CTK Alumna Reporting and Telling Stories as a Successful Broadcast Journalist

For La’Nita Brooks, CTK ’13, and a graduate of Illinois State University BA ’17, and DePaul University, MA in Journalism, ’22, her profession as a TV news reporter allows her to “report and tell the stories of the voiceless, underserved, and overlooked.” She is currently doing that for KSHB-TV in Kansas City. She credits her time at CTK with helping to lay the foundation for her career and for who she has become as a person. La’Nita has needed to make sacrifices to get established in the competitive broadcast journalism field.  She is grateful to be doing what she loves, ” interviewing people and connecting with the community. I like being the point of contact for someone to reach out if they have a story they want told. I like being the face of a station, and a trusted name.” She vows to someday return to her roots and be on-air in her hometown, telling Chicago stories to Chicago viewers 

La’Nita took a chance in enrolling in Christ the King’s second class. She liked being part of something new (near to where she lived on the West Side), and the idea of gaining work experience while still in high school through the Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP). Overcoming initial shyness, she took advantage of various unique opportunities, including being a peer minister, student ambassador, praise dancer, cheerleader, National Honor Society member, and service volunteer. “CTK was a place where I was in the beginning stages of becoming the woman I am now, I built some great relationships and had some great experiences that have helped me along the way. By being involved in so many different things while at CTK, I became a more well-rounded individual, and felt prepared to go away to college.”

Her CWSP experience was also a positive one. La’Nita worked at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital for all four years, primarily as a front desk concierge. In this role, she checked in incoming patients, provided directions, or escorted them somewhere in the hospital. Although she wasn't interested in pursuing a healthcare career, she benefited from her exposure to the work world, taking on responsibility, and networking. The reason she stayed at Good Samaritan was the relationships she built with her manager and other co-workers. “I really enjoyed my time working there, and would look forward to going to work every week. They became like a family and were interested in me as a person. When I graduated, they threw a big trunk party for me with everything I needed for college.” 

Initially, La’Nita had her sights set on going to college and living in New York. She was interested in the fashion industry and was accepted at Cornell University and Syracuse University. Ultimately, that path wasn’t financially feasible, and she opted to attend the more affordable Illinois State University (ISU) as a fashion merchandising major with a minor in finance. While at ISU, she established an interest in being a TV host and got involved in student media. She began working for the campus newspaper, and while she liked covering events as a feature reporter, she wasn’t completely sold on the writing part. She picked up a 2nd minor in mass media, including taking broadcast classes. This led to hosting her own fashion and trends weekly segment on the campus cable TV station, called “Fashion Friday.” She said, “It solidified my preference to write for television rather than newspaper/print. It was an on-camera start and piqued my interest.”

After graduating, she initially leaned on her business minor, working in finance for a brokerage firm as a Senior Cash Control Specialist. This career detour helped pay the bills and allowed her to work remotely. Her attempts to land a job in TV news were hindered by her limited experience. She had an epiphany in 2020 when several major news stories hit, including the pandemic and Black Lives Matter/the death of George Floyd. As she recalls, “I felt strongly that I should be the one out there reporting on these stories.” So in July 2020, she applied and was accepted into the DePaul University Master’s program in journalism. 

Her time at DePaul was critical to acquiring technical broadcast news reporting skills and experience. Her classwork required her to write one story a week, and then film, light, and edit it before reviewing it with her professor and classmates. Doing the on-camera interviews required her to come out of her shell. “I needed to approach strangers and get them to talk to me about whatever the story was that I was pursuing.” She used a compilation reel of her best stories from DePaul when applying for her first TV news job. She also leaned on the valued guidance and industry connections of her DePaul professor, Rick Brown, with whom she remains close. She submitted her demo reel and resume to TV news stations in markets ranked 60 to 200, with a goal of starting in a Midwest market above 100. Her submission sparked the interest of WNEM -TV a Flint, Michigan station, market #72. After going through Zoom interviews, a writing test, and ultimately an in-person interview and station visit, La’Nita had landed her coveted first job in TV news.

As a news reporter or multi-media journalist in Flint, La’Nita combined camera/mic operator, reporter/ interviewer, and editor roles into what she said, “was similar to what I did in school, but now I was getting paid for it.” She describes her two years in Flint as a “positive experience where I grew into a more confident and assertive reporter. I found my professional voice, personality, and on-air look. It’s all about repetition – writing, being in front of the camera, and doing standups. I needed to get comfortable with looking natural while talking to a camera.” Part of her daily routine was to self-evaluate her performance by looking for what was working or needed to improve. One of the things she did then, and has continued doing today, is watching Chicago news reporters as a benchmark for her performance and for improvement ideas.

With her Flint experience and the help of her agent, La’Nita was ready to take the next step to a bigger market with more story opportunities. She knew she needed more experience handling breaking news stories to prepare her for the longer term goal of returning to Chicago. Kansas City’s (#33 market) KSHB-TV offered her a bigger stage with more stories and viewers. She started in August 2024, and her confidence as a storyteller, reporter, and on-air personality continues to grow. At the larger market station, she is one of 17 news reporters on staff. In addition to being assigned stories to cover, she still needs to find and sell her own stories. She identified two recent stories that are reflective of her current work. The first was a heartbreaking story of a building fire that killed a family of four, including young children. She interviewed and connected with family members, which led to her being invited to cover the candlelight vigil and memorial service.  The second was an investigative story related to Kansas City’s high number of people living unsheltered. She linked up with a local extreme street outreach group to visit the homeless encampments. Going solo and using a handheld camera allowed her to secure compelling interviews and footage to help raise awareness for the situation. 

The Christ the King Class of 2013 alumna was recently selected as one of the Cristo Rey Network’s 40 Under 40. She was proud of being recognized and grateful for her “transformative time at CTK.” She remains a strong advocate for CTK, and shared the following advice with current CTK students: “The world is yours. No opportunity is too big for you to pursue. This is just the beginning. Do what you need to do now to be able to do what you want to do later. You’ll hear some “No”s – don’t accept it, or use it as a reason to give up. It can help lead you to where you're supposed to be. All it takes is that one yes – and if you are dedicated and motivated enough, and believe in yourself, you’ll keep going until you get that yes,”

One final message from La’Nita: “You’ll see me someday reporting the Chicago news. My return to Chicago is going to happen.”

Congratulations and continued success to La’Nita, we are proud to have you as a representative of CTK!