Taylor Holmes, left, accompanies Sam Mohler and Madeleine Cerneka to the sidelines in preparation of capturing Marching Mizzou’s halftime performance during Mizzou’s football game on Sept. 14, 2024, on Faurot Field. Mohler is director of digital media and communications for Marching Mizzou.

By Benjamin Miller
Photos by Nate Brown

COLUMBIA, Mo. (Sept. 19, 2024) — One student at the Missouri School of Journalism is redefining what it means to be “in the field” as a communicator. 

Marching Mizzou has kicked off the fall semester with the addition of a new media team responsible for covering a wide range of content for the band on game day, during its rehearsals and throughout its travels. Taylor Holmes, a senior studying broadcast journalism and a former member of Marching Mizzou’s color guard, is a photographer, graphic designer and social media manager for the team.

Holmes has spent a year working for KOMU-TV, the Mid-Missouri NBC affiliate, and though her work was initially centered around broadcast journalism, her experiences on the marching media team have realigned Holmes’ career path towards marching band media, a concept that has grown in popularity at colleges and universities around the country.

Holmes said she intends to add to the growth of this industry and make Mizzou a pioneer for marching media. 

“So when I decided that on-air broadcasting wasn’t for me … Dr. Knopps presented this opportunity about the new media team position,” Holmes said. “In the back of my mind, this was something I wanted to do, but to do it I would have to give up color guard with Marching Mizzou. Ever since, what I’ve wanted to do with my life has become more clear.” 

Because of the fast paced work on game days, rehearsals and travel events, Holmes said she can be seen on the sidelines and immersed within the band, scrambling as fast as she can to capture the best photo angles of Marching Mizzou or the MU Football Team. 

“Taylor is a really talented, strong photographer,” said Sam Mohler, the director of digital media and communications for Marching Mizzou. “She’s able to capture all these details while always on the run or in a rush to the next shot. She’s able to keep up with the band.”

Part of Holmes’ incentive to work for the media team was the opportunity it provided to capture more content and expand her professional portfolio. It also worked in tandem with her senior year capstone, innovations in digital media. 

“I have enjoyed learning about content creation in the social media world and this space has made me comfortable in learning and growing my abilities,” Holmes said. “I would love to remain in a similar position and space like this once I graduate.” 

Prior to the creation of the media team, Marching Mizzou relied on one or two students to maintain its social media presence. Now, students join the media team via a Marching Mizzou class through the School of Music, which allows students to participate in Marching Mizzou in a variety of ways, said Amy Knopps, the director of Marching Mizzou. 

The media team is now composed of four students and two staff members who, instead of playing an instrument, produce a wide range of visual content during Marching Mizzou events in order to brighten the national spotlight on the band, Mohler said.

Soon after the team’s creation, the students began brainstorming new ways to expand the Marching Mizzou brand through all different types of mass media.

In an effort to realize goals for the space, the team went over social media analytics to find out what makes their online personality attractive, and they trained with new photo and video cameras to ensure growth of their viewership on social media. 

“How do we make Marching Mizzou a more visible presence in the college marching sector?” Mohler said. “How can we use our different strengths as team members working together to make that happen when this is something that’s kind of unprecedented? We’ve never had anything like this before.”

Holmes said she’s looking forward to continuing to produce content for Marching Mizzou that sparks the interest of prospective students to join the band. 

“While I understand the world of marching arts media is growing, I know Mizzou is the start to something bigger for this industry,” Holmes said. “This experience has changed me in a great way and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds for me and my team.”

Updated: September 19, 2024