Opinion desk editor for the Daily Wildcat, the U of A’s newspaper, Olivia Campbell Krupp is finding her way as a female journalist. After writing a story about misogyny, the person she was writing about leaked her number on his TikTok, and it went viral. She experienced death threats, rape threats, and other inappropriate messages. She was looking for support, and she couldn’t find it. So, in true Olivia Campbelle Krupp fashion – fearless and independent – she decided to create a club where other women in the field of journalism could find the support that she was missing. Olivia decided to create Women in Journalism, “I think mostly because simply there wasn’t one, and I think that there should be one, but also because of my experiences,” she explained.

Through her Women in Journalism Club, she created, “…this space where young women can come together – whether they’re journalism majors or not – and just kind of learn how to best navigate the field.” There, they talk about safety skills, precautions, and tips they can use on the job, and in life. Her advice for younger journalists who are interested, or are already in the field, is, “I think as a journalist, and I really firmly believe this, especially as a young woman, but this applies for boys too, you have to be fearless, but cautious. Fearless, because you have to stand by what you write and if there’s truth behind what you write, if it’s something that is going to help people, and it’s something that people need to know, that’s your job as a journalist…sometimes things worth telling isn’t easy to tell, and a lot of times stuff that’s worth reading is going to rile people up. That is just a fact.” Olivia urges journalists to learn to welcome these aspects of the job – to a safe extent at least. When dealing with people of power especially, these things will happen, but it’s important to know how to handle them. This extends into life outside of journalism as well, wherever you go, if you try to make change that challenges people in powerful positions, there will be backlash. You have to decide whether you want to be a person who hides behind the shadows, or one, who like Olivia, points the spotlight on important issues.

She got into journalism through her love for writing. After starting college in the Fall of 2021, she was lost on what her major would be. After being undeclared for two years, she is now excited about her future career in journalism, and interestingly enough, the misogyny and threats she faced only encouraged her to want to work in journalism even more. “Now I’m super involved…I’m very passionate. So I would say honestly, that negative experience actually kind of solidified my knowingness that this was for me,” Olivia shared.

Even after negative experiences in the field, Olivia has decided to take her journalism to a whole other level. She enjoys writing about Gen Z issues and uses more modern platforms to share her stories. She recently wrote an article called, When Did Every Guy Become a DJ?, that looks into DJ culture at U of A. Olivia then took to YouTube and will be publishing a mini-documentary about it. In her future, she plans to, “basically found my own media company, produce independent journalism, and then create a ton of mini-documentaries…that’s my dream.” She wants to step outside of the typical positions that were often presented to her by her professors – being a broadcast journalist in a small town, or MAYBE, if she got really lucky, ending up as a “broadcast journalist in Austin, Texas so you can report on a dog that got loose.” While she feels that these paths are necessary to media, she wants to make her own way and explore a different path. “You can take journalism in so many different places,” Olivia said.

Even though the entrepreneurial route seems daunting to most, Olivia has no fear of this route. “It’s 2024, we have the resources, we can do this. Digital journalism and documentary style – independent journalism – that is all on the rise…I think that right now we need independent journalism. I think that people are losing trust in major media companies, and honestly for good reason.” Olivia sees the need for independent journalism focusing on Gen Z issues, and she believes in her capabilities to succeed.

Despite facing many challenges in her short, but impressive career, Olivia pushes through because she sees a need that needs to be met in our society. She demonstrates the true power of dedication, paving the way for male and female journalists alike – the whole field of journalism in fact.