She loves her supporting role

PRIME – January, 2014

Former TV anchor finds fulfillment mentoring next generation of broadcast journalists

By Debbie Gardner debbieg@TheReminder.com It was the middle of finals week, but Western New England University Communication professor Brenda Garton-Sjoberg graciously made the time to talk with PRIME between giving exams and grading papers. Comfortably ensconced in the living room of her Longmeadow home and surrounded by pictures of her husband of 22 years, John Sjoberg and sons Stefan and Bo, the former 22News news anchor talked candidly about career – and life – choices. "I feel like this was the path I was always meant to take," the 52 year old Garton-Sjoberg said of her progression from award-winning broadcast journalist to journalism professor. "I receive such rewards from seeing students do well in class and seeing them get the jobs they want. It reminds me of my starting days." A lucky start Teaching the craft she loves so well was not in the plan, however, when this Indiana Hoosier set her sights on a career. Weekends working at a local radio station while in high school led to the pursuit of a degree in telecommunications at Ball State University. Just days after earning her diploma in 1983, Garton-Sjoberg landed her first job as a news reporter at a television station in South Bend, Ind. "It was an incredible opportunity," she recalled, adding that a college internship at WISH-TV, a LIN Broadcasting owned-CBS affiliate in Indianapolis – and a comment from her older brother, Brad – helped her land that first job. "He was working for the State of Indiana as a noise abatement control officer, going to cities and towns talking about noise ordinances," Garton-Sjoberg said, adding that following a presentation in South Bend, Bill Foster, a local TV reporter, interviewed her brother. Brad, she said, casually mentioned that his younger sister was in college studying broadcasting, to which, Garton-Sjoberg said Foster replied, "You ought to have her call our TV station because we're looking for a new TV reporter." She spent two years reporting for that station in South Bend before moving to a position with at TV station in Grand Rapids, Mich. "I was able to gain a little bit of anchoring experience in South Bend, and a little more in Grand Rapids [where] I would be there as the night time reporter when the morning anchor would call in sick," Garton-Sjoberg said. "I would volunteer to go home, take a shower and anchor the next morning." She also volunteered to work all the least-wanted shifts, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the Fourth of July, "anytime that I could gain experience," because she knew it would be important in her next career step. The Springfield offer That came when, again two years after she started in Grand Rapids, the NBC station in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Penn., launched a new morning news program. Garton-Sjoberg said she applied for, and landed the job as the morning anchor. Two years into that position, Garton-Sjoberg said Paul Brissette, at the time the owner of Springfield's 22News was in Wilkes-Barre-Scranton to meet with her station manager. "He woke up in the morning and saw me anchoring the morning news," she said. "And after coming here for an interview with [General Manager] Bill Pepin and former news director, [the late] Keith Silver, I was offered the evening anchor position at his station. "I came to Springfield in 1989," she recalled. "At that time the station was losing its long-time anchor Beth Carroll, who was leaving for that new startup [station] in Hartford, Fox61." It would be her last move in the broadcast business, as she stayed with 22News for 13 years. Her first co anchor was Dave Madsen, now with ABC TV 40 and she also co-anchored for many years with Barry Kriger. "I always wanted to get back to Indianapolis, that was my goal," Garton-Sjoberg explained, "But I happened to fall madly in love with my next-door neighbor ..we just celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary." She said the two met when they both lived in The Regency Condominium Complex in Agawam. "He's Swedish, I'm a Hoosier," Garton-Sjoberg explained, adding that her husband, John Sjoberg, who is of Swedish descent was born in Kenya while his dad was working for an engineering firm in Nairobi. Garton is originally from Columbus, Ind. Her husband's family later relocated to Springfield. "I had just moved here and somehow we ended up living next door to each other," she added. Two years after their 1991 nuptials, son Stefan joined the family, followed three years later by Bo. A taste of teaching The next years were busy ones for Garton-Sjoberg as she juggled family and a career as a news anchor. It was a job that frequently put her out in the community, and that led to her first opportunity to step before a classroom of students. In 1996, at the invitation of Bay Path College President Carol Leary, Garton-Sjoberg accepted an offer to teach the college's first communications course with a focus on broadcast journalism. "I really owe Dr. Carol Leary much of my teaching career now, because she hired me as a distinguished adjunct professor," she said. Garton-Sjoberg said she initially met Leary when the college was drawing up plans for what became its annual Women's Development Conference. "I was privileged to help plan their first Women's Day Conference [with Leary]" she said, adding that she and Leary worked together for several years to plan conference and workshops. They also created promotional spots to advertise the conference, for which the TV station, 22 News, was a sponsor. "She would talk to me then, [asking] if I would be interested in teaching," Garton-Sjoberg recalled. "That's really where the seed was planted, [and] I wondered if it would be something that would interest me if I ever did change professions." She had the job she dreamed of back in college, but as her children grew it became