By Diana Silva/reporter
After spending more than 20 years as a reporter, founding Ciano Media in 2006 and anchoring at WFAA, Rebecca Rodriguez visited SE Campus to offer an inside look at what it takes to make it in TV news.
As part of the Women’s History Month celebration, Rodriguez presented My (Crazy) Life in the Media … and Why I’ve Loved Every Minute of It March 31.
The mother of 14-year-old and 7-year-old children, Rodriguez explained the ups and downs of her career and the struggle between family and work.
After graduating from Texas State University, she was invited to work for a radio station owned by a friend. She was asked to write a story for the station, and they liked it. She then realized she enjoyed radio reporting. She got the job as the radio reporter.
“I love to write,” she said. “I grew up reading the newspaper and watching the news.”
As Rodriguez became more successful, she was offered jobs in several places. She started working in Corpus Christi, where she had her first job as a TV reporter.
“I was part of the second generation of women to go into TV news,” she said.
Eight months later, she moved to Abilene after the Corpus station had layoffs. Then, she moved to Waco, where she found another job as a TV reporter and met her husband who also worked at the station.
When Rodriguez started a family, the balance started getting difficult for her.
“I’d see myself with kids and being on TV,” she said.
She realized parenting is a challenge when one parent is on TV.
Rodriguez and her husband took turns working on different schedules so they could take care of their children.
“I didn’t want to leave TV, and I wanted to be a parent,” she said.
She explained how she has managed to cover major stories like presidential elections, 9/11 and the Oprah Winfrey trial in Amarillo and still have time for the responsibilities of motherhood.
Rodriguez said competition is tight for a career in journalism and told students to take advantage of any opportunities.
“Do not worry about the competition,” she said. “There’s plenty of work out there. The most important thing you need to get a job is a résumé tape. Companies won’t really look at you unless you have a college degree.”
No matter what students try to learn in high school and college to get experience, Rodriguez said they do not get experience and knowledge until they actually get to a real job and practice there.
