My Aspirations:
I aspire to be a contracted news reporter/presenter at a well-known broadcast station. If given the opportunity to work at a well-known broadcast station, I would like to make a positive impact on how people view society, or even ways I can help change things to make a difference in the world by packaging and reporting on human-interest stories. My goal is to become a Broadcast Journalist who works ambitiously to find stories that makes a difference in people’s lives through my thorough research and investigation.
My other aspirations are to write and publish books that are based on my life and the obstacles I have overcame. Currently, I am writing adult and children’s books in hopes to help others deal with their medical circumstances that are related to my own.
After publishing these books, I have hopes for that to lead me to my next aspiration – to become a motivational speaker.
Career Objective:
Seeking a journalism position at a broadcast television news or radio news station to report on compelling stories. My educational background, work experience, and collaborative projects that I have helped produce will provide a strong asset to your news team.
Master's Final Project:
Reporter, producer, film production manager, and video editor of Rape and Sexual Violence Documentary from June 2019 – October 2019. Documentary tasks included: wrote script, conducted interviews, and edited clips together on Final Cut Pro to produce the final documentary package.
Work Experience & Placements:
Freelance Journalist from September 2018 - present
I write articles to inform the public of important issues based on facts and publish these articles onto my portfolio website, in which I also share these articles to my social media sites. Examples of my articles can be viewed here.
Work Experience with British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from September 2-13, 2019
Provided assistance for a reporter to assist with live reporting. Wrote cues and scripts for the presenters. Provided assistance by answering phone calls for the Drive Time show. Gathered Vox Pops daily for the Morning Breakfast show and Drive Time show. Shadowed presenters and news readers. Assisted with setting up interviews for the Vicapedia segment for the Vic Minnett Show. Utilised the Dira! software to assist with radio production, which included Open Media, Highlander, and Startrack. Created audio clips from the Vox Pops I recorded using the Myriad recording device. Edited the audio clips on Dira! Startrack– the audio editing software. Produced my own news package to pay tribute to those lives that were lost in the September 11th terrorist attack in America.
Work Experience with ITV News Central from August 5 - 7, 2019
Shadowed production journalists’ produce content for ITV television and online news using the Avid Media iNews workflow system. Watched the production journalist’ receive and transcode videos/pictures using interplay to input videos/pictures into the news segments. Observed the morning and afternoon monthly, weekly, and programming meetings. Sat in the gallery to watch the live broadcast of each news segment, while also learning about Shotoku – the professional-grade manual and robotic camera support equipment.
Work Experience with Quidem radio at 96.2 touchfm station from July 16-19, 2019
Wrote radio scripts. Practiced reporting and recording radio news stories. Researched, wrote and provided assistance to package a news story for the Quidem social media sites.
Placement with Birmingham Live from April 29 - May 3, 2019
Monitored and researched news stories. Published an article for the website. Attended court with a court reporter to do live news update on a case. Contributed to a knife crime story by reporting at the scene of a crime with a reporter by taking pictures and reporting back to my editor by writing up what I saw at the scene of the crime and forwarding my photos that I took in order to get them added to the news article.
Placement with Birmingham Television News from April 8 - 15, 2019
Provided assistance with on-the-field reporting, reported on the weather. Co-host with reporter on The Goodlines. Edited news packages. Researched, wrote, and packaged my own news story.
Reporter for birminghameastside.com from September 2018 - September 2019
In-studio student lead news program at Birmingham City University. Produced online news content and on-air news packages, while also assisting with in-studio news production work.
Editor and news reader for Fade Radio on January 16, 2019
Utilised Trello to organise my classmates with story ideas the day before editing/reading the news on FADE radio. Collaborated with my classmates to produce radio bulletins for every hour on the hours of 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Input all scripts and audio that my classmates and I produced onto Burli. Elements that my bulletin consisted of were headlines, copy stories, voicers, wraps, packages, clips, vox pops, and two-ways. Organized each bulletin from the top breaking news to lighter pieces at the end of news reading.
Photographer for High Country Adventures from May 2016 - October 2016
Travelled to three separate locations to take photographs of raft boats going through rapids. Used a digital DSLR camera. Edited the photos and then sold the photos to the customers.
