On April 2, Meet the Press welcomed Laken Kincaid ’24 to the newsroom. In honor of Tim Russert ’72, the fellowship was created selectively with John Carroll graduating seniors in mind. With impressive academics and accolades, Kincaid was selected, having been preparing for this fellowship since their enrollment at John Carroll in 2020.
Kincaid’s accolades showcase their stamina for news and the community. Kincaid served as editor-in-chief at The Carroll News for their senior year, previously serving as staff reporter from 2020-21, campus editor from 2021-22 and managing editor from 2022-23. During their employment with the student newspaper, they have earned 18 Best of SNO awards, a Society of Professional Journalist Mark of Excellence Award for Region 4 and 2 honorable mentions from the College Media Association.
Kincaid wears many hats, dabbling in other related fields. Other accolades include news director at WJCU 88.7, captain of Speech and Debate, senior resident assistant (SRA), founder of Art with the Elderly and peer learning facilitator for communications. Outside of John Carroll, Kincaid writes political satire for The Hilltop Show and is a feature writer for The Borgen Project.
Dr. Brent Brossmann, Chair of the Communications Department, explained the interview process at John Carroll this year.
“We opted to interview 7 candidates this year. Each of those had to come in and were given a prompt where they had to go spend 30 minutes beforehand researching the prompt– something very similar to the job that they will be doing at Meet The Press– going 5 to 7 minutes making a pitch [and] answering that prompt with detailed research they had done on a news story.”
A panel of six determined the candidates, consisting of Brossmann, Associate Professor of Political Science Colin Swearingen, Chair of Political Science Andreas Sobisch, Director of Blue Streak Media Kyle Hartzell, Associate Dean of Communications Lisa Shoaf and Associate Dean of Humanities Dr. Maryclaire Moroney.
After interviewing the applicants, the panel narrows down the pool and selects a few candidates who are “truly deserving and excellent.” Once they are selected, the panel sends them to Meet the Press; it is no longer in the university’s hands.
“If we only have two, we’ll only send two. In a year in which we have four that meet the requirement, we might very well send four,” emphasized Brossmann.
At the Meet The Press studio located in Washington D.C, more interviews are conducted in early spring between Executive Producer David Gelles and Senior Broadcast Producer Sarah Blackwell. The selected candidates then gain a lay of the land. Brossmann recalled that the group sat right behind Gelles and Blackwell and “watched them build the show” this year.
“I would have been happy had Meet the Press chosen any of them,” said Brossmann.
When speaking about the selectee, Brossmann had nothing but confidence in Kincaid’s abilities. “They’re dynamite, a force of nature,” he commented. “You’re starting over and it’s a new opportunity to grow.”
“I have every reason to believe that Laken will succeed, grow and do tremendously there,” concluded Brossmann.
Director of WJCU Jasen Sokol was also more than proud to see all Kincaid’s hard work and talent pay off. He has seen their growth since their freshman year, where they took their Radio Boot Camp class on Zoom due to COVID-19.
“I could already tell at that point how impressive Laken was going to be,” explained Sokol. “Being able to pick all of that up in an online format is not easy… Laken handled it really well and just kept growing from there.”
Sokol was ecstatic to see how far this growth has taken them. “My reaction was pretty much the same as what I do when the [Lake Erie] Monsters score a goal to win a game in overtime,” commented Sokol. “Laken is not just a leader among things here at John Carroll; Laken’s a leader among college media nationally.”
In addition, 2023 Meet The Press Fellow Nora McKee ’23 is excited to see Kincaid follow in the role and had wisdom to offer.
“Be patient with yourself. You’re starting from scratch. You’re also working a full-time job that has a wacky schedule. It’s going to be amazing. You’re going to feel like you’re going through a tornado [but] you get [out] what you put into it.”
McKee further went on to acknowledge the incredible team that Laken is joining at Meet The Press and encouraged them to take advantage of their presence. “You’re surrounded by so much support and so much pride for what you have done in school.”
“That’s been my favorite part of the job, having a team that is so thoughtful,” added McKee.
Kincaid will embark in September on a 9-month internship with NBC’s Meet The Press, meeting renowned politicians and reporters, working long hours in the newsroom and representing John Carroll with pride. Applications for rising seniors will open for the 2024-25 fellowship on Wed., Nov. 1 at 5 p.m.
