UNE student lectures class on how they can become journalists.
University students listen to a guest lecturer who applied her classroom knowledge to the real world.
February 7, 2025
Elizabeth Huggins
University Student
In February 2025, a former journalism student tells her story about using the knowledge she gained from a course at the University of New England to further her education and enhance her career.
In a Friday class, Professor Jesse Miller invited guest lecturer Emily Hedegard (she/her), a senior English and Communication Media Arts major, to talk to his current students about her experience in the journalism industry. Hedegard, a former journalism student of Miller’s, has used her knowledge to intern at The Portland Press Herald and The Maine Monitor. Miller, a former employee at The Record Newspaper in Troy, New York, understands the ins and outs of journalism through his own experiences. To encourage his students to become future journalists, Hedegard and Miller collaborated on ideas and shared advice with the class.
Hedegard has been involved in the journalism industry since high school. She faced her own sets of challenges in this male dominated field. To understand more, Miller says, “Part of what I’m interested in is your arch.” Going on to ask, “What was it like being a journalist in high school?” “It was terrifying.” Hedegard said. “As a young female in a male dominated industry, most people brushed me off.” She never let this affect her passion and went on to become editor-in-chief for the University newspaper The Bolt and will further her education in a master’s program in Arizona.
Journalists often hear the word “no” when asking for interviews. Whether stemming from gender or age biases, some people prefer talking to some over others. Even with facing backlash, Hedegard is still working in the field with keen interest in investigative news. Some students in Miller’s current class want to go on to become journalists themselves. To better prepare his students, Miller asked Hedegard, “What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received as a journalist?” A quick response rendered, “To let the facts speak for themselves,” which is exactly what journalism is all about.
Emily Hedegaard Inspires UNE Students with Journalism Journey
On February 7th, a graduating University of New England (UNE) journalism student, Emily Hedegaard, spoke on her path to success with a journalism class at UNE. Her initial interest came from photojournalism in high school, interested by the images from World War II. This went on to become a passion for writing, combining her love for photography and words into a journalism career. Emily started her journalism path in high school with an internship at Saco Bay News. She then went on to write for UNEs newspaper The Bolt and has been the editor in chief for 2 and a half years. The Bolt is not independent therefore creating the main challenge: critiquing the institution that funds your work.Maintaining relationships with administration while still reporting critically requires careful balancing and the need for accurate, well researched, and credible reporting. While attending UNE she has also had work experience at the Portland Press Herald. She’s currently involved in investigative work for the Main Monitor and has been accepted into the prestigious Cronkite School masters program in journalism and communications. She expressed that her early experiences were intimidating, especially approaching strangers for interviews. She overcomes her fear through repeated practice and stepping outside of her comfort zone “if it’s not uncomfortable, you’re not doing it right.” Navigating a male dominated industry as a young woman presented unique challenges. She had experiences of being brushed off or dismissed due to her age and gender. She gave an example by explaining that she had emailed a small local family owned restaurant to interview them and give the restaurant some publicity. However, when she went to interview them, they were very dismissive because of how young she is, leading to no interview and a missed opportunity to be featured in an article. She goes on to talk about the difference between writers vs editors. A writer constructs the story, gathering information and crafting a narrative. The editor then refines this work, ensuring accuracy and readability, and helps to eliminate bias. She then gave advice putting an emphasis on letting the facts speak for themselves, avoiding being heavy handed in presenting information. Instead of stating opinions like “students are upset” she recommended presenting concrete evidence as “200 students on Yik Yak upvoted this post about their dissatisfaction.” This approach prevents bias and allows readers to draw their own conclusions.
A guest speaker spoke to university students about applying classroom knowledge to their future careers.
February 9, 2025
Abby Anthony
University Student
In February 2025, a former journalism student explains her journey as a beginner journalist and how she has applied these practices to succeed in the career she learned from a course at the University of New England.
During Friday’s class, Professor Jesse Miller, the Associate Teaching Professor of Writing and Communications, and guest speaker Emily Hedegard (she/her), a senior English and Communication Media Arts major, spoke to his current class about her journey in the journalism world. Hedegard has applied the knowledge she learned from Miller’s previous courses to intern at The Portland Press Herald and The Maine Monitor. This discussion was packed with information as Miller related to the industry from his experience at The Record Newspaper in Troy, New York. Hedegard and Miller explained the raw reality of becoming a journalist and shared helpful advice for his current students.
Hedegard began her journalism journey in high school, with photojournalism piquing her interest. She was able to intern with the Saco Maine News during her senior year of high school and fell in love with journalism since “it gives people a voice, who may not have a voice otherwise.”
Entering this field was intimidating for Hedegard as she was not the most outgoing person, especially in a male-dominated field. She explained, “It was terrifying…but if you’re comfortable, you’re not doing it right.” Often she was brushed off for being a young female, some were even offended when the station sent a young woman to interview them. These experiences have only helped shape her into becoming the successful journalist she is today. Hedehard is editor and chief for The Bolt, the University of Newengland newspaper, and will be continuing her education by getting her master’s in Arizona.
