OMN Alumni Podcast

KTVZ News Director and KBVR-TV alumnus Cathy Marshall joins me on the podcast this week. In this episode, she shares her approach to mentoring younger reporters, the changing face of local TV news, and being willing to hire people with no previous TV experience.

We're back for season 3 with a great episode for aspiring journalists. Pacific NW Magazine Editor Bill Reader talks with me about how it takes bravery to be a reporter. You've got to face your fear to ask the coach questions postgame, or develop a relationship with a source, or to be critical of people you cover. His experience covering sports for the Daily Barometer, Gazette-Times, Seattle Times, and now running Pacific NW Magazine has taught him valuable lessons about being a good journalist. It's a must-listen for young reporters.

Read more of Bill's work at Pacific NW Magazine.
Learn more about Orange Media Network

We get meta this week on the podcast as I talk about podcasts with Sean Fox. Sean owns SF Productions, a podcast production business based on Los Angeles. In this episode we talk about what makes a good podcast and how he was inspired by his time in college radio at KBVR-FM. After the break, I debut a new game as I pitch a random podcast idea and Sean helps me develop it into a better show. This was a fun episode and I'm happy I got to reconnect with Sean.

Connect with Sean and develop your own podcast at sfpodcasts.com

Visit orangemedianetwork.com

Flexibility is the name of the game right now, especially when it comes to covering high school sports during COVID. Sports reporter Brian Rathbone of the Bulletin in Central Oregon tells us this week how he prepares to cover games that might be cancelled last minute and how he adjusts his sports coverage. Later, he talks about his time as the sports editor of the Daily Barometer at OSU, covering Beaver sports, and some of his favorite memories.

Read more of Brian's sports coverage at The Bulletin
Follow Brian on Twitter @ByBrianRathbone

We're back for Season 2 and talking with Anna Weeks, anchor and nightside executive producer for KOBI NBC 5 in Medford, Ore. Anna and I chat about covering wildfires in her neighborhood, moving from a reporter to leading other reporters, and avoiding being run over by a football team. Learn more about how Anna got her start in TV news by grabbing every opportunity available in college, and her advice on building connections to help your own career.

Follow Anna on Twitter @anna_weeks

To learn more about Orange Media Network visit orangemedianetwork.com

Kat Dykstra of Heart Creative is our guest for the season one finale! Kat shares the secrets of making food look spectacular on-camera without resorting to fakeness, so the beautiful food you see is actually what you get! In the second half, we talk about her experience producing Locals Live, making hard decisions with bands, what she learned about being a leader.

See more of Heart Creative at https://heartcreative.co/

Former Prism Editor-in-Chief Darryl Oliver takes me behind the scenes of the book publishing world, where he is an editorial assistant at Penguin Random House. We talk a lot about books in this one: reading them, editing them, and debating whether Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys were better detectives. Darryl also shares how he got involved with Prism Art & Literary Journal while at OMN.

Polly Lisicak joins me on this episode and immediately proves she should replace me as host of the podcast. After talking about her work as Video Production Director at "Feel Good, Human," Polly opens up about a tough time when she was a student at OMN, sharing what she learned about vulnerability and persevering through adversity. This was an emotional conversation for us as we both talk about growth, mistakes, setting your boundaries and challenging yourself.

Check out more of Feel Good, Human at https://feelgoodhuman.media/
Watch the short film "Another Day" at https://vimeo.com/388654291
See Polly's made-in-one-week documentary "Analogous" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JtNry9Za28

And of course, see current work by Orange Media Network students at http://www.orangemedianetwork.com/

UTEP Football Video Coordinator Marvin Lewis joins the podcast to give a behind-the-scenes look at how a college football team gets its videos and film for the coaches. He shares how he only gets to watch one quarter of a football game before he goes into video editing mode. Also, Marvin explains how football runs in his family, his time as Beaver News producer at KBVR, and building a close-knit team.

Sean Bassinger of Fuel Medical Group talks about transferring journalism skills into other kinds of media work, the challenges facing local newsrooms and the need for mentors for young journalists.