Ink in Her Veins
Embedded Files
Anastasia Busby
Team Chapnick
At 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday Sept. 23, 2026, Dakota Oswalt, the editor-in-chief of The Missourian, Northwest Missouri State University’s award-winning student newspaper, walks home to her apartment after a 10-hour production night with her staff. Since assuming the position earlier this year, Dakota spends much of her time in the newsroom, leading a team of over 20 students.
The Missourian started printing as a weekly paper in 1914, and Northwest Missouri State University became one of the smallest colleges to print a weekly paper. In an effort to keep up with a rapidly changing media landscape, the student publication adopted a digital-first approach in 2024, but it is still producing a printed paper every other week.
Dakota was first introduced to journalism at her high school newspaper and yearbook in Atlantic, Iowa. She decided to apply to the Missourian as a freshman, both to pursue her passion for writing but also as a way to make money on campus.
Inspired by the writers of the Gospels who “covered” the life of Jesus Christ, she switched her major from English to Journalism. “Being a voice for the voiceless and telling stories of the unheard communities, I feel like that just aligns with my faith very well,” Dakota said.
As editor-in-chief, Dakota is responsible for everything the newspaper publishes. On weeks with a print deadline, she spends upwards of 40 hours a week in the newsroom. She hopes to become an investigative reporter in rural America after graduating this spring.
Editor-in-Chief Dakota Oswalt talks to a student page designer about the layout of the next issue of The Missourian during production night. The newspaper's staff gathers in the newsroom every other Tuesday to edit stories and design pages in the basement of Wells Hall at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Mo.
Managing Editor Anna Bailey, left, talks to Dakota about what needs to get done that night in order to make print deadline the next day. At the third desk, Sports Editor Olivia Wallace works on updating one of her sports stories for print.
Sunglasses sit on Dakota’s desk in the newsroom. “It feels good to expose corruption and watch people react to it,” she said, referencing an investigative piece she wrote over the summer on a potential A.I. data center coming to Nodaway County.
Dakota makes edits on a story during print production night in the student newsroom. Some editors keep blankets at the newsroom for late nights.
Dakota walks home at 3:45 a.m. after a 10-hour production night. On most print production nights the editors don’t leave until after midnight.
Dakota reads her Bible the morning after newspaper production night in her student housing. Dakota reads the Bible almost every morning, and this is her third time reading it through.
The third issue of the 2026 school year’s paper gets printed at NPG Printing Company in St. Joseph, Mo. The order only took about 5 minutes to print.
Sophomore Missourian reporter Emily Krone, left, and Dakota walk from the newsroom to the student union to hand out papers. Dakota carries a speaker with her to play music while handing out papers.
Dakota, left, and Anna quickly look over the front page of the paper while handing out papers at the student union. Anna was Dakota’s first friend she made at the Missourian, and they served as news editors together their sophomore year.
Dakota makes notes on a copy of the paper during critique. The whole staff meets the day after the paper is printed to go through each page and address mistakes and give shout-outs.
Dakota and Anna stand in front of the Missourian staff and mark mistakes on the paper in red pen during critique.
Dakota looks at the Missourian archive in the basement of Wells Hall at the university. “I love The Missourian,” she says. “I love working here and being the leader of this newsroom.”
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