Scott Hernandez-Jason
Director of news and media relations (10 years out)
Posted on December 1, 2017 at 12:00 PM
Scott Hernandez-Jason (News, 2005) has made a career for himself in higher education with his strong writing skills and ability to harness the powers of social media in the professional sphere.
From his start at Chico State to his current position as director of news and media relations at UC Santa Cruz, Hernandez-Jason offers insight as to how his journalism skill set helped him succeed.
“I think the skill I’ve learned that is integral to what I do and so many other jobs is being able to write well,” Hernandez-Jason said.
He pointed to the aspects of writing that make up a strong, well-rounded journalist – not just mechanics and spelling, but also the ability to connect ideas, build, revise and edit.
During the rise of social media, Hernandez-Jason worked at UC Merced as a public information officer, then as director of news and social media. Hernandez-Jason had to decide which social media platforms would best fit the school.
Hernandez-Jason initially was skeptical that Twitter would fit into journalism, but he now finds it crucial to getting the UC Santa Cruz story out.
“Twitter is a fantastic way to connect with all sorts of different people, both alumni and students, even supporters,” Hernandez-Jason said. “On the crisis communication side, a lot of us realized that if we have a crisis on our hands, we’ll probably find out about it through social media. It’s the real-time source for information.”
The skills and professional development that Hernandez-Jason attained while attending Chico State were an advantage during his post-grad job hunt.“One of the great things about being involved with The Orion and just the journalism community at Chico State is that we were all writers,” he said.
“We all really wanted to have great cover letters and it’s that cover letter that really does either get the attention or gets sent to the recycling bin.”
_____
By Jae Siqueiros