Professional Journalist Interview

This is my professional journalist interview.  I interviewed Angela Deja who currently works as a Public Relations Coordinator.  She has 10 years of experience in the journalism field.  I chose to do the write-up in the Q & A format.

“Verify, and verify, and verify”

Can you tell me a little about yourself and your background?

I am from the Green Bay area and I have about 10 years of experience in broadcast journalism.  I went to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and got a degree in broadcast journalism.  I got my first job at USAW, a CBS TV station in Wausau, and I was there close to four years.  I started out as a producer, then I became a reporter and then an anchor and a reporter.  Then I got my second job at Fox 11 in Green Bay as a Morning Show Live reporter out in the field, and then eventually became an anchor in addition to my reporting duties.   

Why did you decide to become a journalist?

I have always loved to write.  I like to be creative, so I like to tell stories.  And I’m genuinely just curious

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What is it that you currently do?

Currently, I am the Public Relations Coordinator for Prevea Health and HSHS Eastern Wisconsin Division.  As the Public Relations Coordinator, I am sort of the main contact for media who has an inquiry about anything.

Do you do news releases for new physicians and so on?

Yep, for new physicians, new procedures, awards.

Is this where you envisioned yourself being when you started off?

I always knew down the road that broadcast journalism, TV isn’t typical[ly] something you are in for life, because it’s not an easy career, so I guess I always sort of knew I would maybe transition into something else, just wasn’t sure what.

As a journalist, what does journalism mean to you?

Journalism, to me, means being aware of issues, events, stories around you, and reporting them accurately, ethically, and telling the truth.

How has journalism changed in your eyes since you came into the field?

The biggest way that journalism has changed from when I started to know is the integration of social media.  Back when I first started you would never think, it wasn’t even really an option, to use things like Facebook and Twitter as sources, or as sources of information and/or ways to disseminate information. 

Can you describe the “day in the life” of a journalist?

Let’s go from the day in the life of a TV news reporter.  So, first of all, depending on your hours, you’d show up to work and you should probably have at least three story ideas ready to pitch that day, because in about hour from getting to work you’re going to have to sit down with all of your other fellow journalists, reporters, your assignment desk manager, your news director and talk about what stories are we gonna do today, what do people care about.  You get handed your assignment and from there you’re on deadline.  You are making calls, you are trying to set up interviews, you are hitting the pavement to get that story as quick as you can, but as accurately and as best as you can, by your deadline – which is probably 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

The other thing is with TV news reporting, or even newspaper reporting, general assignment reporters have to almost be experts in everything, because you never know what you are going to have to write a story on.  One day it could be about local politics, so you have to have a good understanding of how your political system works, and the next day you could go and do a story on a new medical procedure, so you better have a really good idea of how some medicine works.

Would you recommend students to venture into this field?

Absolutely.  There’s many different avenues you can go into with journalism, and I remember in high school being very discouraged, people discouraging me from going into TV news broadcasting because it does have a bad rap for being cutthroat, and not a lot of money, and it’s not a lifetime career.  However, you should always go for something that you love no matter what, and I don’t regret it.  But journalism, I feel like, prepares you for any other future job that you could have in life because you learn interviewing skills, people skills, stress management.  There is just so much to be learned from that field.  And you meet so many different people, so many different walks of life.

What types of opportunities exist out there for new, aspiring journalists?

Well, it’s tough for me to answer that because, you know, I was really only in television.  However, there are so many different media outlets now days.  There is TV, newspaper, online, online publications, did I say magazines.  There is so many different types of media out there, whether it is traditional media or social media.  There’s always going to be stories to tell, and people are going to need to get there information somehow.  So reporters will always be needed.

So does social media cheapen what journalism is?

Yes.  Absolutely it does.  Because good journalists get there information from credible sources.

What has been the most rewarding part of a being a journalist?

I would say the most rewarding part about being a journalist was being able to be immersed in so many different walks and experiences in life.  Meeting people, whether it could be somebody who has hit on hard times and is now in a homeless shelter, to somebody who has just lost their son in a car accident, to somebody who’s running to be the president the next president of the United States, to local community groups who are doing everything they can to make a community better.

What have been some of your biggest challenges and your biggest opportunities?

I would say the biggest challenges to journalism would be, for me, the hours and the stress.   Awesome opportunities again like travel, seeing different parts of the state, even the world. 

What do you see as the direction journalism will take in the future?

I think with the presence of social media, again, the participation of people out in the community, hearing more of their sides of the story and their thoughts and opinions.  I think is going to just become more incorporated into news.

How has social media affected the way a journalist does their work?

Well, I think it helps and hinders.  So helps, in which you can get information a lot quicker and a lot easier.  Like tracking people down has become easier.  Finding out what people are saying about certain issues, situations has become easier.  But, I think it can also be a hindrance because you really have to be aware of what information you are going to use on social media and how you are going to use it, because there is a lot of opportunity to do some unethical things with using social media with journalism.

Will the advent of social media render traditional journalism obsolete?  Why?

I hope not.  Not anyone can be a journalist.  Sure anybody can pop on social media and say ‘hey, I saw this happen at the city council meeting,’ but journalists are trained.  They are educated to collect their information and distribute their information in a way that’s professional, ethical and is coming from the right sources.  They have to verify, and verify and verify. 

So what’s the one thing that separates you from me doing journalism?  So if I was on social media, what’s one big difference?

I have the schooling and the background.  I know…

Credibility?

Credibility.  Good.

Do you have any words of advice you would like to share with future journalists?

If journalism is something you are truly passionate about, go for it.  Don’t let anyone talk you out of it.