3 graduates from Rutgers become coworkers in North Dakota newsroom
Three Rutgers graduates have found themselves in the last place they expected — a newsroom halfway across the country in Fargo, North Dakota.
The trio includes two Class of 2016 graduates, Morgan Parrish and Jackie Kelly, and Class of 2014 graduate Scott Sincoff, at the KVRR-TV newsroom, a Fox-affiliated television station.
Sincoff was offered the position at KVRR while getting his master’s degree at Mississippi State University.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect to get out of the Northeast until I interned at the Weather Channel the summer before my junior year,” Sincoff said in an email. “That’s when I realized that if you really want to do what you’re passionate about, you have to go outside of your comfort zone and try new things.”
Joe Radske, the news director at KVRR, said that it was coincidental, but intentional that the three landed a job at the same station, according to a Rutgers Today article.
Scott posted about the station’s job openings on an alumni job board, which is where they first found Parrish, he told Rutgers Today.
Parrish did not expect to leave the tri-state area, but applied to KVRR after Sincoff posted a job opening for a multimedia journalist position, she said. She recommended Kelly after seeing that the station was also looking for a morning show reporter.
Parrish said she and Kelly were friends while attending Rutgers as undergraduate students, and have known each other since their first year. They also worked at RU-tv together.
“I never thought I would end up in Fargo, North Dakota in a million years,” Parrish said via email. “Honestly, it was the last place on my radar. I thought for sure I’d be in New York because I was interning there for so long.”
Sincoff said there is a large cultural shift in Fargo, and that people are more friendly upfront, which is called “North Dakota nice.”
“Fargo is a city on the boom with a bustling downtown but with the peace and quiet of a less-busy suburb as well,” Sincoff said. “Think College Ave. meets Cook/Douglass with a dash of Busch.”
Parrish said that the most common stories she covers are crime stories and that she covers a fair share of burglary and robbery stories.
Sincoff is a meteorologist for the station, but said that he did some reporting before the morning show began.
“One story that sticks out is I covered a camp celebration which kids with cancer come together for a week and have fun and are just able to be kids,” Sincoff said. “It reminded me so much of DM (Dance Marathon).”
The three are not the only Rutgers graduates out in the Midwest. Parrish said she has met other Rutgers graduates since moving to North Dakota.
“I’ve met two other guys from Rutgers who live out here and work for Microsoft,” Parrish said. “Small world. They’ve also helped with making this transition easier.”
Steven Miller, the director of undergraduate studies and a professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, said that a Fox station in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, also has three Rutgers alumni in their newsroom, according to Rutgers Today.
“People out there in the world who hire tell me they would rather hire Rutgers journalism majors than from any other school,” Miller said to Rutgers Today. “They’re smart, they’re talented and most of all, they’re hungry and willing to pay the price.”
Both Sincoff and Parrish encourage students to take the risk and go somewhere out of your comfort zone.
The worst that can happen is that you do not like it, and you can always go home, Parrish said, but the odds are you will love wherever you go.
“Go for it, take a risk,” Sincoff said. “You really don’t know what you’re going to get yourself into unless you experience the new job, the new culture. Become a member of the community and get involved. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Alexandra DeMatos is a School of Arts and Sciences junior double-majoring in journalism and media studies and women's and gender studies. She is the editor-in-chief of The Daily Targum
