About
Shawn Singleton has worked as a journalist for over 20 years, covering both news and sports. He has written for newspapers and online outlets in South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and North Carolina. He has a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of South Carolina with concentrations in Mass Communication and Sport Management, and an associate’s degree in General Studies from Valencia College. Before college, he spent two years in the United States Marine Corps. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in Public Relations at Full Sail University. He enjoys jazz music and studying the history of baseball.
Statement of Intent
After spending two decades as a journalist, I observed that the field was evolving due to emerging technology. Because of that, I had to change it, so I enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts in Public Relations in February of 2025. However, life got in the way, and I did not begin the program until August of 2025. I chose this program because public relations is a natural progression from journalism, and it will help me utilize the skills I already possess, while learning new ones.
Completing this program will allow me to embark on a new journey, pursuing a career as a public relations professional in either sports media or law enforcement. I have a background covering both of those vocations during my lifetime, and I want to leverage that experience while helping others in the process.
At the University of South Carolina, I took Principles of Public Relations, Event Management, as well as written press releases for a veteran’s home in Greenwood, South Carolina, but I have never done anything as extensive as this, which is precisely what drew me to Full Sail’s program. The combination of modern technology and best practices is exactly what will keep me competitive in today’s marketplace.
Over the next year, I will be looking forward to classes that will test my knowledge, yet I will be using in the future, such as Social Media Metrics and ROI, Public Relations In a Digital World, Events Marketing and Production, and The Online Media Room. While it looks daunting on the surface, it is a challenge worth undertaking.
Upon completion of this program, I expect to gain an understanding of the world of public relations from a modern and digital perspective, and restart my career with a new sense of confidence, with the knowledge that I have earned skills from a world-class institution of higher learning.
Mastery Journal Blog (Week 1)
“The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing.” - Voltaire (Goodreads, 2025).
Shortly after I arrived at the Lincoln County Journal in Troy, Missouri in 2020, I shared this quote in one of my first columns for the paper. It’s one of my favorites, because it signifies no one knows everything about anything, so we must all keep learning, keep studying.
A subscriber came into the newsroom and gave me a handmade quilted frame of the quote, which hung over my desk for three-and-a-half years, and I still have today.
The day we stop learning is the day we die.
(n.d.). https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/91067-the-more-i-read-the-more-i-acquire-the-more.
LinkedIn Profile and Companies I Follow
Mastery Journal Blog (Week 2)
In this scene from the movie "Whiplash," conductor Terance Fletcher tells aspiring jazz drummer Andrew Neiman the story of an interaction between jazz drummer Jo Jones and a young alto saxophonist named Charlie Parker.
After a lackluster performance by Parker, Jones throws a cymbal at Parker, according to Fletcher, because the young musician wasn't coming close to his potential. Fletcher then said now imagine if Jones had been satisfied of that performance and said, "good job." Parker wouldn't have become the legend he eventually became.
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful, than 'good job.'" (Airmackeee, 2015).
Though throwing objects at people is a bit extreme, the premise is correct: complacency is the enemy of creativity. We have all had that person in our lives, personal and professional, who have pushed us to be great. Good is not always good enough.
Over the course of my lifetime, I've had music teachers, drill instructors, and editors who taught me minimum effort means a minimum result. You must always work hard to be the best you can be at whatever you do
Take ego out of the equation. Be willing to accept constructive criticism. No one knows everything about anything, so be willing to listen to alternative perspectives.
Most of all, never be complacent...
Reference
Airmackeee. (2015, August 14). Whiplash - “Good Job” speech [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTtr0pnT8Pc
Mastery Final Project Blog
"A goal without a plan is just a wish." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (A Quote by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry, n.d.).
This quote from The Little Prince perfectly explains what needs to be done to complete my mastery journey. Anyone can have lofty goals, but without some sort of plan or road map for success, those goals are often doomed at the conception phase.
