experience provided that opportunity. The New York Field Experience is available for students majoring or minoring in communications. Riepl and her fellow classmates spent six weeks in the Big Apple attending classes, exploring the city and learning about the professional communications industry. Riepl fell in love with advertising after taking a prerequisite advertising course that introduced her to the field. She believes advertising is the best way to channel numbers, strategy, research and executing data to engage an audience. Riepl and her peers had the opportunity to attend a networking event with BYU alumni working in communications in NYC. Calling it her most influential experience in New York. “It’s one thing to daydream about living in the city and working at an agency, but actually talking to people who were in my place at one point — seeing where they are now, where they’re working and how they got there — was helpful,” Riepl said. “I was amazed to see the reality of their dreams coming true.” Riepl said living in New York made her excited to enter the professional world, but it also provided a reality check to help her see what it takes to live in such a big city and to fit into the career world. Riepl said her hands on experience in New York added to her educational experience by helping her look beyond her grades and focus instead on piecing together what she wants to do and why she wants to do it. “Experiences like going to New York help you gain experiences and skills that prepare you for your career,” Riepl said. “It’s so exciting, and college is the perfect time to capitalize on those experiences. I’d encourage everyone to go, a million times over, it was so fun and I learned so much!” Learn more about Riepl’s experience in the Big Apple at nybyu.com.

Fischer's career includes 17 years as an instructor at three different universities. BYU alumnus, Kenneth A. Fischer, was awarded the prestigious Edward L. Bliss Award for Distinguished Broadcast Journalism Education, the second BYU alumnus to receive the award. Fischer attended BYU in 1982 while obtaining a masters degree in Communications. While at BYU, Fischer worked directly with Thomas A. Griffiths, an emeritus member of the Communications faculty, who also received the Ed Bliss award in 2004. “This is a humbling honor to be included on a list with Walter Cronkite’s writer/producer Ed Bliss and my own BYU mentor Professor Griffiths,” Fischer said. Dale Cressman, associate professor in the BYU School of Communications, said it is quite the achievement to win the award, let alone to follow in the footsteps of a professor who has also won the award. Cressman solicited letters of support and wrote the nomination cover letters for both Fischer and Griffiths. Cressman said the “Ed Bliss” award is the most prestigious award for a broadcast journalism professor to receive. According to Cressman’s experience, winners usually have to be re-nominated over a period of several years until they are chosen. “It is very unusual—and possibly unprecedented—for a teacher and his student to both win this award. And it is noteworthy for two award winners to come out of BYU,” Cressman said. The award comes from the Electronic News Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, also known as AEJMC. The award is given to broadcast journalism educators who have made “significant and lasting contributions to the field,” according to the Electronic News Division’s website. Fischer’s nominating team made a case for him to receive the AEJMC educator award based on his teaching and service work. “I wish to suggest that Ken Fischer is the consummate unsung hero in the academy. He is selfless, generous, and dedicated, yet he does not draw attention to himself, nor is he quick to claim credit,” Cressman stated in his nomination letter for Fischer. “This is a professor completely without pretense, yet driven to serve his students, his colleagues, and his academic committee.” Fischer was first introduced to BYU by Lee Scanlon, a professor Fischer worked with as an undergraduate student at California State University, Fullerton. Scanlon, who received his PhD from BYU, drove Fischer to Utah in 1978 to visit with Griffiths who was the News Director for KBYU at the time. During the trip, Fischer decided to apply for the BYU communications graduate program. “That visit to BYU and my decision to attend changed the course of my life to this day,” Fischer said. “I have utilized what I learned at BYU in both my professional and academic newsrooms and studio work.” Teaching broadcast journalism helps keep Fischer “alive and fresh” in an industry that provides something new everyday. Fischer is currently a member of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication faculty at the University of Oklahoma. He is also working towards obtaining a PhD in Communication. “Dr. Griffiths and my BYU friends have been encouraging throughout the process. They remind me that learning never ends,” Fischer said. “But as far as the award is concerned, I may not be a member of the flock, but like the sign at the ‘Y’ says, ‘the world is our campus, go forth and serve.’” Fischer will be presented with a recognition plaque at a special ceremony on August 10 as part of the AEJMC’s Chicago Conference at NBC’s WMAQ television station. Fischer’s name will also be added to the permanent plaque housed at American University in Washington, D.C.