harder to keep work and family in balance as a broadcast journalist. "I loved my job," she said. "I absolutely enjoyed being the news anchor and sharing stories and the responsibility that comes with being an ambassador for the television station in the community and the good work that every media outlet does, and I was proud to represent so many good causes in the community." However, that same news anchor position meant she was "coming home at a pretty regular basis between 1 and 2 in the morning, after the 11 o'clock news," she said, adding that wrapping up and writing for the web routinely kept her at the station for an hour or two after the broadcast ended. "At the time my boys were young, one was in second grade and one was in preschool." In the end, Garton-Sjoberg said, her decision to leave the news business was simple, "It came down to my family." Making the break In 2001, Garton-Sjoberg left the 22News desk (she remained reporting the health watch on the air until 2003) to become director of college relations for Western New England College, now Western New England University. "It was a community relations position that was created and to that person, Barbara Campanella, (now Barbara Moffat, Vice President for Marketing and External Affairs) I owe my [career change]," Garton-Sjoberg said, adding that the two had had "many discussions" about her coming to the college in that capacity before she made the move. In her new role, Garton-Sjoberg swapped daily deadlines for community relations, overseeing long-term projects such as the Academic Achievers Conference with MassMutual, which still brings 400 of the best and brightest area high school students to the campus annually for a professional development conference, and the first college-sponsored gubernatorial debate, which pitted Mitt Romney against Shannon O'Brien. "That was exciting because it gave [the university national media attention, we were on C-SPAN," she said, adding "We had people calling in from Florida, saying, 'I see my alma mater on TV!'" She also began teaching one communication class a semester. That soon expanded to include other journalism-based courses, such as the recent addition of a Masters online public relations course geared toward non-profit organizations. "One class a semester became two classes a semester became three classes a semester," she said. "Our Department of Communication was expanding and that's when I moved into full-time teaching and moved out of the administrative role as director of college relations." Teaching takes precedence Garton-Sjoberg said she's enjoyed both positions at the college and she remains passionate about her transition from the newsroom to the classroom. The administrative position was an easy transition, she said, because of the community relations work she had done at the TV station. The move to full-time teaching built upon her experience working with college students at Bay Path, in the previous courses she'd taught at WNE, and her work supervising college interns while at 22News. It was full-time teaching, however, that has truly struck a chord with her. "It is rewarding when you feel that you have made an impact on someone's life, especially at that time in their life when they are a young adult, discovering who they are, planning for their future, preparing for their career, and to feel, sometimes, that you have had a small role to play in that, is, beyond extremely rewarding," Garton-Sjoberg said. "Words can't describe the feeling that any teacher has. Ask any teacher about their profession, about being able to educate. It's an extremely rewarding experience." Garton the student Her role as educator also prompted Garton-Sjoberg to advance her own education, and in 2007, she returned to school herself, attending Quinnipiac University in Hampden, Conn., to pursue a master's degree in journalism. "I knew it was important to continue my education and I enjoyed the perspective of being a student again," she said "I could relate to my own students at the time in working on late-night projects and writing assignments. "I had a deeper understanding of what they were going through," she added. She praised her family for their support during her return to college, remembering when her younger son, Bo, walked her to her car before that first class and her hour-long commute to southern Connecticut. He made a point of checking that she had all the supplies she needed on her first night of class. And though it was something Garton-Sjoberg said she felt was important to do for herself and her students – "you have to keep up" – it once again meant managing work/family - and now homework. "I was missing family meals and family outings and working late, late hours on the computer," she recalled. It was my time after 11 p.m. when I could focus and get my work done." It was also, she said, an "interesting perspective" to be back in the classroom with a new crop of journalists, most, who were "in their 20s looking to break through a career in journalism." Where she belongs Now a respected professor, Garton-Sjoberg's career path has taken her full circle, from preparing to become a broadcast journalist to being a teacher and mentor to others – such as Brittney Decker, now with ABC 40 and Matt Caron, now with 22News – who are readying to be the next storytellers before the camera. "Every job, every career has always led to the next path," Garton-Sjoberg said. "I receive such rewards from seeing students do well in the classroom and especially, when I see them getting the jobs they wanted. "It reminds me of my days of wanting to get into reporting, and it makes me very proud to teach," she added. The hardest part of the change, she acknowledged, was "leaving a job that you know so well, that you are so comfortable with – and you enjoy." But, she also noted regarding her career change from being in front of the camera to the front of a classroom, "At some point it's good to take on new challenges."