Magazine program wins accolades for projects
and prestigious positions for graduates
by Rachel Ballweg

The Dead File is Professor Pat Prijatel's favorite.
Filling box after box on the shelves of the Center for Magazine Studies, the Dead File is home to "dead" magazines-magazines that used to exist, for a short time anyway. Some lasted no more than one issue.

Dads. Country America. Sassy. Spy. Swing. Mirabella. Talk. WigWag. Lear's. NBA Inside Stuff. Mademoiselle.

While it might seem strange to collect deceased magazines, it serves a useful purpose for Prijatel. Magazine majors, professors and alums use the file, and the rest of the archives in the Center for Magazine Studies, to gain insight into starting and sustaining a magazine. The archives of the Center for Magazine Studies are just a few of the unique features of the magazine program at Drake's SJMC.

Prijatel, GR'79, E.T. Meredith distinguished professor of journalism, oversees the magazine program. As a former writer for Better Homes & Gardens magazine, editor of Earth Matters and Catholic Rural Life, a freelance writer for many national magazines, and a consultant for redesigning and repositioning several magazines, Prijatel brings a wealth of on-the-job experience to her teaching and guidance of magazine students at Drake.

And Prijatel's experience is paying off for her students.
Drake student-produced magazines have won more than 100 national and regional awards and are often cited by judges for top quality editorial content, design, photography, and illustration. Drake magazine students are regularly selected for prestigious national internships through the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Magazine Publishers Association, and the Business Press Foundation. And Drake magazine students enjoy a close relationship with media company Meredith Corporation, which funds the Center for Magazine Studies, numerous scholarships, magazines, programs and seminars for magazine students, as well as hiring Drake students as interns and employees.

"Our students come out of here with packed portfolios," said Prijatel. "They get hands-on experience. We have several magazines that students can work on. Plus, our professors have real-world magazine experience; they're not just caught up in the theory or stuck behind a desk all day."

Prize-Winning Publications
Hands-on experience is the hallmark of the magazine program. Drake students are encouraged to submit the work they produce for classroom assignments to consumer and trade publications, as well as magazines of professional associations. Magazine students at Drake produce several magazines. 515 magazine, a publication for young adults living in the Des Moines area, is the newest magazine and won first place in the Student Magazine Contest of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), was named the best student magazine in the nation in 1999 by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), AEJMC, and earned a Pacemaker Award from the Associated College Press. The SPJ, AEJMC and Associated College Press awards are the nation's top competitions for student magazines.

In addition, students produce Des Moines Brides and Des Moines Health and Fitness. Both magazines have earned Gold Medallist ratings and first place in the Gold Circle Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Des Moines Brides also was named best student magazine by the SPJ. Magazine students also produce Drake Magazine, written specifically for the Drake campus. Drake Magazine won a Pacemaker Award and was named best student magazine by the SPJ.

Multi-Tasking Majors
"The best part of the magazine program was that we were able to produce magazines hands-on from start to finish," said Mike Mettler, JO'89, editor-in-chief of Mobile Entertainment magazine in New York. "Because of that, and because we were able to do a lot of multi-tasking given the size of our classes/staffs, I really felt like I came to understand the entire process, from the genesis of an idea to the finished product on paper. There's nothing quite like the magic of creating a magazine, and I continue that process at my job every day."

Shawn Gilliam, JO'94, senior editor of Beautiful Home magazine, discovered the critical thinking skills he acquired at Drake have served him well in the publishing world. "Developing a prospectus and dummy for a new magazine idea was the best part of the magazine program," said Gilliam. "Studying the marketplace and ensuring that a product has a viable readership is just as much a part of new product development now as it was then. New product proposals at major publishers follow many of the same steps our school projects did.""The writing and editing skills I learned helped me hit the ground running at my first job," continued Gilliam. "Contrary to what some people think, magazine editors don't necessarily enjoy long lead times and standard work schedules. More often than not, we're working with shorter lead times, smaller staffs, and higher page counts, so quality and efficiency are key."

The Meredith Advantage
Perhaps the greatest advantage of being a magazine major at Drake is access to Meredith Corporation, one of the world's largest publishing companies and a long-time supporter of Drake SJMC programs. Meredith Corporation funds Des Moines Brides and Des Moines Health and Fitness; a Meredith Magazine Lectureship, which brings national magazine writers and editors to campus to speak to students; and several Meredith scholarships. Meredith professionals also speak and consult frequently with magazine students and the Meredith family also endows the Center for Magazine Studies.

Wendy Naugle, JO'96, health director of Glamour magazine in New York, credits Drake's relationship with Meredith for helping her land her first internship at Meredith Corporation, which eventually led to other internships and her first job after graduation.

"Meredith has always been big on corporate philanthropy, and has a reputation for giving back to the community," Prijatel explained about the relationship between Drake's SJMC and the media corporation. "Our students are typically hired by Meredith and many Meredith editors are Drake alumni. It's a win-win situation."

Magazine center partners with national organization
by Lexi Walters, senior journalism major

The Center for Magazine Studies at Drake has recently formed a partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation to create a magazine for its "Making Connections" initiative in Des Moines. Making Connections is a national program sponsored by the Casey Foundation to build stronger families and communities by improving information and communications about neighborhood resources to families at risk.

Magazine students will edit and design the magazine under the direction of Patricia Prijatel, E.T. Meredith Distinguished Professor of Journalism and director of the Center for Magazine Studies. The publication will profile families who have participated in Making Connections and will explain the Casey Foundation and its community efforts. Its initial distribution will be local.

"This project is an excellent service to the community," Prijatel says. "It gives our students greater opportunity to study and write about socioeconomic issues such as poverty, neighborhoods, single-parent families, diversity and children's well-being. "And it's another chance to showcase the talent of Drake magazine majors."

The Casey Foundation is a national non-profit organization dedicated to building brighter futures for disadvantaged children in the United States.

For more information about the Making Connections magazine project, the Center for Magazine Studies or the magazine sequence, contact Patricia Prijatel at 515-271-2842 or patricia.prijatel@drake.edu.

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