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 […]
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 80th 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.
