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PODCAST EPISODE #72: Kristin Dickerson, anchor/reporter, KXAS-TV

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I think very hard about who to ask as my guest on the Telling the Story podcast, but in recent years I’ve developed a clear litmus test:

Has this person found a passion within this profession?

Look through my past few interviews, and you’ll find a series of journalists who understand what they love about storytelling – and have made conscious decisions to steer their careers toward that love. Forrest Sanders carves out time on his days off to produce the kinds of memorable features that garner national honors. Adrienne Broaddus leads with faith and calls herself a “hope dealer.” Olivia Loomis Merrion and Emily Kassie are innovators and documentarians who find causes worth covering.

Kristin Dickerson has carved her own fascinating path.

She’s currently an anchor/reporter at the NBC affiliate in Dallas, but she’s also an Emmy- and Murrow-winning storyteller who invested in her own DSLR camera and shoots her own stories. (The above photo is with the Gracie Award, which she won in 2018.)

Starting in August, her path swings toward a new journey: Dickerson and her husband are quitting their jobs to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain, visit Israel and India, and bring cameras for the whole trip.

Their goal? Produce a project about faith.

It’s an appropriate subject for Dickerson. This kind of decision requires faith. And her journey to it is powerful … and best told by her.

Dickerson is my guest on Episode #72 of the Telling the Story podcast.

I won’t give much away, but I will say that Dickerson provides one of the most open, heartfelt interviews I’ve had on this podcast. I greatly admire her, even if I can’t see myself taking such a seismic leap. As we discuss in the podcast, any journalist can find ways to take their own leaps – seismic or otherwise – within the confines of one’s life and job. There’s always room to push toward your passion.

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PODCAST EPISODE #33: Katie Stern, photographer, KOMO-TV

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If you follow the Telling The Story podcast, you have heard several guests describe the process of covering a huge story.

But I have never interviewed a guest who had to cover such a story while dealing with the massive personal tragedy it brought.

Everyone at KOMO-TV went through it last March, when the station’s helicopter crashed in downtown Seattle, killing photographer Bill Strothman and pilot Gary Pfitzner. The journalists and employees in the KOMO newsroom suddenly needed to bring the news of a major story while processing their own emotions.

Katie Stern had worked at KOMO for nearly a decade when the crash occurred. She sprung into action and spent the morning as the roving photographer, collecting B-roll and gathering interviews around the scene; then she set up for live shots with reporter Denise Whitaker. All the while, she fought back tears and, she says, at one point could not keep a steady shot because her hands were trembling.

Stern is my guest on this episode of the Telling The Story podcast.

I received the immense privilege of listening to Stern last month when she spoke at the NPPA Northwest Storytelling Workshop. She shared the stage with Bill Strothman’s son, Dan, and the duo reflected upon the experience with composure and eloquence. Their presentation kept the audience silent and attentive; we were all confronted with the potential of finding ourselves in a similar scenario.

But regardless if any of us ever cover a personal tragedy, journalists everywhere can take major lessons from Stern on how to cover tragedies in general.

“I think that talking about trauma and journalism — and how the two are forever intertwined — is so important,” Stern said on the podcast. “Slowly we’re starting to talk about it more. I think there’s a stigma that comes with showing any kind of emotion as a journalist, and I’m really hoping we can wash that away.”

I completely agree.

I greatly appreciate Stern’s time and appearance on the Telling The Story podcast, and I hope you find her words meaningful and instructive.

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PODCAST EPISODE #28: Michael DelGiudice, photographer, WNBC-TV

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Michael DelGiudice has won more Emmy awards than the number of weeks in a year.

Michael DelGiudice has won more Emmy awards than the number of Super Bowls.

Michael DelGiudice has won more Emmy awards than the number in a famous Beatles song.

Michael DelGiudice, during his 30-year career in television, has won 65 regional Emmys.

The photographer has captured a slew of other awards as well, and he was just named this year’s NPPA Photographer of the Year for the East Top region — an extraordinary honor in what he calls “a dogfight” of a competition.

But what most impresses me about DelGiudice is not his award count but his location.

He has achieved this type of success, and preached the gospel of storytelling, in the largest market in the country: New York City.

The Big Apple has a reputation for wanting the hardest of news; its stations fly through their newscasts, rarely staying on one story for very long. But within those parameters, DelGiudice — along with the reporters who work alongside him — has developed his own reputation as a photographer who finds humanity in his subjects.

He joins me on Episode #28 of the Telling The Story podcast.

DelGiudice and I discuss his tried-and-true techniques, tips for younger journalists, and the ups and downs of working in a market that swarms with media. He is a New York native (it shows in his voice), and he has made a tremendous living in his home city.

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PODCAST EPISODE #3: Anne Herbst, assistant chief photographer, KDVR-TV

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Try to follow the career path on this one.

Anne Herbst studied journalism in college with the intentions of being a newspaper reporter.

Her professor said she was better at shooting video, so she became a staff photographer at a TV station.

She got hired as a staff photographer at KUSA-TV in Denver — one of the top shops in the country for video journalism — but gradually began writing her own stories … to which reporters would then put their voices.

She left KUSA to become a solo video journalist at the Denver Post. If you’re scoring at home, Herbst went from a TV station to a newspaper and went from being a traditional photographer to doing everything herself.

This past year, she returned to TV as the assistant chief photographer at KDVR-TV, Denver’s FOX affiliate.

Herbst is a hallmark of developing numerous skills and leveraging one’s talent to find high-quality positions in the field of journalism. She has charted her own course in many ways, always finding ways to progress and improve.

Oh, and it helps that Herbst is really, really good at her job.

She has twice been named NPPA Photographer of the Year for the West region — always the most competitive in the country. She has won numerous NPPA awards as a solo video journalist, as well. Watch some of her work, and you will see why.

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