The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications Bateman Case Study team has earned an honorable mention and a top-16 finish in the 2023 national competition. The Public Relations Student Society of America hosts the Bateman competition annually for public relations students, allowing them to implement a full public relations campaign using their classroom education and internship experiences.
This year, the CoJMC Bateman team competed with schools across the country. The top three finalists, Louisiana State University, University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Florida, will compete for first place on May 4.
CoJMC Bateman team members for the 2022-2023 year include LeAnne Bugay, a senior advertising and public relations and journalism double major from Bellevue, Alexis Goeman, a sophomore advertising and public relations and journalism double major from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Nick Murphy, a senior advertising and public relations major from Hainesville, Illinois, Sarah Rosenberg, a junior advertising and public relations and journalism double major from Bloomington, Minnesota, Kara Stone, a junior journalism major from Elm Creek and Emily Stoner, a sophomore advertising and public relations major from Lincoln.
The competition features the best of the best journalism, media and communications collegiate programs across the country. CoJMC has participated in Bateman for nine years and has earned top-3, top-16, and top-20 national finishes in previous competitions.
The challenge for this year's competition is in support of the News Literacy Project. Teams from colleges and universities across the country developed and executed integrated communications campaigns to raise awareness around the importance of knowing how to separate fact from fiction and become more informed, engaged and empowered citizens.
The CoJMC team’s campaign, Get the SCOOP, focused on engaging young adults from rural areas which increasingly don’t have a community news organization. Research suggests that, for many, word-of-mouth via social media has replaced established news sources. The team members created a five-step process, SCOOP, to empower people to spot and stop misinformation. To SCOOP means Start assessing, Consider the purpose or message, Obtain other sources, Own your opinion, and Prepare to share. Team members deployed several in-person and online strategies to reach UNL students from rural areas and teach them how to use the SCOOP process. Then, the CoJMC team sought these students’ commitment to share and champion the process with friends and family from rural communities. Additionally, the team provided student journalism organizations at community colleges statewide with a toolkit for replicating the campaign.
The CoJMC Bateman team's professional public relations adviser is Jeff Salem, the director of communications and public relations at the Arbor Day Foundation. The team's faculty adviser is Dave Remund, an assistant professor of practice at the CoJMC.
“Rural news deserts are a concern not only in Nebraska but across the United States,” Remund said. “Our CoJMC students designed a simple yet effective campaign that could be easily repeated nationwide. I’m especially proud of the students for promoting such a positive, can-do theme and creating opportunities to engage people both online and in person.”
Last year's CoJMC Bateman team won first place for their campaign "1 for 1," which raised awareness of lymphoma and the challenges adolescents and young adults can face when diagnosed with lymphoma. Previous Bateman campaigns by CoJMC students have addressed social issues related to civility, mental health, student veterans and affordable housing.
To learn more about the Bateman Case Study Competition, visit https://www.prsa.org/prsa/scholarships-awards/bateman-competition.
