Buffalo, NY - Journalism is a tough assignment these days. It’s also an important one, according to Sarah (“SJ”) Velasquez.
“It will always be imperative to report on the facts, even when they’re not popular,” she says.
Velasquez is in her second year as a journalist and digital producer for BBC.com. The British Broadcasting Corp. is the world’s oldest and largest news gathering operation. Though the BBC is headquartered in London, Velasquez works from the New York City office where her assignments vary from hard news to human interest. Most recently, her bylines appeared on BBC.com’s travel and auto-related sites.
Velasquez describes herself as a “journalist with strong techie tendencies,” many of which she honed while at The Buffalo News. As multimedia content coordinator for Buffalo.com, she wrote daily stories, shot and edited video, implemented social strategy and edited the homepage. Velasquez later transitioned to the role of digital engagement editor for The Buffalo News, where she managed all the newsroom's social media accounts.
These roles at The News made Velasquez an attractive candidate at BBC.com where, in addition to reporting, she manages the homepage content for BBC.com worldwide.
“For the BBC, it’s not about ratings or click bait, it’s about delivering informative, in-depth and objective news stories,” she explains. “My job is to determine what that content is relevant to our various online audiences, and then populate those stories on the respective BBC.com homepages.”
It’s a 24/7 job – journalism is – but Velasquez “loves what she’s doing” and is excited to see where the job takes her.
