Media Studies Student Co-Produces Stories for PBS Program

Sitting in her homeroom class during her first year at Westview High School, Roury Fitzpatrick was captivated by the morning newscast produced by her school. She hadn't watched the news much growing up, but it was then that she decided she wanted to pursue broadcast journalism.

Fitzpatrick, a second-year media studies student at Cal State San Marcos, has had a passion for writing ever since she was young, creating short stories and pretending she was a New York Times bestselling author. When she became interested in broadcast journalism in high school, she convinced her parents to let her change her elective and she joined Westview's broadcasting class. Her passion instantly ignited.

As a high school sophomore, she learned about PBS News Student Reporting Labs (SRL). Fitzpatrick and a few of her classmates helped produce a podcast segment for SRL about teen mental health and high schoolers’ plans after graduating. This inspired Fitzpatrick to create her own podcast. By her junior year, she and her classmates had created their high school’s first podcast, “Wolverine Pause.” It was there that Fitzpatrick interviewed many people, including Fox 5 San Diego weather anchor and reporter Megan Healy. 

Fitzpatrick has enjoyed every aspect of her journey in broadcast journalism, from conducting interviews to filming, editing and being behind the scenes. She loved the experience as an anchor for her school’s newscast but thought that it was too scripted at times. Fitzpatrick prefers to take a more authentic route, reporting on the scene or searching out individuals to interview in their fields rather than reading off a teleprompter.

“I really love interviewing people because that’s when you get that one-on-one connection and you learn the most about them,” Fitzpatrick said. “But I also do like being behind the camera and editing because I feel that's when you see the magic of it all coming together.”

After working with SRL on the podcast segment and experiencing the support and mentorship from members of PBS as a high school student, Fitzpatrick decided to apply for PBS News' College Climate Reporting Fellows program as she was preparing to attend CSUSM. After a highly competitive application process in which she had to create a pitch on a climate issue, Fitzpatrick was one of 10 students across the nation selected for the program, joining students from schools including Cornell, Penn and USC.

Fitzpatrick co-produced two stories focused on climate issues.

The first story came during the SRL’s summer academy trip to Washington, D.C., where she had the opportunity to meet PBS News reporters, ask questions and gather advice about broadcast journalism. The story Fitzpatrick worked on was about Vihaan Mathur, then a 19-year-old climate activist attending UC Berkeley. The story focused on his work combating climate issues, donating to local schools and writing a children’s book about climate change. Fitzpatrick and her team came up with interview questions and shared editing responsibilities. When it was time for filming, Fitzpatrick conducted the interview and recorded the voiceover. Sharing roles with her teammates allowed Fitzpatrick to experience every aspect of creating and producing a news story.

The second story was more hands-on. Fitzpatrick was assigned to a group with other SRL members to come up with another story on environmental issues. Her team focused on the language barrier between Spanish and English speakers, and how this makes discussing climate issues more difficult. Highlighting a USC newsletter called “Sustainability Sin Fronteras,” which aims to inform Los Angeles’ Spanish-speaking communities about climate issues, Fitzpatrick’s group interviewed the newsletter’s co-founder, Mayte Abrica. They also interviewed Miguel Ordeñana, the senior manager of community science at the Natural History Museum, which works to bring climate education to L.A. residents. 

Fitzpatrick and her group spent three days in L.A., brainstorming interview questions, dividing work duties and filming through pouring rain to piece together their story.

“There was a lot of rain, we were cold, we were wet, and we had to protect these very nice cameras as we hiked through muddy trails,” Fitzpatrick said. “We were just happy we got through it. It was such a great experience.”

Working with SRL and co-producing stories has provided Fitzpatrick with much knowledge and experience as she continues on her journey pursuing broadcast journalism. She loves exploring new topics of research and enjoys the connections she forms with the people she interviews. In the future, she hopes to continue her work with PBS or branch out to other news outlets focused on making change.

“I want to tell stories about important issues like war, politics or underrepresented communities,” Fitzpatrick said. “I want to tell stories that have substance to them, stories that matter, where people will turn on the news and feel they need to listen.”

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314