alumni
On the ninth floor of the CBS 60 Minutes building in Manhattan’s Broadcast Row, Katie Kerbstat ’11 is on the forefront of breaking news. When she’s not researching a story or furiously fact-checking scripts on deadline, the broadcast associate and assistant to the chairman of CBS News and executive producer of 60 Minutes is often spotted dodging traffic on 57th en route to a meeting in the adjacent CBS building. Always at a sprint, the stakes are high when you’re working for one of the most successful broadcasts in television history. Renowned for accuracy, 60 Minutes reaches tens of thousands of viewers every week. “There are no mistakes,” Kerbstat says. “Many of the stories I get to work on are breaking news and supposed to air that weekend. I’m always going as fast as I can, but accuracy is always paramount to speed.” March 2013 marked Kerbstat’s first annitaught by adjunct faculty members who are versary with the show. Poised, polished and working in the field,” Kerbstat says. One of professional, it’s hard to believe that just them, Joe Lauria, U.N. correspondent for The seven years ago she arrived at Manhattan Wall Street Journal, still keeps in touch. College — a volleyball recruit — without a She notes associate professor Thom Genclear direction. carelli, Ph.D., “was very kind and supportive Her future started coming into focus the — especially when it came to internships.” first time she sat down with a Manhattan As a sophomore, hungry for real-world College admissions counselor who, noting experience, Kerbstat interned with Comedy Kerbstat’s experience as an editor of her Central’s The Daily Show. The experience high school newspaper, recommended she was a fun foray into the world of broadcast apply for The Quadrangle Scholarship. journalism. “At that point I had no idea what I wanted “I loved it, and it motivated me to see out of my college experience,” Kerbstat says what the field of real news is like,” she says. of her decision to apply. The Quadrangle Kerbstat got her shot during the sumScholarship annually awards $5,000 to 20 mer after her junior year, interning at the students to write, edit and manage the assignment desk at WCBS Channel 2. Quickly campus newspaper. “When I was selected, adapting to the fast-paced, high-stress I thought, ‘Wow. I guess I could be good at atmosphere, it wasn’t long before she was this.’” This realization opened doors. While she honed her writing and editorial given the chance to prove her talent and reliability as a professional. She was often skills during her four years at The Quadout of the office to help with shoots for local rangle, she says she benefitted from strong breaking news stories. mentors in the classroom. A nod of confidence from her supervisor “One of the strengths of the communicawas a foot in the door at 60 Minutes, where tion program is that many of the classes are 44 N spring 2013
she interned senior year. The place was right; the timing was not. Come graduation, she was offered a spot at CBSCorporate.com. Although she was happy to have a steady writing gig out of college, she wanted to get back into reporting. So in late 2011, after consulting with her contacts at 60 Minutes, Kerbstat made the bold move of leaving her staff job to do freelance work at CBS Radio News full time. “I told my contacts at 60 Minutes that I wanted to leave my staff job and picked their brains about it,” Kerbstat says. “Everyone there couldn’t say enough about CBS Radio News and what it had to offer.” Not only was the experience perfect preparation for the atmosphere of the 60 Minutes newsroom but also her name was fresh in the producers’ minds when her current position opened up. And she already has her sights set on a producing role there. “I love my job,” Kerbstat says. “I love being a part of the constant chatter of the newsroom. It’s cool just to see how the show is put together every single week.”
PHOTO BY matt richman
From 0 to 60 in One Year