Do you know Billie Jean Shaw?
The 22-year-old Manning High School graduate is looking to make a name for herself in broadcast journalism. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Winthrop University in December 2013, and almost immediately began working for My Fox Carolinas, a Charlotte affiliate also known as Fox46, as an assignment editor and digital journalist.
DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO WORK IN JOURNALISM? When I was little, I would watch WIS-TV instead of cartoons. They had a segment, "Live with Lucas," where he would go to places all over the midlands and interview all types of people. I would look at that and think, "Hey, I want to be on TV. I want to talk to people like that and tell their stories."
HAVE YOU COME ACROSS ANYTHING UNEXPECTED NOW THAT YOU’VE WORKED IN THE BUSINESS? People think journalism is easy, that you just sit at a desk and write. They think writing is easy. It isn't. It’s not a breezy major or career.
WHAT INTERNSHIPS HAVE YOU HAD LEADING UP TO YOUR CAREER? My first internship was actually with Lucas McFadden of "Live with Lucas." After WIS, he went to the station that I now work for. I also interned at WIS, and also for WRHI in Rock Hill. I also got to work at the Washington Media Institute, where I was able to interview (the) Rev. Al Sharpton, (Olympian) Michelle Kwan and attend a press conference with Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF STORY TO TELL? I’m really big on history. There’s so much history around us, especially in a place like Clarendon County. These people are walking around us who took part in big moments. They walk among us and we don’t even know it. I recently did a story on the Briggs v. Elliott case and interviewed B.L. Butler. He was one of those people I grew up with in church, and I never knew he took part in something so important.
WHAT GOALS DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUR CAREER? At one point in time, I wanted to be a big, famous star and have my own talk show. But now I just want to go where the Lord leads me. If I can touch people with my storytelling, then I feel like I’m making a difference in people’s lives. I’m fine with that.
CHECK OUT SOME OF BILLIE JEAN'S WORK HERE:
First black superintendent in SC speaks on Briggs case
Teen Rowdiness Pushes Eastridge Mall to Consider Chaperones
7-year-old remains in critical condition after being rescued from a Charlotte creek
