As part of Scholastic Journalism Week, Feb. 19-23, the WVU Reed College of Media recognized alumni who began their journalism careers in high school, including Teran Malone (BSJ, 2023), John McPherson (BSJ, 1979; MS Integrated Marketing Communications, 2013), Michael Rinker (BSJ, 2020) and Olivia Sneed (BSJ, 2019).
During his freshman year at Magnolia High School in New Martinsville, West Virginia, Malone enrolled in the only journalism class available. Within a year, he and his team converted the struggling newspaper into a television production-based course, and he was promoted to student advisor and sports director. During his senior year, he was named the Wetzel County Youth of the Year for his work in sports media. Malone majored in Sports and Adventure Media at WVU and interned with MetroNews, where he accepted a full-time position as an overnight radio operations manager and sports reporter upon graduation. He is now the MetroNews director of creative content for WVU Lacrosse and vice president of the MOV2GO Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides cost-free education, scholarships and grant funding to Ohio and West Virginia high school journalism students.