MOLINE, Ill. — Mikaela Schlueter joined the WQAD News 8 team in June 2023 as a digital content producer.
Originally from Kirksville, Missouri — a small town just 30 minutes south of the Iowa border — Mikaela found a passion for journalism during her senior year of high school working for the school's newspaper. With the University of Missouri School of Journalism just a quick drive away in Columbia, Missouri, it was a pretty easy choice where Mikaela wanted to go.
Fast forward four years and she graduated with a bachelor's in journalism and sociology, along with a minor in political science.
During her time at Mizzou, Mikaela worked for numerous Missouri Method newsrooms, including the Columbia Missourian, Vox Magazine and the NBC-affiliate KOMU. She also interned in Washington, D.C. for the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). While Mikaela's track was in print journalism, Mizzou provided her the opportunity to learn about all the different ways journalists tell stories. That's how she discovered digital production in the broadcast sphere!
After finishing her last college course, Mikaela packed up her apartment and moved to the Quad Cities with her beloved Yorkie, Tigre, to start her new postgrad life. She has absolutely loved learning about the community and sharing its stories.
Some of the tasks Mikaela does include writing web stories, creating social posts and identifying story ideas that community members are interested in. She has even done some original reporting during her time at WQAD and plans to continue to do so!
When she's not at the newsroom, you can find Mikaela on the road going to visit family and friends or cuddled up at home with Tigre.
You can reach her by emailing mikaela.schlueter@wqad.com