University of Oregon graduate Sarah Brodie uses the skills she learned during school and internships to produce the KEZI 9 evening news. Working nine-hour workdays, Brodie has had to sacrifice much of her personal life in order to develop her professional career.
Her apartment is sparse and spotless. Red and orange Pendleton blankets are tucked away in a wooden basket beneath the television. The living room bookshelf is neatly organized with colored spines that read “Common Errors in the English Language,” “Scrabble Dictionary,” and “Phraseology.” Worn out running shoes are displayed on a shoe rack near the front door. Sarah Brodie says that she loves to go out for runs, but her time consuming job leaves little time for exercise.
Her day begins the second after she enters the news station at KEZI 9 in Eugene, Oregon. She knows she will not have a free moment to stretch or make small talk with co-workers, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. Brodie is a speck in a sea of button up suits and pencil skirts frantically running around your average modern day news room. She is wearing a white cardigan with a loosely tied bow around her neck. With a stature no taller than 5’ 3”, her black slacks are cut short at the ankle revealing white flats. Not heels, flats. This is a lesson her aching feet learned the hard way. Brodie’s straight brown mane flows down below her shoulders; not a single hair is out of place.
At 10a.m. she heads to her morning meeting. Brodie sits in the middle of the newsroom as co-workers pitch their stories to the editing director. For the next three hours, Brodie scans through hundreds of press releases and news stories that have stacked up over night. Two o’clock rolls by. She composes the stories that will be broadcasted later that evening. Three o’clock. She goes to work on her side production job for a show called The Wheel, a 24-hour news cast on Comcast Channel 309. It is now ten minutes until 6p.m., and while most people are going home from their 9 to 5 job, Brodie is rounding up anchors for the evening newscast. She won’t be home until after 7:30p.m.
Now a producer for KEZI 9, Brodie has come a long way from her internship days. She fondly recalls her evening news internship at KATU in Portland two years ago. Brodie says that KATU first exposed her to the true difficult realities that exist in news.
She remembers the first time she witnessed a dead body while shadowing a reporter. She could not fall asleep that night or the many nights to follow. However, while uncomfortable, Brodie remarks “I really like the idea that you’re providing the information to the people of Eugene. I really like that you have that responsibility to tell people what’s going on, what’s important.”
Her internship also taught her about the fast paced and fleeting nature of journalism. On multiple occasions, the assignment editor asked her to ditch the story she had spent countless hours working on. “You can be so set on doing a story, and it can change instantly,” Brodie said. “You’re so invested in it. In your head you’ve already written half of the story.”
While she learning to overcome the challenging aspects of being a reporter was at times grueling, Brodie says that her KATU internship solidified her love for journalism. It was the first time that she sat behind an anchors desk, and the first time she appeared on camera. “I learned so much, it was a really great experience,” Brodie said. “That really lit my fire to pursue this.”
Growing up in Olympia, Washington, her parents occupations first inspired Brodie to pursue a career in journalism. Her mom worked with press releases and the media as a Public Information Officer, while her dad was heavily interested in politics.
Brodie graduated from the University of Oregon in June of 2011 with a degree in journalism and political science. During her senior year, she was the president of the University’s National Broadcasting Society. As president, Brodie helped raise funds for 15 students to travel and participate in the National Broadcasting Society Convention in Los Angeles, California. It was an enormous opportunity for her and the other members to network and gain insight into the media industry from different speakers.
Rebecca Force, an Instructor of Broadcast Journalism at the University, worked with Brodie in the NBS. “You want people who are part of the world but also put opinions and biases aside,” Force said. “Sarah worked hard, she didn’t do the minimum. You remember a person like that.”
Kyle Johnstone also worked with Brodie as the Vice President of NBS. “Going out of your way to meet people at a University isn’t easy.” Johnstone said. “She is a leader. She was easy to work with, and we had a lot of fun planning the trip.”
Following the summer after graduation, Brodie interned at the CBS Evening News in New York. As a member of the End Piece Unit, Brodie helped write “feel good” stories that were delivered at the last segment of each newscast. Working on national stories helped strengthen her research skills.
Upon returning to Oregon, Brodie traveled up and down the West Coast with her resume in hand. She also applied to countless jobs online through a broadcast employment service, but had no luck. Finally, after setting up an informational meeting with KEZI 9, she was offered a producer position. She states that the hardest part of her job is simply being the new employee.
“I’m trying to make myself established, and prove myself to everyone, so I always feel like I don’t want to make any errors,” Brodie said. “I have so much to do, but at the same time I try to go slow because I want to make sure everything is done right.”
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