In order to accomplish this, I have to establish concrete goals and have a timeline of steps on how I can bring those goals to fruition.
The field of public relations has changed considerably over the last 20 years. It's a living, breathing entity that will continue to evolve, and several trends shape those changes.
Over the next year, I plan on joining the South Carolina Student Public Relations Society of America, as well as the National Association of Black Journalists to network with professionals within my industry. I also plan on staying in touch with the connections I have made on LinkedIn, as well as connections I personally know within the industry and government. I need to learn to ask for help. If I don’t know something, I shouldn't hesitate to ask. No one walks into any situation knowing everything. I must learn as much as I can and trust my skills. I will be joining the Black Student Union and the Veterans Student Union to make connections within Full Sail.
JMF is a company based in India. Though it had a strong marketing team, it wasn’t as experienced in sales as other companies. The company focused on brand promotions, while leveraging the skills the unit did well (Mandi, 2025, pg. 6). This resonated with me because I am not strong at using certain graphic design tools such as InDesign, and I need to establish a strong competence in the system. I plan on executing a plan that highlights my willingness to learn new systems while utilizing my skills as a journalist to my advantage.
References
A quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. (n.d.). https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/87476-a-goal-without-a-plan-is-just-a-wish
Reynolds, S. (n.d.). PR Trends 2025: COMMS Experts talk AI, social media, and crisis management. Cision. https://www.cision.com/resources/articles/pr-trends/
Mandi, K., Chakravarty, R., Ponnusamy, K., Kadian, K. S., Dixit, A. K., Singh, M., Bara, N., Oraon, J., & Jha, B. K. (2025). SWOT Analysis of Dairy Marketing Chain of JMF N., Oraon, J., & Jha, B. K. (2025). SWOT Analysis of Dairy Marketing Chain of JMF using Analytical Hierarchy Process. Asian Journal of Dairy & Food Research, 44(1), 4551. https://doi.org/10.18805/ajdfr.DR-2085
“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” - Johnny Cash (Walter, 2013).
The further along I go in my Mastery journey on the way to a Master’s in Public Relations, the more I realize there will be times that I will stumble.
I allowed my frustration to get the better of me in my first assignment for my Public Relations in a Digital World class, because I couldn’t get a working link for my website. The result was a low grade.
However, I used that failure to start over from scratch to rebuild my grade for the course.
My favorite assignment in this course was easily the creation of a press release. I spent nearly 25 years as a journalist, and I worked regularly with public information officers and sports information directors over the years. I found researching a local event, and writing a press release for that event, a challenging, yet fun, event.
I believe brand marketing is the future of mass communication, and the content on that really resonated me for the future. I also found breaking down classic advertisements, and seeing how they are still relevant to the present.
My future plans are to enter the field as either a public information officer, sports information director, or at the agency level. All of these disciplines require a knowledge of modern content creation platforms, so learning website creation, and writing press releases for the web, will be of paramount importance to my future career.
There will be moments where I will stumble, but it is impossible to be successful without failing along the way. I didn’t last almost a quarter-century in a very competitive field without having to learn from mistakes along the way.
Mistakes are a part of growth, and this course served as a poignant reminder of that for me. The lessons learned from this class will be applied to the rest of my courses in the program and, hopefully, my new career field.
References
Walter, E. (2013, December 30). 30 Powerful quotes on Failure. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ekaterinawalter/2013/12/30/30-powerful-quotes-on-failure/
“Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.” - Sigmund Freud (Cochrane, 2012)
Counting internships and writing for my school newspaper at the University of South Carolina, I have close to 30 years of experience as a working journalist.
However, one does not know everything, and you can always learn new tricks, especially in an era of ever-changing technology.
If anything, “Writing For Interactive Media” has taught me to use what I have in the field and adapt it to today’s media technologies. When I first started as a reporter, we were still dictating our stories from the road on pay phones. There was no such thing as social media, or digital publishing.
