Jeremy Jojola
Jeremy Jojola thinks writing his bio in the third-person format is somewhat ridiculous so he will change gears and be honest.
There we go. I feel better. I’d rather not write about myself, especially in the third person, as if someone else took the time to interview me over coffee and write this (yes, we reporters write our own bios here).
I’d rather write about someone else or something else. But because this website has a biographical section, I must write about my career and my “accomplishments” and shamelessly brag about my massive hand-made, imported oak trophy case full of countless plaques, awards, and pictures of me shaking hands with politicians and celebrities (I’ve only taken a picture with one celebrity in my life, and that is the great Cheech Marin. The photo, I have sadly lost).
So, forgive me if the following bio sounds like a political ad, but you’re here, and you clicked on my bio link, so I’ll safely assume you’d like to know something about me.
I got my first taste of journalism when I was a junior at Reno High School in Reno, Nevada in the mid 1990’s. I posed as a wheelchair bound student at another school and wrote about the experience for the school paper, The Red & Blue. After seeing my words in black and white, I came to a great epiphany: I was terrible at writing.
Honestly, it was the experience that got me hooked. I saw my role as a reporter like a back-stage pass. The writing could come later, I thought. The experiences of being a reporter couldn’t be passed up, regardless of my juvenile skills as a communicator.
During my senior year, I decided I would get into TV news, figuring it would be more fun and interesting.
At KRNV-TV (NBC) in Reno, I became a tape operator, working behind the scenes. This is where I ejected tapes during live broadcasts and got yelled at. It’s where I almost quit the journalism path. I stuck it out, my skin grew thick, and my passion for TV news evolved. Like a zombie, I would wake up at five in the morning to make it for the early newscast and then return after school at night for the 10pm newscasts. It was hard and exciting and I learned the structure and organization of a newscast.
After graduation, I attended college in Las Cruces, New Mexico where I was born. While a student at New Mexico State University, I got a job at the college TV station as a reporter/anchor. Then I spent a summer at KOBF in Farmington, New Mexico, where I appeared on-air for the first time for a commercial station. The experience helped me land my first “real” TV reporter job at KTSM-TV (NBC) in El Paso. I worked there and went to school at the same time. That was rough and tough, but fun. I don’t remember sleeping much.
Eventually, I graduated with a journalism degree *after* working in a job that I always wanted. My college degree still sits proudly in the cardboard envelope, stuffed in the back of my closet.
My real education, I believe, can be found within my past trials and challenges of a young reporter, working in an industry that is often cold and unforgiving.
I was terrible on air back then, messing up live-shots, and stumbling through scripts. I should have quit then too, but I didn’t. I stuck through my career hoping my confidence and my abilities as a TV news guy would improve over time.
After working in El Paso, a news director here in Albuquerque thought I would fit in. I accepted a full-time reporting job here at KOB-TV and have been here for more than six years now.
I’ve been an anchor here too in Albuquerque, until KASA-TV was purchased by another station.
Now, I’m a full-time investigative reporter. I enjoy it. The research is intense and the deadline pressure is still as addictive as ever. I love the chase of getting that big story, and getting it right. But most of all, I love the writing and making a difference. Yes that sounds clichéd, but I like helping out people who’ve been wronged. I also enjoy holding the government accountable. That is one of the cornerstones of journalism.
Looking back at my short, ten-year career so far is amusing in some ways. I have no regrets so far. I’ve interviewed Mexican President Vicente Fox, had brief encounters with Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush face-to-face. I’ve interviewed the real Rain Man (the most interesting interview ever), chased down scam artists with a camera, been attacked with a pick-up truck during an illegal dumping story, played a reporter in Transformers, and infuriated the whole leadership of the New Mexico State House and Senate during a video voyeurism story (I guess they didn’t like my fake camera planted in the bathroom—the story, however, did get a law passed).
Along the way, I have even earned some awards for my non-existent trophy case. (New Mexico Broadcasters Association Reporter of 2008, NMBA First Place Investigative Reporting, and NMBA Best Feature, and a handful of Associated Press awards, thank you very much).
Considering Jeremy Jojola has failed to keep this bio modest and short, he has returned to writing in the third person format now. You can contact Jeremy if you have a story idea, a news tip, or complaints. Considering Jeremy Jojola gets loads of emails from wealthy Nigerians and Viagra salesmen, it may be a while before he gets back to you.
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