Katie Hendrick

Nexstar’s Top Recruiter Shares Vital Information About Working in the News Industry

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—A Nexstar Media Corp. senior recruiter visited the

Communication and Information Sciences College at The University of Alabama to enlighten

students on the importance of being unbiased in the news field and on his start in the news

industry.

Travis Ruiz presented information about working in journalism during his visit on March

5. He discussed his start up and went over the key factors to working at a job like his, including

the significance in having neutral coverage. Ruiz has been working for a respectable amount of

time with experience in recruiting, anchoring, reporting and was a former news director.

“At NewsNation we are working really hard on making sure we are right down the

middle, presenting all of the facts,” said Ruiz. Major networks are known for being biased in

their coverage. Ruiz made it clear that to him and at NewsNation it is important that they cover

all sides.

Ruiz informed the students of his unique upcoming in the news industry.

“I was the little kid who sat on his bed and built a little news studio when I was like six years

old. I was obsessed with the news,” said Ruiz.

A current News Director in the Emerald, Texas market reached out to Ruiz when he was

19 through his MySpace page wanting to make social media more apparent in news stations. He

started the station's first Facebook page. That was Ruiz’s start to his career.

Ruiz worked his way up to being a news director in a small market in Texas. He always

aspired to get into management and wanted to be able to help people and lead a news

organization. He became the youngest news director at 26, in the history of their company.
Katie Hendrick

“I was the boss of a 72-year-old anchor. That was a lot of fun,” said Ruiz when talking

about the time he was a news director.

Quinn Stagg, a freshman from Cumming Georgia, recalled on a principal takeaway he

got from the presentation.

“There’s no age limit to how far you can go in a field...no blueprint to success,” said

Stagg. Ruiz made it clear that at any age, a person can start their career.

During Ruiz’s visit he made it clear he was looking for ECJ’s (early career journalists).

When asked a question on hiring he stated that at Nexstar they hire entry level, especially in the

small to mid-sized markets.

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