Professional Blogger from August 2015 - Present
Designed my own website, using the Weebly platform, that is filled with stories about my adventures upon traveling across the countries of Brazil, America, and England with my spouse. Produced videos using Final Cut Pro of the different adventures I experience. Utilised ads using Google AdSense, within my website, to gain revenue.
Website designer from August 2015 - Present
Reporter with UT today from March 2012 - May 2013
Produced online news content and on-air news packages, while also assisting with in-studio news production work. Researched, wrote, reported and packaged news stories. Assisted in video production work for the daily newscast.
News Intern for WATE in Knoxville, Tennessee (USA), from January 2012 - December 2012
Made daily beat calls. Provided assistance for reporters such as on-the-field reporting, wrote copy, and edited video on the Avid Platform to help produce news packages.
Collaborative Documentary:
Assistant manager, reporter, social media manager, and video editor from November 2018 – December 2018 for a Big Birmingham Sleep-out documentary. My roles included: assisted with coordinating and conducting interviews before and during the event with my team, utilised my mobile journalism tools to update social media platforms on what was happening at the event, and then gathered all of the video footage that was shot and collaborated with a colleague of mine to edit and produce the documentary.
Conferences:
International Journalism Festival at Perugia, Italy on April 3 – 7, 2019
I became a Twitter follower of the featured journalism speakers before going to the conference, so that I was prepared to tweet updates at the conference. I provided live updates by including their Twitter handle names, along with the discussions talked about. A few sessions that I attended was as follows: Solutions Journalism in Europe, Impact Measurement: tools, frameworks and case studies, and #UnbiasTheNews: how diversity can save quality journalism.
News Impact Summit at Cardiff, Wales on October 15, 2018
I followed speakers through Twitter before going to the summit, so that I could do live updates on Twitter at the summit by including their Twitter handle names, along with the discussions being talked about there. A few topics that was discussed: the digital transition of local news, innovation in local news from across Europe, digital newsgathering tools, and what are we really trying to achieve through community-driven journalism. I also networked with several guest speakers and passed out my resumes to the professionals there.
BBC Three Masterclass at The Bond in Birmingham on September 27, 2018
I learned valuable information on making short-form content from BBC Three executive producer Laura Bowen and assistant producer Niall Bradnick. I also learned from Damian Kavanagh, controller of BBC Three, about how to commission myself and how the digital channel and its content is so unique.
Journalism Networking Trip:
New York (USA) Broadcast Network Tour from March 14 – 17, 2012
I had the opportunity to meet with employers from broadcast stations such as CNN, NBC, ABC, Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox News, Bloomberg, Anderson Live, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. My journalism colleagues and I were able to get first-hand look from the professionals in our chosen career field at each station, as well as we meet with prospective employers who were looking for entry-level candidates.
Education:
September 2018 – January 2020 Birmingham City University – Birmingham, England – United Kingdom Post Graduate Degree in Multiplatform & Mobile Journalism. Gained cutting edge skills in online and broadcast journalism, interactivity and data journalism, social media storytelling, and multimedia production. Well-educated in Media Law. Developed advanced newsgathering and data journalism techniques to find stories and establish facts. Completed a documentary for my master’s project.
August 2009 – May 2013 University of Tennessee – Knoxville, Tennessee – United States of America Bachelor’s Degree in Communications with a concentration in Journalism & Electronic Media. Completed courses in radio and television news writing, reporting, and producing.
August 2006 – May 2009 Cleveland State Community College – Cleveland, Tennessee – United States of America Associate of Science Degree. Completed general electives.
My Portfolio:
Contact Information:
- Twitter Handle: @JournoJessiq
- LinkedIn: journojessiq
- Facebook Page: JournoJessiq
- Email: jessica@journojess.com
Summary:
- Proficient with Panasonic DVCPRO and Sony PXW-Z150 Camcorders, SLR cameras, and Final Cut Pro editing software.
- Comfortable with Backpack Journalism.
- Knowledgeable in Social Media Marketing with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
- Skilled in web design using multiple platforms such as Word Press, Wix, or Weebly.
- Competent in Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
- Able to write radio and broadcast scripts.
- Familiar with EZNews, Avid, Adobe Programs, Burli, and Audacity software.
- Experienced in Television Production, Video Editing, listening, research, organisation, teamwork, self-motivation, and networking.
