As
an
anchor
and
reporter
for
FOX
54,
WFXG-TV,
in
Augusta,
Ga.,
Lander
alumna
Miya
Payton
does
not
take
her
job
lightly.
"I
consider
it
a
privilege
to
exercise
my
rights
and
encourage
others
to
do
the
same,"
she
said.
"I
believe
that
knowledge
is
power,
and
many
of
the
stories
I
tell
inform
our
viewers
of
what's
going
on
in
the
world
around
them."
These are values that were instilled in Payton through her experience with Lander's mass communications program. Today, she can be found following up on investigations, attending community events or warning viewers about dangerous weather conditions. But, the Abbeville County native and 2015 graduate of Lander University got her start in front of the camera with WLGTV, the precursor to Lander's LUX Studios.
"During my freshman year, the department received new studio equipment, and I helped put it together," said Payton, recognizing the value of building meaningful experience early on in her undergraduate career. "I saw firsthand what it takes to start a newscast from the ground up."
Later on, Payton had the chance to co-host her own show, He Said, She Said, with fellow alumnus Brian Sherrod, who now works as an anchor and reporter with NBC Nebraska. "It gave me the opportunity to be a producer, assignment editor and host all-in-one," she said.
Highlighting how her time with Lander's student media programs "planted the seeds" for her own successful career in television broadcast, Payton notes that the hands-on approach taken by Lander's mass communications faculty is the key ingredient of success for so many alumni like her. "As a starry eyed freshman with big dreams, I was motivated to learn and do all I could," she said.
"The professors at Lander did more than teach me over the years; they pushed me to never give up."
This story is featured in the Fall 2019 edition of Lander Magazine. Read more at www.lander.edu/magazine.
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