Life & Work with Stephanie Haney of Cleveland

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Haney.

Hi Stephanie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Finding my way to journalism was a bit of a windy road. When I was growing up, my plan was always to go to law school, because I wanted to be a force for good in this world. Then, while I was in law school, I got interested in the entertainment industry. That’s why during my third year of law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I registered for the California bar exam. I figured this way, I’d be forced to move to California to pursue work in media and entertainment. I did move to California, where I first got licensed to practice law (I’m also licensed in Ohio), but initially I spent most of my time doing television, film and promotional work. After spending 5 years in that world, I decided I wanted to find a way to marry all of my interests, namely sharing information that helps to make people’s lives better, and connecting with people on camera. That’s why I decided to go back to school to get my Masters in journalism from the University of Southern California. I graduated from USC in 2016, and from there I’ve worked at Good Morning America, DailyMailTV and DailyMail.com, the 3News WKYC NBC affiliate in Cleveland, and now NPR member station 89.7 WKSU, Ideastream Public Media as the new host of “The Sound of Ideas.”

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There have certainly been challenges along the way. My first job out of journalism school was a summer fellowship in New York City, so three months later I found myself back in Los Angeles without a job. Thankfully, a friend introduced me to the editorial team at the DailyMail.com office in Venice Beach, which is what eventually brought me back to New York. Even after making that move, though, things got a bit rocky. Struggling to make ends meet, I decided to come back home to Ohio in the summer of 2017 to take the Ohio bar exam. I thought then that the timing might be right to start my own law firm. But then, I got word that DailyMailTV was launching, so I went back to New York for the third time to be a part of that show. It was an incredible experience that not only earned me a national DayTime Emmy Award as a correspondent, but also introduced me to incredible colleagues and friends. By 2019, I felt the time was right to move on to something different, and that’s when I got the call that I’d be moving home to become the first digital anchor at WKYC in Cleveland. For nearly six years, I worked alongside incredible people with a passion for local news. We worked through rumors of sales and mergers, and eventually a restructuring that resulted in my contract not being renewed. That left me once again without a job, this time looking ahead at my upcoming wedding just shy of four months from my last day at the news station. But as luck would have it, this timed up with the previous host of Sound of Ideas moving on to something different. Once I realized this opening was available, I jumped at the chance to apply and I’m very happy to say it resulted in a very lovely landing for me with NPR member station 89.7 WKSU, Ideastream Public Media.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Being licensed to practice law in both Ohio and California has been incredibly helpful in my journalism career. Not only is it nice to be able to understand (and often, help decode) legal jargon, but it’s trained me to look at all sides of a scenario in a way that allows me to fairly represent complex issues to my audience.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
What I love about hosting the Sound of Ideas is its truly multi-platform approach. Over the next 5-10, the options people have to consume media will only continue to expand, so I appreciate this team’s willingness to meet our audience members where they are, whether that be on the radio, on television or on digital platforms like podcast providers, YouTube and social media.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ideastream.org/podcast/sound-of-ideas
• Instagram: @_stephaniehaney
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/thestephaniehaney
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmVWg2oiNxJxC0-NUskBmmv3A5UfUJHG3