RICHMOND, Va. The questions got deeper as the sauces got hotter.
In the premiere of Wingin' It, Virginia Union University Mass Communications student Mekhi McGainey sat across from Jasmine Turner, a Channel 12 anchor and VUU adjunct professor, and walked her through three Buffalo Wild Wings sauces: Medium, Original Buffalo and Wild. Between bites, he asked about her career, her faith and how she plans to raise her daughter with a strong sense of history.
The roughly 18-minute episode is McGainey's project for MCM 490 Content Creation, and it was taped in front of a live audience of fellow students in the university's studio.
A format built for students
McGainey, who is president of the Mass Communications Club after serving as vice president last year, borrowed the spice-ladder format popularized by online interview shows. The twist is the setting and the stakes. The guest is a working journalist who also grades papers on campus, the audience is the next generation of VUU communicators, and the questions are the ones students actually want answered.
Turner leaned into the premise. She asked for yogurt on the table, admitted early that she is "a kind of a wimp" about spicy food, and still pushed through to the end, wiping her eyes on the final wing.
The creative choice matters for a reason beyond the laughs. A hot, funny format gave McGainey permission to ask direct questions and gave Turner room to answer honestly. Some of the most useful career advice in the episode came while she was visibly sweating.
"All it takes is one yes"
McGainey opened by asking how a Richmond news anchor ended up in a VUU classroom. Turner credited Dr. Hollee Freeman, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, who has been recruiting adjuncts with real industry experience. Turner said she taught a night elective on diversity in media at VUU about six years ago and always hoped to return.
Her reason for coming back is simple. "I believe in lifting as you climb," she said. She told the audience she would have no right to critique young journalists if she did nothing to bring them along. Today's students, she noted, are her future colleagues, and maybe a future co-anchor.
On the second question, McGainey cited a video from Turner's days at Elon University, when she applied for a paid internship with the Virginia Association of Broadcasters and did not get it. Turner said she had built a reel specifically for the station she grew up watching and still came up short.
Instead of giving up, she stayed in North Carolina for the summer and took an unpaid internship. She split her week between campus tour guide duty and a news internship in Winston-Salem, an unpaid commute she and other students funded together for gas. She worked an overnight shift and rode along with reporters.
"I would not have written the story any other way because I got all the experience that I needed," Turner said. The experience led to two more internships, in Washington, D.C., and New York City. Her takeaway for students: "All it takes is one yes."
Faith and the long road
Citing the Psalm 91:2 verse on her Instagram profile, McGainey asked how Turner brings faith into her work. She described the daily grind of early career reporting, including shooting, writing and editing her own stories, and a summer day when she sat in her car outside Richmond City Hall and cried to her mother about wanting a better opportunity.
Months later, she said, a call from her boss on a day off led to the main anchor job. She told students to work hard, but also to loosen their grip. "The plan is always bigger than what I can put my eyes on," she said.
History, handed down
For the final question, on the hottest sauce, McGainey asked how Turner will teach her daughter about culture, referencing Turner's participation in the Run Richmond 1619 event, where she ran with her daughter in a stroller.
Turner answered with family history. Her great-grandmother was a midwife in Waverly, in Sussex County, at a time when hospitals would not admit Black patients, and may have helped deliver as many as a thousand babies without formal medical training. "She will know from whence she came," Turner said of her daughter, who was born at VCU Hospital. She plans to teach through books, field trips and community events instead of formal lessons, and to bring her daughter to the VUU campus. "We cannot lose that history," she said.
What the episode says about VUU's Mass Comm program
Wingin' It is also a snapshot of what the department offers students who want to make media, not just study it.
A working studio. The episode was shot in the on-campus studio, in front of an audience and a multi-camera setup, with the HBCU.news backdrop behind the host. Students get reps on a real set.
A publishing platform. HBCU.news serves as a live outlet for student work, giving projects like McGainey's an audience beyond the classroom.
A faculty bench with industry credentials. Turner is one of several practitioners teaching in the program. Prof. CJ Nurse, assistant professor of mass communications, leads MCM 490 and created the HBCU Model editorial framework, which teaches students to build stories around a hook, brand, credibility and utility. Tim Milam teaches hands-on TV production, and his students often get the chance to assist with video production for Virginia Union sports. Brian Bullock, a documentary producer and Edward R. Murrow Award winner, teaches the business side of production, drawing on his own career.
A dean who recruits for experience. Freeman's push to bring working professionals into the classroom is the reason Turner is back at VUU, and students saw the payoff firsthand.
More guests ahead
The season continues with more guests. Financial expert Anthony ONeal is lined up for an upcoming episode, with the date to be announced.
Watch and follow
The first episode of Wingin' It was released Oct. 1. Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fBb9EjLE8js. Follow the Mass Communications Club on Instagram at @MCCATVUU for new episodes.
Editor's note: Prof. CJ Nurse, who is named in this story, teaches MCM 490 and operates HBCU.news. McGainey's series was produced as a course project.
Why this matters: Wingin' It shows what a student-run set can do: a VUU Mass Communications student booked a working Richmond anchor, taped in the campus studio before a live audience, and published on HBCU.news. For students watching, the advice is practical, from “all it takes is one yes” to “lifting as you climb.”