With the graduation of the Class of 2023, The BlueStocking lost an award-winning editor-in-chief, Mitchell Mercer.
But Mercer’s career in journalism is not over.
This month, Mercer accepted a position as a reporter with The Lancaster News in Lancaster County, South Carolina, in the Tri-County region. For his position, Mercer covers Lancaster County Council meetings, the school district’s monthly board of trustees’ meetings, crime, and other feature stories.
“I just really wanted to find a job that could help maximize my skills and my skills I learned at PC,” Mercer said. “We only have a staff of three people, including me. It’s pretty challenging at times just to be able to cover everything.”
During his four years at PC, Mercer served as a sports writer, photographer, sports editor, and editor-in-chief for The BlueStocking. He also served as the station manager for WPCX 97.1 FM and a video producer for PC’s BlueTube channel.
But perhaps the high point of Mercer’s time as editor-in-chief was when he was awarded the Student Journalist of the Year award by the South Carolina Press Association (SCPA) last March as well as five other awards. Mercer had received previous SCPA awards as well.
Mercer, who grew up in the Tri-County region, first heard about his current position this past March through SCPA’s website’s job link, but unfortunately, the position had already been filled. But around September, Mercer noticed that it was open again.
“It was kind of a good fit from the start,” Mercer said. “My very first story, I had to cover a Veteran’s Day Ceremony in a town called Buford, South Carolina, which is in Lancaster County, and I had to take photos and interview some of the veterans, and [the editor] actually put my article right on the front page.”
Mercer, who majored in English with a Concentration in Communication Studies, believes that his time at PC and his various roles in student media helped prepare him for his current position, mainly through teaching him how to reach out to people and set up interviews.
“The skills that I learned working within student media at PC [have] translated a little bit into this position I currently have right now in trying to reach out to sources, trying to get information, coming up with ideas, and then working on articles on news and information throughout the county,” Mercer said. “Having that opportunity to work within student media at PC has really helped me out with this new job.”
Mercer looks back fondly on his time and accomplishments at PC.
“I do miss not having the stress about going to work every day and trying to get everything done,” Mercer said. “I do miss the people because I felt like one thing that really made PC really good from my experience was the people out there, from the professors to other students.”
Altogether, Mercer’s not sure where these experiences are going to take him.
“I just felt like it was the best opportunity for me to take,” Mercer said. “I’ve accomplished a lot in journalism from the SCPA awards that I won back at PC to getting my article printed in the newspaper.”
