By Aubrey Polk/reporter

Although an Emmy Award-winning ABC journalist, Juju Chang faced insecurities, biases and the problem of finding her voice.

“Finding your voice is perhaps the most important aspect of being a journalist,” she said Feb. 10 in a national webcast watched by NE students.

After journalists find their voice, the insecurities will fade away, Chang said.

“Everyone has their own insecurities,” she said.

Everyday people face their insecurities big or small. It is how they handle those insecurities that make them who they are, Chang said. Most of the time people let their insecurities get the best of them.

It is not healthy, Chang warned. Insecurities have a way of ruining or setting back someone’s future. People let their fear overwhelm them and then proceed to give up when life gets the best of them, she said. Facing those insecurities head on is the only way to overcome them because then people realize that those insecurities were not the issue — fear is.

“Overcoming your insecurities is what helps you find your voice,” she said.

When TV journalists state their opinions and facts, they are looked at as biased, Chang said. A journalist truly has to differentiate between his or her opinion and the facts of the story.

Finding a voice in one’s career, specifically in journalism, is easily accomplished, Chang said. Journalists have to find what truly makes them unique and different while presenting the same fact five other people could be giving as well. It could be as simple as saying a signature phrase or wearing a signature color, or simply just showing one’s personality when presenting the information, she said.