As the class wrapped up, the students were able to receive helpful advice. Miller explained that as an aspiring journalist, you need to “love the word no.” Often journalists will need to be persistent to get the story they strive for. The best piece of advice Hedegard had was to “let the facts speak for themselves,” which perfectly describes what journalism is all about.
UNE student lectures class on the journey through journalism
Students listen to their peer guest speaker who applies classroom practices into real world careers.
February 10, 2025
Natalie DeGreenia
University Student
In February 2025, a former journalism student unfolds her journey as a beginner journalist and how it applies to an Introduction to Journalism class at the University of New England and its current students.
On Friday Professor Jesse Miller invited a guest lecturer, Emily Hedigard (she/her), a senior English and Communications Media Arts major going on to a masters program at ASU, to speak to his students about her journey as a journalist. Hedigard is a former student of Miller’s and uses her perspective from interning at the Portland Press Harold, the Main Monitor, holding an editor position at the UNE Bolt, and having been in the same position as her audience to provide advice for aspiring journalists.
Hedigard began her involvement in the journalism industry in high school. Some of the obstacles she says she faced were establishing the set of skills necessary for the job, but also a sense of credibility especially as a young female in a male dominated field. As Miller and Hedigard broke down the nuances behind issues in the system and finding the best way to maintain a journalist’s devotion to the truth Miller says, “How do you critique the institution that’s funding you?” How does one combat the issues that come from within the newsroom itself? Emily was able to apply this to her time at the UNE Bolt where she ran into challenges sometimes but her dedication to reliability and honesty about her process built her reputation with administration.
Hedigard reflects on her experiences with not being taken seriously. “Most people brushed me off”. However, despite this she goes on to say the most challenging relationship she has was between herself and her editor. This relationship is what could have most questioned her sense of credibility. Her ideas were pushed back on and the way she conveyed the information was reworked countless times. Hedigard says to, “Let the facts speak for themselves.” She learned not to be heavy-handed in her writing and the way she delivered information. All of these things she says are key to being a good journalist.
UNE School Newspaper’s Editor in Chief inspires class
University student guest lectures a journalism class to share her knowledge
February 7, 2025
Quinnly Raducha
University Student
On February 7, 2025, a special guest came into a class to discuss her knowledge on journalism while being in the course and what she has learned from being a part of the school newspaper.
During Friday’s class, Emily Hedegard, a senior English and Communication Media Arts major was invited by Professor Jesse Miller to talk to his Intro to Journalism class, about her experience with journalism. Hedegard had previously taken the course taught by Miller and has now gone on to intern at the Portland Press Herald, The Maine Monitor, and is the editor in chief of UNE’s student newspaper “The Bolt”. Through all these experiences she has applied her knowledge from Miller’s course.
Hedgard started her journalism career in highschool. She interned at Saco Bay News her senior year and really got the gist for journalism and loved it. She said “it gives people a voice, who may not have a voice otherwise.”
While journalism is a heavily male dominated field that did not stop Hedegard from doing what she loved. She stated that it was intimidating at first but she wasn’t gonna stop her passion. “As a young female in a male dominated industry, most people brushed me off.” she stated. Hedagard went on to say it was hard for her to have people take her seriously. But throughout her experiences her best piece of advice for Miller’s class was to “let the facts speak for themselves,” and today facts are more important than ever.
Emily Hedegard Talks Journalism at UNE
One of UNE’s graduating seniors talks to the younger students in CMM 211 about her experience in journalism since attending the University.
On February 7th 2025 at 3pm, Emily Hedegard, a former student of Professor Miller’s Journalism came into the classroom prepared to impress the current attendees of the class.
She started by talking about how her passion grew for journalism all the way back in high school from her photojournalism class. She loved how a picture can send such a powerful message without a word. Overtime she didn’t want to just make a story with only photos, she wanted to put the pen to paper as well.
Though it was very early in her life she wanted to get a head start on her journal career. She did this by getting an internship at the Saco Bay News in Maine. Following that when she got to college she used the skills she learned from her internship and became a part of the school The Bolt. Not only that but became the Editor-in-Chief of the page for over two years during her time.
For Emily it was never an easy start. Being in a male predominant industry is not easy for any woman especially her age, but she never let it get the best of her. For Ms. Hedegard journalism was never about either taking a picture or writing, it was about being a part of history. The bright soon to be graduate has a bright and very prominent future ahead of herself.
Students listen to a guest speaker describe what being a real world journalist is like.
February 9, 2025
Jadyn Stevens
University Student
In February 2025, a past student of an Introduction to Journalism class came back to share what being a journalist is like and the challenges she faces.
Associate Teaching Professor of Writing and Communication, Jesse Miller, brought a past student Emily Hedegard (she/her) to class. Emily is a senior with a major in English and Communication Media Arts. Hedegard has had a love for journalism since high school. Her journey as a journalist started with an internship at Saco Bay News, which provided valuable experience at an early age. She went on to write for the UNE Bolt, and later became the Editor in Chief. Hedegard has also worked for The Portland Press Herald and the Maine Monitor.
Working as a journalist has included some challenges, especially as a young female writer. Hedegard was not taken seriously but she learned to not give up. “It was terrifying, but if you’re comfortable, you’re not doing it right”, she said, quoting a past mentor of hers. She described how most people did not give her the time of day. Hedegard shared, “As a young female in a male dominated industry, most people brushed me off.” The people she was writing about judged her ability based on her age and gender.
