Medill media innovation graduates say they’re ready for what comes next
Medill’s latest class of Media Innovation & Entrepreneurship master’s students wrapped up their studies in June after a fast-paced year of learning whose last term was reshaped because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a spring quarter in which all Northwestern classes were conducted online, the 10 graduates are now launching careers and looking for the right opportunities to put their education to work.
Avery Dews
Avery is originally from Plymouth, Michigan. Before Medill, he worked as a software engineer at Lakeside Software in Ann Arbor.
What did you learn at Medill?
“I developed a very broad set of skills at Medill! In the first quarter, I learned journalism fundamentals, ethics, and brushed up on my HTML/CSS skills. In the second quarter, I gained hands-on experience in a product management role as an intern at a San Francisco-based e-commerce company called BestReviews. In the classroom, I developed some new skills in product development and design and even learned some new front-end development skills. In my final two quarters, I split my time between learning more reporting skills (audio, video, and print), gaining more experience with user design through my master’s project in collaboration with the Medill Local News Initiative, and had the opportunity to get experimental in the Knight Lab Studio class.”
What was your favorite Medill class and why?
“Audio Reporting with WBEZ reporter Natalie Moore. Medill provided me with numerous opportunities to learn directly from some incredible professionals, and Natalie’s class was no different. Her class was so hands-on — from pitching stories, having her edit her stories in front of us, to sitting down with her to edit my stories — that I plan to produce audio stories in my free time going forward to keep practicing. It was a phenomenal experience.”
What are your summer plans?
“My original summer plans were to spend two weeks in Germany, but now I plan to enjoy spending some (socially distant) time with my friends and family back home in Michigan.”
What are your career goals?
“At least in the short term, to take my software development and product design skills to the newsroom. I’m not entirely sure what this will look like, but any place where technology is being used to solve problems in an innovative way within the newsroom, I want in. In the longer term, I would like to go into product management.”
Camille Galles
LinkedIn | Twitter: @cegalles
Prior to Medill, Camille worked in community and political organizing in her native Minneapolis, Minnesota. She led the creation and programming for Representative Ilhan Omar’s 2016 district office and was a marketing coordinator at American Public Media.
What did you learn at Medill?
“I learned to think strategically about the intersections of content, business, and technology. I became confident in my creative vision and ability to lead.”
What was your favorite Medill class and why?
“Foundations of Brand Management (in Medill’s Integrated Marketing Communications program), because I was challenged to apply strategic frameworks to propose and evaluate brand strategies, and to defend myself with financial data.”
What are your summer plans?
“I am working as the digital marketing manager for Lunar Startups and pursuing further career opportunities.”
What are your career goals?
“To be a brand manager or marketing director for a creative, purpose-driven company, where I get to deeply understand audiences, and connect them with opportunities that make a difference. Shorter term, I’m pursuing social media, email marketing, and/or digital strategy positions in the Washington, DC area.”
Meredith Gallo
LinkedIn | Twitter: @gallo_meredith
Before attending Medill, Meredith worked for Oracle in Reston, Virginia. Originally from the Washington, DC suburbs, she majored in global studies as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia.
What did you learn at Medill?
“Medill allowed me to build my credentials as a writer and taught me new perspectives through which to assess the success and growth of media products and businesses.”
What are your summer plans?
“I have a fellowship at Medill doing research into product thinking in journalism.”
What are your career goals?
“I would like to work as an audience engagement editor or analyst, whether that means building newsletters and social campaigns or developing a revenue strategy. I am looking for opportunities in Chicago, Washington DC, New York City and remote.”
Jack Kelly
LinkedIn | Twitter: @byjackkelly
Born and raised in America’s dairyland, Jack calls Racine, Wisconsin, home. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in journalism and history.
What did you learn at Medill?
“I learned A LOT at Medill: How to be a better reporter, the intricacies of SEO, the difference between a project manager and product manager and much, much more. My experience this past year was unique. The amazing opportunities afforded to me by Rich Gordon and the media innovation program — a quarter in San Francisco learning the tech scene, an amazing internship with Healthline Media and nine lifelong friends — coupled with the hard reporting skills I learned with Ellen Shearer during my Washington reporting quarter leave me confident that I’ll be able to tackle any job or project that comes my way.”
What was your favorite Medill class and why?
“My favorite Medill class had to be the Washington reporting quarter. While I loved my experience in San Francisco, my quarter with Medill on the Hill helped me grow so much as a journalist. But I really loved all my classes! From our stimulating ethics and law class last summer to my amazing Medill Explores course focused on South Africa, I wouldn’t have changed anything about the last year.”
What are your summer plans?
“I am working with McClatchy’s DC Bureau covering South Carolina’s congressional delegation and national politics for The State, a regional paper located in Columbia, South Carolina.”
What are your career goals?
“Honestly, I would love to have a varied career. My passion for politics and political reporting makes me want to start my career covering Congress, but eventually I think it would be amazing to work on a media venture. Right now I’m focused on tackling what’s in front of me, but I’ll always be all ears when it comes to exciting new opportunities.”
Ju Park
From Seoul, South Korea, Ju studied journalism at Ewha Womans University. Before entering Medill, she worked for Korea’s English-language newspaper, the Korea Herald, as a full-time reporter.
