“It’s really a dream job for me,” said Susi Elkins, the content and community engagement manager for WKAR in Broadcasting Services.
“I never dreamed of this specific position because I don’t think it existed before a year ago, but in our industry, things are changing so fast that you really need to have somebody who’s trying to keep track of where everything is, where we stand and where we need to be in the future,” Elkins said.
According to its website, WKAR reaches more than a half-million mid-Michigan residents each week and shapes the educational experience of Michigan State University’s 40,000-plus student body.
Elkins coordinates stories between five units within WKAR: radio, TV, online, education and promotion. Elkins meets with each of these units and helps them collaborate on topics and issues that are important to the community.
“If a news reporter is covering a story, there might be an interest on the TV side, something we could do with that story,” Elkins said. “A lot of those things converge online as well.”
Elkins also builds relationships with individuals and groups in the community.
“Part of my day is out in the community talking to those folks and then bringing those ideas back here and coordinating among our producers and reporters what we’re going to cover,” she said.
“I make sure that we’re engaged with the community and covering stories and issues that reflect what our community is interested in and making sure that that gets coverage over all of our platforms.”
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