On Nov. 21, WPTV News Channel 5 anchor and reporter Ashleigh Walters visited communications freshmen to give a presentation on the life of news reporting and anchoring. Ms. Walters has been reporting for WPTV for two years and has been reporting eight years in total.
“[The students] should [learn to] view the news in a new way,” Ms. Walters said. “The next time [the students] turn on their television or receive news they should think more deeply about [it].”
During the presentation, Ms. Walters shared her journey to getting where she is today, including college, internships and anchoring for other stations. She emphasized on how emotional some stories can become and how, to succeed in the field of journalism, one must be able to make a story out of anything.
“I learned a lot from the presentation,” communications freshman Matthew Nadel said. “I learned how news stories are taken from concept to TV, and all the steps in between.”
Having Ms. Walters give the presentation was very eye opening to the communications freshmen. The view Ms. Walters gave on news reporting, anchoring and the field of journalism gave students an overall different perspective on the efforts put behind delivering news to the public.
“[Through reporting], I’ve seen natural disasters and personal triumphs. They blow me away. People are amazing,” Ms. Walters said. “Every day [of reporting] is different. I’m there for the best and worst parts of people’s lives, and it’s an honor.