Hedegard’s stories provided insight into the realities of being a journalist. Sophomore Criminology major Cameron Stickeny (she/her), found the stories to be inspirational. “I enjoyed her talking about the treatment of reporters and how she didn’t let it get her down,” she said.
Students in this class are learning about journalistic practices. The experiences that Hedegard faced detailed just some of the potential challenges that journalists face on a daily basis. She left students with the message that the best way to prove yourself in the field is to, “just let the facts speak for themselves”.
Guest speaker, Emily Hedegard explains her experience being a journalist.
Emily Hedegard is a senior communications and media arts major here at the University of New England. She came into our Intro to Journalism class to explain her struggles being a woman in journalism, and gave us advice on what helped her through them.
Emily explained a lot about how since she was a woman who was still in college, there are multiple people who don’t want to talk to her and the interviews don’t go as smoothly as they would with someone who is older or male. This information was very important to know as a woman because it lets me know what to expect when going into this kind of work. She also gave us some great pieces of advice that I thought was important, for example Emily stated “Let the facts speak for themselves. Don’t write too much, your readers are smart so they will figure out if the facts are talking or the writer is” This stood out to me because not much content needs to be written out if you have plenty of facts about your story. She mentioned how research is a huge part in journalism and it is important to use everything you find so the audience understands the facts better. Anthony Lacaprucia, a freshman communications and media arts major (he/him), thought the quote “Be okay with being embarrassed” Emily said was important because your story will be more detailed if you get comfortable asking stupid questions, or emailing someone 3 or 4 times to get a response.
Guest lecturer enlightens UNE students on her experience in Journalism
Journalist students get a better understanding of the possibilities of being a journalist and the journalist world through guest lecturer experience.
February 7, 2025
Sydney Bishop
University Student
In early February, a former student returns to tell her account of how journalism works and what she has learned throughout the past few years.
For this class, Professor Jesse Miller invited Emily Hedegard (She/Her), A senior (2025) English and Communications Media Arts major to recount her experience within the class and journalism world itself.
Hedegard discusses with the class how she first started her interest with journalism, which was in highschool with a WWII class. This class introduced her to photojournalism, “A single could tell so much, tell a whole story,” stated by Hedegard. This led her to getting a job with the local newspaper, Saco Bay News, to see if this was something she wanted to pursue as a career.
Following her experience Professor Miller depicted his experiences at the Record in Troy, New York and how the numerous aspects of his job there included the necessity of editors. Hedegard is the editor and chief for the Bolt, the University of New England’s newspaper; she agreed with the sentiment.
She continues on discussing the differences in being a writer/reporter versus being an editor. “Making sure everything is edited to a T,” she stated. Recounting her experience at the Portland Press Herald, where she had written a time sensitive article and sent to her editor, the next day she saw the article reworked and published. Her editor made her article flow in a way readers could digest the article easily.
The comparison between being a student reporter and an official reporter is very different, Hedegard explains it can be more difficult to be a student journalist. That people tend to take you less seriously. Though this allows people to grow and learn how to set up a journalistic mind set.
As the class was closing out, Professor Miller asked Hegard to give the class some advice for their future reporting. This is what she offered, “be okay with being embarrassed” and “love to her the word no.” She explained that sometimes asking the ‘stupid’ questions for articles are needed to best understand the process for the article.
February 7th
Jaelen Jackson
Student
On February 7th, a current student at the University of New England shares with a journalism class the ins and outs of how she was able to use skills learned in college classes and translate them directly towards her future work.
In Friday’s journalism 211 class, Professor Jesse Miller invited guest speaker and former student of Miller’s, Emily Hedegard. A senior communications media arts major. As said earlier, Hedegard was able to use skills directly from Journalism 211 in her work as a journalist for the Portland Press Herald and The Maine Monitor. Hedegard has also been active in journalism on campus as she is the editor and chief of “The Bolt” a student ran newspaper for the University of New England.
As the class went on and Miller was able to ask Hedegard some interesting questions, when asked about journalism in a pretty broad way, Hedegard went on to say, “It’s always about being outside of your comfort zone with journalism, if you aren’t uncomfortable, you’re wrong.” Hedegard made this point when talking about some of the less exciting parts of journalism such as talking to people who clearly don’t want to speak about the story or sending multiple emails to the same person, I order to get their view on a story.
Emily Hedegard (she/her) has already made her mark in the world of journalism. She speaks with students with aspirations such as her own to share how she made it through the male dominated industry as an aspirational leader.
February 10, 2025
Maeve McDermott
University Student
Senior communication student enrolled at the University of New England, Emily Hedegard, makes a special appearance in CMM211 Introduction to Journalism lecture, led by Jesse Miller, to highlight her experiences throughout her upcoming career in journalism.
Hedegard Initially started her love for journalism through photojournalism, intrigued by the way that a single photo could document history. One of the main reasons why she loved journalism is sharing peoples stories. She states “I get to give a voice to people who might not have a voice otherwise”. As she moved to college she combined her love for writing with her passion for telling people’s stories and landed a role as editor and chief of Bolt, an online newspaper for UNE, internship at the Press Portland Herald, Saco Bay News, and The Maine Monitor.
