by Belle Johnson & Emily Mosier
Marissa Lacey has put in four years of work at Troy Public Radio, and it paid off on March 5 when she got the opportunity to record two national newscasts for NPR about President Biden’s visit to Alabama.
Lacey, a senior broadcast journalism major from Madison, Alabama, said she was glad her first national story was about Selma, Alabama’s commemoration of Bloody Sunday –a crucial moment in civil rights history.
“I am African-American, so just being able to learn more about my culture and my history definitely made me emotional,” Lacey said. “We’ve come such a long way for me to be here and report on this. It felt amazing.”
Lacey’s first story was about the Bloody Sunday bridge crossing, and the other was about President Biden’s speech. She said she was grateful for the journalism experience, even if it was different than what she was used to.
“They do things very fast paced at NPR, so it was really weird being thrown into the lions’ den like that,” Lacey said. “I found myself having to do my spot in like five minutes, and there was nowhere to record.”
Lacey, along with Troy Public Radio Operations Manager Kyle Gassiott, had to leave the press pen and record the audio in a car.
“I was sitting in a hot car, sweating bullets, trying to record the audio because it was the only quiet place,” Lacey said. “I would totally do it again, but that car was hot.”
Gassiott, who has done work for NPR before, said he was proud of Lacey.
“Marissa has always been on her way to great things, and to have her debut as a national reporter during a historic presidential visit is just the next step,” Gassiott said. “I think listeners can excitedly prepare to hear Marissa’s voice and work for years to come.”
Lacey is the host of Troy University’s official podcast The Talk of Troy.
“Her recent work for NPR, which brought her voice to listeners around the world is, to my mind, a natural outgrowth of her experiences here,” Gassiott said.
In addition to getting to see Biden in person, Lacey said she left in awe of Selma’s resilience.
“I see myself going back to visit Selma in the future,” Lacey said. “I want to see how the community is doing because it meant a lot to talk to them.
“Knowing they got hit by a tornado in January and seeing how they are recovering was inspirational.”
Lacey credits the opportunity to work for NPR to Gassiott and TROY Public Radio.
“Troy has helped me so much in my career,” Lacey said. “More people need to get involved with radio even if they' not a communications major or a journalism major.”
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