Pictured top to bottom: Erin Cox and Sarah Murphy
From student awards to successful careers in broadcast journalism
Abraham Rodriguez, writer
With a 100 percent job-placement rate and resources for students to prepare for success in the post-grad world, associate professor Brian Champagne and assistant professor Chris Garff, guided two of their recent graduates into anchor and reporter positions at ABC 4 and KSL 5 News in Salt Lake City.
According to Champagne, “In the Emmy Award category, we compete in the same region against schools like the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State, and standard wise, we are in there. From writing to video, to dress code, we’re there.”
Utah State University alumnae Erin Cox and Sarah Murphy are two of Champagne’s standouts in his program and their hard work paid off.
Cox works with KSL 5 News as a special projects news reporter. Before KSL, she worked for Fox 13 News but now works on in-depth coverage including investigative documentaries. Her specific emphasis is diversity and religion.
“Everything you do, there is tangible evidence of the work you put into broadcast as you get to see the hard work you do. It is a high payoff to see the end product so quickly and not a lot of careers have that,” she said.
Six months before graduation, she worked twice a week at Fox 13 News as a freelance reporter and after graduating from USU, she was hired full-time. Cox describes how rare this opportunity is.
“I went from college to market #30. That’s pretty rare. You usually go from college to market #115 and I had offers from market #79 that would’ve been a great place to start,” she said.
It is rare, to say the least. Journalists usually work in market #30 after five to 10 years into their journalism career.
“A lot of this is due in part to my boss who saw potential in me as I tried to put forth effort in delivering a market #30 product. It wasn’t there at the start, but the learning curve was steep in those first six months to a year on the job,” she said.
However, none of these opportunities would have happened if she didn’t have a strong foundation. She shared three pieces of advice that helped her succeed in and beyond the broadcast program.
“Treat school like your first job. Everything you do in school should prepare you for your first job. That [mindset] turns your assignments not into just an assignment that you’re trying to get done. It turns your assignment into a resume that will put you far ahead. Second, go above and beyond and don’t be afraid to put your heart and soul into the project. Last, always take critique, put it into action because it will help you in the future,” she said.
These pieces of advice got her award nominations that helped her win Emmy Awards. Some of which were won with Champagne, as they worked together on several projects.
We also won our first professional Emmy Award this year,” Cox said.
The classes provided in the department give students opportunities to showcase their work and see immediate results.
“Coming into A-TV news and the class, I just knew how valuable this opportunity was going to be for me. Brian and Chris always talk about how seriously you decide to take the class can mean thousands of dollars more in your first job because it could be the difference between a really good job versus a decent job. I knew I wanted to take it seriously,” Murphy, a fall 2022 graduate, said.
This led Murphy to enter and win her first student Emmy award which came from a story she completed in her broadcast class.
“Both graduates are breathing the same air as everyone else, but their attitudes are what set them apart from others. They didn't do fluffy stories. They pound the pavement and work hard, even if it means asking tough questions that generally don’t want to be asked for news stories,” Champagne said.
Murphy shared her experience of winning after attending the Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards Gala where she won four-student-production awards.
“One of the highlights of my entire time in college was on a Saturday night. I was sitting with one of my friends while watching the Emmy Award ceremony and just hearing my name win all the awards and having Brian literally texting me and calling me, while watching my award ceremony on his day off and getting, if not more excited than I, was a big deal, Murphy said.
Champagne works hard to prepare his students. Both Cox and Murphy say they wouldn’t be where they are today without him as their professor and mentor.
“I think I’ve never met another professor on campus who is so willing to sit with you and work with you and who cares so much about your future and will invest so much time in it,” Murphy said.
Cox shares her favorite attributes that she loves and appreciates about USU’s JCOM program.
“What I love about JCOM is that Brian Champagne and Chris Garff still root for me. Just because I graduated, it didn’t mean that it ended. They have been in my corner the whole time and I could not do this without them,” Cox said.
Champagne remains in touch with his students, even those who graduated from the program, still grills them with critiques and gives feedback on their work.
“He has been an incredible mentor, leader, teacher, professor and also the best part of this is he has also been the best coworker. How fun is it that I’ve been able to do team coverage with Brian,” Cox said. “They are not just professors and it’s not just a program. It’s mentorship to the truest definition.”
Champagne and Garff put students on the map, placed them in the field and gave them careers.
“I want to be your favorite teacher, but I want to win that contest a year or two after you graduate. If I win it now, it’s too easy on you and you’re going to hate me later. Hate me now and love me later because you will be ready to go,” Champagne said.
In December, Murphy accepted a position as a weekday morning traffic anchor/feature reporter and weekend anchor at ABC 4 News in Salt Lake City.
“They both decided to take the challenge and it is getting them the payoff. That is what I love, the payoff. To see how much interest there is in Sarah Murphy and having her start in Salt Lake City and to see where Erin Cox is and the kinds of stories and things she is doing now, that’s awesome,” Champagne said.