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Nerissa Young
associate professor of instruction
WOSU Public Media
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Professional Bio
Nerissa Young is and was a multiplatform journalist before the term existed. That means she's old. She grew up on the family farm in southern West Virginia and was one of those kids listening to the "Grand Ole Opry" on WSM Radio over a transistor radio after the family went to sleep. After earning a teaching degree from Concord College and teaching junior high a couple of years in between stints at WMTD Radio, Young got her master's degree in journalism from Marshall University. From there, she ran a home-based bureau as a general assignment reporter covering two rural counties for The Register-Herald daily newspaper. Young took lots of photos for her stories because the photographers in the newsroom (an hour away) didn't want to drive to the boonies every day. She also wrote a weekly column called "The Back Porch" and freelance magazine pieces. Young taught journalism at Oklahoma State University, Shepherd University and Marshall University, where she also advised the campus newspaper. Young is the author of a children's book, book chapters on media law and ethics and the book "Mass Communication Law in West Virginia, 2nd edition." For the past decade, she's been trying to finish a documentary, but life and adventures keep getting in the way. Young returned to the family business of teaching (third generation) at Ohio University where she got the opportunity to work with WOSU Public Media on its "Facing Suicide" project. Her most unusual interview request was when she was told to bring clean underwear.
Company
WOSU Public Media
News Organization
Job Role
Outside of the newsroom