CAS CONNECT 2016

25 Think about it, he says: “If you’re an entrepre- neur, you have to tell your story. If you’re a journal- ist, you’ve got to tell the story about the things that you’re covering.” As prime examples, Freeman cites such alumni as Ziva Branstetter and Cary Aspinwall, who were final- ists for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting for their Tulsa World stories on a botched execu- tion in Oklahoma (see the impressive entry at okla. st/2aEdMqj). Branstetter praises the school: “I wouldn’t be the journalist I am without that education.” Freeman, who came to OSU two years ago after 14 years at Louisiana State University, sees the skills the SMSC teaches as vital everywhere. “We stick to the values that are most important: You want to be able to read analytically, you want to be able to write effectively, you want to be able to think critically. And so those are the basics.” Sticking to the basics is certainly paying off for the SMSC. Two students were selected to participate in the 2016 William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards, and the Society of Professional Journalists honored entries from the O’Colly . “In terms of potential, our students are nation- ally competitive right now,” Freeman notes. “But we want to compete on a regular basis. We get amazing students from across the country. We’ve got students from 38 different states now. “We’re America’s best-kept secret.” The secret may be out as OSU students are making names for themselves, he says. “Hands down, in this country, nobody outworks a Cowboy. Nobody. They go to New York (to work), and they just kill. They go to Amsterdam, and they just kill,” he says, noting that their work ethic begins early: “Nobody works harder than our awesome students. The way they work makes us work harder. We can’t coast. These students are going to put in the work, so you’ve got to put in the work to stay a step ahead of them every day — which is a ton of fun.” Freeman also heaps praise on the “awesome faculty” and the innovations the school is continually devising. Some are major lower-level changes, such as rethinking the introduction to writing class. “We used to teach our intro class to 150 people. Now we teach it to 20,” Freeman says. “I don’t think you can teach writing to 150 people at a time. We are making sure students know how to write well.” Other innovations include a partnership with the Edmon Low Library that focuses on working with virtual reality. Another library partnership focuses on the use of social media in determining what attracts and keeps readers. A student in multimedia journal- ism is doing her thesis in conjunction with OSU’s Department of Theatre, using analytics and social media to help attract larger audiences for OSU productions. A television show produced on gameday Saturdays at OSU with Tyler Media is opening eyes and doors. “We want to share our knowledge with everyone, so we can make our community better,” Freeman says. Barbara Allen, the director of student media, has taken steps to enhance student offerings and expe- riences, he says, calling her an “‘edupreneur’ who is helping us figure out what’s next.” “Barbara Allen has turned student media around,” Freeman says. “Student media was losing money; now it’s not. She created Archhouse Media, which does social media, websites and integrated marketing campaigns for local businesses. We’d always get calls, ‘Can you get me a kid who can do a website?’ And now it’s all in-house and somebody is accountable. Student media gets the money and the students, who are paid, gain experience. Our video production is the best in town.” Freeman doesn’t let alumni off the hook when it comes to supporting the SMSC. “We need more help from our alums,” he says bluntly. “I need you to come back, to let us come to you or to write big, fat checks. We would rather you come back. It’s in that order for a reason: Come back to us. If you can’t come back, let us come to you. If you can’t do either, write a check.” It’s vital that today’s students interact with success- ful alumni, he says. “When one of our great alums comes back, our students get to see them and get to see, ‘This is what I could do.’ I can tell the students they’re great but when they get a chance to see Ziva Branstetter, that’s like, ‘That’s how I can do this.’