By Ashley Collins

     On Sunday, November 4, 2018 at 2:55 p.m., I sent an email to Heidi Wigdahl, multimedia journalist and DePaul alum asking to set up an interview.  I sat in my bed anticipating that it would be a couple of days before she responded. I was in the process of editing my resume, when I finally decided to refresh my page and there it was. I couldn’t believe she had responded so quickly, I took a double look at the time the response was sent and it read 2:58 p.m.

      “Absolutely. I would be free Tuesday after 7 p.m. Otherwise, possibly Monday night after 7 but Tuesday would probably be better,” she wrote.

      Wigdahl, who has been a multimedia journalist for eight years started her career at KTTC in Rochester, Minn. which at the time was ranked 153 in television market size. Wigdahl believed that starting her career in a smaller town allowed her to grow and prepare for the next opportunity.

      “I produced. I anchored. I was a reporter. I was a videographer. I was an editor. I did it all,” she said. “I also had a boss that was very hands-on and he would go through live shots with you and critique you on what you did.”

     Wigdahl said she began to look at television stations between 100-200 as she applied to positions not only in broadcasting but in print as well. With no specific strategy, Wigdahl remained open and receptive in the beginning of her career which led her to her next opportunity in Knoxville, Tennessee at WBIR-TV.

      “Straight out of college, I very much went in with an open mind to take whatever I could get,” she said. “Go where you can do what you want to do, you’re going to be doing everything anyway.”

      Wigdahl used best practices when starting a new position such as reading the station’s content online and watching full newscasts which allowed her to get a “feel” for the type of station she was going to work for. Whether they focused heavily on lifestyle stories or investigative stories was important for her to know beforehand.

      Over the last eight years, Wigdahl has received several awards including two Regional Edward R. Murrow awards for Writing and Hard News. In 2015, Wigdahl was named “Best TV Reporter” by the Tennessee Associated Press and she also received a regional Emmy for video journalism. She has been recognized by the National Press Photographers Association, Midwest Broadcast Journalists and more including at the College of Communication at DePaul University where she was named “Journalism Student of the Year.”

      Heidi’s persistent patience, passion and skills has led her through her successes in journalism including her time at DePaul University.  Included in her time at DePaul was an internship with Carol Marin and Don Moseley.

      “The most valuable experience for me were things as simple as watching Don and Carol’s old work. I remember Don showed me this clip of Carol during 9/11 and she’s covered in ash in her blazer, those are the things that stick out to me hearing from people who’ve actually done it,” she said. 

      Wigdahl’s time at DePaul University not only opened doors for her but in the process, she said that her biggest takeaway was, “You have to be a human first and then a journalist, I love journalism because I love telling people’s stories and shedding light on different people and communities.”