Name: Kelsey Jacobson
Press Club position: Board member of the IPC Southwest Chapter
Job: Senior Digital Media Producer for KTVB.COM. I really like the new media side of journalism. I love writing for the web, designing new web pages, graphics, and I really enjoy the social media aspect of it all. With how fast everything changes in the new media world, it’s hard to say where my career will take me!
Education: I graduated magna cum laude from the University of North Dakota in 2007 with a degree in Communication. But my experience in broadcast journalism dates back to high school. I began working in television running cameras, teleprompter, audio, and chyron at an ABC affiliate in 2002. While working at WDAZ-TV, I worked my way up, eventually producing newscasts, reporting, shooting and editing my own stories. Once I graduated from college I moved out to Boise. September marked my four year anniversary at KTVB, while October marked my nine year anniversary in the news industry.
Honors/Achievements: In 2008, I was honored to be producing KTVB’s Today’s Morning News when it was awarded an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Since I’ve joined the web team, we were also honored with a national Edward R. Murrow Award. Those are huge honors that I’m very proud to be a part of.
What do you love about your job? I love the fast pace of the news industry. I get a rush producing breaking news, and I feel a great sense of pride when I see a story through from start to finish. In news, you get to learn a little about a lot of things and every day is different. In this last year, my job allowed me to visit a new city every day for two weeks during our Live Tour. One day I was exploring Ponderosa Park in McCall, and the next I found myself driving through Hells Canyon taking pictures. It was an incredible experience. KTVB has given me the opportunity to do what I love, learn, and grow as a producer, writer, photographer, and graphic designer. Day-to-day, keeping up with current events, surfing other news web sites, utilizing social media, and discovering new tools are things that I do whether I’m at work or not. You know you have found a great job when you are doing things at work that you enjoy doing in your free time.
About Idaho? Idaho is an outdoor adventurist’s dream! I love camping, hiking, waterskiing, snow skiing, exploring hot springs, and just being outdoors in general. I don’t know of any other place where you can actually water ski in the morning and then go up the mountain in the afternoon to snow ski. I actually did that last year … in February. Crazy? Yes. But that is definitely not something I would be able to do where I came from in North Dakota. Idaho has so much to offer and I am always finding new places to explore and new things to try.
Where did you grow up? I grew up in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where the average temperature is … freezing. When I first moved to Idaho, I wore flip flops all year long and the only time I put on a coat was to go skiing in the mountains. People thought I was crazy. But having come from a place where the temperature drops to 40 degrees below, I feel like anything above zero is balmy.
Interests/Pastimes: Since working as the Senior Digital Media Producer here at KTVB, I’ve had the opportunity to get out from in front of the computer and go out into the community to take pictures for the web site. I’ve always loved photography, but I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed it until now. Other things I enjoy are traveling, camping, skiing, football Sundays, and craft beer.
Surprising skill: One surprising skill I have is the ability to hurt myself doing pretty much anything. I fall walking up the stairs, I trip over myself just walking down a hallway. In April, I had surgery after tearing my ACL on the ski hill. The first time my doctor told me I could ride a bike after my surgery, I went over the handlebars and found myself in the emergency room getting six stitches in my chin. This is a surprising skill I have yet to find a use for.
Other involvements: I’m currently involved in Make-A-Wish as a wish granter. I’m teaming up with a good friend of mine, who happens to be a competitor, to grant wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. Stacey Skrysak from KTRV and I are a wish granting team. We are still working together to grant our first wish, and were recently assigned our second.
Bucket list: I am grateful to have been able to accomplish quite a few things on my bucket list like skydiving and swimming with dolphins. A few things I have left to do are camp on a beach, go on a long road trip with no real destination, and learn to play the Cheers theme song on the piano.
Interviewed by Betsy Russell
