60 Seconds With Ben McNeely ’05
Editorial adviser for NC State Student Media
Ben McNeely ’05 has been a journalist since he was 14 years old. Now, as the editorial adviser for NC State Student Media, he’s helping a new generation of student reporters learn how to chase stories and find their voices.
How did you get started in journalism, and what led you to NC State? I came to NC State [as a student] thinking I was going to be a doctor, and then I failed organic chemistry pretty spectacularly. I had done journalism in high school, and I wrote a guest column for my hometown newspaper. [Student Media] wasn’t in the plan at the beginning, but I found my purpose and my mission here.
What does your day-to-day look like? I advise. I mentor. I coach. I do a lot of training. Any student can come through our doors, and we teach them journalism and media production.
What do you enjoy most about working with student journalists? Their passion and curiosity. I see the fun that they have, and it reminds me of the same experience I had 20 years ago, when I was working at Technician and Student Media. I learn just as much from them as I hope they’re learning from me.
What moments stand out from your time in Student Media? I am proud of how the students are reporting on tough issues like mental health. Both Technician and the Nubian Message have hit those very hard. The other big one is the Final Four, and Technician produced the Final Four edition. We were [on campus] handing out copies left and right.
How does that kind of experience prepare students for life after college? At Student Media, we teach leadership and teamwork. It took a lot of teamwork to put that edition together, get it to the press and get it distributed. Those are life skills that we teach, and they can take that on when they leave here, even if they don’t go into journalism and media.
Photograph by Marc Hall ’20 MA, NC State
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