Hedegard shared a pivotal moment in her career with the class. “You never know what someone is going to say or how it’s going to go,” says Hedegard, referring to meeting whom you’re interviewing. As a female in a male dominated industry, she recalled a specific time when, a company, initially eager to be interviewed by her, looked at herself, a young girl, in disbelief. Based on her appearance they were offstandish and withheld the information she needed. Ultimately this story didn’t end up getting published. Hedegard didn’t see this as a disappointment, she saw this as a stepping stone, willing her to work harder.
Although this profession comes with many obstacles, Hedegard perseveres through them. She is planning to graduate from the University of New England in May of this year and is heading to a prestigious journalism masters program at Arizona State.
Portland Press Herald Writer Talks Journalism with UNE class
Emily Hedegard Gives Invaluable Advice to Students as she Launches her Journalism Career beyond UNE.
Casey Jordan
February 11, 2025
University Student
Professor Millers CMM 211 class had the privilege of a guest speaker in class on Friday February 7th. The speaker, Emily Hedegard, was a former student of the same class and professor, she stepped back into her CMM 211 shoes and gave students a new angle of insight.
” If you’re comfortable, you’re not doing it right”
Hedegard quickly addressed one of the biggest struggles of up and coming journalists, the nerves and uncomfortable feeling of reaching out to subjects. This has been a struggle and continues to be for Hedegard herself. She instilled the mindset of pushing through when people tell you no. Which has helped her in her journey.
She doubles down on this mindset by saying, “Be okay with being embarrassed”. she explains the importance of not letting embarrassment and rejection slow you down. Because its all part of the process so you might as well get used to it.
Hedegard shifts gears into the writing aspect of journalism and provides valuable tips she has learned throughout her experiences. Some of the biggest things she stressed came in the story telling aspect. Like learning how to formulate a story from all angles, and not being too heavy handed or over explaining; “let the facts speak for themselves”. Specifically for hard news, readers need to be able to take the story how they want without being told how to feel.
Emily closed the discussion talking about the editorial process with the class as well, explaining the importance of spelling and a good headline. stating that it truly is like judging a book by its cover, and your work wont be taken seriously if there are mistakes. She gave insight to future journalists on how to deal with editors changing their work. Saying sometimes you need to set aside your ego and listen to the editor, especially as a young journalist.
UNE students receive an educational lecture led by Emily Hedegard on what it means to be a journalist, and even more so, a female journalist
February 7, 2025
Cameron Stickney
University Student
On February 7, 2025, a class at UNE received an insightful guest lecture hosted by Emily Hedegard on her experience as a journalist overall, as well as her experience as a female journalist in a field that is widely dominated by men.
Professor Jessee Miller, former employee at The Record in New York, teaches journalism at The University of New England where he hosted a guest Lecture with Emily Hedegard on her experience as a journalist.
Emily Hedegard, 21, an English and Communication Media Art double major will be graduating from The University of New England this May where she will then continue her education and receive her Masters Degree in investigative journalism at ASU. Miss Hedegard, the Editor and Chief of The Bolt – UNE school paper, for 2 ½ years gave a heartfelt and very insightful lecture to the students in Professor Millers class.
High school was where Miss Hedegard found her passion for journalism; starting as a love for photography and photo journalism shifted her passion to become a photographer to a journalist. Hedegard worked for the Saco Bay News during this time and wrote pieces for the Portland Press Harold. Hedegard saw the importance journalism served to the community and how it, “gives a voice to people who may not have a voice otherwise.”
Hedegard was often turned down when she asked people to give an interview on a piece she was writing due to the fact that she was not only 16, but a female. She found herself not being respected and treated as a reporter should. Miller raised an important point to this problem, “How are you going to get a job if you don’t have experience?”
Luckily, Emily Hedegard found a solution to the question Miller raised. Miss Hedegard explained to the students that although it’s scary at first, practice makes it better. If as a journalist you are turned down for whatever reason, you shake it off and keep pursuing the story, you fall down and get back up again. Even with all the treatment Miss Hedegard found herself receiving from others, she continued to do her job as a journalist and continued to do it correctly.
One of the most important things a journalist could do was making sure you had credibility, especially if a journalist is writing something possibly damaging to the person funding their work.
Closing her lecture to students, some fantastic questions were asked which were met with even more fantastic answers. Emily Hedegard gave her best piece of advice to future journalists, “let the facts speak for themselves” letting them know they don’t need to go over the top explaining, but just allowing the facts to sink in to the reader because they’ll understand. She also told students they should learn to “be ok with being embarrassed” as they’ll have to do lots of awkward phone calls and interviews, but in the end it always pays off.
In the years that Miss Hedegard has been a journalist, she’s learned lots of valuable lessons despite going through extra hoops as a female journalist. However, she never let this stop her pursuing what she’s passionate about and getting the job done. Hedegard knows that even though people might not change how they act towards you, you can change how you approach the situation,“I’d like to say it improved, but I think I’ve just gotten used to it.”
13 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 8”
UNE student lectures class on how they can become journalists.
