Behind The Scenes: My Cooperative Newsroom

Nearly three years ago, I accepted a job as the communications and marketing specialist at Cherryland Electric Cooperative. Last year, I got the opportunity to take on a new role as Cherryland’s communications and member relations manager. Before my time at Cherryland, I spent much of the previous decade working as a journalist in broadcast television. From producing to anchoring and reporting—I’ve done just about every job there is to be done in a newsroom.

You may be wondering, as did I, how on Earth my time in TV would translate to working for an electric cooperative. It turns out, it translates a lot better than you might think. A lot of times, I still look at our department as if it was a newsroom with producers, reporters, and anchors all doing an important job to create a valuable viewer, or in our case, member experience.

If you read the newspaper or watch the local news, you probably have favorite publications or shows. In a TV newsroom, a lot of what you see can be credited to a producer working behind the scenes—choosing and writing stories they think the audience will care about, ensuring camera and video transitions are interesting and engaging, and making sure the show stays on time. At the co-op, the communications team acts a lot like a producer. They create the content that the members want or need to know about, often finding creative ways to take complex topics and make them easier to understand. They carefully choose how and when to deliver that content, whether it’s via the magazine, a digital newsletter, or a text message based on the best way to make sure each individual message gets delivered.

While I spent most of my time in news back at the studio preparing to anchor or produce a show, occasionally I got to do a little field reporting. I really admired seasoned reporters because they were always coming up with impactful story pitches or pivoting from breaking news to county fairs. At the co-op, the member services staff are like the field reporters. They interact with members all day, every day. They are the ones who have the strongest grasp on the resources members need and the questions they have, and they have the tools to address a lot of those needs. The same way I admired those seasoned reporters, I’m always so impressed by the resourceful, smart, talented member services staff at our co-op.

As for anchoring, a big part of my job was connecting with the viewers, finding ways to engage with them, and bringing the whole show together. The key to accomplishing that was as simple as genuinely caring about the viewers and the work the team was doing. It’s the best way to really get to know your audience and your team. This was undoubtedly my favorite part of the job. The people. The same applies to how not only the communications and member relations department operates, but how the entire co-op operates. We genuinely care about our members, what matters to them, and how we can consistently and reliably show up for them. Every decision that’s made, the first and last questions are always—is this what’s best for the members? When the answer is yes, everything else falls into place.

I get asked a lot if I miss working in news. The answer is—mostly not. While I miss the viewers and my news team, I’ve found that the team at the co-op and Cherryland’s deep commitment to our members not only align with, but elevate, all my favorite parts of working in a newsroom.