Dr. Brent M. Foster, Campaign Statement for BEA Board of Directors District 6
Please consider my candidacy for the BEA Board of Directors District 6. I have a PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia and I’ve been teaching Broadcasting for over 16 years at three different institutions. I’m currently a tenured Associate Professor of Broadcast Journalism at California State University, Fullerton.
I am a longtime member and supporter of the BEA. I’ve been a BEA Ignite Scholar, I’ve won the BEA Best of Competition for TV Hard News Reporting, I’ve served as Chair of the TV and Radio Student (Hard News, Feature News, Newscast) festival competitions, I’ve been a BEA Documentary judge and I’ve organized panels. Last year, I organized a successful panel that included faculty from CSU, Fullerton, Colorado State University and University of Hawaii. These faculty came together to deliver a successful panel on GoPro and Drone usage in the classroom. Subsequently, upon my return to California after last years BEA conference, I created and orchestrated a summer class called Alternative Video Production where we shot journalistic stories using only GoPro and UAV’s (DJI Inspire). We did “study away” and shot footage in Laguna Beach (underwater and surf), a local arboretum, Chino Hills State Park and Downtown Orange California.
Some of my career highlights include on-air producing at a 100,000-watt NPR station in Kansas City, Creator/Producer of OC Insight a public affairs studio program that aired on KCET-TV in Los Angeles, former president of the Missouri Broadcast Educators Association, Executive production of multiple slice-of-life documentaries and of course teaching at Missouri Valley College, the University of Central Missouri and California State University, Fullerton. I recently shot GoPro footage on the continental divide with fellow BEA member Pete Seel, tide-pool footage in Laguna Beach with fellow BEA member Ed Fink and just returned from a 12 day international journalism trip shooting video with 12 students in Guatemala. Next month, I’ll be chaperoning 11 students in Costa Rica as we shoot and write more international journalism stories.
My campaign statement is simply an attempt to show you that I am doing the same things so many of you are doing in the classroom and beyond. Like you, I am inspired every year at BEA and NAB…it makes me a better broadcaster, teacher and mentor. If elected to the board, it will be my intention to make wise and common sense choices to benefit the BEA organization, constituents of BEA and the institution of academia.
Sincerely,
Dr. Brent M. Foster