University students listen to a guest lecturer who applied her classroom knowledge to the real world.
February 7, 2025
Elizabeth Huggins
University Student
In February 2025, a former journalism student tells her story about using the knowledge she gained from a course at the University of New England to further her education and enhance her career.
In a Friday class, Professor Jesse Miller invited guest lecturer Emily Hedegard (she/her), a senior English and Communication Media Arts major, to talk to his current students about her experience in the journalism industry. Hedegard, a former journalism student of Miller’s, has used her knowledge to intern at The Portland Press Herald and The Maine Monitor. Miller, a former employee at The Record Newspaper in Troy, New York, understands the ins and outs of journalism through his own experiences. To encourage his students to become future journalists, Hedegard and Miller collaborated on ideas and shared advice with the class.
Hedegard has been involved in the journalism industry since high school. She faced her own sets of challenges in this male dominated field. To understand more, Miller says, “Part of what I’m interested in is your arch.” Going on to ask, “What was it like being a journalist in high school?” “It was terrifying.” Hedegard said. “As a young female in a male dominated industry, most people brushed me off.” She never let this affect her passion and went on to become editor-in-chief for the University newspaper The Bolt and will further her education in a master’s program in Arizona.
Journalists often hear the word “no” when asking for interviews. Whether stemming from gender or age biases, some people prefer talking to some over others. Even with facing backlash, Hedegard is still working in the field with keen interest in investigative news. Some students in Miller’s current class want to go on to become journalists themselves. To better prepare his students, Miller asked Hedegard, “What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received as a journalist?” A quick response rendered, “To let the facts speak for themselves,” which is exactly what journalism is all about.
Emily Hedegaard Inspires UNE Students with Journalism Journey
On February 7th, a graduating University of New England (UNE) journalism student, Emily Hedegaard, spoke on her path to success with a journalism class at UNE. Her initial interest came from photojournalism in high school, interested by the images from World War II. This went on to become a passion for writing, combining her love for photography and words into a journalism career. Emily started her journalism path in high school with an internship at Saco Bay News. She then went on to write for UNEs newspaper The Bolt and has been the editor in chief for 2 and a half years. The Bolt is not independent therefore creating the main challenge: critiquing the institution that funds your work.Maintaining relationships with administration while still reporting critically requires careful balancing and the need for accurate, well researched, and credible reporting. While attending UNE she has also had work experience at the Portland Press Herald. She’s currently involved in investigative work for the Main Monitor and has been accepted into the prestigious Cronkite School masters program in journalism and communications. She expressed that her early experiences were intimidating, especially approaching strangers for interviews. She overcomes her fear through repeated practice and stepping outside of her comfort zone “if it’s not uncomfortable, you’re not doing it right.” Navigating a male dominated industry as a young woman presented unique challenges. She had experiences of being brushed off or dismissed due to her age and gender. She gave an example by explaining that she had emailed a small local family owned restaurant to interview them and give the restaurant some publicity. However, when she went to interview them, they were very dismissive because of how young she is, leading to no interview and a missed opportunity to be featured in an article. She goes on to talk about the difference between writers vs editors. A writer constructs the story, gathering information and crafting a narrative. The editor then refines this work, ensuring accuracy and readability, and helps to eliminate bias. She then gave advice putting an emphasis on letting the facts speak for themselves, avoiding being heavy handed in presenting information. Instead of stating opinions like “students are upset” she recommended presenting concrete evidence as “200 students on Yik Yak upvoted this post about their dissatisfaction.” This approach prevents bias and allows readers to draw their own conclusions.
An Afternoon With Emily Hedegard
A guest speaker spoke to university students about applying classroom knowledge to their future careers.
February 9, 2025
Abby Anthony
University Student
In February 2025, a former journalism student explains her journey as a beginner journalist and how she has applied these practices to succeed in the career she learned from a course at the University of New England.
During Friday’s class, Professor Jesse Miller, the Associate Teaching Professor of Writing and Communications, and guest speaker Emily Hedegard (she/her), a senior English and Communication Media Arts major, spoke to his current class about her journey in the journalism world. Hedegard has applied the knowledge she learned from Miller’s previous courses to intern at The Portland Press Herald and The Maine Monitor. This discussion was packed with information as Miller related to the industry from his experience at The Record Newspaper in Troy, New York. Hedegard and Miller explained the raw reality of becoming a journalist and shared helpful advice for his current students.
Hedegard began her journalism journey in high school, with photojournalism piquing her interest. She was able to intern with the Saco Maine News during her senior year of high school and fell in love with journalism since “it gives people a voice, who may not have a voice otherwise.”
Entering this field was intimidating for Hedegard as she was not the most outgoing person, especially in a male-dominated field. She explained, “It was terrifying…but if you’re comfortable, you’re not doing it right.” Often she was brushed off for being a young female, some were even offended when the station sent a young woman to interview them. These experiences have only helped shape her into becoming the successful journalist she is today. Hedehard is editor and chief for The Bolt, the University of Newengland newspaper, and will be continuing her education by getting her master’s in Arizona.
As the class wrapped up, the students were able to receive helpful advice. Miller explained that as an aspiring journalist, you need to “love the word no.” Often journalists will need to be persistent to get the story they strive for. The best piece of advice Hedegard had was to “let the facts speak for themselves,” which perfectly describes what journalism is all about.
