First-generation graduating senior Ainslee Raasch and her family regularly tune in to watch WBIR-TV, Channel 10.
So, when she shared that she will work at the station this summer as a producer, they were overjoyed.
“It was super, super exciting when I got the call that I had gotten this job with WBIR,” Raasch said. “That is the news station most of my family watches, so they were incredibly excited for me. It was like I told them that I was going to be working for a celebrity. It was super adorable.”
The Knoxville native was hired through American media company TEGNA’s Producer-In-Residence (PIR) program, which is designed to develop the next generation of broadcast and digital producers for newsrooms across the country.
The program includes a two-week producer boot camp followed by a two-year, full-time producer position at a local station. Fifty applicants are selected to join one of more than forty newsrooms across the country each year.
“This is the first CCI candidate through the PIR program, but I know it won’t be the last,” WBIR News Director Corey Presley said. “WBIR has emphasized its partnership with the University of Tennessee over the last two years to find more opportunities to hire the best and brightest students in the CCI program. That included networking events and an upcoming event where UT students will spend part of the day shadowing and speaking with UT alumni who are WBIR employees.”
Currently, WBIR has two producers on staff through the program. Presley said past producers have gone on to larger markets like Sacramento and New Orleans.
Raasch learned about this opportunity through her JMED 499 Enterprise and Leadership in Media class. She said one reason she applied for the position was because she felt it would help her become a well-rounded journalist. As part of the program, she will rotate through different jobs, duties, and shifts so by the end of her contract she will have experience in everything the station has to offer.
“Ainslee has proven through her course work that she is a top-notch student,” Presley said. “Anytime you can employ a top student from the CCI program, you feel excited about the possibilities. WBIR has several top-achieving alumni on staff that make a huge difference in our day-to-day product.”
Growing up in East Tennessee, Raasch loves the area and is excited by the opportunity to contribute to the storytelling taking place in her local community. She has had an interest in journalism since high school. As a freshman at Oak Ridge High School, she got involved in their broadcasting program and it was one of her favorite classes.
That experience influenced her decision to enroll in the School of Journalism and Media at UT. As a college student, she developed her journalistic skills through a combination of class work and hands-on experiences, having written for student-run publications such as The Daily Beacon and The Tennessee Journalist. She has also taken advantage of school trips to media companies in New York City and Washington, D.C., which only deepened her interest in pursuing journalism as a career.
Outside of UT, she has interned with the Alliance House Community Coalition and Medic Regional Blood Center to help create content to support the local nonprofits’ missions.
She has enjoyed her time at UT but is excited to start the next chapter of her life. As a first-generation student, she said her family is eager to celebrate with her on graduation day. In addition to securing post-graduation prospects, Raasch will also be graduating summa cum laude.
Raasch said she is grateful for all the opportunities and mentors she has met while on Rocky Top, and that as she starts her professional career she would still be close to home for a bit.
“I absolutely want to be in the industry,” Raasch said. “Journalism has been my dream since high school. I am very, very excited to finally take this first step forward. I think that while I might be nostalgic and fond for the time I had at UT, I’m still close to home.”