Newspapers have shifted from strongly favoring Republican candidates in the 1950s to dividing their editorial endorsements almost equally In the 1948 U.S. presidential election, republican presidential candidate and Governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey was heavily favored and endorsed by more than 80 percent of America’s newspapers. Journalists at the Chicago Tribune were so sure of Dewey’s win that the newspaper printed its morning edition early with the now infamous headline “Dewey Defeats Truman.” What was predicted to be an easy win for Dewey is now considered to be the greatest election upset in American history as presidential incumbent Harry S. Truman swept the polls. It’s scenarios like the 1948 presidential election that have Journalism Professor Joel Campbell taking a closer look at the effectiveness of editorial endorsements of presidential candidates. “It’s difficult to say if there is any strong correlation between endorsements and how people vote,” Campbell said. “But more often than not, presidential candidates with the largest percentage of newspaper endorsements have won since 1940, the notable exceptions being Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.” According to Campbell’s research published in The 21st Century Voter: Who Votes, How they Vote, and Why They Vote, there was a substantial shift in how the news media endorsed candidates throughout the last 50 years: Newspapers have shifted from strongly favoring Republican candidates in the 1940s and 1950s to dividing their editorial endorsements almost equally between the two major parties. Democratic candidates are about 10 percent more likely to receive an endorsement than Republican candidates six decades earlier. Incumbents today receive an editorial endorsement about 90 percent of the time, up from 60 percent of the time in the 1940s. In the 2012 presidential election, 77 of the top 100 U.S. newspapers endorsed candidates: 41 papers endorsed President Barack Obama, 35 endorsed GOP candidate Mitt Romney and a single paper registered a split decision. Another 23 papers did not endorse any candidates, including the two largest newspapers, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. Even though the candidate with the most endorsements has traditionally won the election, Campbell predicts that editorial endorsements won’t make any difference this fall. “In this year's election there is so much information available on so many platforms, any media endorsement is likely to be drowned out by the din of voices,” Campbell said. “In the era of social media, the endorsement of those within one's circle of friends is likely to carry much more weight than that of a news organization.” It’s not just the endorsement and election result relationship that interests Campbell, but also the ethical practice of news media favoring a candidate. As a professor, Campbell teaches his students that journalists are supposed to be objective observers, but the long-standing tradition of editorial endorsements often gets in the way. The Society of Professional Journalists Ethics Committee encourages editorial pages to promote thoughtful debate and let readers know through endorsements which candidates share the newspaper’s vision, while also taking every opportunity to explain the firewall between news and opinion. But in an era of social media and frequently blurred lines between news and opinion, Campbell urges his fellow journalists to be more careful. “Most people say ‘journalism ethics’ is an oxymoron,” Campbell said. “The distrust of the media and the feeling of bias in the media is greater than ever. Newspapers and news media endorsing candidates probably feeds into that.” The College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences and the Office of Civic Engagement Leadership are partnering with Turbovote to facilitate online voter registration. If you are not registered tovote, but are eligible, or if you wish to obtain an absentee ballot, please visit the booths in and around the Wilkinson Student Center during the week of September 26 to register to vote or to get an absentee ballot. September 26, 2016 | Natalie Tripp

BYU students often have problems during the wintertime, but soon, for a lucky few, the cold will not be one of them. Next winter semester, during the summer months of the southern hemisphere, about 20 students will travel throughout New Zealand in a new study abroad program that focuses on media and culture, entitled “New Zealand: Global Mass Communication.” In addition to shadowing professionals from several New Zealand media outlets, students will create and publish content that investigates the issues surrounding the Maori, Pasifika and other minority communities in New Zealand. Dr. Clark Callahan, co-faculty director of the program, hopes that students will seize not only the opportunity to grow their portfolios but also to develop an empathetic worldview as they explore different cultures. “My area of interest is how social media affects cultures, so we’ll have a couple of research projects going on. We’ll be interviewing minority populations about how they use social media and what they get out of it. We’ll ask, ‘Does it strengthen or weaken their culture and their cultural perspectives?’” Dr. Callahan said. As part of their research, students will be paired with and embedded in Samoan families for a week. Students will record their experiences in video diaries that will be used to produce a documentary film highlighting the efforts of different organizations to preserve the Maori, Pasifika, and Samoan languages and culture. Steve Thomsen, co-faculty director, believes that New Zealand offers a diverse setting for students to study and create media. “We wanted to create an experience that would be as diverse as possible for students,” said Thomsen. “The objective of the study abroad will be to focus a lot of our efforts on the Pacifica and Maori peoples through the lens of media and the perspective that it if offers,” said Thomsen. The media that students create will be used as programming for the Pacific Media Network and will be published on the student-run website, fightforthefew.org. The latter outlet is currently being developed by the Media Advocacy and Social Change class, which is taught by Dr. Callahan. Hannah Lunt, a senior public relations student in the class, hopes that all these efforts–the class, the website, the study abroad–will help others increase their awareness about minority issues. “I have already seen a difference in how much more aware I am,” said Lunt. “I hope the blog will grow and be a voice to change.” Applications are available through the Kennedy Center’s International Study Programs website, kennedy.byu.edu, and are due Oct. 9 at 5 p.m.