Intern joins newspaper staff

HARTINGTON — Emma Folkers is serving as a summer intern with the Cedar County News / Northeast Nebraska News Company.

Folkers, the daughter of Nick and Ann Folkers of Hartington, is a senior at Wayne State College majoring in journalism and minoring in editing and publishing.

She has been a photographer and news reporter for the Wayne Stater covering campus news and currently serves as its news editor, where she proofs stories and designs pages.

A native of Bow Valley, Emma graduated from Wynot High School in 2018 at the top of her class.

She has always been an avid reader and was involved as a writer for the Wynot Whisper for three years before becoming its editor in her final year of high school.

Emma is passionate about communication and community journalism.

Cedar County News Co-Publisher Kellyn Dump said he is excited to have Folkers on board this summer.

“She is already a great addition to our staff,” Dump said. “Her reporting, editing and layout skills have been a real asset.”

Besides helping to edit and lay out the paper each week, Folkers will also be covering meetings, taking photos and doing feature stories for all four of the Northeast Nebraska News Company newspapers and websites.

The Cedar County News has a long history of hiring high school and college interns to help out during the summer months.

Several past interns have gone on to work at some of the most prestigious newspapers in the state and country, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg News, Omaha World Herald and Lincoln Journal Star.

“Our internship program is a real win-win situation,” Dump said. “They get the experience of seeing what it takes to put out a community newspaper, and having someone with Emma’s skills on board really helps us out during the busy summer season.” Through her internship, she hopes to gain experience in reporting, writing, newspaper design and connecting with members of the community.

After graduating from Wayne State College in December 2026, she plans to remain living and working in Cedar County.

When she isn’t in the newspaper world, you can find her crocheting, spending time with friends and family or enjoying the outdoors with her dog Leroy.

Anyone with story or photo ideas for her is urged to contact the Cedar County News at 402254-3997 or office@cedarcountynews. net.