“I’ve had a passion for writing since a very young age. It always came as second nature, so it seemed like a natural transition to pursue journalism or communications as a career. I want to spend my life authentically telling people’s stories and giving a voice to those that may not have one.”
-Jordan Meier
September 2021 - Present
I write various stories on public safety issues in the Springfield, Missouri area for the largest paper in the southern part of Missouri. I cover breaking news stories like crashes, shootings and fires as well as court proceedings for various cases of interest to the public including the Rebecca Ruud murder trial and all hearings involving the murder of Cassidy Rainwater. In addition to the day to day issues I cover, I am constantly working on long-term investigative pieces which have included an investigation into the rise of catalytic converter thefts in the Springfield area and a look into why Springfield police are able to solve more homicides annually than the average police department.
September 2020 - September 2021
I wrote community news stories for the go-to newspaper in southeast Kansas which publishes five days a week. I reported daily on topics such as education, local politics, public safety, public health and human interest, writing between two and three articles a day. I covered the Board of Education, County Commission and City Councils in the afternoon/evenings after deadline and continually had longer-term investigative pieces that I was working on. A few of my published investigative pieces include a story on masking in public schools during the upcoming school year and an investigation into the underfunding of special education in the state of Kansas. Although only on the staff a year, I have made my mark. I created an Instagram account for the paper, which now has nearly 1,000 followers, where I posted photos that myself and others have taken. Additionally, I was given two awards from the Kansas Press Association for my work: a first-place prize in the education category, and a second-place prize in the religion category.
May 2020- September 2020
I wrote news, feature and blog style stories for Kansas City’s premier city magazine. I reported on recent events like the uncertainty of USPS’s future, the Black Lives Matter Movement in Kansas City and the reopening of KCMO staple businesses as stay at home orders lift. I also wrote features about a local veteran-run wagyu beef company in Weston, MO, and Alonzo Brook’s 16-year-old cold case. I wrote six articles for the July 2020 issue, and four blog posts for their website during that time as well. All the while, researching and pitching ideas for the August 2020 issue.
January 2019-May 2020
I reported on daily government proceedings from Missouri’s state government in Jefferson City, Missouri, and wrote over sixteen day-turn articles for the Columbia Missourian, 12 of which have been featured on the front page. I covered hearings, press conferences and regular session for both the House of Representatives and Senate. I focused on making the government slang and procedure digestible for the readers. I’ve gained skills in contacting and interviewing politicians and government officials. I also took the lead on an investigative piece about PACs in Missouri politics, helped with a larger data driven project about Clean Missouri, and covered breaking news surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the work I produced was often picked up by smaller papers in Missouri such as the Maryville Forum in Maryville, Missouri and the Daily Star Journal is Warrensburg, Missouri.
May 2019-August 2019
I was in charge of a wide range of projects during my time at United Way. I designed graphics, edited videos and wrote copy for various social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. This included a Twitter campaign featuring UPS that got over 600,000 impressions. I created graphic templates that will be used to streamline creating content on social media and will be used consistently on all platforms for the foreseeable future. I analyzed data from a survey United Way had conducted using SQL, my analysis helped identify patterns and problems at various events held by United Way. My experience at United Way was diverse and provided me with unparalleled opportunities.
August 2018-May 2019
Pitched, reported and produced enterprise media packages that consisted of a 3-4-minute main audio or video piece, a text story, a photo story, an infographic, and short video for social media as a part of a team. Through that reporting experience also gained experience using Adobe Creative Suite software to edit and produce the multimedia content for those enterprise stories. Also pitched, reported and produced short news Facebook style videos for the Missourian.
Produced social media campaign graphics for It’s On Us at University of Missouri. The organization actively works to end sexual violence on college campuses and holds several events through out the year to spread their message. The graphics marketed special events to the campus and were used on all major social media sites (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook).
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM
AUGUST 2017 - MAY 2020
BROADWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
NOVEMBER 2016-NOVEMBER 2017
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, COLUMBIA
May 2020 Graduation
Bachelors of Journalism / Emphasis Investigative Journalism
Minor – Political Science
Involved in Journalism Ambassadors, It’s On Us and Phi Mu Sorority.
JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, OLATHE
August 2020
Grant writing certification
Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence 2021
Division VI first-place award for best education story: “School board approves new Wi-Fi network funding as some remote learners struggle”
Division VI second-place award for best religion story: “Local church might have crossed line between religion and politics, campaign finance reports reveal.”
SOFTWARE:
ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE: PHOTOSHOP, INDESIGN, ILLUSTRATOR, AUDITION, PREMIERE PRO & ACROBAT
MICROSOFT OFFICE: WORD, EXCEL, POWERPOINT
APPLE IMOVIE
SQLite Database
EQUIPMENT:
VARIETY OF DSLR CAMERAS (EXAMPLES: SONY RX10II, NIKON D5200)
AUDIO RECORDERS, WIRELESS AND WIRED MICS, TRIPODS
LANGUAGE:
SPANISH: A BASIC SKILL LEVEL FOR BOTH SPOKEN AND WRITTEN.
