When longtime Kent State University journalism professor Susan Zake decided to pursue a new career as editor-in-chief of the non-profit online news source, Signal Akron, she made a hiring list from the many Kent State graduates she had mentored over her 17-year career.
The result is a new newsroom in Akron, Ohio, just 12 miles from the Kent Campus, that is brimming with Kent State graduates, each one trained, she said, to hit the ground running in the ever-changing world of online journalism.
Zake, who received her master’s degree in journalism from Kent State in 2011, was a managing editor at the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper when she took a buyout and came to Kent State to work on her advanced degree. It was not long until Zake had reached professor status in the School of Media and Journalism and spent many years as the student media advisor for the Kent Stater student newspaper and TV2, the student-run television station.
Over the years, Zake stayed connected with many of her former students, Stater editors and others who were standouts in the school. So, in the summer of 2023 when she was faced with the challenge of staffing a newsroom from the ground up, Zake said she relied heavily on those she knew from Kent State.
In addition to Zake, four of her team of five reporters are Kent State graduates.
Grads Want to Better Ohio
Brittany Moseley, who graduated from Kent State in 2010, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, is Signal Akron’s culture and arts reporter, covering the local arts scene. A native of Springfield, Ohio, she came to Kent State specifically for the accredited journalism program and was also attracted to the university’s unique history.
“I had a really solid journalism education at Kent State,” Moseley said. “My professors really prepared us for the world of journalism and how to be a writer, whether in news, or features, magazine, how to adapt to online, to do radio, video. I got a really well-rounded education at Kent State.”
After graduating, she worked in Cleveland and Columbus before returning to Northeast Ohio for a job at Signal Akron.
“I was really excited to be a part of something new. Journalism is an ever-changing field and it’s not always easy, but I think that non-profit news really represents the future of it,” she said.
Moseley said no matter where she has lived and worked in Ohio, she has found Kent State graduates.
“A lot of them want to stay in Ohio and improve the state or improve the city,” Moseley said. “A lot of them have local ties to the state and so I think that a lot of them feel very personal and emotional about the state and making sure they are bettering it.”
Getting the Right Training
Although Doug Brown, Signal Akron’s government reporter, grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, his father hailed from Kent, Ohio, and he had visited the community often growing up. For his undergraduate degree, he attended Hiram College, about 20 miles north of the Kent Campus, where he majored in political science and graduated in 2010.
Realizing that he might like to pursue a career in journalism, Brown felt he needed to get more specific journalism training. At his father’s suggestion, he stayed in northeast Ohio and enrolled at Kent State to pursue a master’s degree.
“It was a good next step to get the proper training and the journalism classes I didn’t have as an undergraduate,” Brown said.
The opportunity to take journalism classes, while at the same time practicing his craft on the staff of the Kent Stater, and then being able to converse with his professors about his work at the paper proved to be the best combination for Brown, who graduated with his master’s degree in 2013.
As government reporter, Brown covers Akron City Council and police, including the often-controversial police accountability issues.
Brown credits his Kent State connections for landing this job, as Zake was the adviser to the Kent Stater when he was a student.
After working in news and public relations in Ohio and Oregon, Brown heard about the Signal Akron startup and reconnected with Zake about working there.
“I interviewed several times, and I decided the moving to Akron was the right move,” he said.
Transfer Student Finds Her Niche
Kassi Filkins, multimedia reporter/producer for Signal Akron, graduated from Kent State in 2017, after transferring from Columbus State Community College in 2015.
The Pickerington, Ohio, native knew she loved photography, but was not sure she could do it for a living. After two years at Columbus State, she decided to pursue a bachelor's degree and Kent State was her choice for two main reasons: it was more affordable than all other schools she looked at, and it had an exceptional photojournalism program.
“I toured the campus with my dad, and I remember thinking, ‘This feels like a good spot.’ It was the best decision I could have made,” she said.
When she transferred to Kent State, Filkins said she did not know much about photojournalism.
“I just knew I wanted to do photography. They really helped me find my love of storytelling and community news and I’ve carried it with me since,” she said. “I spent my whole time at Kent in student media and I worked a lot. That co-curricular model of taking classes and working in student media really helped prepare me for what the real world was like.”
In the years since she graduated, Filkins moved to Missouri and Connecticut and left journalism to work in communications for a non-profit religious organization. She had returned to Ohio before Signal Akron launched and saw the opportunity to be a part of a new style of journalism.
“It has been really cool to be part of a team where we are redefining what local news can look like,” Filkins said.
From Fashion to Journalism
Reegan Davis Saunders, a native of Northville, Michigan, came to Kent State for its renowned School of Fashion, but after a year was not sure it was the right career path. After taking a course in media, power and culture, Saunders was bitten by the journalism bug and changed majors at the end of freshman year.
Saunders graduated in the spring of 2023 and spent a few months applying for jobs when Zake reached out later that year and Saunders was hired for the job of community and service reporter for Signal Akron.
“I would say that Kent State prepared me quite well, especially when it comes to going out into the field and talking to people,” Saunders said. “I’m grateful to have had that experience at Kent State.”
Saunders was drawn to Signal Akron because of its emphasis on accountability journalism, which they believe is needed at a time when there is so much misinformation being proliferated.
In addition to reporting, Saunders also runs much of Signal Akron’s social media and uses their art background to generate graphics and maps. “So that pairs well with my love of the arts and my minor in art.”
“I minored in print media, printmaking and silk screening, carvings, things like that. So, I have the mix of the art background with the journalism background,” Saunders said.
Kent Graduates Are Job-Ready
Unlike in the past when students would have had multiple internships, and then move into entry-level positions where they would be mentored by more senior staff, the current state of journalism no longer supports the resources to provide that kind of on-the-job training, Zake said. Students need to graduate “job-ready,” she added.
“Kent State certainly competes very well in doing that,” she said.
Zake said her years at Kent State also prepared her for taking the lead of this new style of newsroom, a non-profit model that relies heavily on citizen documenters and widespread community involvement with a focus on news at the neighborhood level.
Launched in December 2023, Signal Akron is the second newsroom in the Signal Ohio network of independent, community-led, nonprofit newsrooms. Signal Ohio is one of the largest local nonprofit news startups in the country and is backed by a coalition of Ohio organizations, community leaders and the American Journalism Project.
“I think the great thing about being in the newsroom with the students at Kent State is we were always looking for new things to try, and that was really part of my role – to help the students vet innovation and new techniques. How much should we be online? How much should we be in print? What new products should we launch? And that is inherently what Signal Akron is doing,” she said.
“I’m really thrilled with the staff I have been able to put together,” Zake said, adding that more Kent State graduates could be hired soon. “They have shown their talent in the work that they have done in just the six months since we have launched.”