‘I’m proud to have come from OU Daily’: Alexia Aston reflects on years spent serving Norman community
My job at OU Daily often made me emotional, but crying in the newsroom was never something I was willing to do. My ego is much too large.
Nonetheless, my eyes welled with tears one day in November (just as they are as I’m writing this) as I sat in Seth Prince’s office, consulting OU Daily’s newsroom adviser and OU Student Media director about one of the biggest decisions I’ve ever made.
I was set to receive a job offer from The Oklahoman, and the paper wanted me to start Jan. 2.
This meant I’d miss what would’ve been my final semester at OU Daily where I’d complete my student journalist career as the news outlet’s news managing editor.
Part of me wanted to decline The Oklahoman’s offer.
It didn’t feel right to give up a giant part of my college career early.
It was also because during my time at OU Daily, we became the main source of news for many Normanites, especially regarding city affairs, and I was passionate about this.
However, the logical part of me understood that the whole purpose of my time at the Daily was to prepare me for this exact moment — the job offer — and I was prepared.
Alexia and Jillian
Alexia Aston, former news managing editor, and Jillian Martin, former editor-in-chief, during their summer internship at the Tulsa World in July 2022. Provided.
OU Daily creates thoughtful, careful reporters
I spent three and a half years at the Daily serving as a news reporter, senior news reporter, news editor and news managing editor.
It was incredibly difficult.
Of course, today’s 24-hour journalism model is demanding, but keeping up with it wasn’t the hardest part about the Daily.
What kept me up at night were discussions and decisions that’d shape the integrity of OU’s independent student newspaper and its reporters.
I spent countless hours in the newsroom in conversations about what we should or shouldn’t report on and how we referred to certain identity groups, conflicts and consequential issues that affected our audience.
Examples include language in coverage regarding the attacks on the 2SLGBTQ+ community by the state Legislature and context surrounding local, state and international affairs.
We consulted our peers in the newsroom, advisers outside of it and professional journalists on these topics.
Our ultimate goal was to do no harm.
No decision was made without consideration from every angle my colleagues could find.
This intentional and thoughtful process creates journalists who care deeply about how their reporting affects the community they’re serving. It produces reporters who strive to have nuanced understandings of systems that impact their audience.
These long conversations about language, style and precedent were tough and uncomfortable, but journalists and media consumers are better for it.
I’m better for it.
A campus bigger than my hometown
When I first came to OU, I couldn’t imagine I’d soon spend hours alongside my peers discussing the best ways to communicate with an audience of tens of thousands of people.
I was raised in Clinton, a small, rural town in western Oklahoma, and campus felt bigger than my hometown.
On campus, I saw OU Daily’s racks of newspapers filled with stories about campus and local affairs from student journalists.
I knew that’s what I wanted to do as soon as I picked up a paper, but I didn’t have any experience other than the essays I wrote in high school.
Alexia and Silas
Silas Bales, former culture editor, and Alexia Aston, former news managing editor, at the exclusive opening of Velvet Taco. Provided.
But, Silas Bales, my now-best friend, encouraged me to reach out to the news editor. So, I did.
The editor took a chance on me, and I was soon writing stories, interviewing state politicians and breaking OU news.
If you ask Silas, he “made” me. And, to an extent, he’s right. Without him, I wouldn’t be writing this column.
Without the Daily, I wouldn’t have made such incredible friends, like Silas, Jillian Martin and Kaly Phan, and of course, the greatest mentor, Seth.
My promise to the OU Daily
OU Daily granted me a space to grow not only as a journalist, but also as a person. It taught me integrity, mindfulness and how to listen to others.
The OU Daily instills in its reporters the importance of earning trust. Every story, decision and guideline is considered multiple times, and the consequences are carefully calculated.
The news outlet aims to serve OU and the broader Norman community, and it treats its audience with thoughtfulness and intention.
These are values that every student journalist at the OU Daily leaves with, and I promise to uphold them in my professional career.
I’m proud to have come from OU Daily, and I hope to make the paper proud in my future endeavors. I’ll miss the newsroom, campus and the immeasurable knowledge they gave me more than I can put into words.
Thank you, OU Daily.
Alexia Aston is a journalism graduate with a political science minor. Alexia served as news intern, senior news reporter, news editor and news managing editor during her time at the Daily. She interned at the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman, and she currently works at The Oklahoman as a breaking, trending, service journalism reporter.
