Local Reporter Embarks on Mission to Change Community
Please tell us a bit about yourself! How did you get started in broadcasting?
My name is Tim Calahan. I’m twenty-three years old and grew up in the Pacific Northwest, in Bellevue, WA. Music was an important part of my childhood. I studied classical violin at age nine, and played in the Seattle Youth Symphony for four years as well as played in my school symphony orchestra. I also sang in the jazz high school choir. During elementary and middle school, I played ice hockey, soccer and baseball. And I can remember at a young age, really enjoying watching the news.
My enthusiasm for broadcast journalism and story telling began in my senior year of high school. My “senior project” was an extensive yearlong effort to study all aspects of broadcast news operations, working with and guided by the professional staff at KING-5 News in Seattle. While at KING-5, I learned about all aspects of broadcasting, as well as the rewards of quality, unbiased journalism. The experience at KING-5 was one that ignited a flame inside me to explore the world of broadcasting. After completing a broadcast degree program, I moved to Bakersfield CA, where I began my career in television at the NBC-News affiliate, KGET. During my three years as a general assignment reporter, I won the Kern County Press Club award in 2009 for excellence in a serious feature story.
What advice would you have for a broadcast journalism student hoping to follow in your path?
Recognize your story telling passions and pursue them. If you have the energy and enthusiasm for telling the story and the determination to expect your best every day, you will succeed. As journalists working in a “post” television era and an ever-expanding digital age, it’s easy to be led astray from the heart of story telling, which is the passion and the pursuit of honest, integrity filled fact finding. I think the greatest accomplishment aspiring journalists can make fulfills that idea.
During my television career, I learned that while the business of broadcasting may be constantly changing, the need for honest reporting remains constant. Even though budget cuts, station downsizing and an ever-shrinking audience may affect broadcast news as we know it today, adapting to these changes and remaining flexible, is essential. Additionally, searching for new avenues to tell the story will reveal the true journalists in today’s world and beyond.
Please tell us about your new venture, Covenant Media! How did you transition into your new role?
Our mission at Covenant Media is to give a voice to the voiceless and provide hope to foster youth in Bakersfield as well as around the world. Having covered several stories about foster youth while at KGET, it was evident that many foster youth lack a voice in today’s media. Additionally, the majority of stories told are negative and slanted toward the “system” and not the youth.
In March of this year, I began cultivating the concept for Covenant Media. By capturing the “untold” story of former and current foster youth, we can share meaningful thought-provoking stories of success that can bring about change in foster care. I believe when people hear about a foster youth’s success, the stigma that is often associated with foster care can be reversed.
Covenant Media offers foster youth employable skills in journalism, broadcasting and digital media production. Covenant Media equips youth with the skills to share their own story with the world, as well as provides an outlet for these kids to be heard in a positive light – something I felt was not happening within the media arena. Covenant Media also provides production company services including television commercials and corporate training videos. We differentiate ourselves from other production companies because we employ foster youth in the process.
Transitioning into this role was quite simple. I knew I wanted to share my love for journalism and broadcasting, and utilize my reporting and storytelling skills to make a difference within the foster care community. Covenant Media provides quality, unbiased journalism in today’s ever changing media industry. Covenant Media is the perfect fit and I have an opportunity every day to help foster youth be successful.
Why did you decide to make the leap?
I like to call it my leap of faith. Doing a broadcast every night and sharing stories with viewers is my passion, however my job became too comfortable and spontaneous stories were difficult to find. Therefore, I knew I needed to make a change. I felt a desire to take my reporting career to the next level; however I didn’t know quite how to channel it. That’s when the opportunity for Covenant Media presented itself. As a result, I needed to take a leap of faith in my career, a move I have not regretted.
Do you feel that your skills as a broadcast news reporter/anchor are transferrable to your new role?
Absolutely! In television news, reporters and anchors are constantly under strict and sometimes impossible deadlines and intense scrutiny -while expected to deliver a meaningful and factual product.
Under these conditions, my role as a reporter was to develop a story, research the facts, conduct interviews, write and edit my copy and frequently shoot my own video, as well as interact with people throughout the community. Reporting is not just about delivering a quality story it is about relationship building. I am able to use all these skills and knowledge and apply them to my current role at Covenant Media.
Can you give us a sneak peak of things to look forward to in the coming year with Covenant Media?
Over the next year, we plan to expand our impact in a variety of ways. Covenant Media will continue to partner with local businesses to “get the word out”, and generate support. We are planning to employ more foster youth, and begin embarking on new projects and stories.
Follow Covenant Media during the next year and you’ll be amazed at what we have planned!
Tags: Interview
