“Be authentically you.” – Megan Mitchell
On the first and third Monday of the month, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists will be highlighting one of our members in the revival of our #MemberMonday series. We are excited to showcase our outstanding members, from the most established to the up-and-coming. To nominate someone who deserves recognition for their journalistic accomplishments go to https://bit.ly/nlgjammonday.
It’s #MemberMonday and as always, we are proud to showcase the work of our members!
This week’s #MemberMonday participant is 2022 Curve Award winner Megan Mitchell. Mitchell is an anchor and reporter for WLWT and an LGBTQ influencer with over 1.8 million followers on Tiktok. Mitchell has been a member of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists since 2015.
The national office communications intern, Adriana Guth-Borowski, had a few questions for Megan Mitchell:
What outlet(s) do you work for?
“I’m an anchor/reporter for WLWT, the Hearst-owned NBC Affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio.”
What made you want to become a journalist?
“I had so many interests. I loved learning, writing, science, sports and theatre. I couldn’t nail down exactly what I liked the best but I realized that with my diagnosed ADHD I would be able to focus on a different subject every single day. It was a dream. And I especially loved creating content and engaging in media. So it was the perfect choice.”
What is the weirdest thing you have eaten while working under a deadline?
“My go-to.. is in the vending machines in my newsroom, there are hardboiled eggs and cheese sticks.. I get them individually and then cut them up together on a plate and it feels like I am eating a cheese omelette LOL.”
What is your favorite story you have ever worked on?
“My favorite story I’ve ever worked on would be a documentary I made about Two Spirit Native Americans in the Dakotas.”
If you could give any piece of advice to a fresh-faced LGBTQ journalist, what would it be?
“Be authentically you. You’ll not just serve as great representation for the folks in the community, but you’ll be able to bring your full-self to work every single day. You’ll be able to use the empathy you’ve gained in your reporting and your writing/voice will get better as well.”
You were recently named a 2022 Curve Award Winner. What does receiving this award mean to you?
“Receiving this award is such a full-circle moment for me. I remember the biggest thing my parents would tell me while going through college and my first job was that if I came out, I would lose everything I worked so hard for. That viewers would stop watching me. That people would think I had an agenda. But after using my platform to be the best journalist I could be and be loudly gay.. and then be RECOGNIZED for that? Wow it makes me realize you can have your cake and eat it too. I just hope that it shows the young queer folks in my region of the country in Ohio that being yourself won’t hinder your career, it will help it.”