I’ve always enjoyed listening to people and being allowed to tell their stories. That’s why more than 20 years ago, I began my career in broadcast journalism. Looking back, I’ve held many roles in a newsroom, including working on the assignment desk, as a producer, as a photojournalist, a reporter, and anchor. My journey has taken me to cities around the country, including New York, Boston, Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Seattle, to name a few.
It has been quite the journey but it is far from over. I still look forward to telling peoples’ stories and covering events through a different lens. I’m looking forward to taking on new challenges with greater responsibilities to magnify someone’s voice.
Matt Colson
Photographer
Chad Chronister
Sheriff
Larry McKinnon III
Former Director of Public Affairs
With more than 20 years of covering breaking news involving sheriff and police departments, from Tyler, Texas to Tampa, Florida,
gathering the facts of an incident, putting them together in a way which people will understand, and then relaying that information has become almost second nature.
Many public information officers over the years have given me credit for my work and the reason is simple. I always understood that my job is not paramount when it comes to working any type of investigation. The investigation takes priority while details released to the press come when the time has been decided upon and the information is ready to be released.
Sheriff Chad Chronister of the Hillsborough County Florida Sheriff’s Department once told me that he believed I would love working with an agency and helping them tell their story and “be great at it.” That meant a lot to me coming from the sheriff of the 6th largest sheriff’s organization within the country.
Since I was a child, I’ve always loved animals. When I got older and started living on my own, I rescued 4 greyhounds. With so many others rescuing them and many tracks forced to close, greyhounds were finally getting the lives they were intended to live.
Ironically, it wasn’t a greyhound that began my animal advocacy trajectory. It was back in May of 2016 when I covered the story of a woman who threw a dog named Joe out of a moving van. A Good Samaritan rushed Joe to the vet and that’s exactly where I went. I met Joe in his cage where he was heavily sedated and doctors were coming up with a plan to save his life.
I began a Facebook Live video that would turn my world upside down. As I showed everyone what happened to Joe and then came back on camera and lost my composure a bit, it was a turning point for me. It made me care for animals to a degree I had never experienced.
More than 1.1 million people viewed the 5-minute video and not only did it show people what happened to Joe, it also showed them that people on TV are real people, too.
From hanging chads to the historic election of President Barack Obama and now to election 2020, it certainly has been a wild ride and then politics, as we know, we never know what will happen next. And from presidential elections two Florida gubernatorial elections to elections at the local level, I’ve always had the numbers to call to make sure I knew all the in’s and out’s.
One of my proudest moments while covering politics is the creation of a completely new half-hour political show that I codeveloped and coproduced and anchored in Florida‘s largest political market, Tampa, at the NBC affiliate.
My ability to effectively communicate with the public and with political staffers as well as lawmakers, my efficient and comprehensive writing skills, and my knowledge of the political system allows me to have a unique perspective when it comes to working for a lawmaker’s team.
From a pandemic to politics and nearly everything in between, I’ve had the fortune of covering stories that took me on the road for more than two decades. From the President to my neighbors and countless others in between, I’ve been a first-hand observer of events with local, national, and international implications.
I’ve been so fortunate these last few decades to have an upfront ticket to the events happening down the street, across the country, and even around the world. I’ve always had questions, wasn’t satisfied with taking no for an answer, and always wanted to make sure to give people a voice.
Ardian Zika
State Representative, FL
Grady Judd
Sheriff
Christopher Boyd
Shari Small
Award Winning Anchor/Reporter
Brian Houston
TV News Executive
Matt Colson
Photographer
Rachel Rooney
Content Producer
Chad Chronister
Sheriff
Sarah Dodd
Crisis Communication/Media Strategy/Public Affairs
David Quinlan
International Marketing Director
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