From On-Air to Online: Digital Producer Krista Witiak Introduces New Wave of News Media

“No one really knows where local news is going to be in 5-10 years,” says Krista Witiak, a recent graduate of the School of Communication. She currently works as a digital reporter and producer for FOX21 in Colorado Springs. Her day-to-day job includes finding stories to report, setting up interviews, filming b-roll, editing film packages, and uploading them to the FOX21 news site. Although she gets to tease her stories on the air, most of her views surprisingly come from the internet. This is one reason FOX21 has decided to expand its digital news team. “Most people get their news from their phones now anyway, so it’s a learning curve that’s for sure,” says Witiak.

Though she doesn’t work typical hours, Witiak is excited for the path she is on with journalism. “My hours are 12pm-8pm Wednesday-Friday and then on the weekends 6am-3pm. I go to my cubicle, start up my computer, and begin shuffling through emails to see if there is an exciting story for the day. We have meetings every day at 2pm to discuss the events and stories of the day and any other news my boss needs to share. I’ll then shoot a story, edit it, and post it to the web all before the day is out. And then I’ll do it all over again the next day.”

For Witiak, this is the dream. Since joining her high school news team, she has been absolutely hooked on broadcasting. “My dad was also in television back in the day so some say it’s in my blood,” she explains. While at FSU, Witiak took advantage of Seminole Productions and Seminole Sports Magazine. Seminole Productions is a club open to all majors, but also offers advanced coursework to students accepted into CCI’s Digital Media Production major. “I think anyone at FSU that wants to go into broadcast journalism should know about both of those classes and volunteer experiences.”

While discussing her current career, Witiak offers some advice to students who may be on a similar path: “I’m extremely grateful for everything FSU gave me my four years there. I really wish college was five years because man, I do miss that college life! Nothing in life comes easy and in this industry, it’s all about who you know, so never say no to an opportunity because you never know where that opportunity will take you.”