Sydney’s research focuses on rural and local journalism through a qualitative, audience-based approach. Her research interests include using community-centered and engaged journalism to help newsrooms build trust and better represent their audiences. Additionally, she is interested in examining non-traditional local news sources and how audiences use and are impacted by them.

Sydney holds a BJ in Journalism and a BA in English from the University of Missouri. She also earned her MA in Journalism from the University of Missouri and was inducted into Kappa Tau Alpha in 2025.

Originally from Central Wisconsin, Sydney attributes her passion for local journalism to her hometown newspaper, The Record-Review, where she had her first reporting job.