Working at WOUB helped News Managing Editor Rachel Hoops Linden find her path

When Rachel Hoops Linden (BS ’12) came to Athens from Napoleon, Ohio, she wasn’t really sure what she wanted to do with her life.

“I was in an advanced placement writing class in high school and someone I knew said I should check out Ohio University to try journalism,” said Hoops Linden. “It was the only place that I applied. So, I started in magazine journalism.”

But the magazine journalism major didn’t last long. Hoops Linden got bit by the broadcast news bug thanks to some of her friends who were working at WOUB.

“I liked what they were doing,” said Hoops Linden. “So, I got involved at WOUB. I started out behind the scenes running prompter and audio on the production side. That was during the end of my freshman year and beginning of my sophomore year. By my junior year, I moved into TV producing.”

Hoops Linden loved producing WOUB’s nightly half-hour TV program, NewsWatch. While she also did some on camera reporting work, she realized that being a news producer was her calling.

“I loved producing,” said Hoops Linden. “I didn’t know being a producer was a possibility until WOUB. I learned how a newsroom worked and all the roles. It was lifechanging. Producing at WOUB set me up for every job after that.”

After graduation, Hoops Linden got her first job in the state of Washington at KNDU as the producer of the 6 and 11 p.m. weekday newscasts. And it didn’t take long for her career to take off. Hoops Linden went on to produce newscasts in Lexington, Kentucky and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, before landing in Orlando, Florida. She has worked for FOX 35 for the last six years and was promoted to managing editor last month.

“As managing editor, I oversee the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts as well as the day-to-day editorial content of the newsroom,” said Hoops Linden. “I work with the assignment desk and manage investigative pieces. We also have three digital newscasts that I oversee and manage content for.”

Hoops Linden says her time at WOUB while she was a college student gave her a competitive edge in the job market.

“I learned so much at WOUB,” said Hoops Linden. “The things I came out of college with just put me at a completely different level than everyone else. The experience set me apart. And because I also gained behind the scenes production experience at WOUB, it helps me with troubleshooting issues today. I can edit. I know how to run cameras and audio. I know how all of it works. WOUB was a great starting point. I’m so grateful I got the opportunity.” 

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