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Communication
Buzz |
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It had been a trying time for Beverly Beckham. She wanted to be a writer - really, really wanted to be a writer. But with three young children at home and friends who just didn't understand and a wall full of rejection notices, a career as a writer seemed unfeasible and unattainable indeed. But Ms. Beckham had something inside of her. Something stronger than all the naysayers and negative self-doubts. Something that would, very shortly, shout itself from the well-read pages of the Boston Herald. She had the undeniable urge to communicate.
Communication is as old as man. Even before language, man communicated with gestures and howls and with fists. It was important then, perhaps more important now. Reach out, make a point, sell a product, change a mind, persuade, cajole, plea. Today, in a world where billions of people have the technological ability to talk to each other, the need to communicate and communicate effectively is paramount. Companies need to stand out in the crowd. Messages need to be relayed. The time when silence was golden has passed. Man, speak up! Hundreds of Bridgewater State College students have graduated from the school's communication program and can be found across the country, working in the communications field. They are in radio, TV, newspapers, higher education and corporate America. Their work comes in the form of video pictures, interoffice memos, signals that shoot through the airwaves. Their careers are so varied and so diverse that they seem to have little in common - other than, of course, that primal urge to communicate.
* * * * *
Curtis Bailey remembers, as a small boy in Boston, staring at a photograph in a newspaper. The scene captured a toddler and a mother as they plunged past a useless, crumpled fire escape to the unforgiving ground below. It was a stark, unforgettable photograph, a photo that would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Bailey was fascinated by that photograph. The photo captured such an incredible instant in time that it seemed almost unreal. From then on, Mr. Bailey was fascinated by photography.
As a videographer for Channel 5 news, all Mr. Bailey needs to tell a story is a camera, lights, tripod and a willing reporter. It's a job that keeps him on the run, trying to figure out the main players in a breaking story, trying to get on the air before the competition, most of all trying to get the information and get it right. One day he's covering the sliding Patriots, the next an inner city shooting. He was in Worcester - filming, watching - as the warehouse burned and a city began crying for its six lost heroes. "I love news. News is in my blood," said Mr. Bailey, a 1987 BSC graduate. "I'm blessed to do what I do, to travel to the places I go." It could have turned out differently. He was sliding toward a string of bad grades at BSC when a clan of communication professors including Dr. Nancy Goulart Owens, Dr. Susan Holton and Dr. Nancy Lynch Street, began to notice and
turned the uncertain student around. He gives particular credit to Dr. Glenn Cook, former director of media service. "Dr. Cook was a nut about media services as much as I was," Mr. Bailey said. "He opened up a whole new world for me, introduced me to other faculty members. They made me see things I never knew, pointed me in the area I needed to go." Through the college, Mr. Bailey undertook an internship at Channel 5 that only whetted his appetite for the world of news. That experience was the same for David Robichaud, who graduated from Bridgewater in 1983 and has gone on to celebrity status as a reporter on the 11 pm newscast on Channel 4.
"The key thing for me was the internship program. That made a huge difference, getting on-the-job experience," Mr. Robichaud said. "Yet the communications department at BSC was outstanding. They pushed you and challenged you, gave you individual attention." More than just facts, the BSC communications classes taught Mr. Robichaud to think critically, to improve his public speaking and debating skills. When he interviewed for jobs against graduates of private universities, Mr. Robichaud said, his BSC education stood the test. Some communication students didn't have to leave campus to get on-the-job experience. WBIM, the college radio station, is just like the real thing. "Working at WBIM really helped my management skills," Mike Mullaney, a 1991 graduate of BSC, said. "Absolutely I learned things there that helped me in my career. At WBIM I was a DJ, news director and eventually station manager. Once I got in front of the mike it was, `wow, I have to have more of this.' It's the thrill of communicating with people." Mr. Mullaney's career is enviable. As assistant program director and music director for MIX 98.5, it's his job to "keep the station in touch with the best music."
