MELODY COOK works in the business offices of the Columbia Missourian. She currently works in production, design as well as customer service. She has won numerous design awards for the Columbia Missourian during the Missouri Press Advertising and Marketing Executives annual Best Ad Contest each year.

Melody was the Vice Chair, 2018-2020, for the Journalism Staff Advisory Council. She transitioned to the Chair position in 2020. She was the Chair from 2020 to 2023. While the active status of the JSAC dwindled, she actively took a role to bring the JSAC back to an active status in the J-School in 2022, at the behest of Dean David Kurpius. In May of 2023, she handed off the Chair position to Angela Knoerr, but is still active with the JSAC Committees, meetings and plays a role as adviser to the current council as needed.

Prior to joining the Columbia Missourian, Melody worked at the Cooper County Voice, formerly a local weekly newspaper in Cooper County, Missouri, as well as the daily paper in Boonville, The Boonville Daily News. During her time at these newspapers she worked in circulation, production, sales, design as well as writing, taking photos and even editing. The year before the Cooper County Voice closed in 2014, Melody served as the Interim Managing Editor for the paper.

Melody is an amateur photographer that enjoys living history and outdoor activities.