Noah Cloonan, a resident of Kirtland, Ohio, plays a very active role in the journalism and digital media program at Ashland University.

2017 Apr 10

Noah Cloonan, a resident of Kirtland, Ohio, plays a very active role in the journalism and digital media program at Ashland University.

Cloonan grew up in Kirtland, Ohio with his parents Patrick and Carla Cloonan, along with his four sisters, Jordan, 19; Emma, 17; Madison, 13; and Michaela, 13. He graduated from Cornerstone Christian Academy in May of 2015. He is a double major in digital media journalism and digital media production with a minor in public relations and strategic communication.

Cloonan chose Ashland University because of its journalism and digital media program and the opportunities he believed they could provide. He believed AU would be the best place to get involved with his dream job as soon as possible.

Cloonan is only a sophomore at Ashland University which gives him plenty of time to grow. He will graduate in May of 2019 with more experience than a decent amount of students going out into his respected field. The work experience he receives at AU, unlike many college academic programs, is extraordinary. JDM stresses the co-curricular work required for WRDL radio, AUTV 20, and the Collegian newspaper. A college student who works for WRDL and gets to broadcast more than 30 games per year is going to get very good at his or her craft. Cloonan has been given the opportunity to become the sports director of 88.9 WRDL and the sports editor of Ashland University's newspaper, The Collegian.

He wants to become a professional broadcast journalist when he graduates from college. When Cloonan first came to Ashland, he was majoring in sport communication with a minor in journalism. The more he got involved with the production and broadcasting, the more he grew to love it. He started working with WRDL's radio station and eventually switched majors so he could learn more and become greater at what he was doing.

Cloonan said that his favorite position on the station is being a play-by-play caller during games. "Baseball is by far my favorite sport to call. The first reason is because baseball is my favorite sport and the second is because there is more dead time in baseball and that truly allows you to paint the picture for the audience and allows you to tell a story through the commentary," he said. Cloonan loves doing all of the things he is doing and feels like he it's been a calling.

"Before games I always make sure that I am prepared for anything. I like to set my equipment up well before the game starts usually an hour and a half before. Also I prep a lot before hand by creating my spotting boards, which are basically cheat sheets on both teams so that I can reference them during the games and pull out different stats about the players. Every time before I go on I still get butterflies, but it isn't because I am nervous it is because I am so excited to be doing what I love to do," Cloonan shared his rituals and his experience working with the JDM program.

Working with the people in JDM is amazing; he says he has made so many great friends and connections that will greatly benefit him in the future. "My favorite experience with JDM so far has definitely been working with the AU Women's Basketball team during the 2016-2017 regular and playoff season. I have called all but four of their games (even the ones on the road) and I feel like I had been a part of the championship run. The opportunity to watch such a great team have an amazing season, being belong side them through the journey, and being able to paint the picture of the games to our listeners was truly a dream come true. It was everything I imagined it would be and I cannot wait to do more in the future." Because of the work Cloonan and another student Derek Wood have been doing for the championship, WRDL was named the #1 College Women's Basketball Play-by-Play radio station in the country for the year.

One of his mentors and the Department Head, David McCoy, had some great things to say about Cloonan. McCoy said, "I am so proud of him. Noah is an undergraduate and he has gone beyond my expectations for our student sports broadcasters. Noah has a bright professional career ahead of him. I have worked with numerous sports and news broadcasters in my career and I rate them in the top ten (from a collegiate perspective). He is a role model for our younger students who wish to broadcast Ashland University games for both WRDL and AUTV 20. We have partnered with Sports Time Ohio (the only media program in Ohio to do this cooperative venture) and the Producers at STO have remarked that Noah is as good as many of the young professionals that they have worked with and better than job applicants from broadcast media programs at larger universities."

Ashland University, ranked in the top tier of colleges and universities in U.S. News and World Report's National Universities category for 2017, is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) deeply values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students. ###