Helen has specialized in health and science journalism and recently served on the North Carolina Task Force on the Future of Local Public Health. She spent most of her career in TV news. Helen sat down with BPR intern Charlie Smith to reflect on her time here as well as the tranquility that comes from backyard moments.
What’s life for you like inside and outside of the station?
My day starts early! My alarm goes off at 4:15. I get to the station around 5:30. One of my big jobs is writing the local newscasts that we put into NPR’s Morning Edition. I start working on it the night before. I scan the news, look for local stories, and check in with NPR member stations to see what they are reporting. Once I’m at the station, I finish writing and then organize the newscasts along with the weather. We broadcast live from 6:00 to 9:00 in the morning. I love it, I feel like I am listening along with everybody.
Have you had any different roles throughout the years? Because you’ve been here for about 8 years, right? What has that experience been like?
We’ve always been public radio listeners. My family moved here from Chapel Hill. A few years after we landed, my kids heard there was an announcer position open at WCQS. I didn’t have any recording equipment with me and had little experience with radio. I ended up recording a demo on my phone and sent it in. I was thrilled to get the job as an afternoon announcer. At the time, I was doing freelance health reporting and was also working at a school . The announcer job was part time and my shift began after I left the school around 2:00 pm each day, where I did everything from car line to spelling lessons. Every afternoon, I would drive from playground duty to the station. I loved that contrast. I love working with students because they are honest and in the moment. I tried to remember that at the station where I was a novice and had a lot to learn, including how to operate the sound board. I made lots of mistakes along the way.
The students caught them all and would say, “Boy, Ms. Helen, I heard you. You messed up the weather.” Or “You mispronounced that word.” And I remember saying “I sure did, and we have thousands of listeners. I goofed in front of them all. But life went on. We are okay! So, when you are stressing out about that test, or when you goof up in front of your friends - just think about Ms. Helen, we are all okay.”
I loved that feeling and those days. I even had a student who wrote my weather forecasts. It was great.
You've been on TV before. You mentioned what that transition was like, but what was the overall experience of having to go from being on video to strictly worrying about audio?
I wish I had discovered radio years ago. The biggest challenge was changing how I describe things. In television, you have graphics and visuals to support what you are saying. If you are describing numbers, you have got that support. Not with radio. Your words have to help people visualize and some words just do not play well on the radio. I remember my first script here and it was packed with figures. It didn’t play well on the radio. Especially NPR, those driveway moments where you're in your car or listening on your phone and you feel like you are there. Figuring out how to write and talk in a way that will bring listeners in and help them visualize a story. So that is always my goal and I’m always working on it. I love learning something new.
How do you approach news reporting and stay grounded during these challenging times from the pandemic to historical Supreme Court decisions? And with the constant news cycle, how do you prepare to keep listeners informed during breaking news and evolving news events?
I have always been an NPR listener. I know I will find context and balanced reporting here. We all have extreme emotions about something, whether it's rage or elation. Our job is always to present the facts, to present that important context and then let listeners make their decisions. It's tough. I struggle with it. I know we all have personal experiences with a lot of these issues. Especially now with social media. Everyone's into headlines. We grab something and spew it to our neighbor, and it becomes viral. It's more important than ever that we are a media organization where we do our homework. We check the facts. We do that background work. That drives me. It's at my core. That's why we're publicly supported. We don't have a big institution or a corporation funding us. It is listeners. I keep that in mind, and if we're not doing our job, they tell us.
And I guess this kind of leads into this next question. Why did you choose to come to work for public radio? What things do you value here?
It's my dream job. I was going to be a documentary filmmaker and it just did not work out. I landed in a newsroom and found my home and then connected to health reporting. Along the way, I was always listening to NPR. It’s a place you’ll hear a story you won’t get somewhere else. Public radio finds that untold angle, it gives you the background about the headline, it gives you those “driveway moments.” I love all of that that.
What's your favorite thing about life or work for you right now?
Moments when all of the family is together. We're about to be empty nesters. Our son is going to be a senior. My daughter is in her 20s and lives out of town. Recently, we were all sitting in the backyard. We were watching the dogs play and I sat back for a moment and breathed it all in. I feel like I've been so busy for so long. As parents, getting kids to school, getting to work and just all that life stuff. Now I feel like my brain has finally come to a point where I can enjoy it. Now, I can hear the birds and it is as corny and wonderful as it all sounds.
The last question, is there anything else you'd like to add, or is there anything I haven't asked you that you'd like to share?
I really appreciate all that goes on behind the scenes here at BPR and the people who make it all come together. My voice is the end of a long chain of hard work that most people get very little credit for, and I'm very aware of that. I'm so thankful to be here.