Location: United States
Sandi Straetker
Sandi Straetker, BJ ’89, is owner and principal of PRiority Public Relations LLC. She is also an award winner, a mother, a counselor for Fortune 100 companies, a community leader, a volunteer, but most of all she’s a proud Missouri School of Journalism alumna. Marked at Birth Growing up in Moline, Ill., Straetker developed an … Continued
Vince Patton
What do you do? I spent 27 years in commercial TV news covering education, consumer, investigative, statehouse and environmental beats. During my final eight years I switched to public broadcasting for long-form TV news magazine reporting for Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Field Guide. At OPB I also reported for radio and the website. Nowhere else … Continued
Kenneth Ulrich
What do you do? I’ve been retired from the public relations business since 2009. Except for my first year out of Mizzou with a newspaper job in suburban Chicago, the rest of my 41-year career was spent in public relations. From 1969 to 1994 I worked for public relations agencies, the in-house PR staffs of … Continued
Don Wells
The last time Don Wells, BJ ’68, got fired from a newspaper job, he decided to take his act on the road. Literally. It was 1975, and after working in advertising sales at a number of West Coast papers, Wells found himself at the Fairfield (Calif.) Daily Republic. He had a major disagreement with his … Continued
Jim Berger
Gunshots ring out on a quiet street in Brooklyn, and two men fall to the pavement, bleeding and screaming. A director yells “cut,” and the actors return to their marks, ready to get whacked again. It’s a new series for Discovery featuring real hit men who’ve agreed to come out of hiding and tell their … Continued
Chenell Seaton-Hall
What do you do? I am a marketing manager for Cricket Communications. I joined the company to launch the St. Louis market, which was completed in 2008. I continue to build the Cricket brand via public relations, key corporate partnerships, mass media and community outreach efforts. How did you get your job? I applied for … Continued
Nileeni Meegama
Deciding on the Missouri School of Journalism The decision to pursue a graduate degree in journalism was an easy choice for Nileeni Meegama. She had studied business during her undergraduate years in India – which adjoins her native Sri Lanka – and wanted to specialize in advertising. Meegama wrote to faculty at potential schools to … Continued
Mark Greenblatt
What do you do, and what is most interesting about your job? I am an investigative reporter for the KHOU 11 News I-Team in Houston. Coming to work each day is an absolute thrill. It’s one of the only jobs around where you have a real chance to right wrongs and see an immediate, positive … Continued
Wayne Freedman
On a hot day in August 1977, Wayne Freedman flew halfway across the country to fight for his spot in the Missouri School of Journalism’s graduate program. Freedman, whose book is now a staple in broadcast journalism programs throughout the country, had already been denied twice because his undergraduate grades were not up to the … Continued
David L. Smith
Dave L. Smith had a conversation with his dad about his future one day. His father looked at him and asked, “What kind of job do you get with an English degree?” Smith’s father, the first person in the family to attend college, had some ideas about what a degree should do for a person. … Continued