Translation: Mr. Mullaney picks the hits. Managers and promoters attempt to convince Mr. Mullaney to put their band's latest song into the station's play rotation. It's up to Mr. Mullaney to wade through the hype and figure out whether the song is a hit or a miss. His is the glamour job at a radio station, he said. DJs are under a lot of pressure to deliver ratings. Other management figures have to deal with the advertising or marketing departments. Mr. Mullaney hangs out with the Barenaked Ladies and chats it up with Sting. He's golden, as long as he keeps picking those hits. "There are two things you need for this job: a love of music and a conviction in what you like and don't like," he said. "It's a tough field, but if you work hard and show you are the person, you will succeed." WBIM also touched the life of Peter George. Or, more accurately speaking, it grabbed at him and never let go. Mr. George worked first as a disc jockey at the college station and moved up to general manager before graduating in 1984. He was on hand for some of the station's biggest moments - such as when the station went stereo, and when the new transmitter was turned on. After graduating he found plenty of work at Stonehill College, where he has been chief engineer at Stonehill radio WSHL-FM for 16 years and a vital employee in the college's media services department for five years. About three years ago, WBIM suffered a technical difficulty no one could fix. So they called up Mr. George, who returned to his old station to solve a one-time problem and decided to stay. Today he juggles his two Stonehill gigs with his part-time chief engineer job at WBIM. "I'm very proud of WBIM; it's come a long way," said Mr. George, who founded the annual Alumni Takeover of WBIM. "When they called me three years ago, I jumped at the opportunity to get back to my old alma mater. I've been putting in new equipment, putting in new circuits. I'm still learning a lot. And I always considered the station to be my baby."
Like a father who feeds and clothes an infant, as chief engineer Mr. George pampers and protects the technology that keeps the station functioning. Students get the on-air glory, but their efforts at communication would be for naught if it weren't for Mr. George and his technical know-how. He believes there is a place on the crowded airwaves for college radio. "Broadcasting can be so formulated, they (professional stations) consider college radio to have no commercial potential, but they are wrong," he said. "People who start out in college radio get into bigger and better things. I learned so much from the engineers (at WBIM)." Besides leading him to a satisfying career, Mr. George's BSC education helped him through a major life crisis. Eight years ago he suffered a severe stroke that eradicated his ability to speak. It took months of effort, months of tedious therapy, before he was able to talk again. Through it all he remembered his lessons from BSC. "Because of my English degree and based on my communications studies … if I had not gone the route I had, it would have been harder to get back into the real world," he said. "Because I had gone through the curriculum at BSC, that was a major factor in regaining my ability to speak. It was a major help." The Boston/Southeastern Massachusetts radio and TV market is competitive and cluttered. BSC graduates who have elbowed their way in admit they must keep alert if they want to keep their jobs. The TV news market is particularly tough, known around the country for its keen competitiveness and high quality. Mr. Mullaney likens it to major league baseball. Only so many teams, only so many players on each team. A limited field for a nation of dreamers. But there is always room for the next Roger Clemens. To stay alive in radio and TV, you must make yourself a Roger Clemens. "You find out that with anything, it's about how much enthusiasm you put into it," Mr. Mullaney said. "What college does is help you hit deadlines, helps you learn problem solving, changes the way you use your mind. The discipline of thought makes all your hard work more effective." Like Mr. George, Mr. Mullaney and Mr. Robichaud are still connected to BSC. A huge fan of the BSC Bears football team, Mr. Mullaney attends as many games as he can fit into his work schedule. He has also offered to host at career days, to pass on what he's learned to students. He fondly remembers voice and diction classes with Dr. Suzanne Ramczyk, one of his best professors, and the steadying guidance of Dr. Owens who taught him that when under stress, "relax and figure it out - the answers are out there." Mr. Robichaud has spoken at convocation, is a member of the Bridgewater Foundation, and always has a moment for BSC students who call on the phone looking for a piece of advice. On the job he's constantly running into BSC graduates - MassPort officials, attorneys, politicians, firefighters - who are eager to admit to a shared college affiliation. That BSC graduates can be found in so many fields, he said, is a great testament to the school. "I myself wear my school ring on my right hand. Each night when I hold up the microphone everyone can see it," Mr. Robichaud said. "I tell everyone who will listen to me that Bridgewater is an excellent school." As for Mr. Bailey, he now works with Stanley Forman, the man who took the famed fire scene photograph. "I tell students, if their choice is to be in front of the camera or behind the scenes, you've got a long fight ahead of you. You gotta love it," he said. "You have to go to school, with technology advancing even as we speak. Bridgewater, with the Moakley Center … that's what students in communications are looking for - cutting edge facilities where they can learn their craft."
