Emerson alum Megan Mitchell has built a wildly successful journalism career off of her TikTok success, bridging the gap between old and new media. She uses her reach to advocate for LGBTQ+ people in the field, while reporting on teen mental health.
Mitchell recalls the first time they came to Emerson to check out the school.
“I remember going to Emerson for accepted students day, just to see what it’s about,” they said. “On prospective students’ day I was like, oh my goodness, the facilities? Unbelievable. The location? Unreal.”
Mitchell started as a weather correspondent on Good Morning Emerson in her freshman year, which was where she first fell in love with morning shows.
“I recognized that I give people information that can affect their day,” she said. “But I could also do it without being stoic or robotic. To add a bit of positivity and happiness to someone’s day—that was everything for me.”
Along with GME, WEBN was where Mitchell realized that this was what they wanted to do. Through their involvement with the Live Election Show in their freshman year, they realized that news can be fast-paced and exciting. Mitchell has anchored for WLWT-TV, a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio for nearly seven years. Now, they’re off to Dallas, a number five television market.
“If I get to do this the rest of my life, I would live the best life ever.”
Mitchell recently came back to Emerson to visit her brother Drew, a junior VMA major. Drew is the current host of GME, carrying his sibling’s legacy and exploring the world of broadcast for himself.
“I remember as a kid watching Megan on Good Morning Emerson—my parents would always play it. And I always thought it was so amazing. I was like ‘Oh my gosh, I love it.’ It just looked so much fun.”
Megan said GME was the first thing she wanted to see on her visit back to Emerson—Drew and Megan visited the studio where the show is filmed. During their visit, they noticed a coincidence about Drew following in his sister’s footsteps.
“We realized we are hosts 10 years apart to the semester,” he said. “It was one of those odd moments, we were like, ‘Oh, my goodness, like, what are the odds that we both were hosts at the same time, 10 years apart?”
Megan said the audience they garnered as the morning news anchor in Cincinnati was their favorite accomplishment as a newscaster.
“I created one of the greatest relationships ever. One of the greatest relationships of my life … with the audience in Cincinnati. I love those people so much.”
Megan would get up at 2 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday to anchor in the city for six-and-a-half years. She solo anchored for four hours a day on NBC, which strengthened her viewership and made her a memorable face.
Megan’s knack for connecting with large audiences has afforded her accolades and a special connection with her own community. She is the recipient of a fellowship for LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary folks in the news—LGBTQ+ rights and representation has been at the forefront of her priorities in her career.
With recent bills advancing around the country that hinder the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ individuals, Megan feels strongly about making advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community a known priority of theirs.
“When I was first negotiating this job in Dallas, I told them ‘Here’s what I’m passionate about,’ and they [were] like ‘Megan, that’s exactly why we want you … we want to make sure that you feel like your community is being covered in a proper way.”
Likewise, Megan uses her TikTok platform for advocacy. Her parents had fears about her getting fired due to her sexuality, but she found that the attention she accrued from TikTok was the exact opposite.
“It’s actually been really wonderful to share my story and experience,” they said. “I try to keep everything positive on TikTok.”
Megan has learned how to navigate being a journalist and influencer in the ever-changing world of social media.
“It was 13 years ago that I started at Emerson, and so much has changed in the world of journalism,” they said. “I got a [basic] understanding of what journalism is from Emerson, but venturing out on my own on this TikTok journey has allowed me to recognize what works and what doesn’t work.”
Megan credits her status as a TikTok Trailblazer for several of the opportunities she has been given. Among these are creating TikTok videos on the Today Show, appearing on the Tamron Hall Show, and interviewing First Lady Jill Biden. Pursuing TikTok success was intimidating at first, but was ultimately more rewarding than she could have anticipated.
“When you put yourself out there, something will happen in return,” they said. “So whether it’s TikTok, whatever is trendy or viral at the moment, don’t be afraid to just do it.”
When she’s not making TikToks or on the morning news, Megan does what she can to keep in contact with the Emerson community. She sits on the Alumni Board for the College, and hopes to continue facilitating connections with prospective, current, and former students by staying involved.
“I should mention there are things that Emerson can work on,” she said. “But there’s no better way to work on them than actually being involved.”
A priority of both hers and the board is to keep the Emerson Mafia a tight-knit group, something Megan knows the benefits of firsthand—she found her first job in North Dakota from tracing the network of Emersonians.
“I actually took the job from an Emerson alum,” they said. “The person who told me about it was the 10 p.m. anchor at the NBC station in Bismarck [North Dakota] who was also an alum. The Emerson mafia is real—it’s thriving.”
Their advice to current Emerson students? Dive right in, but make sure you take a breather.
“Enjoy your experience at Emerson, everyone,” she said. “Get involved. Don’t take this time in your life for granted and take care of your mental health.”
