Deez Interviews: Meet the Iowa-based broadcast journalist who knows that being on camera is only a tiny part of the bigger job

Happy Friday, Deezers!

**** First, some housekeepin’: Today is the LAST day to order your Deez Links tote bag!!! You can do it via this order form. *****

Now: Today’s interview is our first foray into the broadcast journalism world, with KCCI’s Hannah Hilyard. She talked to us about starting out covering her hometown, covering the Mollie Tibbetts murder in Des Moines, and the real reason anyone should ever want to go into broadcast. We know you’re going to love this one.

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The interviewee: Hannah Hilyard (follow her @Hannah_KCCI!)

The gig: General assignment dayside reporter at KCCI, in Des Moines, Iowa

The hustle:

I start every day with a 9:30 a.m. story meeting where reporters, producers, photographers and management all pitch our ideas for the day. We are given our assignment, and that's when the day really gets going. I make phone calls, send emails and sometimes just head immediately out the door to turn whatever story I have that day. I am fortunate enough to have a photographer with me everyday, so we work together to get interviews, get video and then put it all together.

Most of the time we write and edit in the newsroom. Other times, depending on where the news is that day, we hit up a library or quiet restaurant to write and edit our stories. Then it's off to our live shots for the 5 and/or 6 o'clock newscasts!

(It sounds way crazier typed out than actually living through it every day. I promise!​)

Before moving to Des Moines, you were a reporter and anchor at WMBD in Peoria, Illinois — your hometown. How does covering a new city compare to covering the place where you grew up? ​

Working in Peoria fresh out a college was probably the best career move I could ever make. Yes, I had a journalism degree. I was a good student, participated in student media and had two internships through school. But no matter what, nothing can prepare you for the daily grind of being a reporter. I had to learn how to be a journalist, but starting at WMBD meant I didn't need to learn the area. I knew the layout. I knew the dynamics. And best of all, I knew the PEOPLE! That gave me the opportunity to really focus on my reporting skills. Oh, and I lived at home and didn't have to pay rent, so that's always a plus!​

Coming to Des Moines, I felt I had the journalism thing down (kind of...you're always learning). And now I'm able to focus on learning the lay out, dynamics and people in a new community.​

Who inspired you to go into journalism? ​

My dad Scott Hilyard is totally the one who inspired me to go into journalism whether he meant to or not. He is currently a reporter at the Peoria Journal Star and has been for more than 20 years.

I spent time in his newsroom as a child. We watched the news every night. And I LOVED to write. So becoming a reporter just kind of made sense. I remember when I was in high school and starting to think about what I wanted to study, he tried to convince me not to do it. He would always paint a bleak picture of the industry. He'd mention the dwindling dollars on the print side, which has resulted in years of layoffs at his paper.

So in my naive teenage brain, I was like, 'Ok, I won't go into print. I'll just go broadcast!' That is definitely not what he meant, but here we are. ​

Can you tell us a little bit about what it takes to break into (and make it!) in broadcast!?

Getting into the biz wasn't too challenging for me personally. You put together a reel, basically a video resume, with your best work. It's about a minute of you doing live reports/stand-ups, and a few minutes of your actual pieces. You send that around to news directors and hope somebody bites. ​

Making it, though, is a whole other story. Allow me to rant for a second. Obviously being on camera is a part of the job. But in my opinion, it is the tiniest part. And if you get into broadcast journalism to be on TV or be famous, you're not going to make it very far. My days are insanely stressful. I have to talk to people who are suffering unimageable emotional and sometimes physical pain. I have to turn complicated issues into a 1:15 story that everyone can understand. If you are focusing on you being on TV, your product is going to suffer. You've got to get into journalism, print or broadcast, for the RIGHT reason. ​

I also think niceness is key!  Being a mean, pushy reporter may get you an 'ok' story that day, but being a nice, thoughtful, caring reporter will get you a way better story that day and down the road. ​

The national news cycle was recently rocked by the murders of two Iowan women, both of which you've covered at KCCI. What nuances do you think ended up getting lost in the national news cycle?​

It's been a tough summer for central Iowa. Floods. Tornadoes. And then these two incredibly senseless deaths. The disappearance and murder of Mollie Tibbetts was really my first experience covering a story that rose to national attention. I'll be the first to admit, I'm a national news junkie. As I type this, I'm going on hour 12 of watching Kavanaugh/Ford hearing coverage. But I'll also be the first to admit, national news is in no way the same as local news. The two have two different objectives. Our audiences are different, and on big stories that break in our viewing area, we are able to dedicate more time and resources to them. ​

So when we learned Mollie was killed, law enforcement immediately came out and said the suspect was not in the U.S. legally. Because of a nationwide immigration debate happening right now, that became much of the focus on network and cable news. ​

Of course, we covered that angle (until the family respectfully asked the media to stop). But while we were covering that, we were also covering the community of Brooklyn coming together to mourn Mollie's death, the joggers dedicating their runs to the young woman with the hashtag #MilesforMollie, and the legitimate fear women were feeling throughout central Iowa after such a random attack (same goes for the death of Celia Barquin Arozamena). I'm not sure all of those angles were covered as thoroughly in the national media.

I don't think one is better than the other. I get a lot out of watching network news, and I, obviously, love covering local news. But they have different goals and should be treated that way. ​

Finally, what's a recent story you've covered that you're particularly proud of, and why?

Unfortunately, I cover a lot of incredibly sad stories, which makes it a bit difficult to be proud of a something that can be so painful to someone else. One that I think has a chance to make a difference is the death of Sabrina Ray. She was 16 when she died of starvation in her home. Much of her family is behind bars for her death, including her adoptive parents who are charged with first degree murder. This death is extremely similar to another one that happened in the viewing area months earlier. These cases have raised a lot of questions about the foster and adoption systems in the state of Iowa and has put pressure on government officials to make change. ​

I also have become close with Sabrina's biological family in the last year and a half (here is my first interviews with them ->>https://bit.ly/2y4tJPB). And while the circumstances in which we met were terrible, this is why you get into this business. You get to give a voice to those who don't have one but still have a lot to say.

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