Society of Professional Journalists Chapter George Mason University

This week's member spotlight is Chateau Mangaroo. Chateau is majoring in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations and a double minor in Sport Management and Journalism. She is set to graduate in December 2017. Q: When did you join SPJ? A: " I joined Fall 2016." Q: What do you love the most about SPJ/ being involved in student media? A: "I love the networking opportunities and meeting everybody. I also like being able to do things outside of campus and being involved in this group and being able to do things as a team. What I like the most is that I get to showcase my writing. I didn't know how to start that before, but SPJ helped me with that." Q: What other organizations are you a part of? A: "I am a part of PRSSA and I was just elected to the executive board of the Sports Management Society." Q: Have you had any internships or any cool opportunities? A: "I just started an internship with the A

On March 21st, SPJ had the honor of hosting New York Times journalist Michael Schmidt. Schmidt has been working with the Washington Bureau of the New York Times for the past five years. He has covered stories from the Pentagon to the FBI to Hillary Clinton’s emails.             Schmidt started out as a clerk answering the phone after he graduated from Lafayette College and then eventually was able to start free lance writing for the Times. He started out writing about issues within the sports community concerning issues such as doping scandals, legal issues, and concussions. Eventually Schmidt transferred over to covering the Government and Politics, which is what he is still doing today.             Schmidt gave advice to those in attendance and provided some personal stories. He went on to discuss how he wants to be completely neutral and to avoid bias in his reporting. He also advised everyone not to report on something that may be wrong.             All in all, SPJ had a w

On March 7th, SPJ had the honor of meeting Sara Azani and Arash Shirazi. Sara is a successful fashion blogger and Arash is the President and CEO of Bullitt Agency. They came to speak to us about the Importance of Personal Branding and how to increase your social media presence. They taught us the importance of developing your self brand to make yourself more marketable to employers. Something else that we learned was that building relationships with people in whatever industry you are planning on going into is very important while building your brand. You can follow Sara on Instagram @stylemba. You can also check out Arash's documentary ! Signing off,  GMU SPJ

This week's member spotlight is our Events Coordinator, AJ Blomberg. AJ is a freshman Communication major with a concentration in Journalism from Charlotte, North Carolina. Q: When did you join SPJ? A: "I joined the beginning of the Fall 2016 semester." Q: What do you love the most about SPJ/ being involved in student media? A: "I love being around other students who share the same interest in journalism and also being able to meet professionals in the field." Q: What other organizations are you a part of? A: "Just SPJ." Q: Have you had any internships or any cool opportunities? A: "I've been to ABC World News in New York three times. I've also been to WABC New York three times as well. I have gone to Good Morning America and Meet the Press. I have also had the opportunity to interview a senator." Q: What are some career goals/ aspirations that you have for yourself? A: "I want to do some

On February 28th, SPJ had the privilege of getting to meet and talk to FOX 5 Entertainment Reporter Kevin McCarthy. Kevin is an alum from George Mason University. He graduated with a degree in Media Production and Criticism. It was such a cool opportunity to get to talk to Kevin and be able to relate to him as a fellow Mason student. Kevin was able to talk to us about what it is like to be able to interview some of the bigger names in Hollywood such as Black Lively and Ryan Reynolds. He was also able to talk to us about what his daily routine is like as an entertainment reporter. Thank you so much to Kevin for coming in and talking to us. Signing off, GMU SPJ

This week's member spotlight is Dinanda Pramesti. Dinanda is a junior Communication student with a concentration in Journalism and a minor in Global Affairs from Falls Church, VA. Q: When did you join SPJ? A: "I joined during the Fall of 2016 semester." Q: What do you love the most about SPJ/being involved in student media? A: "What I like the most about being in SPJ is that we get to connect and talk to Journalism professionals and those that have been through what we are doing right now. I also like that we get to make new friends in SPJ and in student media in general." Q: What other organizations are you a part of? A: "I'm a part of the Muslim Student Association." Q: Have you had any internships or any cool opportunities? A: "I interned at Voice of America last summer for the East Asian Service. We covered news stories about East Asia." Q: What are some career goals/ aspirations