When Morgan Gisholt Minard ’17 chose an international relations major she didn’t expect it would lead to a journalism career.
“I chose that major because I loved the idea of learning how the world works,” she says. “I didn’t have a real plan for what to do with it. Most people work for government agencies or NGOs or in academia. Those all seemed like they would make a difference in people’s lives.”
The question of her major was out of the way, but she still felt a bit lost at the beginning of her first year. So she sought familiarity. She’d been on her high-school newspaper, which led to joining The Bucknellian as a layout editor. Eventually, Gisholt Minard would serve as the paper’s editor-in-chief her senior year. The enthusiasm she discovered for journalism led to meeting Sarah Svoboda ’10, a producer for the BBC’s Washington bureau, at a University career panel. That, in turn led her to an internship at the bureau and on to a job as a picture/desk producer at the British network after graduation.
“I am asked to do a range of tasks and projects,” says Gisholt Minard. “I’ve only appeared on air once, very briefly. I was sent to ‘doorstep’ the then-U.K. Home Secretary Amber Rudd just outside of D.C. about the alleged corruption of another top U.K. official. I nearly fumbled my one line when I stepped up to her door, but we managed to get an on-the-record answer.”
In September she worked with the BBC’s Arabic Service correspondent at the United Nations to cover a Security Council meeting on Syria. Shortly after, she traveled to Texas for a feature about the 10-year anniversary of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Still determined to make a difference, Gisholt Minard says, “I feel lucky to work with grade-A individuals to tell important stories that inform and impact people around the world.”