Meredith Communication Students Take on the Big Apple

A group of students and faculty from Meredith College’s communication department traveled to New York City during spring recess to explore all the opportunities that are available to communication majors. Students were able to attend a media conference hosted by the College Media Association (CMA), as well as visit major media networks.

New York City is a prime market for TV, radio, and other communication related fields, which allowed students to gain insight on potential career paths. Presentations by well-known names in the communication industry took place during the conference, which were great learning experiences for the students.

Doug Spero, an associate professor in the communication department at Meredith, is from New York City and had a successful career in radio and TV before beginning his teaching career.

“A trip like this is better than anything the students can learn in a classroom,” Spero said. “This real life experience puts them right into the action in a major market environment.”

Caitlyn Grimes, ’17, highly recommends the conference to communication students, and said its creativity was inspiring. “It was a great networking opportunity,” Grimes said. “I won a tour at CBS 60 Minutes, I was able to meet with students from around the country who are studying similar subjects, and I learned tips on investigative journalism and networking, and took a Google news lab workshop.”

Students were able to visit the CBS radio stations cluster, which incorporates news, music, and sports stations in the Manhattan area. CBS-FM even put some Meredith students on the air, which students said was a great experience.

Communication major Seungha Pang, ’18, was grateful for her opportunity to tour CBS Radio. “Thanks to Professor Spero who knew Tim Scheld, the news programming director of WCBS 880, I was able to look at how radio programming is produced for WCBS 880, WCBS 101.1, and 1010 WINS,” Pang said.

The CMA Media Conference held workshops and sessions that students could attend. One workshop featured Data Journalist Frank Bi, who currently works at The Verge and has previous work experience at Forbes. Students also attended keynote sessions, which were presented by well-known names in the industry such as Mara Schiavocampo from ABC’s Good Morning America, USA Today’s Chief Editor Joanne Lipman, and Seventeen Magazine’s former Chief Editor Ann Shoket.

Pang left New York inspired for her future, saying “the trip totally changed how I Iook at jobs and opportunities, and I realize that these big names in New York City didn’t all start their career with fancy internships.”

By Molly Horton, ’17