* * * * * Communications has invaded the corporate world. What a change. When Cornelius Vanderbilt made a decision that affected his railroad, he didn't give a tarnation whether his rank-and-file employees knew about it, or cared or understood it - never mind the vast public. To thousands of businessmen, the only thing that mattered was whether the decision directly put money into their pockets. To a certain extent, that's the same today. The goal of business is still to make money. But to make money at the turn of the millennium, it takes more than making a product. You have to sell that product in an enormously competitive market. You have to sway consumers who spend their money at companies they "like," companies they "trust." You have to explain things to valuable employees who will jump ranks to the business across the street quicker than you can say "benefit package." You have to keep customers, who are also stockholders, happy. It's still about selling, about pleasing the client, about profit. There's just a lot more communicating going on. As a sophomore at BSC, Larry Marchese didn't have a clue what career he was pursuing. He found himself gliding toward the communications department - away from any other possible department that would have required classes in math. Here he ran into Professors Owens and Holton. "They had a profound impact on how I looked at communications and saw what you could do with it," Mr. Marchese said. "They taught me what's important for a good public relations professional."
Mr. Marchese stuck with communications, graduating in 1993. Today he is an account supervisor with Arnold Communications, one of the top advertising/public relations firms in the country. He doesn't necessarily consider himself a "communications professional" but, more accurately, "a businessman with communications as my product." "We're not just selling communications, we're selling creativity," he said. "I have to deliver both on time and on budget. I have to satisfy my clients and my company. The business part of it is important and you shouldn't lose that focus." As the beginning of the year rolled around, Mr. Marchese was working with a team on a Bell Atlantic campaign. The company was ready to enter the competitive long-distance phone market in New York State, and it was the team's job to prepare the consumer for the big event. Or, as he put it, "we had to create a large splash of awareness." The team wants the consumer to know all about Bell Atlantic, about its quality products, about its service record, about its history and its future. They want the consumer to realize he can get all his telecommunications needs - from local phone service to satellite TV - from one reliable company. Getting the word out involves advertising, calling the media, arranging for interviews with the chairman of the company, chasing down consumer reporters. Such an unquantitative goal. How does the team know if their work is a success? "At the end of the day, business exists to make money," Mr. Marchese said. "We've done a good job of selling the company if the company is enrolling customers." Across the Arnold Communications office in the advertising department, fellow BSC graduate Elena (Puchol) Breen works as an account executive. She's the person in the middle, the one who listens to the client, then communicates the client's desires to the artistic elements in the office who will design the desired print advertisement or TV commercial. Ms. Breen considers herself a marketer. It's her job to work with the client to define goals and come up with a marketing strategy (through advertising) that meets those goals. The client talks, she listens. She processes the information, then relates it to the artists and designers in terms they can best grasp. "It's truly a 100 percent communication job," she said. "It's very important to have strong listening skills and to comprehend what needs to be done; to bucket those thoughts and create a strategy to communicate it back," she said. "When you talk about communications people think verbal, verbal, verbal. But it's listening and trying to understand, digesting and processing."
When she graduated in 1994 with communications degree in hand, Ms. Breen was initially frustrated. Communications in and of itself is a vast field. She knew a little about a lot, but didn't know whether it was enough for any one job. She then worked in general marketing, undertaking projects in market research, brand promotions and public relations before ending up in advertising at Arnold. It turned out that the knowledge she took from her various elective communication courses at Bridgewater now help Ms. Breen see how each piece of the communications pie fits together. "BSC set the stage for me. It very much gave me an introduction into the professional world, of etiquette and professionalism," she said. "Dr. Litvin was a personal favorite of mine. I enjoyed the element of human dynamics, how verbal and nonverbal communication can effect a situation." Mr. Marchese agrees that BSC gave him a "good foundation for thinking." Despite its apparent newness, the building blocks for a solid communications career go back to the classics, back to Plato and Aristotle, who used science to create arguments that were used to sway the thoughts of their fellow Greeks. "It's not enough to have a good product on the shelf. You have to be a good corporate citizen or else you are not going to survive," he said. "Communication allows the little guy to appear big. You have to figure out your point of differentiation and shout it from the rooftops."
