Taking the Leap

By Serena Sanchez

Choosing the right cameras and angles, finding stories for anchors to talk about on TV, writing everything but what the reporters say, and making sure no one is under or overtime is only a summation of what Taylor Helmes does behind-the-scenes at Action News Now (ANN). As a News Producer, she completely cultivates how the formatting of the show goes–the glue holding everyone together.

Only having graduated from California State University, Dominguez Hills about a year ago, Helmes has and continues to make the impossible seem possible as she took the leap from university journalism to broadcast news.

Though she is happily in broadcast news at ANN, Helmes did not always want to go into journalism. When she was introduced to broadcast journalism in high school, where they broadcasted three times a week, after graduating, she considered nursing, business, and even marine biology going into community college.

“I spent some time, you know, really looking inward and like, what do I really want to do after this? What do I want to work towards? And that’s when journalism just made sense,” said Helmes. “I always kept drifting back to that aspect of communication. And I got my Associates in Arts and Communication Studies. So it just kind of naturally fell into place.”

Since then, she has served as an intern reporter at EdSource, a full-time reporter for Beverly Hills Weekly, and now at her current position with ANN. But before that, she grew her journalism roots at CSUDH’s newspaper, The Bulletin, as its Editor-in-Chief.

With the student-run publication experience under her belt, she felt assured in her venture into one outside of the campus. At Beverly Hills Weekly, only a month after her CSUDH graduation, it was another small written publication, something she was used to. There, she was the only reporter, along with her editor and publisher. As the main source of content, she wrote news briefs, about local news, such as commission and council meetings, and reported on new art openings and exhibits. Additionally, every week, Helmes pushed out a feature, but despite the ease of this kind of writing, she reminds aspiring journalists about the criticality of news writing and reporting.

“News is what makes the world go round,” she said. “You know, it’s always happening. News never sleeps. So neither do we.”

But it’s one thing to go from one written publication to another, but delving into something, slightly, new to her like broadcast was the complete polar opposite. In TV news at ANN, writing formats take a full 180, as sentence formation and use of AP Style is not the same in broadcast as it is in writing. Active voice and getting directly to the point is the basis of broadcast news, unlike the ability to build up and layer contextual and descriptive language in writing. But the swift three-month change from written to broadcast, though a bit of whiplash, was cushioned by Helmes’ colleagues.

“So it was kind of a learning curve, I will say that, but the team that I work with, they support me, want to teach me, and understand that I’m coming from a written background,” Helmes explained. “And that’s where, you know, having that partnership with your news director comes in handy because he understands where my background is. And he teaches me every day–every day, I’m learning new stuff.”

The innate ability to adapt to new environments is only further proof of Helmes’ success, on and off-campus. During her CSUDH stay, she was award- ed the Outstanding Journalism Student award by the Communications Department, as well as acted as the Managing Editor and Editor-In-Chief for The Bulletin.

A lot of her knowledge in the books and out in the field Helmes owes to the Communications Department as a whole, as well as specific classes. In Dr. Burkey’s Senior Project class, she learned the importance of the portfolio students cultivate throughout the semester, and submit at the very end. While some may not take it seriously, Helmes emphasizes it in terms of the world outside of the campus’ confines and to consider possible employers looking at it.

Another class that helped her more than she realized as she looks back now, is Professor Severino’s Broadcast Journalism course. This class, like the former, has bled into her job-hunting process.

“That’s [her broadcast projects] what I used to apply for the job I have now,” Helmes said. “So when they say, you know, ‘Put all your hard work into it,’ imagine that you’re going to be submitting this for your job, not just a school project.”

Along with the material knowledge the Communications Department provided her, Helmes also took her professors’ raw, hard-pill-to-swallow advice about the journalism industry to heart.

“You do it, really, because you love it. And that’s something you’ll learn very quickly, especially with your first couple of jobs,” she said. “So I went in with that mindset, knowing that I’m going to be challenged. That kind of helped prepare me as well. That’s something, you know, our professors will tell us, but you don’t really know what they’re talking about until you experience it.”

One of the harsh realities that so many journalists face as they inch further toward graduation, is the stark difference between journalism during university and “real-world” journalism. Though she had been in broadcast for a short time in high school, and The Bulletin during her experience on campus, she noticed how much quicker and solid deadlines are, as well as the need to acclimate to a publication’s writing presentation. The realization that more people are likely to read your content and the higher stakes was also a stressor transferring journalism formats. And, unfortunately, sometimes you make mistakes.

“I’ve published mistakes, but not consequential,” Helmes said. “And I didn’t get in huge trouble. But you know, some information was inaccurate. And you just have to face those consequences and take responsibility. Look at it as a lesson, honestly, because once you make that mistake, you won’t make it again.”

But the contagious fear of failure begins to lessen as time goes by. “It just comes with experience. And the more you learn, and the more you do, the more confident you’ll feel. It’s super cliche to say, but it’s true,” Helmes said.

Simply finding a job can be immensely anxi- ety-inducing because of its difficulty and the nerves that come along with it. In Helmes’ opinion, buckling down and dedicating an hour or two every day to search for jobs is a necessary step. Making sure all of your information is correct and dotting all of your I’s is only half the battle, though. Waiting to hear back from employers, or even being rejected, is normal.

“That’s not just how it works in journalism, but that’s how it works in any job. So you just have to keep your spirits high and know that you’re working towards something,” she said. Looking past the varying after-graduation job experience, preparation, awards, and differences, Helmes believes that, though all of those are crucial to know and have, exploring and pursuing your passions is what everything’s about.

Her advice? If you have interests, look into them. If you want to learn more, reach out. Regardless of where she is now, all the way up in Chico, Calif., Helmes still has aspirations that never remain stagnant.

“Having a curious mind should come naturally as a journalist because that’s what we do,” Helmes said. “We ask questions, we figure out the answers, and we deliver those answers. So I’d say stay curious and be as optimistic as you can be [...] I’m learning the industry, I’m learning how to write, and I’m learning you know, what you need to get to that point. So just give yourself grace. And try and stay positive.”