How My Journalism Career Began with a Forest Bear

During my freshman year  in college I worked part-time at the USDA Forest Service. I had been looking for  a job to supplement my financial aid for school. Since I had previous work experience with the federal government, I  applied to several departments for open positions. My application was accepted at the USDA Forest Service and I started working in the public  affairs office. This office  is  where  the Smokey the Bear and Woodsey Owl campaigns were ran. I remember as a child seeing the TV commercials where Smokey  would always say, “Only you  can prevent forest fires.” Since Aug. 9 is Smokey’s 80^th birthday I  am celebrating how this iconic bear  helped me become a journalist.

What is Public Affairs/Public relations?

Initially, I was not familiar with the term “public affairs”, also known as public relations. But I quickly learned  that this profession was responsible  for getting the word out  and communicating  with the media. During my time at the Forest Service, I learned  about the following:

PR Tasks I Learned

1. How to pitch a story to the media.

2. How to write  press releases.

3. How to put together a media kit. This folder would include press releases, brochures and pamphlets  and contact info for story interviews.

4. How to organize  newspaper clips. This was before the internet  and many PR professionals  would subscribe to a clipping service to gather newspaper  articles on their  subject. When the clips arrived I was responsible for  organizing them by date and placing in  a large clip book.

5. How to review clip art, images and graphics.

I also had to learn about forestry work. What are the differences between controlled burns and wild fires along with the locations of all the federal  parks in the state. I learned about the duties of a forest ranger and was lucky to meet one of a small few of Black rangers. I visited a local office site  and helped  maintain  our Woodsy Owl  costume.

PR Part of Journalism curriculum

When I first got to college my plan was to get a degree in business administration  but  that didn’t work  out. So, I thought about my time  at the Forest Service  and looked toward  public relations. This specialty was housed in the journalism school. I reviewed the course curriculum  and got even more excited because  public relations  allowed me to learn a little about a lot of things. I took classes in broadcast (both radio and TV), newspaper and magazine writing, advertising, graphic design and photography.

Other PR Jobs

As I continued my education, I took on other part-time jobs and internships. I  made sure they were  in the journalism/public relations field. I worked on more media campaigns. For example, I worked at the department of education where we  launched and supported a smoke free campaign for children. I was responsible for writing, editing and designing our quarterly newsletter. I also worked  at a campus volunteer agency  where I wrote  newsletter articles about the AmeriCorps program,  a domestic PeaceCorps program. I would later  become a member myself after going blind. I worked at a local PR firm  and worked on a Sprint phone and Oscar Mayer Hot Dog campaign  that included  a stop by the Wienermobile. Lastly, I spent a summer working at the local newspaper  using my writing and editing skills and reading press releases for potential stories.

All of these experiences strengthen my desire to work in the journalism field and it all started with this historic bear. Today,  I don’t  work as a PR  professional. Rather I write  articles and blog  posts

mostly for small freelancing projects and my website . I am grateful  for that  first job at the Forest Service and Smokey Bear because they  led me to the rewarding  and fulfilling work I do now.