Journey In & Out of Television News

The local TV news was always on. During breakfast, when I came home from grade school, and at night before bed.

The anchors and reporters who were on scene, sharing human interest stories…inspired me to be curious about others.

In high school, my mom took me on a trip to our home country of Indonesia, and my perspective grew. I realized then that my life in the US was very much a bubble, that the struggles I was facing were nothing compared to others. I wanted to share those stories and share the newfound perspective I learned.

In a nutshell:

• In college, I studied and majored in Communications, with an emphasis in Broadcast Journalism
• I was lucky enough to get an interview and internship at KTLA-5 News
• My mentor, Lynette Romero, gave me space and direction to create a personalized internship in breaking news and general assignment news.
• Once I graduated college, I was out and about. My first job was in Lincoln, Nebraska. My second job was in Chico, California.

This was my resume reel that I created in college. It was the video that landed my first job in 10/11 News in Lincoln, Nebraska.

After two years in Nebraska (where I learned from many mistakes)…I hopped over to Chico, California.

In news, you have to make your mistakes in little TV station towns, because the larger the population — the bigger the TV market becomes. I got good enough to make a top 20 station in Portland, Oregon.

A lot of work went into telling stories better, shooting the footage in different angles, frequencies, and being a better public speaker.

What professionals and teachers don’t share much is how much trauma you have to endure in this profession.

For example, when I covered a domestic violence case — you listen to details and details of how a husband murdered his wife. The details of when, where, how, why, and what they did.

Another example, is when a traffic accident happens — where a drunk driver hit a man on the sidewalk and dragged his body. Then… you think about that man’s family, their kids, their wife, what their life was like. It’s heavy stuff.

All this was mental trauma.

The last example, was when my reporting team got caught in protest coverage. We were hit with tear gas, rubber bullets…that was physical trauma.

These are things no one really tells you.

Over time, it became apparent that mental & physical health is incredibly important. It was hard to leave the industry because that’s what I learned in school — I was sure I would be reporting until I retired…but come to find out, it was the start of a very exciting journey.