Lulu McGhee: Your next Katharine Graham, starting her career at OU
Aurora has produced a lot of amazing people, but one that is on the rise is Lulu McGhee. Lulu is a freshman at Ohio University, majoring in Journalism. She writes for The Post, OU’s school newspaper. Let’s dive deeper into the woman who continues to make history.
Before graduating from Aurora High School, Lulu was set on attending OSU for nursing. By the time she graduated in May of 2023, she had been a journalist for the Aurora Gambit for 2 years, starting her junior year. This is where she found her love for journalism, inspiring her major choice for the next 4 years. Before deciding which college to attend, she applied to a variety of scholarships. For the Honors College for OU, she was expected to write a paragraph deep diving into her “why” for choosing journalism, as well as a follow-up interview. She heard back from OU with an offer of a full ride, something she couldn’t pass up. That following fall she started her journey as an OU undergraduate student and journalist.
Something many may not know about OU’s newspaper is that being a journalism major doesn’t mean you’re a journalist for the paper. It is something that you choose to do in your off time, which Lulu does. As aforementioned, she is a part of the Human Interest sect.
“I’m learning more about people and diversity,” she says when asked about her portion of the paper. She gets to represent people and their problems, as well as things going on in their community.
The Post goes through a similar process to professional newspapers. The writers complete their articles within 1-2 weeks. Upon its completion, it is sent to editors. The writers ping the photo department when they are in need of graphics for their articles.
She explains that at The Post, “Everything is authentic. Everything is us.” Every addition to every article comes from a portion of The Post’s staff. It is completely OU authentic, creating a very intimate environment for not only journalists but all attending students.
Since Lulu’s articles entail representing people, interviewing people is an inevitable part of her articles. Their interview type is called “man on the street.” Essentially, she stops people in public and asks them if they’d be willing to answer a few questions for her article.
“There are a lot of times where you’ll get shot down, but you can’t take it personally…You have to take it with a grain of salt,” she explains, admitting that this is something she was challenged with at times. While it causes a bit of shock and even embarrassment, it has given her a chance to learn how to better approach people openly. When asked how she overcame this struggle, she told us that she changed the way she looked and approached people.
“Presence is everything,” she smiles. It’s hard to believe that Lulu ever struggled with people turning her down, being that she has one of the most warm and welcoming energies.
Lulu then touched on the differences between being a journalist for The Gambit and The Post. In terms of popularity and readers, The Post takes the cake. Journalism is a considerable part of OU’s culture, so naturally, people take time to read the articles their peers produce. This also means more effort from her end, but this doesn’t seem to be a problem for her.
“I am genuinely passionate about what I’m doing,” she states. This makes it easier for Lulu to find motivation and drive, clearly showing through her amazing articles.
The Gambit was essentially her starter course in journalism, teaching her more about what journalism is, whereas The Post is where she is improving and growing. When talking about The Gambit, she mentioned the intimacy of the environment.
She reflects, “Through being a part of The Gambit, I knew everybody in my graduating class. I started to know everyone’s story. Maybe we don’t have a ton in common, but we have Aurora.”
In regards to her future plans, Lulu has numerous paths she is thinking of going down. Initially, she was set on going down the broadcasting avenue. After realizing that it wasn’t her passion, she picked up a business minor. She has hopes of possibly becoming an editor-in-chief of a publication one day. Short term, she’s hoping to become a top journalist at The Post as well as get more people involved in journalism through social media and other outlets. She’s already on the way to these goals with 3 out of her 4 articles reaching top stories for The Post.
“I want to work with people everyday,” she says. Ultimately, Lulu wants to make a positive difference in the world.
Lulu is exactly what the world needs when it comes to a journalist. She wants to educate the world and make a difference. There is no doubt that she left her mark at Aurora through not only The Gambit but many other activities she was involved in, including sending Aurora 2023 graduates off with her commencement speech at graduation. This same influence is beginning to sprout down at OU, where she will undoubtedly accomplish the changes she wants to make.
It was a privilege getting to know Lulu. Not only is she an excelling journalist, but also a down-to-earth and kind human being. Her future is incredibly bright, and it started here in your hometown, Aurora.
Check out Lulu's articles!
Written by Ava McGovern