One Cool Story: Tales from the University of Oregon’s School of Communication and Journalism
One Cool Story: Tales from the University of Oregon’s School of Communication and Journalism
Podcast Description
Welcome to One Cool Story: Tales from the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC). Each term you’ll hear from a handful of SOJC faculty, students, staff, and alumni about life in Allen Hall, SOJC Portland, and beyond. From tales about unexpected trips with the State Department to intense journalistic encounters and more, you’ll be getting an in-depth look at what makes the SOJC community truly special.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes of personal and professional growth within the journalism and communications field. Episodes explore a variety of topics, such as local journalism challenges, advertising innovation, and media ethics, with specific examples including Camilla Mortensen's journey with the Eugene Weekly and Whitney Phillips' research on political polarization in media.
Welcome to One Cool Story: Tales from the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC). Each term you’ll hear from a handful of SOJC faculty, students, staff, and alumni about life in Allen Hall, SOJC Portland, and beyond. From tales about unexpected encounters and life-changing trips to career highs and more, you’ll be getting an in-depth look at what makes the SOJC community truly special.
What does it look like to discover your academic calling after taking an unexpected path to college?
In this episode of One Cool Story: Tales from the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC), fourth-year journalism student Ethan Donahue sits down with Heidi Stevenson, a recent SOJC graduate whose journey took her from community college in Pennsylvania to presenting original research at national journalism conferences.
Heidi shares how a cross-country move during COVID, a transfer-student seminar, and her work with the SOJC’s Catalyst Journalism Project sparked a shift from journalism to media studies, opening the door to research on how people engage with news in new and interactive ways. From studying global vaccine coverage to designing experiments on news games, Heidi explains how curiosity and supportive mentors reshaped her career goals.
She also reflects on navigating imposter syndrome, finding community through the SOJC Honors Program, and why she’s pursuing pre-doctoral research before applying to PhD programs.
Stay to the end for Heidi’s one cool story—a moment of hope and reflection at a national academic conference.
🎧 Listen to hear:
- How research for the Catalyst Journalism Project helped Heidi pivot her career path.
- What news games are and why they’re changing how audiences experience journalism.
- How SOJC’s culture of mentorship and support helped her thrive.
Subscribe to the One Cool Story podcast: https://journalism.uoregon.edu/podcast
Learn about the UO School of Journalism and Communication: https://journalism.uoregon.edu/
Apply to the UO School of Journalism and Communication: https://journalism.uoregon.edu/admissions
Disclaimer
This podcast’s information is provided for general reference and was obtained from publicly accessible sources. The Podcast Collaborative neither produces nor verifies the content, accuracy, or suitability of this podcast. Views and opinions belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.
For a complete disclaimer, please see our Full Disclaimer on the archive page. The Podcast Collaborative bears no responsibility for the podcast’s themes, language, or overall content. Listener discretion is advised. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more details.