Polished and professional, Kelly Ring, co-anchor of Fox 13’s 6 pm and 10 pm News, captured the attention of the entire auditorium as she spoke to Robinson students this morning as part of the Great American Teach-In. While she mainly talked about her career (fun fact: Ring’s first job was with WXII-TV in Winston Salem, North Carolina, as a general reporter), she also gave valuable advice to students looking for a career in the field of broadcast journalism or really, any journalism.
“Read a lot. Read anything you can, like current events. Current events are important…know what’s happening in your community,” Ring emphasized in her presentation.
She also discussed the importance of social media, even coining the term MMJ, or Multimedia Journalism. The Fox 13 News even has a department dedicated to spreading the day’s news through sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Ring herself is very active on her social media, especially Twitter.
“I love my Twitter, it’s like tickertape for my community,” she said.
Ring also has a defining characteristic that pushes her to do her best every day: she loves her job. Ever since she was a little girl, she knew that she wanted to write. It was only in college that a professor introduced her to the world of broadcast TV journalism, and she was hooked. Ever since joining the Fox 13 News team in 1985, Ring has had many great experiences, including covering the news in Saudi Arabia, going to Moscow with the All Children’s Hospital, and covering President Clinton’s inauguration.
However, even though she tries hard to maintain her professional exterior, Ring admits that she’s made a few goofs on TV, mostly from not being able to stop laughing.
“I think, out of the Disney characters, I would be Goofy,” she said with a smile. “I can be pretty goofy, because it’s important in journalism to have a sense of humor.”
But, on the opposite side of the spectrum, Ring can only think of one time when the news made her too sad and emotional to power through.
“It was a horrible, sad story about a girl who was murdered,” Ring said, to a quiet and captivated audience. “I got all choked up, couldn’t finish the story, and my co-anchor had to take over. I told the station to never give me a story on that girl again, because I wouldn’t be able to finish.”
