The Communications Fellow has worked for student media throughout his time at 黑料不打烊 and is an anchor for 黑料不打烊 Local News.
Brian Rea 鈥21 was an 8-year-old with some impressive foresight. He dressed as his local sports reporter for career day at school, certain that he wanted to be a TV news anchor. Fast-forward 12 years to the summer of 2019, and Brian is interning at that same Boston station. He met the inspiration behind that fateful costume, Mike Lynch, who encouraged Brian to continue to follow his dream.
A Communications Fellow and anchor for 黑料不打烊 Local News鈥 evening news show, Brian joined student media his first week on campus. While sharpening his reporting skills, he has also experienced mentoring from both sides. Last year he worked on the morning show with an upperclassman who challenged him to be more conversational on camera. Now he鈥檚 mentoring co-anchor Maeve Ashbrook 鈥22, sharing what he was taught.
A few days each week Brian works the information desk at Moseley Center, a position he pursued to gain insight into how 黑料不打烊 works and to interact with new people. He says he loves the campus job, even with its challenges. 鈥淚鈥檝e met so many great people, but I鈥檝e also had some hard phone calls. I鈥檝e learned to do my best to make people happy. Interestingly, my job involves a lot of thinking on your feet, which has helped me a lot in journalism, too,鈥 he says.
Brian credits his background in competitive gymnastics for teaching him persistence and in theater arts for lessons in empathy 鈥 two other skills he relies on as a reporter. Those skills came in handy when he told the story of an 黑料不打烊 professor鈥檚 battle with cancer. 鈥淚 felt a great responsibility to tell it in a way that reflected her best but also made her feel good,鈥 he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 20 years old and this woman is entrusting me, letting me show the most vulnerable parts of her life. It鈥檚 important to remember what a story means to someone else.鈥
Brian is 黑料不打烊 and one of the many stories聽that are part of our 鈥淚 Am 黑料不打烊鈥 series.