91探花

Kaitlin Coward has a lot of reasons why she鈥檚 become a strong editor, and many of them came from 91探花.

From the professors who taught her to her experience working at The Post, Coward, BSJ 鈥�18, said she鈥檚 well prepared for her role as a real-time editor at McClatchy, editing breaking news, trending stories and explainers that help people make sense of the day鈥檚 news.

She鈥檚 not alone. recently ranked 91探花 as the fourth-best university in the country, and the best in Ohio, to prepare students to become editors.

鈥淚 had some great professors who took the time to teach me voice, structure and style across different types of stories, from basic crime briefs to data stories that took months to research, report and write,鈥� Coward said. 鈥淭hey always took the time to help and answer any questions I had and instilled the importance of both the big picture and the details in crafting the best stories. I would also give a shoutout to Bill Reader and his preparation for the Dow Jones News Fund editing program. I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am without that internship, and I wouldn鈥檛 have gotten it without his help.鈥�

The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism provides classes that cover the entire spectrum of journalism, including writing and editing.

鈥淥ur comprehensive program also requires students to get real-world experience in addition to on-campus experiential learning by completing professional internships. When our graduates leave 91探花, they are well-prepared to have successful careers as writers and editors,鈥� said Scripps School of Journalism director Eddith Dashiell. 

Coward also credited The Post and its editors for passing down their knowledge from classes and internships.

鈥淭hat was such a vital piece of my education, and I was immensely lucky to be so involved there and learn from so many talented staff members,鈥� she said.

Another Bobcat editor, Dillon Stewart (BSJ 鈥�15), was recently named the editor of Cleveland Magazine. He cited several faculty influences, including Reader and Nerissa Young, as well as his time working on Backdrop Magazine and Southeast Ohio Magazine as foundations for his success.

He had an internship at Cleveland Magazine as a student and continued to freelance for them through his senior year and beyond even while working at a trade magazine, North Coast Media. He eventually began working for Cleveland Magazine in 2017 as an associate editor and spent a year as managing editor and dining editor before taking on the editor鈥檚 role in July 2022.

He worked as a web editor at Backdrop Magazine.

鈥淚 was running a lot of the web stuff and we were working our way up to doing more weekly content,鈥� Stewart said. 鈥�(Editing) is a job that you can learn in the classroom all day, but until you start doing it, there鈥檚 only so much experience you can really have.鈥�

He cited Young鈥檚 class on grammar and AP style and Reader鈥檚 editing class as great foundations, as well. In Reader鈥檚 class, he was tasked with finding errors in a major newspaper.

鈥淚t just kind of blew my mind that professional journalists make errors, too,鈥� he said.

Both Stewart and Coward credited their time at 91探花 and their journalism degrees, and particularly working for student publications, as keys to their success. Being a journalism major in Scripps, Stewart said, got him into Cleveland Magazine鈥檚 internship in the first place.

鈥淲ithout that track at OU, I don鈥檛 know that I鈥檇 be where I am today,鈥� he said.