Communications alumna wins award for her work at WQLN
Kristen (Bessetti) Nielsen ’16 stands out. From her colorful, creatively shorn hair and dozens of tattoos to her infectious, wide smile and obvious joy for life, she is a woman who enjoys being unconventional.
Case in point: She applied to Penn State Behrend on a whim as a 24-year-old mother of two, searching for a new beginning after leaving an abusive relationship. She arrived ready to explore.
“Just because I was an older student didn’t mean I had any idea what my future career path would be,” Nielsen said.
She soon found her niche and graduated in 2016 with a degree in Communication with a focus on Broadcast Journalism, and a Women’s Studies minor.
While still in school, she obtained an internship at WJET/WFXP and YourErie.com, a broadcast news outlet in Erie. After she graduated, the station offered her a job as an in-studio camera operator. She then moved into the newsroom as a news videographer before being promoted to multimedia journalist.
“I’m pretty sure I could have gotten the Guinness World Record for most tattooed news reporter,” she quipped.
After a three-year stint as the morning show producer, Nielsen moved to WQLN, Erie’s public broadcasting station, where she works as an assistant producer on Chronicles, an immersive docuseries that showcases the Lake Erie region’s past and present.
A year later, Nielsen and her team were in Cleveland, hoisting a golden Emmy statue from the Central Great Lakes Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for their work on the three-part Chronicles: Bellwether episode exploring the political evolution of Erie.
Nielsen, who went from an unlikely college student to an Emmy award winner in just eight years, can scarcely believe it herself.
“When I was a student at Behrend, I never would have imagined accomplishing half the things I have to this point, and I’m still early in my career,” she said. “Anything is possible when you really care about the work you do.”
Behrend Blog talked with Nielsen about her career trajectory, the advice she has for other Communication students, and why her husband is glad she made the jump from news to historical storytelling.
What is your role in the WQLN Chronicles series?
I am an assistant producer, but with a small crew, we all pitch in on a variety of tasks. Whether it’s operating a camera, setting up lights, writing scripts, animating lake monsters, monitoring audio, directing, or holding a boom mic, most of us have been credited with multiple roles in each episode. I also help a lot with marketing.
How many seasons are there, and are more to come?
We just wrapped up Season 2 with an episode on Strong Vincent. As it stands now, there will be one more season, which will finish next summer.
What are some of the topics featured in the series?
The USS Wolverine, the nation’s first iron-hulled ship, which was built in Erie; rum running during prohibition; the Behrend family; the Hammermill Paper company; Lake Erie shipwrecks; Antarctic expeditionist Paul Siple, aka “the Father of wind chill”; military strategist John Boyd; Civil War hero Strong Vincent; composer Harry T. Burleigh, and much more! You can find a full list and links to each episode at: wqln.org/shows/chronicles.
How do you decide what to feature?
The mission of the series is to focus on the lesser-known history of our region, so we look for things that have not been done over and over, like the War of 1812. We did do a two-part series on Daniel Dobbins, who does not get as much credit as he should for building the fleet for the Battle of Lake Erie.
What has been your favorite episode so far?
The three-part Bellwether episode, which won the Emmy, is the first project I put a lot of work into when I got to WQLN, so I call it my “baby.” Chronicles had a total of eighteen nominations across several categories. Seeing how all our work paid off has been really gratifying.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on an hour-long episode for Season 3 about journalist Ida Tarbell. She grew up in the Titusville region during the oil boom and went on to expose John D. Rockefeller’s corrupt practices in the oil industry. Her work led the Supreme Court to break up the oil monopolies.
What’s the hardest part of your job?
In news, we worked very fast, running from story to story, event to event, grabbing some b-roll and putting it all together as quickly as possible. Working on Chronicles is the exact opposite. I’m learning to dig deeper to tell a fuller story. I’m also learning a great deal about the equipment and techniques used in more film-oriented productions.
Why is this type of historical storytelling important?
First, it is important to not let the stories of those who came before us be forgotten. Second, understanding the history of the town you come from or live in makes life more interesting. When I walk downtown now, my mind is flooded with facts and images of what it once was. Compare that to when I was working in news and my husband made a rule that I couldn’t point out all the “murder” houses I would see along our journey. This new lens is much nicer.
Chronicles airs on WQLN on Thursdays at 8 p.m. Watch past episodes at wqln.org/shows/chronicles.
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