Leah Arruda does a lot of shouting about her company, but not from rooftops. As a senior communications consultant in the public relations department at Sun Life of Canada, her job is employee communications - or, making sure the company knows what the company is doing. "We need to communicate with our employee base. A good company communicates with its employees so they don't learn important information from external sources," Ms. Arruda said. "You should communicate with your employees on a daily basis and honestly about what is happening company-wide." Keeping employees in the know is good for morale, for team building. All sorts of information, from industry news to changes in health benefits or casual dress policies, is fodder for Ms. Arruda's PR mill. The company recently changed its traditional printed newsletter to an electronic version. The information is now relayed across the country to Sun Life's thousands of employees electronically via the Sun Life Intranet site. This is a more efficient and cost-effective manner of disseminating information. As she communicates, Ms. Arruda is doing what she always wanted to do - to write. When her initial idea of working for a magazine or newspaper turned out to be an ill match, Ms. Arruda accepted an internship in the BSC Public Affairs Office. She soon took a job there as well, and before long was spending 30 hours a week writing for "Bridgewater Today," the college catalogue and other public relations projects. "I realized I could combine my passion for writing with my communication skills and I knew I found a match with public relations," she said. She earned her undergraduate degree in English with a concentration in writing as well as a master's in communication studies. "I was narrowly focused. I wanted to be a writer. I didn't know these companies needed expertise in all forms of communications," she said. "I didn't realize how many opportunities there were in the communications field." She credits Drs. Thomas Mickey and Street for showing her the wide range of theories and studies that are involved in communications, from intercultural communications to telecommunications management. As a person who loved writing, her English courses with Dr. Michael Boyd, Dr. Charles Nickerson and Dr. Thomas Curley were also favorites. Ms. Breen also remembers Dr. Street, who "forced" her unwilling (but ultimately thankful) students to use a computer. But the most important skill that Ms. Breen took away from BSC was the ability to move information. "I went back and forth in school whether to be a communications or business major," she said. "I think the communications degree is more valuable. I can read up to 30 publications on my desk about what the market is doing. But to be able to change the way you communicate, that's more difficult to do." Mr. Marchese is so pleased with his career at Arnold Communications that he has to "keep pinching" himself. For example, he knows he got the message out for Bell Atlantic when, at one minute past midnight, January 1, 2000, everyone and his brother didn't pick up the phone to see if there was a dial tone. Y2K OK - on to the next communications challenge. "BSC gave me a good solid background in dynamics and persuasion. You have to know your audience and know yourself," he said. "I learn more and more every day about how communication works.
* * * * *
Long before Internet news, before "60 Minutes" and Dan Rather and Edward R. Murrow, there was the newspaper. Newspapers have stormed the rough seas of controversy, risen from the muck of yellow journalism, survived glaringly, erroneous headlines such as "Titanic Found - All Passengers Safe." Newspapers were the first and best means of communicating quickly with the greatest number of people.
On opposite ends of Southeastern Massachusetts, two newswomen toil in tiny newsrooms. Jane Lopes, 1994 graduate of BSC with a degree in history and philosophy, is publisher/editor of the Middleboro Gazette. Beth (O'Connor) Erickson, 1972 graduate of BSC with a degree in history, English and education, is editor of the Canton Citizen. Neither has a communications degree. Nevertheless, the communicating they do is communication at its most basic. Ms. Lopes was born to be in news, her lineage jammed with writers and editors. Ms. Erickson fell into the field, spending her years after college as a wife and mother before discovering photojournalism. They are both running small town newspapers at a time when most things small town are disappearing. They have trouble finding good, young reporters. They see the larger papers around them gobbled up by chains. They know the Internet is coming. They are not giving up. "The small community paper will be the last to change," Ms. Lopes said. "In a small town, people are family oriented. They care about taxes, whether their street is paved. Even the larger issues of education and growth are still excruciatingly local." "What is news has not changed at this level," Ms. Erickson said. "People still want to see who got married, who had a baby, read the lunch menu and the Little League schedule. We are also a valuable resource for people, a vehicle for their thoughts and opinions. A community paper is just that - it's for the community."
