Alumni Spotlight: Emily Hayes (‘13)
By Brittney Kimber
Once on staff of The Chanticleer at Jax State, Emily Hayes (‘13) works as a senior editor with credit cards, loans and banking at U.S. News & World Report and as a regular contributing writer to Martha Stewart Living.
Originally from Hokes Bluff, Alabama, Hayes now resides in metro Atlanta. She began working for U.S. News & World Report in 2021 and has been writing for Martha Stewart Living for almost two years.
“After working at a few local newspapers—and a stint at teaching middle and high school English after my second daughter was born—a fellow JSU graduate recommended I apply for an open position on the money team with USN,” Hayes said. “After an editing test and multiple interviews, I was hired as an editor and promoted to senior editor in 2024.”
Hayes said it was her recent launch of U.S. News Finance on Instagram that made it a career highlight.
“Learning new skills and branching out from my daily duties keeps me on my toes and makes my job challenging—and subsequently more interesting and fun,” Hayes said.
She was caught between pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English and communications but realized journalism was her chosen career path after joining the staff of The Chanticleer.
“Communications has many paths. You can choose broadcast or print, local or national. You can zero in on a specific niche, like money, or keep to general news,” Hayes said. “JSU’s communications department sincerely prepared me for the zigs and zags my career has taken.”
Camaraderie, pride, belonging, and appreciation are a few words Hayes used to describe her time at Jax State.
“I was a non-traditional student at JSU, pursuing my degree in my early 30s. Yet I still felt like I belonged, and appreciated how much the faculty and staff worked to help students succeed,” Hayes said. “I remember one particularly late night in the Chanticleer office, with a few staff staying past midnight to complete the annual Abstract edition. There was such a sense of camaraderie and pride, a sense that I would feel again in newsrooms on election and similar nights.”
Hayes also included advice for students interested in pursuing careers in the field.
“Journalists are a tight-knit community, and I’ve met and worked with some extraordinary people,” Hayes said. “It’s definitely a challenging time for a lot of professionals right now, but the media community as a whole seems to truly support each other. Storytelling is an underrated talent. While the journalism job market might seem bleak from the outside, there are plenty of companies that need your skills.”
View Hayes’ work at U.S. News & World Report and at Martha Stewart Living.