Catching up with Connor Kiesel
One of the most pleasant graduates of Huntington High School in recent years has to be Connor Kiesel. Personable, polite, well-spoken and cheerful, he contributed to the school in so many ways over the four years he studied there. He’s making many of the same impressions at Ohio University, where he’s entering his junior year studying broadcast journalism at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.
The college is located in Athens, Ohio, quite a distance from Long Island, but well worth the trip, in Mr. Kiesel’s opinion. “It is a ways away but has been a great experience thus far,” he said. “In my first two years, I have taken the core journalism classes and this year I will begin with ones focused in my sequence of broadcast.”
The well-liked Huntington grad is maximizing his time on campus. “My big interest is in sports and I've had a good deal of opportunities to get involved in sports journalism,” Mr. Kiesel said. “I report and have anchored on a weekly campus sports show, “Ohio Sports Zone.” I've done packages on sports ranging from cross country to women's basketball to football, as well as interviews with the former and current athletic directors. It's all student-run, so there is a lot of creativity and freedom to cover the stories you want.”
Podcasts of the show and of Mr. Kiesel’s segments are available on iTunes by entering 'Ohio Sports Zone' into the search box. “I have also done in-game commentary for local southeastern Ohio high school football and basketball games on Power 105 (WXTQ-FM),” the Huntington alum said. “Another broadcast opportunity has come at the student-run television station, WOUB. There I have been able to do three-to-five minute pre-recorded sportscasts, as well as more reporting. Outside of broadcasting, but still in the sports journalism realm, I cover MAC (Mid-American Conference) basketball for the website www.VanDelaySports.com.” Log onto the site and click “MAC basketball” to access numerous articles authored by Mr. Kiesel.
Mention Huntington to Mr. Kiesel and his eyes sparkle. “Looking back at high school, I have nothing but fond memories,” he said. “My four years at Huntington High School were four of the best I can remember. My time there allowed me to grow not only as a student but as a person. Almost all of my teachers were great, but two of my favorites were Mr. [James] Graber and Ms. [Kelly] Krycinski. I loved AP US history with Mr. Graber. I had Ms. Krycinski for a few English classes, but she was also my class advisor, along with Ms. [Gina] Colica, and I have a lot of great memories from float nights, bake sales and battles of the classes with them.”
Mr. Kiesel believes he was in the right place at the right time. “The Class of '07 was really such a great bunch,” he said. “Every year they say it's the best class ever, but I truly believe I was lucky enough to graduate in one of the best to ever grace Huntington High School, among so many talented people. Students who are at HHS now should savor those years because it's cliché to say, but they really do fly by.”
Halfway through college, life is good for Mr. Kiesel. “All-in-all, my experience thus far at Ohio University has been extremely worthwhile,” he said. “The people and professors have made it a great first two years and I look forward to what's to come in the next two.”
This summer he’s working as an intern at Film@11. “It is an independent, news media company that produces content relating to the war on terror, shrinking middle class economy, environment and energy security,” Mr. Kiesel said. “It is web-based so there is content on our site, www.filmat11.tv, as well as through a distribution deal on babblegum.com.”
Mr. Kiesel produced a series of "clickables" for the site, which are 90-second to 2 minute 'extras' derived “from footage from a package that my boss, Michele Mitchell, reported on for the show 'NOW on PBS,' he said. “The package was about the IDF (Israeli Defense Force). The "clickables" I produced were from an interview Michele did with Ronen Hershkovitz, a member of the IDF. Michele has worked as a correspondent for NOW with Bill Moyers and as a political anchor for CNN Headline News. If you want to find out more about them, you can go to www.filmat11.tv and click on the 'clickables' tab.”
The Huntington alum has also received associate producer credit for a pair of episodes of 'Political Graffiti,' a 7-10 min. program, that are currently in development. One is about the Israeli settlements and the other is about health care. “Although I've been focusing more on sports journalism at school, this internship has given me great practical, hands-on experience in news,” he said. “My boss, Michele has done extensive work in the field and working with her this summer and picking her brain has been extremely valuable.”
But, Mr. Kiesel’s future dream is to work in sports broadcasting. “I would love to do play-by-play for live sports, but that's really competitive so I'm keeping my options open,” he said. “I love pretty much all sports and the chance to cover them in any format excites me. But my internship this summer has also shown me that it would be great to produce news content as well. So yeah, I’m pretty much keeping my options open but hoping to end up as a sports anchor or PBP (play-by-play) guy.”
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