The Alumni Connection: TV Producer Shares Field-Reporting Experience with Journalism Students

Kathleen Kiely 鈥13 takes students into the field as she reports for WCVB TV鈥檚 鈥淐hronicle鈥

Jill Rodrigues '05
Journalism students learning in the field.
Journalism students Holly Huntoon (left) and Rachel Bimonte (right) listen to Kathleen Kiely '13 (foreground) talk about how she prepares to report stories for WCVB TV's "Chronicle."

BRISTOL, R.I. 鈥 With a warm, salty breeze wafting up from the bay, Kathleen Kiely 鈥13 surveyed the goat and sheep paddock surrounded by just-sprouting fields and thickets of budding oak and maple trees at Bristol鈥檚 Mount Hope Farm. She spent a few minutes with the caretakers learning about a typical day caring for the animals and tending the vegetable garden, planning what to capture in her story about a spring day on the still-working historic farm.

As she spent Thursday morning reporting from the farm on 鈥渨hat life is like in Bristol鈥 for a feature segment on WCVB TV鈥檚 鈥,鈥 Kiely 鈥 a producer for the Boston-based news show 鈥 worked double-duty as she shared what a typical work day is like for her with two RWU journalism students. Knowing she鈥檇 be in town for the week covering the Bristol community, she offered to bring along journalism students to experience reporting in action.

Rachel Bimonte and Holly Huntoon, both senior journalism majors, took her up on the field experience, joining Kiely and her WCVB cameraman, George Rodrique, at Mount Hope Farm. They observed as Kiely and Rodrique discussed who to get on camera, potential film locations, and prepped the farm caretakers for the interview.

Journalism students observe news segment on goats.鈥淚 usually let him decide where to set up interviews, because he鈥檚 got the eye for it and knows the shots he needs,鈥 Kiely informed the students.

Another insight she offered: 鈥淕o with the flow. This scene was supposed to be filmed tomorrow, but something came up so I had to rearrange filming schedules at other locations.鈥

Kiely, who graduated with a media communications degree, says her academic training prepared her well for jumping right into news reporting and she鈥檚 been with WCVB TV since 2013.

鈥淚t was almost tailor-made for this job,鈥 Kiely said. 鈥淲e did a lot of going out and doing interviews, the stories were often feature-based. I did my thesis on wind turbines, and now I do feature stories all the time for 鈥楥hronicle.鈥 It鈥檚 come full circle.鈥

She鈥檚 remained connected to her alma mater, hiring students as interns for the television program, but saw this as another opportunity for her to give back. 鈥淚 learned so much from the school that if I can help in any way, then absolutely I will give back.鈥

Journalism students observe an alumna reporting the news.Bimonte and Huntoon seized the opportunity to explore their interests within the journalism field with working professionals.

鈥淎s graduation is approaching, I鈥檓 trying to get as much experience as I can get and make as many contacts as I can鈥 to break into journalism, Bimonte said. 鈥淎nd part of the reason I came to 黑料社区 is that you have these kinds of connections at a smaller university to be able to take the opportunity.鈥

鈥淚 want to be a reporter, so I thought it would be a good experience to see what producers do and how they do it,鈥 Huntoon said. 鈥淭his is a great opportunity for me to learn from someone who鈥檚 been in the business for a while.鈥

It鈥檚 a lesson they鈥檒l take with them that not only builds their reporting skills, but also helps them discover the intersection of their passions and potential career paths.

And while Kiely spent just one day with students in the field this week, she鈥檒l continue to cultivate budding RWU journalists who qualify for internships with the news program. Check out her story below on the 鈥淢ain Streets and Backroads of Bristol,鈥 which aired April 30 on WCVB TV鈥檚 鈥淐hronicle.鈥

At RWU, we develop Civic Scholars who believe in community-engaged work. That鈥檚 why we commit to providing every student an opportunity that empowers them to put their knowledge and skills to the test solving real-world problems and creating meaningful change with community partners. Learn more about the Civic Scholars program and how to help us reach our goal of every student participating in civic scholarship.