Last month, the WVXU news team welcomed Isabel Nissley as our new environmental reporter. A recent graduate of Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism, Isabel interned at two different public radio stations – Interlochen Public Radio in Michigan and KOSU in Oklahoma – shadowing reporters and hosts as well as reporting and producing stories of her own.
Isabel received several prestigious scholarships and awards for her academic and journalism efforts; worked on The Post, the student newspaper; and served as the vice-president of the campus chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Isabel is a Cincinnati native who attended Walnut Hills High School and worked on that school’s newspaper, The Chatterbox, where WVXU’s Howard Wilkinson serves as advisor.
We’re excited for you to hear Isabel’s work and meet her at future events.
Howard: My friend Isabel Nissley is our brand new reporter fresh out of Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism. Welcome Isabel! For last 10 years, I’ve been working as a volunteer at The Chatterbox, the student newspaper at Walnut Hills High School, and you were one of the people I worked with since you were in the eighth grade. Tell me a little bit about that experience, and what The Chatterbox, especially our dear friend, Samantha Gerwe-Perkins, (known to the students as “G-P”) meant to you as you made the decision to go into journalism.
Isabel: Great question. Yes, we have known each other since I was in eighth grade, which was, maybe nearly 10 years ago. I joined The Chatterbox on a whim – it was kind of a scheduling influence decision. I had the opportunity to take health class in eighth grade during my lunch period, or I could take the introductory news writing class. And obviously I picked the introductory news writing class and it introduced me to a form of writing and thinking that I’ve never even considered before. From my first interview, I was hooked. I loved getting to talk to people who I wouldn’t ordinarily kind of crossed paths with and ask them questions that I might not ordinarily ask. I think having such great leaders and mentors, like you, Howard, and G-P, showed me that journalism was something I had the skills to do. So that initial kind of scheduling coincidence turned into something very beneficial.
Howard: Well, I’m glad you chose that instead of a health class because you were extraordinary at The Chatterbox. I could spot it right away.
Isabel: My second year there, G-P invited me to apply to be the opinion section editor and I hadn’t really written an opinion or editorial article before, but of course, I was like… I’ll go for it. I was looking for something new to try and I loved everything I had done at The Chatterbox up till that point. As soon as I started writing those commentary pieces, Howard began to kind of give me feedback on each one and it meant a lot because he obviously is the commentary extraordinaire – as a high schooler to be getting that that level of feedback and criticism from a professional who’s been working in journalism for more years than I’ve been alive was really impactful for me.
Howard: You went off to Ohio University (which is also where I went to college.) Tell me about that experience, what you did in Athens and about your internships in Michigan and Oklahoma.
Isabel: My freshman year was during COVID. So my first semester, my family likes to joke, was Ohio University, the Michigan branch campus, which was just my parent’s basement. I was attending online classes and working part time, but I really need a journalistic outlet, something to do to meet people who have the same interests I do. So I saw The Post and I joined the culture section there, which was a really good fit. My first article was about the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and how it impacted people in Athens. So just getting to hear people’s stories and getting to know my college town through the people before I even really set foot in it was a good way for me to familiarize myself with the town and the people in it.
Howard: Yeah, it was very good. I’m an old Post person, too.
Isabel: So, I continued on with The Post. I did some reporting there and discovered my appreciation for public records and long-form storytelling. And then, the summer after my freshman year, I was going back to where my parents live in Michigan. And I knew I really wanted to keep doing this, but I wanted to try another aspect of journalism. So I started sending emails to newsrooms in the area asking if they were looking for an intern. I connected with an NPR affiliate in Interlochen, Michigan, and I started doing a volunteer gig for them recording newsbreaks. They helped me produce my first full length radio feature as well, which was really great. I think journalism helped me find my voice but I never like to use my voice as a physical tool for the medium. So it was really interesting for me and I kind of fell in love with audio there.
I also got involved with Matter News in Columbus. I’ve always been drawn to nonprint news sources rather than the corporately owned ones. I did some reporting where I overlaid power outage data with household income data and to reveal that in June 2022 power outages impacted lower income residents for longer than it did for higher income residents.
After that I joined another nonprofit newsroom, Athens County Independent, serving Athens County where there’s limited news coverage of the town outside of Ohio University. That was great because I really got a whole look at the newsroom. I participated in their meetings, took notes for the board, did some public service/community journalism, and things like that. During the summer between my junior and senior years, I sought out another nonprofit newsroom internship through the Scripps Howard Fund, and through that I got to work with KOSU radio in Oklahoma City. I was working as a general assignment reporter and really immersing myself in public radio station, which gave me the confidence and interest to kind of do that again here.
Howard: I think that experience in Oklahoma City, particularly, had a big bearing on the fact that WVXU wanted to hire you right out of college. You even had some broadcast experience.
Isabel: And KOSU was really great with letting an intern get experience like that. I was producing news stories daily. They also let me host All Things Considered for a week and produce some features, so I’ve got to give credit to them and the Scripps Howard Fund nonprofit newsroom internship program.
Howard: Now you are going to be the reporter covering environmental issues, like climate change. You have always had an extraordinary ability to take a story and find an angle to it that nobody else has. Tell me a little bit about the kind of stories you want to tell and how you’re going to approach this new beat.
Isabel: I really appreciate you saying that. I think what’s going to kind of drive my coverage of the environment is my interest in people and their stories. And I think that lends itself to creating interesting angles for stories when you meet people and they’re able to say well, a rising flood low levels are rising river levels are an issue locally but here’s what I’ve experienced with my garden and how it’s impacting it. I really want to focus on people and the stories they have to tell.
I think it’s incredible that WVXU has created an environment reporter position. I’m not sure how many other news sources in the city have a dedicated reporter on the environment beat and I think that’s essential. As our Earth changes due to the effects of human- induced climate change it’s imperative to keep an eye on that. I think this position has given me a blank slate to work with in terms of the environment. There hasn’t been someone here before covering it as a beat, so I’m thinking right now about how I want to shape it, what I want to focus on; food production and access; local effects of climate change policies that are being created to address that; environmental justice; the health effects of changing environment. And I’m also interested in looking at the neighborhoods that are experiencing different environmental phenomenon and how it’s impacting people.
Howard: There’s a lot to cover in Cincinnati.
Isabel: Yes, I was looking at the climate vulnerability index, and there are some pretty stark numbers on who’s going to bear the brunt of climate change.
Howard: That’s a pretty ambitious start, but you can handle it. I’m sure you can. Anything else you want people to know about you?
Isabel: I’m always interested in meeting people and hearing stories. I’m excited to be working at WVXU and excited to be back in Cincinnati working with you, my longtime mentor.
Howard: Well, it’s pretty extraordinary for me to think about working with you when you were an eighth grader, and now you’re a professional colleague! I couldn’t be happier about it myself.
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You can read Isabel’s stories at WVXU.ORG.