UNE student lectures class on the journey through journalism
Students listen to their peer guest speaker who applies classroom practices into real world careers.
February 10, 2025
Natalie DeGreenia
University Student
In February 2025, a former journalism student unfolds her journey as a beginner journalist and how it applies to an Introduction to Journalism class at the University of New England and its current students.
On Friday Professor Jesse Miller invited a guest lecturer, Emily Hedigard (she/her), a senior English and Communications Media Arts major going on to a masters program at ASU, to speak to his students about her journey as a journalist. Hedigard is a former student of Miller’s and uses her perspective from interning at the Portland Press Harold, the Main Monitor, holding an editor position at the UNE Bolt, and having been in the same position as her audience to provide advice for aspiring journalists.
Hedigard began her involvement in the journalism industry in high school. Some of the obstacles she says she faced were establishing the set of skills necessary for the job, but also a sense of credibility especially as a young female in a male dominated field. As Miller and Hedigard broke down the nuances behind issues in the system and finding the best way to maintain a journalist’s devotion to the truth Miller says, “How do you critique the institution that’s funding you?” How does one combat the issues that come from within the newsroom itself? Emily was able to apply this to her time at the UNE Bolt where she ran into challenges sometimes but her dedication to reliability and honesty about her process built her reputation with administration.
Hedigard reflects on her experiences with not being taken seriously. “Most people brushed me off”. However, despite this she goes on to say the most challenging relationship she has was between herself and her editor. This relationship is what could have most questioned her sense of credibility. Her ideas were pushed back on and the way she conveyed the information was reworked countless times. Hedigard says to, “Let the facts speak for themselves.” She learned not to be heavy-handed in her writing and the way she delivered information. All of these things she says are key to being a good journalist.
UNE School Newspaper’s Editor in Chief inspires class
University student guest lectures a journalism class to share her knowledge
February 7, 2025
Quinnly Raducha
University Student
On February 7, 2025, a special guest came into a class to discuss her knowledge on journalism while being in the course and what she has learned from being a part of the school newspaper.
During Friday’s class, Emily Hedegard, a senior English and Communication Media Arts major was invited by Professor Jesse Miller to talk to his Intro to Journalism class, about her experience with journalism. Hedegard had previously taken the course taught by Miller and has now gone on to intern at the Portland Press Herald, The Maine Monitor, and is the editor in chief of UNE’s student newspaper “The Bolt”. Through all these experiences she has applied her knowledge from Miller’s course.
Hedgard started her journalism career in highschool. She interned at Saco Bay News her senior year and really got the gist for journalism and loved it. She said “it gives people a voice, who may not have a voice otherwise.”
While journalism is a heavily male dominated field that did not stop Hedegard from doing what she loved. She stated that it was intimidating at first but she wasn’t gonna stop her passion. “As a young female in a male dominated industry, most people brushed me off.” she stated. Hedagard went on to say it was hard for her to have people take her seriously. But throughout her experiences her best piece of advice for Miller’s class was to “let the facts speak for themselves,” and today facts are more important than ever.
Emily Hedegard Talks Journalism at UNE
One of UNE’s graduating seniors talks to the younger students in CMM 211 about her experience in journalism since attending the University.
On February 7th 2025 at 3pm, Emily Hedegard, a former student of Professor Miller’s Journalism came into the classroom prepared to impress the current attendees of the class.
She started by talking about how her passion grew for journalism all the way back in high school from her photojournalism class. She loved how a picture can send such a powerful message without a word. Overtime she didn’t want to just make a story with only photos, she wanted to put the pen to paper as well.
Though it was very early in her life she wanted to get a head start on her journal career. She did this by getting an internship at the Saco Bay News in Maine. Following that when she got to college she used the skills she learned from her internship and became a part of the school The Bolt. Not only that but became the Editor-in-Chief of the page for over two years during her time.
For Emily it was never an easy start. Being in a male predominant industry is not easy for any woman especially her age, but she never let it get the best of her. For Ms. Hedegard journalism was never about either taking a picture or writing, it was about being a part of history. The bright soon to be graduate has a bright and very prominent future ahead of herself.
UNE Student Shares her Experience with Journalism
Students listen to a guest speaker describe what being a real world journalist is like.
February 9, 2025
Jadyn Stevens
University Student
In February 2025, a past student of an Introduction to Journalism class came back to share what being a journalist is like and the challenges she faces.
Associate Teaching Professor of Writing and Communication, Jesse Miller, brought a past student Emily Hedegard (she/her) to class. Emily is a senior with a major in English and Communication Media Arts. Hedegard has had a love for journalism since high school. Her journey as a journalist started with an internship at Saco Bay News, which provided valuable experience at an early age. She went on to write for the UNE Bolt, and later became the Editor in Chief. Hedegard has also worked for The Portland Press Herald and the Maine Monitor.
Working as a journalist has included some challenges, especially as a young female writer. Hedegard was not taken seriously but she learned to not give up. “It was terrifying, but if you’re comfortable, you’re not doing it right”, she said, quoting a past mentor of hers. She described how most people did not give her the time of day. Hedegard shared, “As a young female in a male dominated industry, most people brushed me off.” The people she was writing about judged her ability based on her age and gender.
