Person Profile: Emily Graham

Name: Emily Graham

Age: 21

Birthplace/Current Location: Pittsburgh/Phoenix, AZ

What stations have you worked at? I have had somewhat of a different path in broadcast. I started as an intern at KPHO in Phoenix with the Investigative team and then went on to documentaries. I reported and field produced in South Africa on a documentary that focused on immigration issues within the country. South Africa was an incredible experience as I witnessed a country in severe trouble where the people were still optimistic of the future. Hope was a large part of the culture. I was fortunate enough to work with our fixer there and I was the first American to report from the Somali refuge camp. Our team won a Rocky Mountain Emmy Award for the documentary.

I was later hired by ABC News to run their ABC News on Campus Phoenix Bureau. I’ll never forget the first time hearing the British news anchor toss to my story from the ABC News London desk, such a memorable moment! After leaving ABC I worked on an in-depth reporting project for the Carnegie-Knight foundation where we examined the economic, social, cultural and political impacts on Latinos in America. My personal project was focusing on Latinos who have traced their roots back to a Jewish lineage.

Sadly, Walter Cronkite passed away during the final week of the Carnegie-Knight project. I was hired to field produce an hour-long piece for the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications on Walter’s impact of the Cronkite school and his students.

Have you had any other jobs outside of the broadcasting industry? After I finished the Cronkite documentary I was hired by Rose & Allyn Public Relations where I currently work as the Operations Director and Account Coordinator. We do public relations, crisis communications and political consulting. This has been a great career move as it has allowed me to take all of my strongest broadcast skills and bring them into a new field. Personally I get to work with the media to get coverage for our clients, video shooting and editing along with political consulting.

Before moving to Arizona I worked at Mineo’s Pizza House in Squirrel Hill for about 4 years.

Who are your mentors/inspirations? I really have to thank the Cronkite school for providing me with some of the most powerful mentors on the planet! I’m fortunate enough to be able to call Aaron Brown, former CNN anchor, a mentor of mine. Also, Susan Green, Peabody Award winner and unbelievably caring human and journalist, Dean Christopher Callaham, and Tim McGuire, former editor and Senior Vice President of the Star-Tribune in Minneapolis. Each one of these people has been there to help shape my future. There is no way that I could ever thank them enough!

Tell us about your family: My parents and younger sister still live in Pittsburgh with our dog, Louis.

What’s one item we might find in your refrigerator on a regular basis? I try to eat pretty healthy, living in Arizona we have great access to local, fresh-grown foods so I always try to buy from the locals.

Please explain a little bit about your decision to go to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. When looking for a journalism school I really wanted a place where they were looking ahead. The journalism industry was changing so rapidly that it was imperative that my school teach not only the core values of journalism but also the feature and eveloving skills. Cronkite was just that; a base of credible journalism where you gained the knowledge of how to utilize the media in all platforms. Dean Callahan has created a school that is a game changer to journalism education.

Who would you like to see interviewed for Person Profile? Eleanor Schano