by Madison Gardner
When I was told that I would be interviewing a DePaul alum that works in Buffalo, New York I went straight to Twitter – the stomping ground of journalists across the country and the world. When I got to Jenn Schanz’s page I saw a tweet pinned at the top that read, “It’s not a reporter’s job to be friendly. It’s a reporter’s job to tell the truth.” This tweet set the tone for our conversation.
A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jenn picked up and moved to Chicago to study journalism at DePaul University. Here, she took advantage of her time and interned with the Chicago Tribune, the Council of American-Islamic Relations and finished off her college resume with an internship at NBC5 Chicago under the Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence’s own Carol Marin and Don Moseley. After college, she went west to KLKN-TV in Lincoln, Nebraska. After her first market, she then headed east and made temporary roots in Buffalo, New York where she has been working for WIVB for 3 years.
Schanz is the recipient of several impressive awards – a regional Edward R. Murrow award, three Associated Press awards and a Nebraska Broadcasters Association Gold Award. Some of these awards came from projects and stories Schanz had been following for some time. So, I asked her, as someone who has been working on stories longer than just the daily deadline, how does she keep from getting invested in a story and developing personal biases? This is something Schanz and her station are currently trying to tackle. A big story unfolding right now for WIVB pertains to the Catholic Diocese and abuse allegations. Schanz said that when you speak to people and hear their stories it’s hard not to become invested. Schanz admits that it is “unrealistic to not draw any biases.” But also says that reporters should recognize these biases exist. Jenn says that she routinely checks herself by having several people read over her story before it makes its way onto air. Doing this ensures the story is as objective as possible.
When dealing with sensitive stories like the one that’s unfolding in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese, Jenn says it’s important to have sources and establish these relationships early in your career. Having these relationships with people in the community helps, but it is also essential to fact check them and not get too comfortable in the relationships. Shanz says that she will always push people to expand by doing so professionally. She says there is a difference between professional and pushy. Once Schanz made twelve calls in a day to a Public Information Officer, this she said was being persistent – “It’s in the tone.”
Navigating these professional relationships within your market can sometimes be a bit tricky. She’s seen reporters who come off too strong and bombard someone with questions to the point they no longer want to speak to the media and she’s also seen people who don’t challenge public officials, taking everything they say at face value. There is a happy medium and Schanz tries to meet this on every interview she does – She refuses to let anyone push their own agenda and she’s not afraid to fact check them. At the end of the day, she says “making people uncomfortable is our job.”
Schanz on top of this also had advice for journalists about to break into the industry. First, she mentioned the paycheck. She knows the struggle of making little money but she does believe with time it gets better. She also believes a reporter stepping into their first market should take advantage of local and community papers. Here, she said she has found hidden gems for story ideas and these outlets have kept her even more informed about the community she was living in.
Something else that she believes new reporters need to know is that it is not all about them. She shares that she has seen too often young reporters taking selfies and making stories all about themselves, when in reality our job is a service to the people. Sometimes it seems innocent taking a selfie or being on your phone, but to others in the community it could be seen as insensitive or inconsiderate. A time she remembers being held accountable and learning from this very mistake was when Schanz was with her photographer and they made a parody lip sync video for social media. Schanz mentioned that Don Moseley of the Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence politely informed her that this could potentially be taken the wrong way by her audience. This ultimately was not her intent but Schanz removed the video immediately. This is an example highlighting something that seems innocent on the surface but could do some damage if the story that’s being reported is sensitive.
Finally, Schanz has agreed that at times it is hard to keep from becoming complacent and comfortable in the role of a reporter, especially on the first few jobs. The best advice she offers is to keep challenging yourself and not just come to work and leave. She made staying informed and following her favorite journalists a priority. It wasn’t the paycheck, time off, or enterprise stories that pushed her over the first job hurdle, but rather the satisfaction she got out of telling a good story.
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