Meet Jordyn Siemens
Class of 2017听鈥� Co-Editor-in-Chief of听CU Independent听
Jordyn Siemens sat nervously on an old, green couch in a crowded newsroom. Only three days earlier, she had moved from her family鈥檚 home in Fort Collins into her freshman dorm.
At a friend鈥檚 insistence, she had agreed to attend the first staff meeting of the semester for the听听(CUI)鈥攁 24/7 student-run news site.
Journalism wasn鈥檛 new to Siemens. She had learned to edit video in high school and had come to CU-Boulder to study broadcast news. But she had never written for a news publication. If she was going to be a journalist that needed to change, she decided.
Her first article wasn鈥檛 published.
鈥淢y very first assignment was a cross-country meet and my story didn鈥檛 get put up because it was听so听bad,鈥� she remembers with a laugh. With coaching from her editors, her fourth story鈥攁 profile of a cross-country runner鈥攚ent up on the site. 鈥淚 was really impressed with all the older kids who took me under their wing and showed me what to do,鈥欌�� she says.
Now, Siemens leads staff meetings from the front of that newsroom.
础蝉听CUI鈥檚 co-editor-in-chief she heads a staff of writers, photographers, audiovisual producers and programmers who publish an award-winning news site. Siemens and the other editors encourage staff members to pick assignments and media formats that interest them. Students from the campus sports show produce a podcast, a student from the business school sells ads, and computer science students maintain the website.
鈥淭he resources are endless. I can try听any and every idea that pops into my head.鈥�
- Jordyn Siemens
In her CMCI classes, Siemens focuses on broadcast news, gaining hands-on experience with video editing, studio production and field videography. She also develops public exhibits for the library and writes online content for the athletics department. In each of these experiences, Siemens sees potential journalism careers. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how this journalism department is set up,鈥� she notes. 鈥淵ou may major in one area, but you dabble in everything.鈥�
As Siemens continues to explore her future, the听颁鲍滨听offers a chance to build her leadership skills, to add to her professional portfolio and鈥攁s it has for many previous students鈥攗ltimately pave her way into the media industry. And as co-editor-in-chief, she aims to ensure that other students have the same opportunities. 鈥淪tudents here take on projects. When they leave, they can say 鈥業 started this column, this video series, this podcast,鈥� 鈥欌�� she explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an entrepreneurial experience.鈥