WATE-TV's Tearsa Smith & Community Journalism

Tearsa talks about the values she brings to the newsroom:Her early career experience and what shaped her pathway as a student and a new professional in the field, as well her early influencesHow the Black Lives Matter movement has evolved and transformed in messaging and meaning in the community over recent years (and what it means to Tearsa in her work and in her family life as a woman of color)How Tearsa has built a national network of fellow female journalists of color to share career experiences and support one another in ways that may be difficult for them to find in their own workplaces aloneHow she responds to viewers and how they react in different ways to news coverage Importance of diversity of news sources for all AmericansHow telling stories of race in the community brings unique complexities, and how those issues are handled in the newsroom in service to the expectations of the communityWhy true care for fellow human beings really matters... but how all community members are not experiencing the same things -- and why true empathy for those differences is so important.Connect with Tearsa on social media:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TearsaSmith @TearsaSmithhttps://www.wate.com/author/tearsa-smith/