“I want my students to learn to be competent on their own and feel secure—to feel they [as journalists] can enter any community of artists, politicians, immigrant communities and others, be comfortable in those areas, and honor those people as information is gathered. I teach students that they deserve to have information and knowledge, but they will have to work for that in class and as they gain practical experiences outside of the classroom. Whenever possible, our students attend state, regional, and national journalism conventions to network with professionals and other students. Last year, for example, we sent students to The New York Times for “A Day at the Times.” It’s all about professional growth.

“My students learn to treasure and aspire to be great storytellers and to appreciate the story for its informative aspect, beauty, and power of language. When we storytell our lives, we build bridges. Today more than ever, we need strong journalists to rid us of the ‘infotainers’ and to be those great storytellers.”

Melinda Rhodes (B.A., Missouri Southern State University; Ed.S., M.A., Pittsburgh State University; Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln), Assistant Professor of Journalism, advises The Transcript student newspaper, and spent more than a decade editing community newspapers in Kansas and Missouri before entering adult/community, and subsequently, higher education. Professor Rhodes’ research interests are in small community newspapers, women in the media, and women’s education, and she teaches such courses as advanced news reporting, media law, editing and design, photojournalism, and others.