One of the discussion posts assigned was to write the framework for a news story. Sounds easy enough for me - until I realized just how out of practice I was. It forced me to create something I felt was timely and relevant.
I chose subject matter that affected me personally: how community newspapers were disappearing and how that affected the areas they served. I have spent most of my career writing for community newspapers and witnessed firsthand how the rise of blogs and social media is leading to the dissolution of news outlets nationwide, creating “news deserts” that are underrepresented by larger media sources.
I traveled to Missouri to meet with my former editor at the Lincoln County Journal to discuss these topics. I spoke with Gregory Orear for over two hours about those changes, including the lack of advertising revenue, and how newspapers could remain solvent during these changing times.
Putting in the extra work forced me to see I still have a great deal to learn, even after three decades.
It is a challenge worth seeing through to the end, and I cannot wait to see how the rest of this year plays out for me as I delve further into the program.
Reference
Cochrane, T. (2012). The emotional experience of the sublime. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 42(2), 125–148. https://doi.org/10.1353/cjp.2012.0003
Legal Aspects of Media Mastery Journal Blog
Mark Twain famously said, "get your facts first, then distort them as you please." (Literary Quotes: Mark Twain and “Facts First,” 2025). I took a media law class during my freshman year at the University of South Carolina in 1997. Wow, that was a long time ago! During that semester, I learned many legal decisions that were key over the next two-plus decades of my life as a reporter. However, a lot has changed since I was dictating game stories from the road on pay phones. Social media has become the rule, not the exception, and the laws of this country have struggled to keep pace with new technologies. It’s become a “forgiveness rather than permission” society when it comes to reporting the facts. No one wants to be the last to break a major story, so often, shortcuts are taken. Those can lead to legal jeopardy for the reporter and/or the publication. Learning how to navigate this new digital arena is where I found this class most beneficial. My favorite assignment in Legal Aspects of Media was undoubtedly studying the Deteresa v. ABC case. During my career as a journalist, I worked on my share of investigative assignments where information wasn’t easy to come by, and people weren’t willing to talk, so I had to get creative. However, I never misrepresented myself or surreptitiously recorded anyone to get a story, as happened in this case. Deteresa clearly would not have spoken to the ABC producer had she known she was being recorded or that a camera was filming her from across the street. The final assignment on deceptive or misleading advertising is the one most beneficial to my future career as a public relations professional. Our job is to promote a business or nonprofit to the public at large, so we must be truthful about how these organizations present themselves, their products, and their services. Sometimes, as communications professionals, we must protect our clients and bosses from themselves just as much as from an angry public! DON’T DISTORT THE FACTS!!! Sometimes, avoiding legal issues can be as simple as running a focus group, commissioning a study, or preventing the dissemination of potentially misleading information. Often, it’s as simple as getting both sides of a controversial issue, and not accusing someone of committing crimes. As beneficial as artificial intelligence is, it doesn’t replace research and interviews with actual humans; a balance must be maintained.
Reference Literary Quotes: Mark Twain and “facts first.” (2025, June 23). The Writing Post. https://thewritingpost.com/2025/06/06/literary-quotes-mark-twain-and-facts-first/
Market and Consumer Research Analysis Blog
“The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading, in order to write: a man will turn over half a library to make one book.” ― Samuel Johnson (Boswell, 2025/1906)
When I was writing for the Lincoln County Journal in Troy, Missouri, my publisher gave me an assignment to look at water prices across all the towns in the county to find the highest and lowest rates. To accomplish this task, I had to contact the water systems in all eight locales in Lincoln County and crunch the numbers. This was not a story that could be done in a few hours. It took many phone calls, emails, and trips to the middle of nowhere to obtain those numbers. When it was finally done and the story was completed, I had a sense of accomplishment. I had written a story that mattered to the community, well-researched and painstakingly compiled. The last class I completed, Market and Consumer Research Analysis, was a lot more writing-intensive than I’m used to. That’s a lot, saying I was a journalist for over 20 years, but we all know journalistic writing is a different species from scholastic writing. However, I obtained knowledge on quantitative and qualitative research that will undoubtedly be valuable not only for the rest of my degree program but also for my future career. Public relations professionals, like journalists, must conduct extensive research for their projects. Though I am not experienced in the least in creating white papers, I know I will likely have to create one during my career, so the more chances I get to write one, the more I have to make the most of those opportunities.
