Catching up with Reynolds School Alumni Heather Janssen, now a TV Anchor / Reporter
Janssen graduated from the RSJ in the fall of 2014 and now works at KEVN Black Hills FOX TV in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Janssen started her career in April of 2015 as a reporter and producer and was quickly promoted to a weekend anchor position.
Q: How and when did you decide that you wanted to be a reporter?
Janssen: I knew that I wanted to be a reporter since I was 15, and I went to school for it in Las Vegas, which is where I am originally from. I ended up transferring to Reno after a year and a half at UNLV because I thought that the Reynolds School was a great place to start my journalism career and learn from the best.
Q: What are some of the most significant things that you’ve covered as an anchor and reporter?
Janssen: There’s a lot of memorable things that I’ve taken away so far from my career. We do a lot of reporting at the Pine Ridge reservation, which is about two hours away from Rapid City, and it is one of the most impoverished counties in the entire country. Bernie Sanders also came to Rapid City on one of his campaign stops so I was able to cover that. And I do a weekly human interest series where I showcase people who are doing good for our community. Those are always some of my favorites. I love meeting people and sharing their stories, whether it be human interest or showcasing an issue that we have in our area. I’m a generalist reporter, so I do a bit of everything.
Q: How has your degree at the Reynolds School impacted your career now?
Janssen: I learned a lot of things at the Reynolds School, and I think one of the classes that I took a lot from was my radio class. It helped a lot with my tracking and my voicing, and it also helped my storytelling. Those were definitely some skills that I honed in on at the Reynolds School with a lot of really good lessons learned.
Q: Is there a specific story that you’ve covered that was the most interesting or stood out?
Janssen: I think my favorite story so far, and it’s not often that you get to say that you got to do this, but there was a buffalo out here, there’s a ton of buffalo out here. But one of them got rejected from its herd and was raised by ranchers that owned the land. He took to humans, which is really rare, and I got to help bottle feed him. He was so nice and came up to you like a dog. That’s one of the things I remember the most, it was such a unique experience and hardly anyone can say that they got to pet a baby buffalo.
Q: What are your aspirations for the future?
Janssen: I would like to continue climbing the broadcast ladder. I have less than a year on my contract and from there I’m hoping to head to a bigger city and continue doing what I love and telling people’s stories and grow from there. I hope to continue moving further west and getting closer to home. But I think overall, I want to continue reporting for a while, anchoring is fun, but reporting is where my heart lies. I think that is one of my favorite parts of the industry, getting out and meeting people in the community and doing something different every day.
Q: Do you have any tips for current students at the Reynolds School?
Janssen: One of the things that I wish I focused more on was telling stories that matter. I think I fell into the trap that I would do what was easiest- like doing a story on a dance show that I had friends who were a part of. You should get out in the community and get to know it and share it, not just stay in your comfort zone.
· Get internships. I interned at Channel 8 in Las Vegas and got the best advice on setting up my reel and learning what should be included. Who I worked with there is still my mentor to this day. I talk to her all the time. I would definitely recommend having multiple internships and to develop a strong relationship with the person who is mentoring you in your internship because that takes you a long way.
Q and A by Sarah Parks for the Reynolds Sandbox.
