Emma Nisbet. Communication: Print and Digital Journalism

My name is Emma Nisbet, and I am a senior communication major with a concentration in print and digital journalism at Mississippi State University. I am also pursuing a minor in creative writing. It’s just like what the collective “they” say about roads and Rome: everything about me somehow originates itself in writing. I feel that a very common story among undergraduate university students is that they change their chosen major or career plans at least once in their four years. However, that is not at all the case for me. I started here at MSU in print and digital journalism and have never strayed from this path.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to write. When first beginning the college search journey, I knew that as long as I chose something in the world of writing, I would be happy. As aforementioned, I am also in the creative writing minor at MSU. One of my goals after I graduate is to become a published author of fiction novels. In fact, I always dreamed of being an author before I started wanting to be a journalist too. However, I fully understand that placing all of my eggs in the becoming-an-author-basket as a career path is not the wisest or most secure idea - which only further reinforced my choice in journalism.

When first declaring my concentration in print and digital journalism, I did not know exactly what to expect - especially since I did not take my first course in said concentration until the fall of my sophomore year. Something that has always stood out to me throughout all of my classes in the Department of Communication is the faculty and professors. The department as a whole feels, overall, tight-knit and supportive with a large amount of positive overlap between courses. Many of the classes in the Department of Communication have always felt as if they are truly building off of one another, even when taking some courses simultaneously. The print and digital journalism concentration - really the communication major as a whole - has opened a variety of doors for me all across campus and granted me several opportunities beyond MSU.

I applied to join The Reflector student newspaper my very first week as a freshman back in August 2021 and I am still a staff writer for them even into my final semester at MSU. Another student organization that has been prominent through all my years as a college student has been The Streetcar - MSU’s one and only student-run, student-submissions based creative arts journal. I joined as a general editorial board member as a freshman, rose to the submissions editor position for my sophomore and junior years and am now one of the co-editors-in-chief as a senior. Both of these organizations have become vital parts of my college career and have prepared me in varying ways for what I may experience after I walk across that graduation stage and, potentially, leave Starkville and Mississippi State University behind me.

One of my most valuable undergraduate experiences was undoubtedly when I studied abroad for the entirety of the spring 2024 semester in Mannheim, Germany. I was told before I left that I would catch a “travel bug” during my time away and it would only take effect once I returned to the United States and that person could not have been more correct. However, I did not spend all my time in Germany. I saw just a few of the most famous works of art ever conceived in Florence and Venice, the city of Paris preparing for an Olympic Games, the tulips first breaking out in bloom in the Netherlands and even a man - beer in hand - floating down the Rhine River in an inflatable tube in Basel, Switzerland. I could gush and reminisce over my months in Europe all day and, once again, turn into the annoying friend who incorporates their study abroad experience into their personality, but I will put a stop to it here.

In my undergraduate years, I have completed three separate internships. I worked two of them simultaneously during the summer between my sophomore and junior years and the third was between my junior and senior year. The pair of internships were for two vastly different publications; one of these was called The Take - an entertainment- and pop culture-centric publication based in New York - and the other was The Game Haus - a sports- and esports-focused publication based in Ohio. Both of these internships were able to be worked remotely and that is precisely how I was able to engage with both from my home back in Tennessee. Just this past summer, I had my first in-person internship as a reporter for the Starkville Daily News. Of the three, I believe the most valuable experience garnered - in terms of how similar it was to what I hope to do after graduating - was with the Starkville Daily News. I went into the office five days a week, worked at my own desk in a cubicle and was frequently sent to meetings around Starkville and West Point as well as just pursuing people and stories with a quick turnaround on essentially everything I wrote. More often than not, the editor of the Starkville Daily News would assign me an article - or articles - in the morning and I would need to have the work done by 5 p.m. that same day. Unlike the pair of internships I completed just a year prior, I was the only intern for the Starkville Daily News, and this made it a very different experience as well. Because I was the only one there, I was treated more as a regular reporter and staff writer than an intern and that experience was invaluable. Overall, it only made me feel more confident in myself and the choice of journalism as my career path.

One of my favorite projects I have completed for a class was my final article for Advanced News Writing and Reporting. The premise of the project was to pursue a “Community Issue Story” that affects the city of Starkville in some manner. I chose to look into the upcoming Main Street renovation project that will be breaking ground sometime in February this year. I spoke to Mayor Lynn Spruill and looked into reports from Starkville Utilities on the preparatory work for the remodeling of the downtown area. However, the angle I took with the article was to focus on how this renovation project will affect local businesses. I walked into several of the shops on Main Street and talked with the owners of each. This was my favorite part of the whole process behind this assignment, and I was quite happy with how the final product turned out.

I think it is clear to anyone who has made it this far that my favorite part of the multimedia journalism process is the writing. To be perfectly clear, if I had to rank the three mediums it would proceed as writing, photography and then videography. Nonetheless, I am more than happy to fill in for roles where I am needed. Although I enjoy the writing portion of the work the most, I would welcome the opportunity to alternate and take on the photography or video-related responsibilities on one of my future group’s projects in order to give someone else the chance to build some more writing experience for themselves. My concentration is in Print and Digital Journalism, but I want to be proficient in these other areas in order to be well-prepared for situations or projects in the future that will require me to use photography or video skills.

In terms of this Multimedia Journalism course specifically, I am most looking forward to working with a group and seeing all of the different parts of our projects come together. We all might have completely separate roles and are creating content in differing mediums, but we are working towards the same goal. I am excited to see how all our work culminates in a finished product that is engaging and interesting to the rest of our peers in this class. Although I will only be in a single group, I am also anticipating what the other groups will create as well.

For me, this is my final semester at Mississippi State University. Somewhere, roughly halfway through my undergraduate program, I was advised that college is a time where the weeks are long, but the semesters are short. I can confirm, wholeheartedly, the accuracy behind that statement. It does feel like “just yesterday” that I was a freshman living in Sessums Hall and fighting my way through general education requirements. Now, come May, I will be out of here. I guess that spoils the fact that, no, I will not be staying for graduate school or attending any post-grad program at all. At least, not right now. Perhaps I will feel a pull to return to academia in a few years time. My own father returned to school for his master’s degree an entire decade after completing his bachelor’s. Right now - or, at least, a few months from now - I hope to be writing for a newspaper, magazine or any form of publication. I am rather open to not only what I am doing but where as well. The beautiful thing, to me, about journalism is that there are opportunities in this field anywhere and everywhere. If I could truly have my way, I would love to end up somewhere abroad again one day, writing my fiction novels as a side gig until when - or if - the stars align on that particular dream.

Email me at edn80@msstate.edu with any questions.