Reference
Boswell, J. (1906). The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (Vol. 2). Forgotten Books. (Original work published 2025)
Innovative Public Relations Tools and Research Blog
"A stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping-stone to the optimist." - Eleanor Roosevelt
(TOP 25 STUMBLING QUOTES (of 218) | A-Z Quotes, 2026)
Just when you think you know everything, you quickly realize you know nothing! This was the first time I can honestly say I stumbled during the Public Relations Masters program at Full Sail, and now doubt is starting to creep in. Can I really do this? Or is this a minor setback on the road to success? I choose to think it's the latter, something that can be used to improve my work as the months continue on. I am officially at the halfway point of the program, and it's only going to get rougher from here. The Marine in me, nor the man, was ever raised to quit, so I have to see this through
Reference
TOP 25 STUMBLING QUOTES (of 218) | A-Z Quotes. (2026). A-Z Quotes. https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/stumbling.html
Social Media Metrics and ROI
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” - George Bernard Shaw (Staff, 2021)
Throughout my time in this program, I have encountered challenges I never thought possible. I expected the Public Relations Master's program at Full Sail to be difficult, but it is considerably more brutal than my expectations. What I have learned most from the last seven months is that you have to leave your comfort zone. Do not rely on past experiences. Instead, create your own experiences.
This month, I completed the Social Media Metrics and ROI class. Even though I am still a bit confused on the machinations of Google Analytics (Sprout Social might be better), the more acclimated I become to the technology, the better and more marketable I will become. That is a part of mastery.
Artificial intelligence is both the present and the future. We cannot avoid it, no matter how much some of us might want to. ChatGPT has become my best friend this month, and it has been very helpful. However, we must be judicious with how we utilize it. It should assist us with our work rather than become the work itself. An excellent analogy was the AFC Championship Game between Denver and New England. Denver found itself in a fourth-and-1 situation in easy range for a field goal. Broncos coach Sean Payton, a huge proponent of analytics, chose to go for the first down.
However, he forgot about the human elements of football. Denver was playing with a backup quarterback who hadn’t played in over two years, and heavy snow was approaching, making visibility and field conditions treacherous. Points were at a premium. Denver failed to convert and eventually lost the game, as its offense became bogged down due to the weather.
“You get this sample size of data,” former NFL offensive lineman Mark Schlereth said to ClutchPoints after the game. “But if I haven’t blocked your defensive front all day long, that data changes. If my guards can’t handle your 3-techniques. And my tackles can’t handle your defensive ends. That math doesn’t work. Math has never made a tackle. Math has never blocked anybody. You gotta understand the feel of the game. Take the points.” (Fritz, 2026).
Analytics should be an assistant, not the boss.
I also learned from this class how social media metrics can be used in crisis communication, such as KFC’s “FCK” campaign in the United Kingdom and Airbnb’s #WeAccept campaign. As a former “old-school journalist,” I have to continue learning new technologies while not relying on them entirely. Change is not something to be feared, but learned from.
References
Fritz, D. (2026, January 27). The NFL’s analytics obsession is breaking football. ClutchPoints. https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/the-nfls-analytics-obsession-is-breaking-football Staff, I. E. (2021, July 23). Remembering George Bernard Shaw with some of his most famous quotes - Ireland’s Eye Magazine. Ireland’s Eye Magazine. https://irelandseye.ie/remembering-george-bernard-shaw-with-some-of-his-most-famous-quotes