Former student moved from photography to PR

Teresa Shumaker Wyatt

Former student Teresa Shumaker Wyatt started her journalism and photography journey on the Ranger staff as a photographer in fall 2004-2005. 

“That spring I won an award for the cover of The Fourth Write magazine,” she recalled. “While I was at SAC, I did not want to be a reporter. I thought writing was as terrifying as being set on fire.” 

But when she moved to a small town in California in 2011, The Mendocino Beacon only had reporter positions open — and reporters doubled as photographers. 

“Thanks to everything I had learned about journalism at SAC, they hired me over others who had writing experience,” she said.  Because she was familiar with press law and the newsroom process, they were more willing to teach her how to write than to teach someone else how to be a journalist, she said. 
“In retrospect, I wish I had taken some writing classes while at SAC. It would have helped immensely,” she added. “ I appreciate the varied skills I obtained at SAC, by getting the opportunity to do layout and design on The Ranger.” 

In addition to creating content, her knowledge of InDesign was another feather in her cap for landing the reporter job, she said. 

“I was only able to work at the Ranger for one year as I was working full-time while getting my degrees. I graduated in December 2007 with two AA’s and that is when I began my photography business, Shumaker Photography.” 

She said she used her photojournalism training to bring a documentary style to the weddings and portraits she photographed. 

“For the position as a communication specialist at Sea Turtle, Inc. I went in looking to land an internship and instead they offered me a job based on my experience in journalism,” she said, adding that she was able to use her experience in the newsroom to write press releases and pitch stories to the local media that are more likely to be picked up. 

“I also changed our Facebook culture by adding more detailed journalistic stories,” she said. “Over the course of a year and a half, I helped increase our Facebook page fans from 13,000 to more than 80,000, with our weekly reach seeing spikes of close to a million readers. Our Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram accounts also grew during this time. I worked closely with the STI team to get feedback and brainstorm on interesting stories to tell.” 

She revitalized the newsletter, widened the audience from members-only to public and changed it from quarterly to monthly, and she also worked with the webmaster and staff to keep current information on the website and improve navigability. 

“Through constant contact in the forms of press releases and submitted articles, I obtained hundreds of inches of free print coverage and several local TV interviews,” 

She currently is finishing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology with a minor in Biology at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. "I am finishing my degree for personal desire and to be a better science journalist."