SoJ Web Report | Dec. 13, 2011
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| Courtesy photo |
| Erica Nochlin, BAJ'07, now is a reporter at KATU in Portland, Ore. |
For Erica Nochlin, the future starts now. At press time, she had just left her positions as anchor, reporter and supervising producer at KMIZ for the next stop in her career: a reporter position at KATU, the ABC affiliate in Portland, Ore. “It’s a little crazy,” she said.
Of course, crazy is a relative term when your job has recently involved solo anchoring a 9 p.m. newscast and co-anchoring one at 10 p.m., as well as serving as an occasional photographer. In addition, Nochlin recently had become supervising producer of new media at KMIZ, helping to create strategies for the station’s website and social media. A couple years ago, she received a certificate from the Centers for the Digital Globe at the University of Missouri.
The news team at KMIZ has seen a significant increase in ratings over the last few years, going from third place to neck-and-neck with the competition — and often leading the market, Nochlin reports. The team was rewarded for its efforts with a first-place award from the Missouri Broadcasters Association for an investigative reporting piece Nochlin worked on about teen sex videos going viral on the Web.
“A situation evolved within the local school district where students obtained videos and photos of other students engaging in sexual activities,” she reports. “They hit social networking sites and spiraled out of control.”
Nochlin also picked up two Society of Professional Journalists Kansas City Heart of America Awards: a silver award for the sex videos report and a bronze for a piece on the dangers of some kids’ toys on store shelves, both in the general reporting category.
As well, KMIZ has submitted another of her investigative reports for an Emmy, but she won’t know the outcome until October. In “Beauty Botched,” Nochlin investigated a local medical spa that left multiple patients with permanent scars from liposuction and laser hair removal procedures before it recently closed.
None of the accolades would be hers without her IU School of Journalism training, she says.
“I’ll never forget watching NBC news correspondent Bob Dotson’s stories in an advanced broadcast class taught by Betsi Grabe and learning how natural sound pops make a scene feel more real and keep the audience engaged,” she recalls. “I decided broadcast was the right track for me while in that class.”
Grabe, now a professor in telecommunications, challenged Nochlin.
“I fondly remember staying late in the computer lab to edit a story, then showing the package to Betsi the next day. She clapped her hands and said excitedly, ‘That’s it!’ I had taken a classroom lesson and applied it to a real-world story.” She offers up shout-outs as well to associate professor Mike Conway and then-adjunct lecturer Chuck Carney, and to fellow IU alumnus Michael Hayes, who helped her secure the internship that led to her first job.
The on-air part of being on-air talent comes easily, as she’s been performing all her life.
“I grew up taking classes in tap, ballet, jazz and even hip-hop,” she says. “I continued jazz and hip-hop through high school and college, and have since taught free summer dance classes to pre-teens through the city of Columbia.”
From here, she hopes to keep pushing herself to the next level — and to keep an open mind about her role as a broadcast journalist.
“I used to say I wanted to be in a Top 10 market by the time I’m 30,” she says. “Then, I knew I wanted to reach the network level. Now, as I watch the industry adapt to new technologies, I don’t specify success with certain terms or titles. I just hope to be a better storyteller with a greater impact on a larger audience.”
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