Kathy Kieliszewski
Verified
@freep photo/video director, @freep_film_fest artistic director, doc film producer, taker of pictures, lover of docs,
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
I don't think being a gossip in middle school counts so I would have to say staff photographer at Michigan State University's student newspaper, The State News.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes and I even own a manual one.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
I'm not sure I have one. My inclination would be to pick a photographer since that is what I most identify with, but most fictional photographers are awful caricatures of the real thing. Although, I always liked Peter Parker’s spunk.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
As an editor that oversees the visual components for a story, I want to be in on the pitch from square one. If discussions about pictures and video begin at the story’s inception, the story and the audience’s experience of that story will be more complete.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
My brain and most common photo and video editing software including, but not limited to Photoshop, Photo Mechanic and Final Cut Pro. What I don’t know, I learn.
What's your favorite social network?
Instagram, hands down.
Who do you wish followed you?
Errol Morris.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Nope. I was a yearbook geek.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
Boys of Christ Child House
In 2008, there were nearly 18,000 children in foster care in Michigan. One out three of those kids was wards of the state. For nearly three years, the Detroit Free Press documented the complex lives of the young boys living at Christ Child House, a modern-day orphanage on Detroit’s west side. As the project leader for visuals, I photo edited the special section and the online interactive, as well as served as executive producer for the five-part documentary. Of the nine boys we profiled, six were adopted as a result of this story and donations flooded the orphanage.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Be good at everything, but be great at one thing.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.