Hedegard’s stories provided insight into the realities of being a journalist. Sophomore Criminology major Cameron Stickeny (she/her), found the stories to be inspirational. “I enjoyed her talking about the treatment of reporters and how she didn’t let it get her down,” she said.
Students in this class are learning about journalistic practices. The experiences that Hedegard faced detailed just some of the potential challenges that journalists face on a daily basis. She left students with the message that the best way to prove yourself in the field is to, “just let the facts speak for themselves”.
Guest speaker, Emily Hedegard explains her experience being a journalist.
Emily Hedegard is a senior communications and media arts major here at the University of New England. She came into our Intro to Journalism class to explain her struggles being a woman in journalism, and gave us advice on what helped her through them.
Emily explained a lot about how since she was a woman who was still in college, there are multiple people who don’t want to talk to her and the interviews don’t go as smoothly as they would with someone who is older or male. This information was very important to know as a woman because it lets me know what to expect when going into this kind of work. She also gave us some great pieces of advice that I thought was important, for example Emily stated “Let the facts speak for themselves. Don’t write too much, your readers are smart so they will figure out if the facts are talking or the writer is” This stood out to me because not much content needs to be written out if you have plenty of facts about your story. She mentioned how research is a huge part in journalism and it is important to use everything you find so the audience understands the facts better. Anthony Lacaprucia, a freshman communications and media arts major (he/him), thought the quote “Be okay with being embarrassed” Emily said was important because your story will be more detailed if you get comfortable asking stupid questions, or emailing someone 3 or 4 times to get a response.
Guest lecturer enlightens UNE students on her experience in Journalism
Journalist students get a better understanding of the possibilities of being a journalist and the journalist world through guest lecturer experience.
February 7, 2025
Sydney Bishop
University Student
In early February, a former student returns to tell her account of how journalism works and what she has learned throughout the past few years.
For this class, Professor Jesse Miller invited Emily Hedegard (She/Her), A senior (2025) English and Communications Media Arts major to recount her experience within the class and journalism world itself.
Hedegard discusses with the class how she first started her interest with journalism, which was in highschool with a WWII class. This class introduced her to photojournalism, “A single could tell so much, tell a whole story,” stated by Hedegard. This led her to getting a job with the local newspaper, Saco Bay News, to see if this was something she wanted to pursue as a career.
Following her experience Professor Miller depicted his experiences at the Record in Troy, New York and how the numerous aspects of his job there included the necessity of editors. Hedegard is the editor and chief for the Bolt, the University of New England’s newspaper; she agreed with the sentiment.
She continues on discussing the differences in being a writer/reporter versus being an editor. “Making sure everything is edited to a T,” she stated. Recounting her experience at the Portland Press Herald, where she had written a time sensitive article and sent to her editor, the next day she saw the article reworked and published. Her editor made her article flow in a way readers could digest the article easily.
The comparison between being a student reporter and an official reporter is very different, Hedegard explains it can be more difficult to be a student journalist. That people tend to take you less seriously. Though this allows people to grow and learn how to set up a journalistic mind set.
As the class was closing out, Professor Miller asked Hegard to give the class some advice for their future reporting. This is what she offered, “be okay with being embarrassed” and “love to her the word no.” She explained that sometimes asking the ‘stupid’ questions for articles are needed to best understand the process for the article.
February 7th
Jaelen Jackson
Student
On February 7th, a current student at the University of New England shares with a journalism class the ins and outs of how she was able to use skills learned in college classes and translate them directly towards her future work.
In Friday’s journalism 211 class, Professor Jesse Miller invited guest speaker and former student of Miller’s, Emily Hedegard. A senior communications media arts major. As said earlier, Hedegard was able to use skills directly from Journalism 211 in her work as a journalist for the Portland Press Herald and The Maine Monitor. Hedegard has also been active in journalism on campus as she is the editor and chief of “The Bolt” a student ran newspaper for the University of New England.
As the class went on and Miller was able to ask Hedegard some interesting questions, when asked about journalism in a pretty broad way, Hedegard went on to say, “It’s always about being outside of your comfort zone with journalism, if you aren’t uncomfortable, you’re wrong.” Hedegard made this point when talking about some of the less exciting parts of journalism such as talking to people who clearly don’t want to speak about the story or sending multiple emails to the same person, I order to get their view on a story.
Emily Hedegard : A Leader in Journalism
Emily Hedegard (she/her) has already made her mark in the world of journalism. She speaks with students with aspirations such as her own to share how she made it through the male dominated industry as an aspirational leader.
February 10, 2025
Maeve McDermott
University Student
Senior communication student enrolled at the University of New England, Emily Hedegard, makes a special appearance in CMM211 Introduction to Journalism lecture, led by Jesse Miller, to highlight her experiences throughout her upcoming career in journalism.
Hedegard Initially started her love for journalism through photojournalism, intrigued by the way that a single photo could document history. One of the main reasons why she loved journalism is sharing peoples stories. She states “I get to give a voice to people who might not have a voice otherwise”. As she moved to college she combined her love for writing with her passion for telling people’s stories and landed a role as editor and chief of Bolt, an online newspaper for UNE, internship at the Press Portland Herald, Saco Bay News, and The Maine Monitor.
