01 Jovana Lara-Brooks of KABC and Me

LMU Regent Mentor Program

I was nominated to be one of only 22 juniors at LMU selected to participate in the LMU Regent Mentor Program. Each student is paired with a member of the LMU Board of Regents who is a working professional in the industry that coincides with the student’s major. As a film production major/theatre minor, I was fortunate to be assigned Jovana Lara-Brooks who is a reporter and the weekend evening anchor for ABC7 Eyewitness News, in addition to being the co-host of Vista L.A. for which she won two Emmys.

Jovana and I first met at the LMU Regent Mentor Program kickoff dinner back in September. Then in October she invited to the KABC studio in Glendale to watch one of her news broadcasts from the control room. It was interesting to get a look at the broadcast journalism side of the business, and a funny kind of coincidence because for years I’ve been teased about my “anchorman” voice.

Last week, Jovana took me out on assignment with her for the day. She was covering a story about students and faculty members protesting outside a Career Colleges of America campus in South Gate. The school has been having severe financial problems and, after not getting paid for months, the teachers walked out. Now, students arriving for classes found the school’s doors locked and are concerned about their futures, their educations, and their tuitions. I had a chance to watch as Jovana’s interviews with the students and faculty were being filmed, check out the camera equipment they use, and see the editing happen right in the KABC van.

It was very instructive, as Jovana spent the day collecting all the material for her story. And, here’s the end result:

Career Colleges of America closes; teachers, students in limbo

As you can see from the pictures, it was a gloomy day, which fit, because it was a sad, gloomy story of people caught unaware and worried about what comes next. It reminded me how lucky I am to be attending LMU and to have access to such amazing facilities and opportunities, like this Regent Mentor Program!

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