On Thursday April 20, Annemarie LePard, studio assistant and producer at Valley Shore TV spoke to journalism students. She discussed her experiences in journalism, and informed students about the opportunities that the studio holds. Valley Shore Community TV is a non-profit organization, providing for nine towns in the Clinton area. It produces local content, and it is mainly volunteers. At the radio station, she works with a lot of hands-on production in the news department. 

Annemarie went to HK High school, and began to learn about journalism there. HK publishes news through The Cougar Chronicle, similar to The Morgan PawPrint. With her high school equipment, she produced news and became the Editor-in-chief. After high school, she went to Hofstra University to continue her journalism career. Recently, she has created a multimedia digital project about the impact of weightlifting. Weightlifting not only affects someone physically, but it also affects people mentally, socially, and emotionally. This story won 4th place in the 2022 Hearst Journalism Awards.

Recently, she published a video about a place called “All the Single Kitties” in Old Saybrook. They find homes for rescue cats, and keep them at the cafe until they are adopted. They work with their non-profit local rescue partner, A Chance For Love Rescue. While they are working with them, they continue to grow the number of cats that they have rescued. They make sure that the cats go to a safe home when they’re adopted. They get information about the owners and their living space, including a virtual home visit. While the journalism class watched what was being produced from Valley Shore, they learned what information and clips they should add when creating a video about a topic.

Valley Shore is looking for more volunteers.  She said how she was “more than happy to talk students through some of the processes of working in the industry.” Annemarie has previously interned with Valley Shore the summer before going to college. While she was an intern, her knowledge of broadcasting grew everyday. While learning about production, she had the opportunity to produce her own work. Volunteering at Valley Shore lets students create broadcasts and teaches them about the proper use of studio and camera equipment. Interning is a great way for making connections, and she said that “you will never know who you’re going to meet.”