OMN Alumni Podcast Steven Sandberg

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.

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.

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.

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 and her advice on building connections to help your career.

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.