Most people have seen a red-carpet event on TV — the biggest stars dressed to the nines, walking into the Oscars, the Emmys, the Golden Globes. But behind the scenes, a lot more is happening than just flashing cameras. Advertising junior Laine Farber got an inside look at what goes into a red-carpet event while handling public relations for rising country star Reyna Roberts at the 2023 Country Music Television Awards, held for the first time in Austin. Farber’s job was to pitch the opportunity to interview Roberts to local and national media outlets. Because Roberts is new to the country music scene, she doesn’t have a publicist like Blake Shelton or Carrie Underwood do, so Farber filled that role. “On the red carpet, it is important to know which outlets would best represent the talent you are working with and what the goals are for publicity,” she said. 

After she graduates, Farber said she hopes to land her dream job as an entertainment publicist. “The most rewarding part of this experience was getting hands-on experience on the red carpet,” she said. “It was also super rewarding getting to meet publicists, and hear about their experiences and ask them questions about the industry.”

Farber, who came to UT from Chicago, said she’s had so many incredible opportunities since starting at Moody, including taking Script to Screen with Matthew McConaughey and spending a semester in New York City with UTNY. “Moody truly has shaped me into who I am today, and I don’t know where I would be without it,” she said. “Seeing the Longhorn Band and cheerleaders on the red carpet with country music icons such as Shania Twain and Carrie Underwood on my college campus was surreal and reminded me of how amazing it is to be a Longhorn.”

Sarah Batson credits her interest in politics to her upbringing. Her family always listened to NPR in the car, and her mom was very civic minded. In high school, Batson was interested in political history, so when it came time to apply to college, she decided to study government at UT. When working with Moody College’s Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, she learned about the classes in political communication at Moody. She saw the overlap and decided to add communication studies, with an emphasis on political communication, as her second major. 

In Spring 2023, Batson had the opportunity to intern at the Texas Capitol, working as a legislative aide for Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, during the 88th Legislative Session. She was assigned more than a dozen bills to follow, attended committee and stakeholder meetings to learn more about their implications, and then, reported back to committee staff members to help lawmakers decide how to vote. 

Batson said her Moody background was critical to being successful in that environment. “I think of a lot of the skills you need in politics fall much more comfortably within the Moody wheelhouse,” she said. “Knowing about public policy is great, but at the entry level, the thing you are doing is communicating. You need to talk with people you are meeting and communicate effectively. If you can’t do that, the political knowledge and expertise is less impactful.” 

Batson started graduate school Fall 2023 at the LBJ School of Public Affairs but will continue working with the Annette Strauss Institute as a program manager for Texas Votes, a nonpartisan student organization that makes sure Longhorns are registered to vote and can cast their ballots at every election. “I think Moody is a great option for people interested in politics,” Batson said. “People tend to assume you either have communication skills or you don’t. Moody teaches you that, yes, there’s an inherent part of it, but there are ways you can do it better and more effectively.”