While the Middleboro Gazette is the sole community paper, Ms. Erickson's Canton Citizen is in competition with the long-time community paper. When the other paper was bought out by a chain in 1987, Ms. Erickson and a partner left that paper and started the Citizen. The partner now gone, she's been running it solo since 1991. Her college days decades behind her, Ms. Erickson remembers the late Dr. Barbara Chellis for her lessons in writing concisely and to the point, skills that she uses every day at the Citizen. She also remembers the day at BSC when she met a fellow student, Jeff Erickson, who soon became her husband. Ms. Lopes was already a professional journalist, having worked as a reporter at the Taunton Gazette and editor of the Middleboro weekly, before she enrolled at BSC. "I had taken courses at Bridgewater on and off, but never had time to seriously work on my degree until I was 40," she said. "Going to Bridgewater was the best thing I ever did." "It made me a better journalist. In philosophy, you have to throw out the emotional appeal. You have to learn to present an argument based on logic and fact and back up everything you say. That helped me to focus. History and anthropology helped me better understand how we got to where we are and the differences between people." Married, with grown children and careers that border on the celebrity (well, for Canton and Middleboro, anyway), the two women also share a common love of journalism and their jobs. "It's incredible. I get gratification every time I pick up a paper. There is a lot of pressure with deadlines, but I pick up the paper and have something to show for my effort," Ms. Erickson said. "It gives you a thrill." "I keep saying I'd like to do something else, but I keep doing this," Ms. Lopes said. "I like the town, I like the writing. I like working to influence things in my town. I still get turned on when I see a controversy I can sink my teeth into, and I generally still get excited over taking pictures of the Christmas parade for the 20th time." John Hoey understands the thrill and excitement that comes with many newspaper jobs. A 1983 BSC graduate with a degree in communications, TV and radio productions, Mr. Hoey saw journalism as a glamorous career. "I was confident that every day would be different and filled with interesting people," he said. Now, as director of communications in the office of the president at the University of Massachusetts, it's a given that his days are different. And, since the president is the well-known and personable former Senate President William Bulger, there is at least one interesting person in his work life.
He met President Bulger while covering the State House for The Enterprise of Brockton. When President Bulger left politics for the world of higher education Mr. Hoey followed, ending 12 years as a reporter at daily newspapers. "I loved working for newspapers. It was everything I expected it to be," Mr. Hoey said. "But then the opportunity came to do something very unique, work for and learn from a truly outstanding leader, and represent an institution that has a huge impact on the quality of life of the people in Massachusetts." While a student at BSC, Mr. Hoey took to heart the lessons taught by Professor Street, who forced him to think critically, to not accept everything on its face value. They turned out to be invaluable skills for a journalist to have. In his new job, Mr. Hoey manages the relationship between the president's office and the media. He composes press releases, contacts reporters and arranges events in an ongoing effort to "tell the story of UMass to the world." Just as when he worked for a daily newspaper, Mr. Hoey still has to meet deadlines, deal with pressure, keep up a stiff pace, juggle a jungle of demands and manage his time efficiently. In such a busy world, one of his biggest challenges is just getting his audience's attention. Mr. Hoey needs to wield a certain amount of persuasiveness, enough to make the audience stop what it's doing and listen. Once he's caught their attention, his next job is to make sure they know the information he's relaying is credible and accurate. He accomplishes it all through effective communication. "Communication is the name of the game," he said. "It starts with putting thoughts down on paper in an appealing and persuasive manner. Even when dealing with the electronic media, you need to know how to write well. Often the first impression that people have of you, your institution, and the story you are trying to convey, is transmitted via the written word - a press release, a news advisory, a letter of invitation." This sentiment is echoed by Beverly Beckham. Through her thrice-weekly column at the Boston Herald, Ms. Beckham shares with readers her thoughts, her happiness, her hopes and fears. She talks about family members and her own life. She discusses topics pertinent to every man, such as encounters with ill-disciplined children or Grinch-like Christmas shoppers. "Writing was something I always wanted to do since I was very young, but I did not have the confidence to do it. I was afraid of failing," she said. "Instead of pursing it, even in school, I went for education. But I couldn't be a teacher. I liked the kids but was the worst disciplinarian in the world. I'd say no, no, no, NO …. OK." She received two degrees from BSC, a bachelor's