Matt Monroe
Webmaster
In honor of Black History Month, Carol Daniel, a popular KMOX news anchor, visited Lewis and Clark Community College on Feb. 19 to discuss her origins in broadcasting, social media’s impact on her job, and more.
Daniel begun her speech by taking a selfie with the audience, joking afterwards that people in St. Louis think L&C is “so far”, and complimented the campus, calling it “beautiful”.
One of her first talking points were her college origins, saying, “I had three older brothers and they were already in college and it was expected that I was going to college, so I’m definitely going to college.” She enrolled at the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1980, starting out as a business major.
However, her time at Mizzou was short as after a semester, she struggled with her classes and transferred to Lincoln University, a historically black college, while her parents helped her financially.
Going into Lincoln, Daniel became a workaholic, getting involved in several academic clubs and programs before being on the radio. After her first time on a radio broadcast, Daniel instantly fell in love with it, doing as much as she could for her station.
Halfway through her speech, she stressed the idea of trying to chase a dream, even if one couldn’t make a career out of it. An example she brought up was her friend who works from the Air Force, while making jewelry on the side.
Also in the speech, she talked about social media’s impact on her job, mentioning a young co-worker who bragged about having 9,000 followers on Twitter, more than her 2,400. She retorted to the co-worker saying, “You know what I do have? I have a husband and children. That’s what I have. And when I go to my grave, my tombstone’s not gonna say ‘10,000 Followers,’ it is going to say ‘Loving Wife, Wonderful Mother,’ and that’s what matters to me.”
Despite this story, she still realizes how important and relevant social media is. Just from her job, she notes a change in how now press releases don’t come by fax, but by Facebook.
Another distinction is the impact the Michael Brown case had because of social media, as his body lying dead and in the open for four hours caused a huge impact his death otherwise wouldn’t have had.
She also said how hard it is to get a job now because of social media, as someone not being hired can all depend on their follower count, as she recounted from seeing how the marketing section of her job changed.
To conclude her speech, Daniel said, “You are equipped to do something about it, whatever it is, so hard-headed, hard-working, curious, and courteous. Don’t let anybody tell you that you have to be a jerk, Donald Trump, to get ahead.”
To find more information about Mrs. Daniel, visit her KMOX profile at http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/personality/carol-daniel/, or follow her on Twitter at @caroldanielkmox.
