Greetings Southside Times readers!
My name is Jacob Musselman and starting this week, I will be taking over as the new editor of The Southside Times. This week is my first official week working for Grow Local Media but you’ve definitely seen my work before.
Since November of 2019, I’ve been working as a freelance photographer for various GLM publications. You may have seen my most recent work from when Roncalli softball won state.
I’m very excited to get started telling the stories of the south side. Fun fact, I grew up about a mile away from our office, so getting back to where I lived for the first seven years of my life will be nice.
So, since I will be around town more often and hopefully you’ll see me out, here’s a little bit about who I am.
After leaving Greenwood, I lived in Lafayette, Indiana until 2011 where I moved to Greendale, Indiana, a small town right on the bank of the Ohio River. I graduated from Lawrenceburg High School in 2018 and after graduating, I went to Ball State University. Well, actually, I still go to Ball State but I’m graduating in December of this year.
Growing up, I never had any interaction with the world of journalism. I didn’t even read a newspaper until I was a sophomore in college; and if you would have told me when I was younger that I would be working at a newspaper when I’m older, I would’ve laughed at you.
Going into my freshman year at BSU, I was declared a criminal justice major. I’m attributing that to the fact that I’m obsessed with true crime. It wasn’t until the first day of orientation, before school started that I gave journalism a thought. That first day, I met a professor from the journalism department and was able to see the facility and that was enough to hook me.
I joined The Ball State Daily News, the university’s student-run newspaper in January of 2019 as a news reporter. After my first few stories, where I had written and taken photos, they told me I should start taking photos for them more often. Eventually, I would become the photo editor.
My time at the DN was amazing and I had a lot of fun opportunities. I’ve been to countless sporting events. From college football championships and bowl games to basketball tournaments, I’ve photographed every sport college athletics offers.
In addition to working for the school newspaper, I’ve been lucky enough to be a freelance photographer, meaning I don’t work for an organization but I can get contract work from them. I’ve worked with multiple organizations around Indianapolis and the country including The Indianapolis Star, WTHR 13 and University of Texas athletics.
Currently, I live in Noblesville with my wonderful girlfriend Hannah and our sassy black cat Tumbles and little french bulldog sarge.
Now, I won’t bore you with more aspects of my life but there’s a little glimpse into my life.
I’m very excited to be able to tell stories in the community where I grew up in. I may be young, but I love this community and I love journalism. So if you see me wandering around Garfield Park with a camera or sweating buckets at the county fair coming up, say hello!
Jacob can be reached at his email jacob@icontimes.com on Twitter and Instagram @jhmusselman or by cell phone (260) 271-9728.
Have a story idea? Let’s talk!