in 1968 and a master's in 1976. She was 30 with three children and still afraid to write when a sentiment in a book caused her to chase her dream. "It made me realize …. It said if you have a gift you are supposed to be using it," she said. Thus began a long road of rejection, of submitting first attempts to Good Housekeeping, of the growing collection of "thanks, but no thanks" slips on the wall. Her first published works were letters to the editor. At times it seemed that no one but Ms. Beckham's husband, Bruce, had faith in her. Finally, after some feature stories, she secured a freelance job as a columnist at the Patriot Ledger. Her work there caught the eye of a Boston Herald editor, who took her to lunch and offered her a job. "On August 1, 1985 I went to the Herald. I really think August 1 should be a holiday," she said. Each week, her column is read by thousands. She receives plenty of responses from readers; unlike her early notes from editors, these responses are always positive. She published a book with Beth Erickson in 1991 called "A Gift of Time." Her second book, "Back Then," a memoir of her childhood, is due out in April. All the success is a vindication of sorts for the woman who was once a scared little girl. "When I was little, I used to set up reasons for not doing it," she said. "I would write, but I don't have a typewriter. Now I have the typewriter, but not the right kind of paper. Now I have paper, but not the right kind of desk. You have to start practicing. You have to sit there and do it again and again. "Sometimes I can't come up with an idea. I get stumped, I get crazy. I hit a rut on the first line, on the middle lines, on the end lines. Writing's not easy but it is necessary. I will do this until I die."
* * * * *
So many careers, so many views of the world. From the boardroom to the newsroom, these BSC graduates inform, entertain, enlighten and enhance. Despite their differences, the graduates all agree a communication revelation has engulfed modern-day society. Why, it was only a few years ago, Mr. Hoey said, when the public relations professional at a company was the first to go when times got tough. The job was seen as a luxury rather than a necessity. That philosophy has gone out the same door as the bowler hat, and much of the reason why can be found in the Internet. Ms. Breen's job involves "interactive advertising" for her client, www.wallstreetjournal.com. The net is changing the face of advertising, she said, changing the "typical media," changing the way communicators communicate. "I can see my traditional advertising approach spinning into a lot of different ones," she said. "I see specialized marketing firms for Internet companies. The Internet is changing our lives, the way we get information. It is changing the sociology of the nation. It's interesting to be a part of it." With the rapid changes also has come new opportunities. Hundreds of new communication-based jobs have been created within the last few years, from webmasters to editors and writers for company web sites. It's been a huge learning curve for people such as Ms. Arruda, who began her career using a wax machine to "paste up" copy by hand. "Now that's unheard of. It's just amazing what you can do with technology," she said. From his wide-angle view at Arnold Communication, Mr. Marchese sees the Internet as a fine way to pay bills or buy a book, but believes nobody has yet determined the full strength of the Internet as a business. And what about its impact on communication, on the way we receive our information? Ms. Beckham spoke of a "book" smaller than a wallet that can download and display up to 10 novels. "Maybe we'll get newspapers in a different fashion, but people will always need newspapers for information and for corroboration of feelings," she said. "The writing doesn't change." Other than the fact that the Middleboro Gazette now has a web site and some residents fax, rather than mail, information to the paper, technology hasn't yet made an impact on local news. Neither Ms. Lopes nor Ms. Erickson believe any technological gadget will take the place of hard copy. "The Internet is good, but I don't think it will ever replace sitting down with a cup of coffee and the newspaper," Ms. Erickson said. In TV land, Mr. Robichaud sees the Internet as the "single biggest threat" to the nightly news. Newspapers will always be important for long, thoughtful pieces and opinion columns, but people watch the nightly news for the latest, breaking news. Who will wait for 11 pm when they can turn on the Internet now? And in radio, Mr. Mullaney sees on one hand, new opportunities such as webcasters and radio web sites, and on the other hand, less on-air jobs due to consolidation that comes with the recent mergers of radio networks. With less jobs, only the on-air and behind-the-scenes talent that shines the brightest will have a chance, he said. But who really knows? "The only thing you can be certain of is
that, whatever the situation is today, it's going to change 100 times
in the next five years," Mr. Mullaney said. "The biggest thing
is to be in the world and to be happy about it."
Karen White is a freelancer who writes feature and investigative articles for Cape Cod Magazine, Dance Spirit, AAA Horizons and Plymouth County Business Review. |
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