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Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism University of Southern California
ALUMNI

Jessica Benson

Class of 2014, Bachelor's



Jessica majored in broadcast and digital journalism and received minors in sports media studies, popular music, and film studies.

In her sixth and final semester working at ATVN, Jessica served as Executive Producer for Wednesday's broadcast. Previously Jessica worked as a sports anchor, a producer, a multimedia journalist, assignment desk editor and an assistant director.  Away from ATVN, Jessica is an on-air reporter for USCFootball.com, a Rivals property.  She also worked as a sideline reporter for the Sun Belt Network for the 2014 Sun Belt Conference basketball tournament.

While in school Jessica interned at ESPN's "SportsNation" at their Los Angeles studio.  She spent her days cutting video of Lebron dunking, finding the best baseball collision moments and having Gatorade drinking contests with the Indiana Pacers' Roy Hibbert. 

Previously Jessica interned at NBC News at the bureau in Burbank, CA.  She also interned for NBCUniversal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.  There she interned in the operations department where she had the privilege of working alongside talent like Bob Costas, Al Michaels and Dan Patrick.

Jessica has also worked with the Rose Bowl and the Western Athletic Department in their respective media departments.  She also worked with ESPN College Game Day and helped with ESPN's coverage of the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

In her spare time Jessica loves traveling the world, trying to convince people that the Sunbelt Conference will send a team to a College Football Playoff game and listening to Cher.

Survey

What are your duties in your current position?:

Sports Anchor/Reporter 



What new skills do you think journalists need? :

You have to do it all- shoot, edit, write, post to social media, report, sports, news, weather, etc. Don't be afraid to be well-versed in everything; it can only help, not hurt.



What are the top three skills journalism students should learn in college?:

Be a strong writer, know how to pitch stories and most importantly, teach yourself how to be a nice person.  The last one may sound basic, but if you can be friends with your co-workers, your life will be tremendously more fun.



What were your duties at ATVN? :

Executive Producer, Producer, Reporter, Sports Anchor, Sports Volunteer, Multimedia Journalist, Stream Box Operator, Assistant Director



What should graduates keep in mind when negotiating their first job?:

Don't have an ego!  It's called your first job for a reason.  I meet so many people who don't want to go to a small market for that first job, but there is truly no better place to learn the ropes.  ATVN helps pave the way, the small market helps you develop your brand and skills into something substantial.



Describe your typical workday including assignments, workload and deadlines.:

I work from 2-midnight Friday-Tuesday.  Once I get in, I typically don't stop working until I finish shooting promos for the morning show after our 11pm newscast wraps up. Depending on the week I also do play-by-play, sidelines and contribute to multiple sports shows that run on our parent company sports network, SWX.



How frequently do you post material on the Web throughout the day? What kind of content do you post (including articles, photos, slide shows, videos, blog entries, links, etc.)? :

All. The. Time.



Which software programs do you use at your current job? including newsroom software/editing software/content management system:

Avid, ENPS, Photoshop 



What teams and types of stories does your sports department cover? How much time is allotted for sports in your station's newscasts? Does your station produce any special sports programs for broadcast and/or the Web?:

Locally we cover all high school sports, our minor league baseball team (Tri-Cities Dust Devils), our Western Hockey League team (Tri-City Americans).  I also help cover UW, WSU, Eastern Washington and Central Washington every weekend.  One of the coolest things we get to cover here in the TriCities is the annual hydro races. 



What do you enjoy most about your job? What makes it worthwhile?:

I get paid to talk about sports. What more could I ask for?

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