Journalism Consultant and Talent Coach:
Barbara Reyelts
Knowhow in action
Journalism Consultant and Talent Coach
Specialized Consulting
Journalism Consultant and Talent Coach Services
Discover Our Expertise
Branding & Positioning Analysis
Looking to develop your newsroom and improve your talent presentation, but not sure where to turn? Need help planning or executing your newscasts? Let us guide you. Any newsroom can move forward with the status quo, but building for the future in today’s competitive environment, means a stronger on-air look with solid field reporting. We can help with that!
Introductory Consultation
We examine what your newsroom is doing to stay relevant in this competitive news environment and compare with which stations are doing it best. We then strategize, looking at your news teams' strengths and weaknesses with an eye to improvement from newsroom to studio. Get in touch to learn more about how this service can help you.
We will work with your news director to determine their areas of concerns. We'll work one on one with your anchors to improve their preparation, presentation and on-air look. We'll also work with your reporters as they gather, write, and edit their stories discussing work flow, writing, editing and voicing. We will analyze their style and work on improving final package and voice quality.
We are also available to speak to classes in high school and college. We will discuss the state of journalism today, how it has changed and is changing and the future of journalism across the world. We will also talk about what it takes to get into the journalism field, particularly broadcast journalism and what News Directors are looking for from college graduates and those looking to move up in market size. We will discuss newsroom culture, various working roles within a newsroom and how a reporter can move into an anchoring role if that's what's desired.
Barbara Reyelts Bio
Barbara graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, in Canada with a teaching degree. She was hired as an instructor in the Communication Department at Concordia College in Minnesota. When Barbara's husband accepted a job with a law firm in Duluth, Minnesota Barbara went back to school for graduate studies in Journalism and Communication. In 1979 she accepted a job with KBJR TV News where she worked for 38 years as a reporter, anchor, producer, public affairs program host and led the investigative unit. Barbara retired in August, 2017 after spending ten years as News Director.
In 2006 the National Academy of Television granted Barbara its highest honor, “The Silver Circle” for “significant contributions to journalism”. In 2011 she was inducted into the Minnesota Broadcast Hall of Fame and in 2015 she was given the highest honor the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association gives, the “Mitchell Charnley Award” for “outstanding contributions to journalism and investigative reporting. During her tenure in journalism, Barbara won several Emmys, and dozens of local, regional, state and national awards for writing, reporting and anchoring. In 2017 the Governor of Minnesota honored Barbara for her stories that “illuminated important issues and brought forth sweeping change in the state”. Governor Mark Dayton named August 11, 2017 as Barbara Reyelts Day in Minnesota. Her hometown of Duluth, Minnesota accorded her the same honor in the city.
Upon retirement from KBJR/CBS3 News in Duluth Barbara started a news consulting and talent coach company. She was invited by the International Center for Journalists, under the auspices of the U-S Embassy in Kazakhstan, to consult with two network news television stations in Astana, Kazakhstan where she consulted with news leadership, producers, reporters and anchors at Kazakhstan Television News and Astana Television News. She also was asked to give a presentation on journalism in America, at an international Press Club conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In March, 2018 she consulted with two independent news networks and one government funded news network in Islamabad and Karachi, Pakistan. Barbara learned a great deal about the challenges these stations face in regards to restraints on free press and the bravery many of these journalists exhibit in the face of grave danger, even death, in the pursuit of truth. Barbara has also served as a guest lecturer and visiting scholar at several Canadian and American Universities and continues to consult and tutor journalists one-on-one across the country.
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