Franklin Kuo 
NSPA Broadcast Journalist of the Year Portfolio

Although I've always enjoyed watching videos of every sort, I never would've thought I'd be one standing behind a camera, making videos for the good of the community.

​I was first drawn to journalism-like coverage in 7th grade when I was accepted into my middle school's award-winning yearbook program. It was there that I learned the basics of reporting: doing research, reaching out for interviews, and writing with an unbiased perspective. It was also there that I began my journey wielding a camera as a reporter, covering school events that brought our school together. I jumped at any chance to help others take photos and quickly became proficient in taking photos for our yearbook.

​

However, when COVID-19 eliminated any chance of returning to school in my eighth-grade year, I decided that I would pursue other areas of interest and said goodbye to the yearbook class that had inspired my love of cameras.

​

Fast forward to the end of my freshman year, I was dozing through yet another period of my AS English class when a few upperclassmen, along with the journalism adviser, Justin Raisner, presented about a joint English class that combined both journalism and English. After hearing that I would have the freedom to create writings about anything I wanted, I signed up on the spot.

​

My first step in journalism was writing sports articles, where I enjoyed taking pictures of sports and reporting about them. After writing several beat cycles and the feature article "Breaking Out of the Prison Cycle", my writing skills excelled enough to where I was offered to be an editor for the writing staff of my publication, Scot Scoop.

​

At the time, however, I felt that I was not ready to take on the extra workload and responsibility, and opted to join the broadcasting team instead.

​

The beginning of my broadcasting journey was one focused on the coverage of sports. I spent the first semester of my career producing videos about lacrosse games and practiced filming basketball on the side. 

​

My second semester in broadcast started with a shock: our publication had decided to move away from coverage of sports games. I had a difficult time brainstorming an idea for my first video until I heard that my math teacher was looking for volunteers to help out with a special needs soccer team. While it wasn't the flashiness of the games I was used to, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to cover something that was sports-related.

​

When I attended a practice of the team, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I was amazed to see how committed everyone was to helping the kids have fun. The parents stayed and watched their kids and occasionally helped; the "coaches" came extremely prepared and brought tons of energy, and dozens of volunteers from a few of our local high schools showed up. Most importantly, I noticed how ecstatic the parents were that their kids were featured, and many were more than happy to be interviewed about the team's impact on the kids.

​

Creating that video about something that brought our community together was an experience that broadened my views of journalistic coverage to encompass community-building activities and helped expand my horizons to even coverage of the pro-Palestine encampments that have emerged at several of my local universities. 

​

Through hard work and the extraordinary mentorship of my past two broadcast editors-in-chief, I'm now in line to inherit the reins of the broadcasting team for the publication Scot Scoop for my final year of journalism. Throughout this journey, I've not only learned how to edit videos and tell stories for our NSPA first-place broadcast program, but I've also developed a love for making videos that shed light on people and events in our community that deserve more recognition.

​

Just as significantly, I've learned to become a mentor to those who made the same decision as I did and joined the broadcast team. As an editor, I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to impart my knowledge of editing and filming to those seeking to improve their craft. Being a mentor has taught me that setting a good example and constant encouragement is the best recipe for motivating others to work hard and that you will get what you put in.

​

My broadcasting journey has been filled with mixed struggles and successes, but ultimately, joining the broadcasting has been one of the best decisions of my life. Beyond learning skills in filming and editing, it has built connections and taught me the skills of responsibility and communication which will be invaluable to me for the rest of my life.