Like most little girls, Lora McLaughlin, a Pittsburgh, Kansas native, had huge dreams.
“I don’t know if I dreamed of being successful, but I wanted to be a television correspondent, for as long as I can remember,” McLaughlin said.
She began taking steps towards her dream by starting a school newspaper at her elementary school in fourth grade. This made her realize one of the most important aspects of news: timeliness.
“One of my favorite stories from that experience was that I was writing a weather column and realized I couldn’t write it, because it came out a week later and it wouldn’t be news, it would be history,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin excelled in writing and English class. She practiced her journalism by reporting about things around her house. As she went through school, she found herself taking more creative classes than academic classes and joining her high school newspaper. McLaughlin had a strong support system of friends and family that encouraged her to follow her dream.
“My mom once told me ‘someone has to make it, why not you’, and that has really stuck with me.” McLaughlin said.
Gianna Garaglietti, McLaughlin’s childhood best friend, said she always knew her friend was destined to be a reporter and always supported her.
“She was so fun she had a lot of energy and was dressed nicely, so maybe she was preparing for being a journalist,”. Garaglietti said.Garaglietti’s father also supported McLaughlin by, “being positive, being a good listener and encouraging her.”
When McLaughlin was in high school she got an internship at a local news station. Gargalietti would watch McLaughlin’s broadcasts and give her encouragement. By graduation, McLaughlin was still working at the station and was offered a more permanent position, but she wanted to try her luck in a bigger city. This led McLaughlin to move to Los Angeles, where she attended California State University. From then on McLaughlin worked her way up to becoming an accomplished L.A. news journalist.
McLaughlin loves being a journalist, because “everyday is different, there are many different angles.” There are still hard parts about being a television correspondent, such as sad times when people are mourning a loved one, but then there are also joyous occasions, like when someone wins the lottery.
“The news business has changed drastically since I started back in 1988,”said McLaughlin of the news industry. Indeed it has, You can get news from almost any where in the world now, if you have Internet. Nowadays you have to be tech savvy to be in the journalism business, because that is where people get their news.
Kay Norred, a Harrisonburg resident is also in the news business. She isn’t a reporter, but the news director at Whsv news channel. She “knew she wanted to be a journalist since high school.” She met a disk jokey during Junior year, who invited her down to the station to shadow him for a couple of days, then she was hooked. “It was so much fun!” Norred said.
“Then, the next day someone at church mentioned they heard me on the radio. And it was then that I knew how powerful the communications industry is and I made it my goal to be a part of it.”After graduating from Florida State University, she then went on to worked in Tampa, FL at WTSP, Sarasota, FL at WWSB, Pensacola, FL at WEAR, and Tallahassee, FL at WTXL. “ The job is very difficult. You don’t have all day to do your job. We work under such strict deadlines and the stress and pressure is overwhelming sometimes. You really have to have a passion for the business to stay in it.”
No matter if you are reporting in a major city or a small college town, news is everywhere. As McLaughlin says, “if you’re a people person this is the job for you.”
