Graduate earns top journalism position
By Heidi Heater, a junior from Jackson, Ky.
WILMORE, KY—Whether at Asbury College or the Missouri School of Journalism, Noelle Edwards ’07 always wanted to stand out in her field. At Missouri, Edwards is doing just that. She was one of six students selected as assistant editor for the copy and design desk, the highest student-filled position, at the Missourian. In exchange for her work, Edwards receives a tuition waiver.
Edwards believes her work at the Collegian, the College newspaper, her undergraduate journalism degree from Asbury College, and, of course, her passion for journalism landed her the job. Edwards said her role as editor of the Collegian at the College “was a leadership experience that even undergrads here, at the best journalism school in the country, don’t get.”
Her responsibilities as Collegian editor included controlling a budget, training people and learning to work as a team, fielding phone calls and dealing with the politics of a publication.
“For me, working at the Collegian was invaluable because I learned the consequences of my journalism,” she said. “This isn’t something I could have ever learned in a classroom, but it made me a better journalist in everything I do because it forced me to think about the implications of what I write and edit and the business of a newspaper—the funding that makes journalism possible, marketing and image-building, organization, all that.”
Professors such as Mike Longinow and David Wheeler encouraged Edwards to pursue her dreams as a journalist. “They both were, and continue to be, so integral in my career because they just shove out of my head any notion that I can't do something,” she said. “They both dreamed big for me and painted these great pictures of what I could do with God's strength and the skills I learned at Asbury College.”
Edwards now has the opportunity to take what she’s studied at the College and apply it to her position at the Missourian. As part of this job, she gives the final edit to copy to catch mistakes missed by students and improve their editing skills. Edwards updates the publication’s website, helps design pages and readies the copy for printing.
At the Missouri School of Journalism, Edwards plans to pursue a master’s degree with an emphasis in news design and one day hopes to be the editor of a newspaper. In December 2007, Edwards was awarded the Dow Jones Internship in Journalism.
“I love the multi-tasking that is involved in being an editor, getting to dabble in every part of journalism, as well as the management tasks of working with people, being the face of the company, making tough decisions and being in a position to improve the paper,” Edwards said. “I am someone who loves to find a problem, brainstorm ways to solve it and then solve it.”
The Missourian is a city newspaper run by the Missouri School of Journalism designed to give students a combination of theory and experience in the newspaper world. Full-time employees, such as would be hired at any other publication, hold all of the editor and manager positions. Students work at the newspaper to fulfill class requirements. Thus, they put what they learn in the classroom into practice in the newsroom.
Released: Dec. 19, 2007
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Tagged: communication, journalism and features
