UM Journalism Graduate Caps Off Successful College Career

By Kyle Spurr, UM News Service

MISSOULA – Claire Bernard’s passion for writing and reporting began at a young age. 

As a child growing up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Bernard and her three sisters created a newspaper for their neighborhood called the Hidden Valley Times. Bernard would talk to neighbors about their grandchildren and how their gardens were growing. 

“I did the interviews and I loved it,” Bernard said. 

Bernard carried that love of reporting to the University of Montana, where she joined the School of Journalism and fully personified the school’s motto “Learn by Doing.” She went on two international reporting trips to Bangladesh and Scotland, served as editor-and-chief of the Montana Kaimin student paper and interned at several newspapers in Montana and at the Seattle Times. 

After Bernard graduates this Saturday with a degree in journalism and minor in history, she will begin a prestigious internship with the Bloomberg Industry Group in Washington D.C. 

“If you would have told me when I was graduating high school that at the end of college, I’d be going to write for a massive publication in D.C., I would’ve said, ‘No way,’” Bernard said. “But then I think back to the incredible support I’ve received from the University of Montana. I’ve had so many people supporting me along the way.” 

Lee Banville, a professor and director of the journalism school, was Bernard’s adviser and editor on the international reporting trip last summer to Scotland. Banville said it’s amazing how much Bernard has accomplished as an undergraduate and he expects to see her thrive in Washington D.C. 

“Claire is someone who when she sets her sights on something she will work to get it done,” Banville said. “She is fearless in setting goals for herself and working to achieve them.” 

Banville said the J-school prides itself on experiential learning and having students get out and report in communities across Montana and around the globe. 

“These are not classes where you are sitting in a lecture hall. These are classes where you travel to Scotland or are on a boat in the middle of Bangladesh,” Banville said. “The job is to experience that and convey it so people can understand the stories that are out there.” 

The J-school’s Montana Journalism Abroad class allows students to learn about a country during the spring semester and then practice investigative reporting on a trip to that country. 

Bernard first took the international reporting class her sophomore year and spent three weeks in Bangladesh reporting on the impacts of climate change.

“It was a life-changing trip,” Bernard said. “I had an incredible time seeing an entirely different part of the world.” 

She enrolled in another international trip after her junior year to Glasgow, Scotland, where she reported on a facility that helps those with drug addiction. Banville edited her article from Scotland and submitted it for a Society of Professional Journalism award, he said.

“Claire is an example of what it can look like when you go all in and say, ‘I’m going to squeeze every experience out of this school that I can’,” Banville said. “And the School of Journalism just happens to have an enormous number of really varied experiences that you can have.” 

In addition to earning her journalism degree, Bernard recently earned another major accolade. She was awarded first place for personality and profile reporting in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, one of the highest honors for student journalists in the nation. Her winning article was a feature in the Kaimin that detailed a sexual assault survivors’ journey through the criminal justice system. 

UM also won two first-place photojournalism awards in the Hearst competition, giving UM the most first-place awards out of any school in the nation. 

“To be competing with the best journalism programs in the country, I feel so much pride for our school,” Bernard said. 

For future students who have a love of writing and interest in reporting, Bernard encourages them to consider UM’s School of Journalism. Bernard originally planned to pursue a pre-law track at UM, but found a home in journalism. 

“This school punches so far above its weight,” Bernard said. “I genuinely think it’s one of the best journalism programs in the country. I can tell the education we are getting at UM is cream of the crop and it’s affordable and accessible.” 

As a Hearst Award winner, Bernard qualified for a national writing competition in San Francisco at the end of May. After that, she will move to Washington D.C. to start her internship. 

Throughout her time in UM’s journalism school, Bernard experienced the impact of reporting and how it can make a difference in people’s lives. That has motivated her to continue pursuing journalism as a career. 

“The way that it changes lives, it’s such meaningful work,” Bernard said. 

###

Contact: Dave Kuntz, UM director of strategic communications, 406-243-5659, dave.kuntz@umontana.edu