What did you learn at Medill?
“A full year in Medill allowed me to dive deep into the fast-changing media landscape and hone my skills in various areas, including content strategy, audience development and human-centered design. The biggest takeaway from the program is that I gained insight into the business side of media products. While working as a reporter in Seoul, I had wondered how I could effectively distribute quality content and better serve the audience by offering tailored news for them. For me, MIE was the perfect program for learning how to understand the audience and develop media products from scratch. My San Francisco internship at SmartNews was a highlight of the program because I could fully immerse myself in the unique Bay Area culture and experience what it’s like working in a media-tech company.”
What was your favorite Medill class and why?
“The class that I liked the most was The Business of Innovation taught by Birju Shah, a group product manager at Uber Technologies. The course helped me to get an entrepreneurial mindset by gaining a basic understanding of the startup business and product development process. I also got a lot out of Design Thinking and Research for Media Products, where I learned how to find out people’s needs, pain points and goals using the human-centered design process. Classes like Audience Insights and Audience Development and Analytics were also helpful in understanding the behaviors of news consumers and the psychological factors behind those actions.”
What are your career goals?
“I want to contribute to developing a media product that can serve the needs of news consumers and make more people be engaged in news content. I’m currently looking for a job as a product manager or an audience developer in a media company. However, I’m open to working in any position at a company that shares the same core values as I do.”
Sonia Singh
Sonia came to Chicago from her native Mumbai, India, where she graduated from NMIMS University with a degree in Computer Engineering.
What did you learn at Medill?
“I wanted to use my time at Northwestern and Medill by making sure my skill set is as interdisciplinary as possible. I did just that. I took classes at the Kellogg School of Management and the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, as well as those at Medill. I was thrilled that I could also spend my fall quarter in San Francisco, where I took classes and had a product management internship at Quantcast, an ad-tech company powered by artificial intelligence. I was able to add to my technical skills by taking on the role of a product manager as well as a front-end engineer in the startup incubator class, NUvention:Web+Media. I also got to explore the role of computer science in media through the Knight Lab.”
What are your career goals?
“I’d love to explore roles at the intersection of media, technology and business. My immediate career goals are to either work as a product manager or as a front end engineer in the media or internet/software industry.”
Mark Stenberg
LinkedIn | Twitter: @MarkStenberg3 | Medialyte newsletter | Website
Mark grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and studied honors English and history as an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin.
What did you learn at Medill?
“My main focus was researching sustainable new financial models for digital media, as well as other important components of creating and running a financially viable media company. As a result, I studied a lot of analytics, paywall strategies, audience development techniques and revenue-generation methods.”
What was your favorite Medill class and why?
“The Business of Innovation with Birju Shah in San Francisco. It was a crash course in startup culture, entrepreneurship, finance, equity and innovation, taught by someone who knew what he was talking about. I still routinely reference slide decks from that class.”
What are your summer plans?
“I have a six-month fellowship at Business Insider, where I will be covering entrepreneurship, startups and small business.”
What are your career goals?
“Create and run successful media companies.”
Ruby Thompson
A born-and-bred Chicagoan, Ruby studied marketing and writing as an undergraduate at Marquette University in Wisconsin.
What did you learn at Medill?
“My professors were exceptional teachers and role models and gave me an incredible toolbox to carry with me into my future career. My coursework in Design Thinking and Research, Content Strategy, Magazine Editing and Narrative Structures has given me a well-rounded background perfectly suited for an editor and/or content strategist role. I have also been working as an intern at Healthline Media on their Parenthood brand since September, giving me the real-world experience and confidence I need to dive into a career.”
What are your summer plans?
“I will continue to work at Healthline as an editorial intern on their Parenthood brand. Otherwise, I’ll be on the hunt for a full-time job in editing or content strategy.”
What are your career goals?
“My dream job is to be a health and wellness editor or content strategist.”
Kerrie Vila
LinkedIn | Twitter: @kerrievila
From Sag Harbor, New York, Kerrie completed three years as a Northwestern undergraduate before heading straight to the master’s program.
What did you learn at Medill?
“I became much better at user research and product design. I am a better and more confident writer. Through my internship at KQED in San Francisco, I learned about newsletter and audience engagement strategy.”
What was your favorite Medill class?
“The Business of Innovation in San Francisco.”
What are your career goals?
“To work on building products or communities for media companies.”
Andrew Weiler
LinkedIn | Twitter: @agweiler2020
Hailing from the Pacific Northwest — Washington state, specifically — Andrew worked for Chicago-based film production company Kindling Group before joining Medill.
What did you learn at Medill?
“The core of my academic experience was learning human centered design, web development and business development within the journalism industry.”
What was your favorite class and why?
“Design Thinking & Research for Media Products in San Francisco was both challenging and rewarding. It forced us to think outside of the box and be extremely iterative with our work.”
What are your summer plans?
“I’ve accepted a full-time job as client services manager for Oaklandside, a new local-news website serving Oakland, California. It’s operated by the same company that runs Berkeleyside, where I had an internship during my San Francisco quarter.”
What are your career goals?
“Within the next year, I hope to be in a leadership position at a local media company and possibly even an owner.”
About the MSJ media innovation specialization
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