I had an opportunity to interview Action News reporter, `Jennifer Joyce. Ms. Joyce grew up in Cherry Hill and attended schools in our district. She shared that one of her favorite teachers was our very own Mrs. Buttenbaum-Adamson (6th grade at that time). She also loved Mrs. Bargerhuff (2nd grade), Mrs. Robertson (5th grade), Mr. Goldstein (Theater/English), and many more.
Did Ms. Joyce always want to be a reporter? Ms. Joyce said, “No, I had been singing and taking acting lessons at age 5.  I had agents in New York and I would have to go up to New York for auditions and Broadway.” She did a lot of high school plays and was active in community theatre. “Once I went to high school it was always in the back of my mind. Actually, my vocal coach also taught Carol Ericson, who is a meteorologist on Channel 3. He taught her daughter so he introduced me to her and she let me tour the studio. I was 16 years old and I fell in love! I actually went back to the station once a week for three and a half years until they hired me, andI have been working in the industry ever since.”
When Ms. Joyce went to Cherry Hill High School East they offered Broadcasting 1/ Broadcasting 2 which was taught by Mr. Weaver. She said she took those two classes.
Ms. Joyce also attended a local university, Temple University in Philadelphia where she majored in broadcasting and journalism.  This allowed her to continue to work at CBS 3 where she was working as an intern.
After graduating early from Temple and while interning full time at CBS, she landed her first job.  “In August, I got my first job. It took several months to send my reel out and get these calls/interviews, but I started my first job in August.”
Ms. Joyce has had the opportunity to cover political visits by President Obama, John McCain, and Sarah Palin leading up to the 2008 Presidential election. She said that it was incredible experience. It was in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. These are huge visits for any city (any county).  She said that being in Lancaster, it was very interesting because Philadelphia is more highly Democrat and out in central and western Pennsylvania it becomes more Republican. So Lancaster County became a battle ground area where it could go really any way. She felt it was incredible to be a part of history and to be within a few hundred feet of our now President Obama.
I asked if she liked going out and reporting from various locations. Ms. Joyce said, “I love it! That is one of the most fun aspects of my job because it is something new every day. I could be down the shore one minute and then be in the Poconos the next. You never know where you are going to be sent or what you are going to be covering. To be able to work with the community and bring people the most important news of the day is a cool responsibility.”
Ms. Joyce is excited to have the reporter’s microphone in her hand.  When it’s time to cover a story, she said, “It’s go time!! I have pretty much been working on this story all day and now is the time I get to present it to the viewers. Let’s go, let’s do this, tell them what the story is about!” Surprisingly, Ms. Joyce said, “I actually feel the safest on crime scenes because there are so many police officers around you and surrounding the area at that time. You are probably safer there than you would be just walking down the street.”
A reporter’s schedule is constantly changing.  Ms. Joyce said that as the newest reporter at Action News, she is not full time.  She is a free lance reporter which means they can call her at the drop of a hat and ask if she can come in tonight. They will give her two hours notice and she makes every effort possible not to say no and to be there for them
When considering reporters and new uses for technology, Ms. Joyce feels that Smart Phones are an amazing thing because they make their jobs so much easier. “You can just Google on your I Phone and start researching the second you get assigned a story.” She said sometimes there is no time for research and you try to gather your thoughts as best as you can. She also said that sometimes you do interviews “on the fly.”
Ms. Joyce has a lot of advice for aspiring journalists.  She said, “I would say be as persistent as possible and this goes for any field! Don’t give up on your dreams and if you want something start working on it now! As I said, I was working in the station at the age of 16 which is kind of hard to do without getting kicked out because it is a liability issue. I would say start making connections as early as possible and continue to hone your skills and craft. Work as hard as you can! Be persistent and continue to reach out to mentors and ask them for help. Everybody who is a successful journalist (or in any field) has got there because of hard work, but along the way they had people who have lent them a hand to help them get to where they are.”