JUDY FARAH

It started as an ordinary January afternoon in the newsroom. I was working the broadcast desk for The Associated Press in Los Angeles, putting together stories for the state and national wire. A story crossed that made me let out a wail loud enough for a co-worker to ask if I was okay. A gunman with an assault rifle walked onto the playground of Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton and opened fire, killing five students between the ages of 6 and 9. I had to compose myself

She was about to cover her first NBA playoffs and was nervous. My hometown team, the Sacramento Kings, were going up against the Los Angeles Lakers with Shaq and Kobe and everyone was super excited. But when my reporter arrived at the arena for a live shot, she panicked. Told me she wasn’t ready. That’s when I got bossy and told her, “Yes, you are. You’re going live right now!” She did and her report was terrific. I’ve trained more than 100 news reporters. Many of them are no

Judy Farah, Huffington Post Contributor KFBK Radio Senior Editor 03/07/2017 10:12 pm ET Updated Mar 08, 2017 His name was Dick Benke. Tall, dark wiry hair, bespectacled. Short sleeve plaid shirts and khakis. Barely smiled. He was one of those journeyman reporters and editors who sat seriously at their corner desks in the newsroom and just churned out copy. But he had one other big job: Breaking in new, young reporters. Benke was assigned to train me one weekend as I was start