Grads, educators must train in new technology, but teach traditional media principles Spring 2009 - By Kenneth Long
SIUE Mass Communications Alumni Association President Megan Lynch is setting the new industry standard in journalism as well as a path students should follow.
Lynch, an award-winning investigative journalist at KMOX 1120 AM and an SIUE alumna from 1992, she became interested in journalism while attending high school in Chatham, Ill., when she took a TV broadcasting class. She also covered high school sports via radio.
“I did newscasts and even a little bit of women’s basketball play-by-play,” Lynch said. “It was enough to whet my appetite.”
After graduating from high school, Lynch began her collegiate studies at Lincolnland Community College in Springfield where she continued to study radio and TV, as well as work at the campus radio station.
“I always had my hand in something with journalism,” Lynch said.
Lynch then transferred to SIUE and began working at WSIE under Michael Leland, known for his work on Voice of America. She continued to pursue her studies under professors like John Rider and Riley Maynard and interned at WIL 92.3 FM.
She graduated from SIUE in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications with a focus on TV/Radio. Soon after she earned her master’s in public affairs reporting from the former Sangamond State University, now University of Illinois-Springfield, where she worked at the Illinois Capitol Building covering legislative sessions.
Next, she took on the job as assistant news director at the Southern Illinois University-Carbondale radio station. During that time she received job offers from KMOX, but waited a few years until she was able to move to the area with her family.
Lynch’s original assignment at KMOX was as an airborne traffic reporter, a job she said was a noticeable change from her past jobs.
“When you’re flying in circles for four hours a day, it’s a little different than working on the ground,” she explained.
Lynch soon moved to doing daily stories for KMOX. Her news director, John Butler, gave her more and more assignments.
“My stories started to develop more and more,” Lynch said. “I started learning my way.”
She earned her title of investigative reporter doing in-depth coverage of previously unanalyzed subjects, including a series of stories about drunk driving laws in Missouri.
“We found out that there had been nearly no change in many years,” Lynch said. “No one had championed the issue.”
The two-week series went on to win numerous awards at the state and national level, throwing Lynch’s name into the mainstream.
Lynch said her series on a 5-year-old child with a rare form of cancer was one of her most memorable. The child’s insurance company refused to pay for medical treatment because of the rarity of the cancer.
After the series, the insurance company reviewed the child’s case and decided to pay for medical treatment, which Lynch said she was extremely proud of.
WSIE Director Tom Dehner has worked with Lynch. He said she has made a name for herself in journalism by setting an example to follow.
“Megan is very sound journalistically, very versatile on field reporting on a variety of subjects and can anchor with the best of them,” Dehner said. “If students are smart enough to sit up and take notice, she’s an excellent example of what we want to come out of our students.”
Lynch sets that example as the president of the Mass Communications Alumni Board, a title for which she feels a little young. Since Lynch works in the day-to-day media world, she has seen the many challenges that future journalists face.
“When the department is looking at what to offer students, we need to look at multimedia,” Lynch suggested. “You have to be willing to be flexible, versatile and sometimes you have to work for very little money to get the experience.”
Lynch said the media industry is evolving in this era of convergence.
“Most media professionals initially trained to be as versatile as possible, but I don't think any of us thought we would be doing everything at once. I think today's young broadcasters are the most capable of any generation when it comes to integrating technology into everything they do, which makes them more efficient backpack journalists,” Lynch said.
But she added that the trend sometimes comes with a price.
“In radio, for example – and I've seen it in print shops too – many reporters are now encouraged to take digital still cameras and even digital video recorders so that we can add content to the web. Speaking of the web, some reporters are now required to post their own stories and help in the on-line marketing of their work. At KMOX, the newsroom is even responsible for sending out news alerts via e-mail to our VIP listeners.
“While knowing how to do all of that may mean greater job security for a journalist and can come with some enjoyment and rewards, it can also be overwhelming and lead to gaps in coverage. A reporter spending time editing photos and video and adding content to the Web, will not have the time to dig deeper into a story. The drive to provide immediate information to audiences in more than one platform, while maintaining the same staffing levels, means something has to give,” Lynch said, “and, in some cases, that may be depth of content.”
Lynch is concerned about the pressures that being a one-man show can put on a person and that there is only so much one person can accomplish. She added that in many shops backpack journalists who come in on a lower pay scale may, ultimately, be pushing more experienced journalists out, taking their institutional memory with them.
However, she did say that it is important for universities to train their graduates in the skill sets needed for being a backpack journalist.
“It is great experience to be a backpack journalist,” Lynch said. “I think universities have to be sure to protect the integrity of the craft and the ability to make a good wage. While an increase in backpack journalism is a reality that I don't see going away soon, I think we have to somehow instill in future broadcasters that at some point in their career they should be compensated for their versatility.
“And while universities train on technology (Web, video, digital editing, remote filing) they also have to make sure grads are solid in world affairs, economics, business, ethics, etc., so that these future journalists can secure longevity as well as technological versatility.”
While Lynch may feel too young for the alumni board president position, she certainly has some wise advice for SIUE grads based on her experience. Dehner said she commands the respect of many, including his.
“When I’m in the workplace with someone like (Lynch), I have the tendency to step aside when she’s walking through the newsroom,” Dehner said. “You have to let her come through.”
Lynch’s work can be heard at KMOX 1120’s Web site, including her series about the history of St. Louis rock ’n’ roll and gun violence in the streets of Metropolitan St. Louis. www.kmox.com/pages/10811.php?