For the Professional Journalist Interview and Paper, I
interviewed Hannah Anderson of WSAW in Wausau, WI. I decided to write the
interview in a split format. I began with Hannah’s profile, because I felt that
it gave a wonderful overview of her journalistic experience. After that, I
moved into a Q&A format. I was originally going to use the profile format
for the entire write up, but Hannah gave such good answers in the interview
that I wanted to make sure the readers could see everything as it was said.
Profile
Hannah Anderson attended the University of St. Thomas in St.
Paul with a double major in multimedia communication and journalism. She also
minored in business. She interned at WCCO-TV, KSTP-TV, and The World Press
Institute. She also worked as a professional videographer for St. Thomas and
TommieMedia.com. Hannah started working as a multimedia reporter for WSAW in
June 2013. There, she anchored Sunrise 7 from 2013 to 2015. After that, she
became a weekday anchor for the 5 p.m. broadcast for WSAW and the 9 p.m.
broadcast for WZAW Fox News at 9. One of the highlights of Hannah’s career is
live continuous coverage of the Never Forgotten Honor Flight on two trips to
Washington D.C. with WW2 veterans.
Interview
Q: How long have you been in the journalism field?
A: In my sophomore year of college I started working for our
media outlet at St. Thomas. That was paid. It was kind of like a real hire and
fire job which got me a lot of good experience. Counting that it’s been 5
years. Since I’ve come to Wausau it’s been exactly 3.
Q: What is journalism to you?
A: I think it’s seeking truth and reporting it accurately
and clearly in the tightest amount of time you can. I also think it’s an ability to connect with
everyone. We have to get people to trust us to get the interview and get
information or we don’t have stories.
Q: What is your typical day like?
A: I anchor at night so, I get in at 1:30 and I catch up on
emails start looking for story ideas. I get caught up on what’s the big news
that day. We have an editorial meeting every day at 2 for night side. Everyone
gets together to talk about what’s being covered today and what is our lead for
each broadcast. Then we do topicals; those are the little ads before the
newscast to get people to stick around and watch. So then I read the stories
and tweak how I want to say them and make sure it’s all set up right. I get a
short break and then do the broadcast. I also stick around to help with the 10
p.m. broadcast and breaking news that happens there and web stuff.
Q: How many of your stories do you find on your own?
A: When I first started, I would find stories every day.
Now, we have people pitch ideas but our assignment editor sets them up. That’s
to make sure we have strong leads from each broadcast. I wish I could give you
a number, but I really can’t. It changes every single day.
Q: How has journalism changed since you started working?
A: I think it started evolving social media and web wise. That’s
the future. Even just the last 3 years, the immediacy factor has gone up considerably.
People want immediate info even if it’s lower quality. Live gear has also
changed. We don’t use satellite trucks anymore in small markets. We use
backpacks. You can go live from everywhere just by pushing a button.
Q: How has social media changed the field of journalism?
A: It makes the immediacy factor that much more important. People
are willing to sacrifice quality for info now.
Q: What are some opportunities that journalism gives you and
the community you work in?
A: It gives me a platform. I coach hockey in the community
and I think I would’ve done that anyway, but it gives me a platform to be a role
model for young women and young people in general. I get to go to unique fests
and judge things and be a part of community events. I’ve been able to host free
trips to places so we can go with viewers. I never thought that I’d be able to
do that and I’ve never been able to do that before. I get to go on trips with
viewers and get to know them. I don’t know why they’d want to go with me but
they do. I also got to go on the Never Forgotten Honor flight to Washington
D.C. twice. They sent me there to talk to the veterans and gather stories. I
got to go to Omaha Nebraska when the Badgers were in the Sweet 16 I think two
years ago. That was really amazing.
Q: What are some challenges that journalism presents?
A: In the small community, it’s hard because you can’t
always go out with your friends because someone is always going to know you. I
love it, because they feel comfortable with me and trust me. But, sometimes you’re
at dinner with a boyfriend or a girlfriend or your parents and people will just
come up and start talking to you. You always have to be on, because people
expect you to be exactly like you are on T.V. and for me, I’m basically the
same. Some days, though, you’re not always happy happy happy and you have to be
when people recognize you in public.
Q: What kinds of jobs are available for people studying
journalism?
A: I’d say now the digital, web, and social media jobs are
really big. There’s always openings in that and it’s growing. You know,
everyone wants to be on T.V. they want to be a reporter or be on the desk as an
anchor. One way you can make a lot more money out of school and move up a lot
faster is on the production side. There are a lot of jobs in that and you
basically control the whole broadcast. You’re just not behind the desk.
Q: What are the pros and cons of the journalism profession?
A: You really get to be involved in the community which is
great. The hours are challenging, though. If they need extra coverage, you have
to drop everything and go. When the Antigo school shooting happened, that was
late on a Saturday night, they called all of us in on Sunday morning. They even
called us late that Saturday night to see if we could come in to help get
coverage of that story.
Q: What do you think that the future of journalism is?
A: I think it’s going a lot more toward the social media
side. Eventually, we’re not going to be sitting around a T.V. watching the
news. We’re going to our phones for information.
Q: Do you think journalism will continue to be as important
or will social media take over?
A: Eventually, I think social media is going to take over.
That’s the future.
Q: Do you have any words of wisdom for students wanting to
enter the journalism field?
A: Intern in a small market. They will actually let you do
something. You’re probably going to get a lot more hands on experience than if
you’re in a large market. That makes you more valuable. Big markets aren’t
going to let you touch a camera or interview people or report on something.
Q: What is the number one skill you think people need to
succeed in journalism?
A: I think everyone says that it’s curiosity. That is key,
but a skill that you really need is being able to read people and to get them
to be able to trust you when you first meet them. That’s invaluable as a
journalist.
