While completing a two-month journalism fellowship in Arizona the summer after her college graduation, Anna Huntsman, ’19, found herself nostalgic for Ohio.
“I was around a lot of people from all across the country,” she remembers. “They would ask me, ‘What’s so special about Ohio?’ and I would have this answer about the camaraderie, the sports, the work ethic. I just found myself having these answers of really missing my home.”
Huntsman, who majored in journalism and was a member of Kent State’s Honors College, landed a job at Ideastream Public Media in Cleveland a few short months later. Four years later, she hasn’t looked back.
“I never expected that I would get a job in Cleveland when I graduated, but it has only made me want to stay here now.”
Ideastream Public Media is Northeast Ohio’s largest publicly supported media organization and serves 3.6 million people. Huntsman covers the Akron/Canton region as a reporter/producer. Being part of a large organization has also given her big opportunities: like being part of moderating Akron’s mayoral debate and serving as a fill-in host on The Sound of Ideas.
“My Kent State experience was absolutely wonderful,” Huntsman says. “I was able to be involved with Student Media, including TV2. This allowed me to have hands-on experience while I was still in college, and I think that definitely helped me get my job here at Ideastream. As someone who grew up in Northeast Ohio, it’s an honor every day that I get to cover (the region) and be at the station I grew up watching.”
This semester, Huntsman is sharing her knowledge with students in the School of Media and Journalism as an adjunct professor. She is teaching Audio Storytelling & Podcasting, a hands-on course that introduces students to writing, producing and editing stories for audio.
