Class of
2002
Bio: I’ve had the good fortune to recently win my first Emmy award this past June and most recently a San Diego Press Club award for Live Reporting.
Currently, I am a General Assignment Reporter for WJLA-TV/NewsChannel 8 in Washington D.C. We are the District’s ABC affiliate and operate a 24 hour cable news operation out of the same building.
Before D.C. I spent two years as a General Assignment Reporter/Fill-in Anchor for XETV, San Diego’s Fox affiliate.
From October 2002 to October 2004 I was the military reporter/General Assignment Reporter at KOAA-TV, the NBC Affiliate in Colorado Springs. I earned two AP Awards for reporting--Best Feature in 2002, and Best
General Reporting in 2003. From 1999-October 2002 I worked at KTLA in various roles: from intern to Producer of the CyberGuy Report with Kurt Knutsson CyberGuy. While there we took Kurt national within the Tribune Station Group.
ATVN positions and duties: Reporter, anchor, and producer
How did ATVN prepare you for your current job?
Getting my hands dirty and doing it all makes all the difference--since I’ve been a “pro” I’ve had to do everything from shoot, edit, run a live truck, report, work the desk, produce--you name it. ATVN got me into a newsroom and said do as much as you can; that’s how you learn. I think giving students the feel of daily deadline pressure is crucial in getting a feel for news. Learning to turn things quickly is so important.
What is your advice to aspiring journalists?
1. Take advantage of ATVN’s resources. 2. Intern, intern, intern. I got hired as a producer because of my experience as an intern. I got on the air because of my performance as a producer. 3. Network. The more people you know in the business the better off you will be. Contacts will help you job hunt and grow as a journalist. 4. HAVE FUN. News can be very serious and stressful, but not all the time. Enjoy the lighter moments and have fun with it. Otherwise you will go INSANE.
What are the top three skills college journalism students should be working on in order to be prepared for their first broadcasting job?
1. Experience - In this business reporters live and die by their live skills.
2. Be a storyteller not a mic holder. Tell stories thats what makes
news great--compelling stories about people.
3). Learn to work quickly, accurately and smartly.
4). Balance - There is more to life than news and money. Learn to balance your time so you have some kind of a life, it will make you a happier person.
5). Have fun with things, I mean after all its ONLY the news.
What is the most important thing a college journalist should know when he or she is trying to negotiate his or her first job?
Be patient while you are looking for a job it takes six months to a year...it just does. Unfortunately with your first job you aren’t in a great bargaining position unless you have two offers so you’ll end up taking what they offer, but try to get a two year deal--and stay there two years. Its worth the time investment to grow...and DO NOT GET AN AGENT for your first job. $20,000 doesn’t go far so you can’t give 10% away to someone (though I do love my agent...got him after my first job though)
What prepared you most for your current job?
Spending two years in Colorado Springs learning how to be a reporter. You will graduate with the tools to be one, but it took two years of doing it everyday to really become a good television journalist.
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