Did you ever wonder, What inspires a journalist? How can we as readers learn the foundational purpose of news, and journalism? Miami’s own Alex Finnie, shared her thoughts on the role of journalism, and how her family inspired her to create her own path into this profession:
Meghan Forte: What inspired you to study journalism? And how long have you been in broadcasting / journalism?
Alex Finnie : Growing up as a kid I was always a really inquisitive, nosy, kid. I always liked to know what’s going on and asked questions. It started at a young age. It was just how I was as a child. When I got older, I was involved in theater for a while. Performing arts was my foundation, musical theater, so it was just a very organic coming to the realization that I wanted to study journalism. Obviously, I also come from a family where the media is very much in my blood, and all around me. Starting with my grandmother, who was a costume designer for Broadway many many years ago , who was my dads mother, and my aunt, Wendy Williams. My aunt is also my godmother. She had a profound impact on my career because I was always around her as a kid, into a teenager, through college, so obviously always being around her, having conversations, and studying her just through the love of family, it was just a very natural choice for me to become a journalist.
Meghan Forte : Did you eventually switch to journalism as your major in college?
Alex Finnie I was a television/ film production major. I always say it as “TV/Film.”
Meghan Forte : Where did you study?
Alex Finnie : I went to St. John’s University in New York.
Meghan Forte: Wow that’s really wonderful. I’m in New Jersey, so I’m not too far from that original area.
Alex Finnie: I was born and raised in New Jersey.
Meghan Forte: Who in the broadcasting industry inspires you?
Alex Finnie: For me, the only person that continues to be a constant inspiration in my life and throughout my career has been my aunt, Wendy Williams. I would say that’s the number one person and the only person that I look to as a compass, and a guide, and a source of inspiration outside of all of the great women in my family.
Meghan Forte: That’s beautiful. What kind of training or practices do journalists need to utilize to avoid incorporating biases in today’s media?
Alex Finnie: I think as a journalist, you have to first and foremost go into any story that you’re covering, leading with the facts. And that’s very black and white…..I think that is the beautiful thing about being a journalist. You are there to uncover the truth, you are not there to take sides per say, you’re not there to infuse your opinion too much, if at all, in the story. You are simply there to flush out the story, and give the facts. I think that as a human begin, first and foremost we are emotional creatures, everybody has opinions on everything but i know for me when I became a journalist, and I took the oath to journalism, when I first became a journalist, I knew that the most important quality- the first thing that i had to have beyond everything- was my ability to stay with the story, and understand the facts and report that. Everything else comes after that. So, I think that as a journalist, when you’re going into this you really have to sit with yourself and decide, are you somebody who can report the story without bringing too much opinion into it? So obviously, yes there will be certain stories and certain things that you’ll cover when you can infuse your opinion or some dramatics or the flare of personality, sure. But, the world needs journalists and the world needs news, and how we go about our day to day and understanding our world, understanding our community and your job as a journalist, is to be a vehicle for that, for people.
Meghan Forte: When you report for your station, what sort of practices do you use for practicing and performing mental wellness?
Alex Finnie : So I think that it’s going to be different for every journalist that you as, i think it’s very personality based, but I’m going to say that for me i learned how to compartmentalize my job and my personal life, i have a very strong community of friends, family, my relationship, where outside of my job i feel safe i feel loved, i can be myself and i can have that on and off switch. For me that is probably the most important part when it comes to being able to balance the traumatics sometimes of the industry because every day is not a rosy day, i can go from reporting on the boat show which is coming to Miami which is obviously so fun and so amazing and so spirited, but I can also in the next breath report on kids that have been shot, people that are dying in car accidents, world news, so its a constant ebb and flow and i think that the balance comes in when you’re able to compartmentalize your work and your life and have whatever the fullness of life is for you. Have a fullness of life outside the job so that you can leave it on the shelf when you need to. To obviously, keep yourself balanced and healthy and happy.
Meghan Forte: In what ways do you feel the news can inspire or bring a positive message to viewers?
Alex Finnie: Well, the thing with news, is that it is a little bit and a lot of everything. I like to believe that the world is filled with way more good than bad. Unfortunately, in the world sometimes the bad can be punctuated more than the good but news is that vehicle. We bring you the news and the news does not always mean bad. The news means it’s a balance of both. and I think that a lot of times like I said you can hear the bad more but weaved in there are also really positive stories and really positive things happening in the community. I know that at my station in Miami, yes there are times when i am reporting on and anchoring about things that are devastating; but we also have really positive stories as well of communities coming together, call to action in the community, for example, which is always so wonderful, when you can see people that may need help or donations- and how the community can rally around and make that happen for that family or that person. Like I said, from the boat show …. Kids are doing extraordinary things in their communities, so I think the positive stories are there, it just comes down to what people want to see and the balance between good and bad. We have both but the positive is there as well.
Thank you, Alex Finnnie, for your time, and for reminding us readers, and viewers, of the news, what the core of the news is- that the reporter is there to be a “ vehicle” for both the good and bad of reporting, and that via reporting, there is always a way to bring positivity to viewers, despite also, the challenges of the world.
Alex Finnie is a reporter based in Miami, Florida. She is a journalist for WPLG, Local 10 News, an ABC News Affiliate.
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