Interview: Lambda Legal attorney on federal lawsuit against Tennessee transgender youth care ban

Melanie is WUOT’s interim news director and Professor of Practice in journalism at the University of Tennessee, where she has taught reporting, editing and media entrepreneurship since 2012. Before teaching, Melanie worked for Bloomberg News for 11 years in a variety of cities and roles, from managing the multimedia desk to producing television. In between her journalism jobs, Melanie worked as director of information services at Opera America, putting her M.A. in musicology, from Montreal’s McGill University, to good use.

Jacqui was born and raised in Pittsburgh. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2021 with a bachelor’s in communications. Outside of work, she likes to go to baseball games, walk dogs at her local animal shelter, and hike.

Riley was born in Wisconsin before moving to Tennessee at a young age to live in Nashville. She is a recent graduate from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where she graduated with a Magna Cum Laude degree in Journalism and Electronic Media. Riley started at WUOT as a news intern in 2021 before working with donor relations and becoming the weekend announcer.