Student Spotlight - Melissa Daigle

Interviewed by Funto Adebo, Alden Paras, Dean Godfrey and Sabra Thomas

Senior Melissa Daigle explains how double majoring in public relations and broadcast journalism is a smart move, even if it's a lot of work.

What made you decide to double major in public relations and broadcast journalism?

Growing up, I always wanted to be a news anchor on TV, but during my sophomore year, I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to open up my options in case journalism doesn't work out. I just want to be as marketable as possible in this tough economy, and public relations seems to be a pretty stable field. Plus, there's a lot more money in PR!

What is the biggest challenge with juggling these two workloads?

Adding on a second major is very time-consuming, but luckily a lot of journalism courses were able to count for my PR degree plan as well. Also, the writing styles are a little different. Writing news stories and press releases require different thinking.

Do you think being a broadcast journalism major better prepared you to succeed in public relations?

Definitely. You can never get enough writing experience. Also, having a journalism background helps in PR because when you pitch story ideas to reporters, you kind of have an idea of what they may be interested in. It's like playing for both teams.

What do you plan on doing with broadcast journalism and public relations after graduation?

You know, I still haven't completely figured it out. I think moving out to California or New York and doing reporting or PR in the music or entertainment industry would probably be a dream job for me though.