Katelyn Heck Feature
Katelyn Heck is a Multimedia Journalist at 13 WMAZ and says standing out is challenging for all reporters, especially in terms of being unique and creative.
One of the hardest things she learned is perception is not reality. People think television news is lucrative and glamorous and that reporters are heartless people, but to Heck, that isn’t true.
Heck says you have to work nationally to make a lot of money. News is a public service; you do it because you love it.
“We don’t like going out to murder scenes and telling sad stories, but we have to report what’s going on,” she said.
One of the hardest things to do are stories, that weigh on you emotionally. You want to be emotionally attached to the stories, but you just can’t.
This job is all about setting yourself apart. She would advise anyone to find their niche, perfect it and make yourself stand out. She went to the University of Georgia to be a sports reporter but fell in love with news while working for WMAZ.
Some of the hard skills she believes you need to have would be shooting, writing, editing working quickly or under stress and pressure. She said good soft skills would be people skills as you have to sometimes try and get people to talk on camera on a hard topic or personal topic. You have to have the skills to make them feel comfortable and understand what the impact of the story could be to other people. Lastly, she says you need be able to take in a wide variety of topics, be a jack of all trades and know the information needed to go with any story.
Heck spent four and half years at the University of Georgia, and graduated with three majors. She worked at WMAZ as a news assistant on weekends, doing things like cutting video and assisting reporters.This is where she credits the beginning of her experience as a journalist. Heck believes it got her foot in the door to work at WMAZ and allowed her to develop a love of daily, local news.
For anyone about to graduate college Heck believes internships are paramount in this industry.
“Everyone wants internships at big stations like Atlanta, which is great but try for a small local station where they use their interns to do stories and work like reporters, so you can get better experience. You also see the daily struggles and ins in outs of the jobs before you jump in it after school,” Heck said.
She says some of the challenges she faces every day would be time management. She says you could pitch a story early in the morning and the interview you would need, might not be able to meet you until 2 p.m. She says you have to find ways to shoot around the interview and research what you can until it is time to shoot the interview, while still making sure you turn your piece in on time.
One of the stories that stuck with her is when a woman called the station about a resume issue. She saved every penny she had after getting divorced and taking care of eight kids as a single mother. She was saving money so she could pay a company to get her resume together and get a job. This turned out to be a scam that took all her money. Heck says when she went to the lady’s house to do an interview the lady had to time how long they could keep the lamp on because she couldn’t afford the bill any longer.
“ I ended up busting my butt to prove it was a scam, not only did the company end up apologizing but another company came in did her resume and and got her a job,” Heck says.
This story helped Heck realize she could use her skills to actually help people. She says watching and following other journalists and seeing how creative they can be inspires her. She draws inspiration from people all over the country and seeing ways she can apply it to her own stories.
Heck also gets her inspiration from people who call the station or come visit her .
“The people who call and say you inspire me to get up in the morning and I have a physical disability,” she said. “So I have kids come in who just wanted to me because they watch the news and say, ‘If you can do It, I can do it.’”