Hedegard shared a pivotal moment in her career with the class. “You never know what someone is going to say or how it’s going to go,” says Hedegard, referring to meeting whom you’re interviewing. As a female in a male dominated industry, she recalled a specific time when, a company, initially eager to be interviewed by her, looked at herself, a young girl, in disbelief. Based on her appearance they were offstandish and withheld the information she needed. Ultimately this story didn’t end up getting published. Hedegard didn’t see this as a disappointment, she saw this as a stepping stone, willing her to work harder.
Although this profession comes with many obstacles, Hedegard perseveres through them. She is planning to graduate from the University of New England in May of this year and is heading to a prestigious journalism masters program at Arizona State.
Portland Press Herald Writer Talks Journalism with UNE class
Emily Hedegard Gives Invaluable Advice to Students as she Launches her Journalism Career beyond UNE.
Casey Jordan
February 11, 2025
University Student
Professor Millers CMM 211 class had the privilege of a guest speaker in class on Friday February 7th. The speaker, Emily Hedegard, was a former student of the same class and professor, she stepped back into her CMM 211 shoes and gave students a new angle of insight.
” If you’re comfortable, you’re not doing it right”
Hedegard quickly addressed one of the biggest struggles of up and coming journalists, the nerves and uncomfortable feeling of reaching out to subjects. This has been a struggle and continues to be for Hedegard herself. She instilled the mindset of pushing through when people tell you no. Which has helped her in her journey.
She doubles down on this mindset by saying, “Be okay with being embarrassed”. she explains the importance of not letting embarrassment and rejection slow you down. Because its all part of the process so you might as well get used to it.
Hedegard shifts gears into the writing aspect of journalism and provides valuable tips she has learned throughout her experiences. Some of the biggest things she stressed came in the story telling aspect. Like learning how to formulate a story from all angles, and not being too heavy handed or over explaining; “let the facts speak for themselves”. Specifically for hard news, readers need to be able to take the story how they want without being told how to feel.
Emily closed the discussion talking about the editorial process with the class as well, explaining the importance of spelling and a good headline. stating that it truly is like judging a book by its cover, and your work wont be taken seriously if there are mistakes. She gave insight to future journalists on how to deal with editors changing their work. Saying sometimes you need to set aside your ego and listen to the editor, especially as a young journalist.
A Woman in a Field Dominated by Men
UNE students receive an educational lecture led by Emily Hedegard on what it means to be a journalist, and even more so, a female journalist
February 7, 2025
Cameron Stickney
University Student
On February 7, 2025, a class at UNE received an insightful guest lecture hosted by Emily Hedegard on her experience as a journalist overall, as well as her experience as a female journalist in a field that is widely dominated by men.
Professor Jessee Miller, former employee at The Record in New York, teaches journalism at The University of New England where he hosted a guest Lecture with Emily Hedegard on her experience as a journalist.
Emily Hedegard, 21, an English and Communication Media Art double major will be graduating from The University of New England this May where she will then continue her education and receive her Masters Degree in investigative journalism at ASU. Miss Hedegard, the Editor and Chief of The Bolt – UNE school paper, for 2 ½ years gave a heartfelt and very insightful lecture to the students in Professor Millers class.
High school was where Miss Hedegard found her passion for journalism; starting as a love for photography and photo journalism shifted her passion to become a photographer to a journalist. Hedegard worked for the Saco Bay News during this time and wrote pieces for the Portland Press Harold. Hedegard saw the importance journalism served to the community and how it, “gives a voice to people who may not have a voice otherwise.”
Hedegard was often turned down when she asked people to give an interview on a piece she was writing due to the fact that she was not only 16, but a female. She found herself not being respected and treated as a reporter should. Miller raised an important point to this problem, “How are you going to get a job if you don’t have experience?”
Luckily, Emily Hedegard found a solution to the question Miller raised. Miss Hedegard explained to the students that although it’s scary at first, practice makes it better. If as a journalist you are turned down for whatever reason, you shake it off and keep pursuing the story, you fall down and get back up again. Even with all the treatment Miss Hedegard found herself receiving from others, she continued to do her job as a journalist and continued to do it correctly.
One of the most important things a journalist could do was making sure you had credibility, especially if a journalist is writing something possibly damaging to the person funding their work.
Closing her lecture to students, some fantastic questions were asked which were met with even more fantastic answers. Emily Hedegard gave her best piece of advice to future journalists, “let the facts speak for themselves” letting them know they don’t need to go over the top explaining, but just allowing the facts to sink in to the reader because they’ll understand. She also told students they should learn to “be ok with being embarrassed” as they’ll have to do lots of awkward phone calls and interviews, but in the end it always pays off.
In the years that Miss Hedegard has been a journalist, she’s learned lots of valuable lessons despite going through extra hoops as a female journalist. However, she never let this stop her pursuing what she’s passionate about and getting the job done. Hedegard knows that even though people might not change how they act towards you, you can change how you approach the situation,“I’d like to say it improved, but I think I’ve just gotten used to it.”