# @msujschool on Facebook - **Type:** Image - **Original URL:** https://www.facebook.com/1588490806402984/posts/10156278218203666 - **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/68589919-msujschool-facebook - **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/d1c24b5a16.jpg - **Posted:** 2019-02-01T13:00:01.000+00:00 ## Caption #Five4Friday time! Jack Nissen B.A. 2017 & M.A. 2018 Digital Content Creator, FOX 2 Detroit Q: Tell us a little about your current job. What do you love about it? A: While I am one of four Digital Content Creators to be employed at WJBK FOX 2 Detroit, my position is the first new position to open at the station in years. My boss told me the move is a break from the norm of media companies consolidating their jobs in the wake of a still-hurting profession. But with that new position comes a different set of expectations from what the other web reporters do. We've all entered the new year with the goal of creating more original content for our readers, rather than filling the feeds of audiences with clickbait stories. One reporter enjoys sports and conducts Facebook live-streams some days. Another has been creating short videos that condense complicated stories into easy to understand graphics that flash across moving images. Because I have a print background with a specialization in environmental reporting, I've spent my first three and a half weeks finding stories under that umbrella and writing them. We all have the responsibility of making sure whatever gets broadcasted on TV makes its way on the website, as well as actively updating the stations social platforms, so the original content takes longer to produce. However, it's easiest to convey why I love this position simply in the title itself. I have quite a bit of autonomy over the things I get to write and report on. As the digital wing of the newsroom evolves, I'm sure that freedom will also evolve. I want to make the effort to be a part of that evolution. I also have the benefit of a lot of resources and a great coworkers, which just isn't always the case in other newsrooms. I recognize how good I have it and wouldn't ever take that for granted. My shift also starts at 10 a.m., and I'm not sure how I got that lucky. Q: How did you did you choose MSU J-School? A: The choice of attending Michigan State was a combination guaranteed school pride for its brand, and geography. It was just far enough away from home. But that's as far as career aspirations took me when I was 18 years old. I didn't know what I was going to go into, I just new it wouldn't involve the STEM field. Like so many other reporters, I don't have the mind for math. But after a WRA class showed me I could enjoy the craft of writing and my current major at the time bored me through large lecture halls and uninspiring content, I made the switch to a field that I could write, and get paid for it (albeit, not a lot). Originally I was in broadcast journalism. However, it was after a seminar on environmental reporting catalyzed my interest in writing about all of the themes that the environment encompasses. Despite it being the beat that seems to get cut from newsrooms first, I detected a sense of urgency that we would need more environmental journalists as climate change amplifies. Why shouldn't I be the one helping tell those stories? And so, here I am. Q: How did your experience at the J-School prepare you for your career? A: I admit the most beneficial experiences I had in preparing me for my career didn't come in the classroom. How could it when the best work you do is in the field. Now, the doors opened up for me in the J-school that allowed me to obtain professional experience was key to the path I followed to Fox 2. I had two professors, both in the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, that really helped refine my skills as a journalist. I did research with one of them for two years, which helped strengthen my academic literacy, giving me the tools to report on science with more efficiency. I'm sure the scientists I talk to appreciate me having a basic understanding of the scientific process. The other kicked my butt with environmental and state-wide reporting by drilling into my head the rules of AP style and conveying a clear message. Learning these skills helped me do better work at Great Lakes Echo and Capital News Service, which are two news experiences I commonly cite for clips I'm proud of. Q: What advice do you have for students who consider a grad degree/linked M.A. program? A: Do it. You won't find another opportunity to dip your toes into the world of higher-education and academia while still having the freedom to focus on professional clips. Another year of school means another year of refining your skills as a reporter, diversifying your list of resources, fine-tuning the places you can look for stories, while getting a new perspective on how to write about science. Many of the best journalists are experts in their field, and may have even come from their field before getting into journalism. It never hurts to know how the sausage is made if you plan on writing stories on the final product. Plus, it doesn't hurt to get "MA" stamped on your resume after it's all done. However, if you've already made the decision to go the Linked program, then my advice is allocate more time for each class than you think you need. We all skirted by in our undergrad degrees by not reading every page of the assigned reading. But you're not around that crowd of mutual disinterest in some of those classes. These students care about their education and that commitment will reflect in the discussions they have during class. And their opinions will sound well-informed because those students do the reading. Don't take the homework lightly. Q: After a while in Minnesota, how does it feel to be back in Michigan? Oddly enlightening. I left for Duluth with little intention of moving back to Michigan. Why the heck would I? I just spent the last 18 years in the glove state and was ready to move on. New experiences would diversify my knowledge about the world and the cultures that inhabit its regions. While Michigan doesn't necessarily gift me the feeling of "newness" I was desperate for when I left, it's still a hotbed for such unique stories that have yet to be written. I also had previous knowledge of the political landscape and the issues many of its residents are concerned with, so it wasn't going to take as long for me to immerse myself in that world when I started my job. Duluth is a special city and its residents are a stubborn crowd. But it's also an insidious city that gets its claws in you. For a city that sees little daylight during winter and puts Michigan's "crazy weather" stereotype to shame, it's a great place to live in and I'll never forget it. But, now I'm back in Michigan and I'll treat it with the same respect as I did for Minnesota. ## Stats - **Views:** 0 - **Likes:** 4 - **Shares:** 0 - **Comments:** 0 ## Tags five4friday --- Copyright (c) Gondola