Evelyn (Evie) Megery understands the power of words and photographs to illuminate and immortalize people and events.
At Ohio Northern University, she has not only produced award-winning features for the student newspaper, Northern Review, she has become a dedicated researcher and advocate for rural journalism.
Evie is an honors student with a double major in writing & multimedia studies and communication studies. For her senior thesis, she explored the “why” behind rural journalism, interviewing local voices to understand the industry’s impact. She followed this research by producing a “behind-the-scenes” documentary on the Northern Review for her honors capstone enhancement.
Her efforts, she says, deepened her understanding of the crucial role that journalism plays in smaller communities.
“Even though we don’t often have dramatic leads to follow,” she says, “I’ve seen how impactful it is to the local community to highlight stories that are important to its members.”
Evie’s interest in storytelling started at a young age. She has fond memories of sharing a Google Doc with her sister to pen imaginative tales. “Creative writing evolved into writing real stories about real people,” she said. “That’s where my passion lies.”
In addition to her reporting, she’s grown her interest in photography by working for ONU Athletics. “I love being part of the energy of the games,” she says, “and it’s amazing to get photos that capture the emotion of a moment in time.”
Her thesis research served as a natural bridge between her love of words and her commitment to community. After interviewing several local journalists, including Paula Pyzik Scott, owner and editor of the Ada Icon and Bluffton Icon, she produced the feature “Rewriting the Small Town Narrative: Why Journalism Matters in Rural Communities.” This piece and others published in the Northern Review earned her top honors from the Ohio News Media Association.
Her documentary, “Student Voices at a Small University: The Story of Northern Review,” further explores the life of a journalist on a rural campus. This fall, she traveled to Washington, D.C. to share her insights on a student panel at the College Media Association Conference, and she hosted a campus screening of her documentary.
“I am hoping to keep that conversation alive,” she says, “maybe even kickstart a grassroots advocacy for rural journalism.”
At the end of the day, Evie believes rural journalism matters, despite challenges like limited resources.
“Local journalists are not just journalism professionals; we are community members and stakeholders in what happens in our local communities,” she said. “This is why we spend so much time building platforms and investing time in covering community events. Having a platform for local voices to be heard is meaningful and powerful.”