Free Press co-editors learn best practices in connecting local and global issues from veteran journalists

McDaniel Free Press co-editors-in-chief learned best practices in connecting local topics to global impacts from veteran journalists.

Juniors Molly Sherman and Ciara O’Brien were able to have Mark Seibel, technology policy editor at The Washington Post, and Carla Anne Robbins, adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former deputy editorial page editor at The New York Times, at their fingertips thanks to a webinar on Feb. 25 dedicated to student journalists.

The Council on Foreign Relations Local Journalists Webinar: Think Global, Write Local aimed to help students connect local and campus topics to global impacts as well as discuss pursuing careers in journalism.

“I felt humbled to learn from these editors. Journalists, at any stage in their career, often share the same struggles. Each story is a new adventure, and I think those constant opportunities for newness and discovering the unanswered is what connects us across all levels of experiences,” said Sherman, who majors in Economics and Environmental Studies with a Biology specialization and minor in Writing.

Seibel and Robbins “were very thorough in their answers, and it was an honor to be able to ask them questions. It was surreal to hear them address me and commend the quality of questions from all the attendees,” Sherman said.

Since the event was virtual, it allowed journalists from across the country to attend, according to Sherman. O’Brien said it was beneficial to be able to hear from so many different perspectives of student journalists.

O’Brien noted Seibel brought up a question to think about when writing an article, “Where are people in your community coming from?”

“In order to write great stories, we have to know what our audience is interested in, and we can get our audience further interested in the things we write about,” added O’Brien, a Writing and Publishing major with minors in Environmental Studies and Marketing. “He said that people aren’t naturally uninterested in things, and they genuinely like to learn. Every interest has a group that comes with it. We can involve anyone in the conversation as long as it is framed correctly, which is a great honor and a lot of responsibility.”

"I never considered myself to be a leader, and I think McDaniel provided a really great support system that helped me realize I could do it," O'Brien said.

As co-editors-in-chief of the McDaniel Free Press, Sherman and O’Brien work together to coordinate writers and photographers, create and review the article budget, format print issues as well as publish and post content on social media, find and manage advertisers, and research and write articles.

“When I was a first year at McDaniel, I knew I wanted to be involved in the Free Press somehow, but I never thought I had the courage to be co-editors-in-chief,” said O’Brien. “I never considered myself to be a leader, and I think McDaniel provided a really great support system that helped me realize I could do it.”

In the future, O’Brien hopes to have a career involving writing, potentially in environmental journalism and raising awareness about climate change.

“I hope to embody the spirit of journalism wherever my career takes me next,” Sherman said. “My experiences at McDaniel and as a co-editor-in-chief have committed me to pursue reliable information and sources, acknowledging my role and influence in contributing to culture and using storytelling to synthesize information.”