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Degree and Year: BJ '98 (Broadcast News) Company: WYFF-TV Company Web Site: http://www.thecarolinachannel.com/ Title: Reporter City and State: Greenville, S.C. What do you do? I'm a general assignment reporter for WYFF-TV, the NBC affiliate in Greenville, S.C. How did you get your job? I started reporting in La Crosse, Wis. at WXOW-TV and spent four years there as a reporter and fill-in anchor. I left La Crosse to return to Columbia, Mo., to supervise journalism students at KOMU-TV as a supervising producer. During my time there I sent two resume tapes to the station I work at now. First try, they hired someone else. Second time, they hired me. I knew people who worked at the station, Mizzou alums who were willing to pass along my tape and put in a good word for me. Networking is crucial in this business! It can make or break your career. What was the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School? Know when to defend your decisions but also know how to handle constructive criticism with an open mind and how to not get defensive. What would be your best advice to current students? Never think YOU are the story. YOU are never the story. Always show respect for the people you are interviewing and they will show you respect in return. Appreciate the people in your newsroom who you can learn from, watch their work and ask for feedback when appropriate. You will have good days and bad days. On the bad days just remember - when the going gets tough, just keep going! What are you working on currently? Establishing myself at my current station. I just started here in April 2003. What do you consider to be your greatest professional achievement? Making it to where I am today without giving up along the way. It wasn't easy to get here. This business is extremely competitive and nowadays, bigger stations are willing to hire younger talent, with less experience because they can pay them less money. Sad but true. What makes you good at your work? The ability to talk to all different types of people and make them feel comfortable in front of the camera. The ability to gain trust from a total stranger and tell their story the way it deserves to be told. The ability to deliver live breaking news. What are your next career steps? If I can stay in this crazy business long enough I'd love to get back to Chicago as a reporter. I grew up near Chicago in the suburbs, so that is home for me. What did you want to be as a kid? Sometimes a lawyer, sometimes an actress; I was never really sure. I didn't settle on journalism until my senior year of high school when I was trying to figure out what to major in for college. I chose Mizzou for its Journalism School, and I'm glad I did. What is something about you that might surprise people? I've played the violin since I was five years old. I was a music minor in college. 
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| Revised: 20 April 2007. Copyright © 2008 The Curators of the University of Missouri | Contact the J-School | |
