Vice president of CBS Chicago sits down with scholars, ambassadors
By Daion Morton
CBS2/WBBM-TV, one of the largest network-owned station groups in the country, was one of the media sites IU Journalism students visited on Friday.
During our tour led by Karen Rariden, the assistant news director, we saw first-hand how the news station operates. As we walked through the building, we met producers, reporters, and even sat down with vice president Jeff Kiernan.
During our discussion, we received many tips and advice on ways to become effective multimedia journalists. The tips and advice included:
- Understanding that the media world is changing as new technology advances.
“It’s exciting to me that they recognize that the media landscape that we’re going to be coming into in a few years is wildly different than the one now,” said Leah Johnson, junior ambassador. “It’s kind of scary, but it’s also really exciting to think about journalism becoming more accessible.”
- Don’t be afraid of being a one-man-band
“I have difficulty doing stand-ups by myself and it’s really a tough challenge,” said junior ambassador Stephanie Stremplewski. “I remember one of Mr. Kiernan’s colleagues was saying when you’re trying to do a stand-up and you’re by yourself do it at an arm’s length, touch the camera and lean back. All that was helpful.”
- Make the first 10-seconds of your reel count the most
“The people that we meet there were so genuine and authentic in what they were telling us,” said Lyndsey Middendorf, freshman Ernie Pyle Scholar. “They said you’ll be lucky if I look at 10-seconds of your reel. And they were telling us how the business actually is. And I really appreciated their honesty.”
Additional Tips:
- Learn what makes you unique
Kiernan mentioned that one of the most important questions that he asks interviewees is “What makes you unique?” It’s a question that he says is the selling point to getting a job.
- Work to be the best reporter you can be
Kienan explained that anything we create should be done well enough to put on a resume. He encouraged us to ask ourselves when producing stories, “Would you put that on your resume?”
As we finished our conversation with Kiernan and Rariden, I couldn’t help but recognize how much of an honor it was to sit down with leading media professionals. Their warm welcome brought smiles to the faces of all of us visiting students. Personally, it gave me hope that someday I could be working to give a voice to the voiceless at a place like CBS.