The BHS Crimson recently met with ex-news anchor Erin Kennedy for an interview. Erin relayed valuable information to the journalists, giving insight and important notes to students about their aspiring careers.
Erin never took a broadcast class until her senior year in college, when she was supposed to be going into law. This broadcasting channel internship took place during her final year at Notre Dame, where she found her love for TV News at KCNC.
She applied to nineteen stations at the beginning of her career, all of which were smaller, more local stations. Erin jumped around with her jobs, starting in Providence, Rhode Island, and then moving to Cleveland, Ohio. From there, she moved to a station in Chicago, Illinois. Erin’s work in Chicago was extensive, reaching over a million viewers.
Different environmental factors affect this job, as well. The rise of COVID-19 in 2020 radically affected TV News, where programs like CBS’ “March Madness” and other in-person events couldn’t make any revenue. This led to massive cutbacks throughout the industry and serves as an important example of how quickly the industry changes.
Journalism is not a “take-home job.” The industry is constantly changing, as are standards for the newscasters. In the words of Kennedy, this is “A young man’s game.”
Most importantly, the journalism industry is something that you have to love to go into. The payoff, though, is worth it, according to Erin. “I’ve picked up so many wonderful skills that help me with what I’m doing right now,” she shares. Journalism and more so TV News teaches things like thinking on your feet and how to find out important information that’s not always easily accessible. “Better than good is done,” is the motto she repeated throughout her talk with the young journalists. Kennedy worked in the news industry for many years, with her journalism experience helping her in other walks of life. She has the “maniacal need to know what’s going on,” coming from years of deciphering what was available and pushing boundaries for information.
Along with this, Erin spoke on battling nerves. Her words not only describe what life is like to work as a journalist, but in every career. “It doesn’t matter if you’re nervous, we’re all going to be nervous at some point,” she says. She advises both news broadcasters and everyone else to “accept the fact that if you’re nervous,” and pushes that nerves make you work better.
The journalism industry is constantly changing and evolving, but with people like Erin and a strong community— like the BHS Crimson staff— student journalists are encouraged and helped through all walks of their journalism career and what they pursue after that.
The journalism staff sends a big thanks to Erin Kennedy for her contributions to the BHS Crimson paper and its students!