Discover Top Reporters / Journalist in Rockford, Illinois, USA

Erika Celeste is an award-winning writer who has worked in radio, print, television, and film. Among other things she has collected 2 Tellys and an Edward R. Murrow Award. She has worked for every major news network affiliate including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and PBS. She has traveled extensively freelancing for many national and international organizations including Voice of America, Public Radio International and National Public Radio. She now owns and operates a freelance ghostwriting company and runs a nonprofit teaching future journalists. She writes non-fiction for others in hopes of helping them and their readers live their best lives. Her most recent book along with co-author Matt Reum is Still Standing: The Seven Miracles of Matthew Reum.

• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Video Editor - News
• Reporter / Journalist
• Documentary DP
• Senior Producer / Project Manager
• Line Producer / On-Location
• Non-Fiction Film Director
• On-Air Reporter / Host
• Field Producer
• TV News Producer
• Mobile Journalist / Livestreamer
• Audio Storyteller
• Corporate Videographer
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Content Strategist
• Podcast Producer

I am a freelance video journalist based in Chicago. I shoot, produce, and edit as a one-woman-band. My experience spans from shooting in-studio with multi-cam set-ups, to in the field as a video reporter. My work has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, and The Weather Channel, among many others. My passion for journalism and filmmaking has also led me to pursue original short documentaries in Brazil, Singapore, and Chicago. Complex, nuanced stories of people keep me alive and creative. I aspire to use multimedia storytelling to engage people, inspire change, and disrupt normalcy.

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer
• Fixer
• Video Editor - News
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Reporter / Journalist
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial

Colin is a 2X Emmy winning cinematographer. He was the Director of Photography on When Claude Got Shot, 2022 Winner of Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking and EP'd by Snoop Dogg. He was also a Cinematographer on a Major League Baseball Brewers Commercial, 2017 Winner of Outstanding Commercial Series. Two decades of video experience with a passion for detail and communication. Colin also creates his own documentary content.

• Production Company
• Documentary DP
• Fixer
• Commercial DP
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Production Assistant
• Non-Fiction Film Director
• Reporter / Journalist
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Drone Operator
• Corporate Videographer
• Field Producer
• Sound Mixer

Jiayan "Jenny" Shi is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and video journalist who is passionate about stories that find shared humanity and compassion. Her debut documentary "Finding Yingying" (MTV Documentary Films) has won numerous awards including the Special Jury Recognition for Breakthrough Voice at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival and a China Academy Award of Documentary Films, and was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy award. Jenny's work has appeared on Paramount +, MTV, BBC News, PBS NewsHour, Insider, and Bilibili. She has also contributed to work on Netflix, Discovery Channel, Tencent, and Google, among others. Jenny is a Kartemquin's Diverse Voices In Docs fellow, a Women at Sundance Adobe fellow, a Firelight fellow, a Logan Nonfiction Program fellow, and a DOC NYC "40 Under 40" filmmaker. Jenny is the co-founder and programming director of the Chicago chapter of the Video Consortium where she curates films and organizes community events for non-fiction storytellers.

• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Documentary DP
• Production Assistant
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Production Company
• Reporter / Journalist
• Video Editor - News
• Mobile Journalist / Livestreamer
• Creative Director
• Field Producer
• Corporate Videographer
• Non-Fiction Film Director

Patricia Nabong is a visual journalist who is dedicated to breaking stereotypes, covering untold stories and serving communities through visual journalism. She is currently a photojournalism fellow at City Bureau, a civic journalism lab in Chicago. In the past, she worked as a fellow at The Medill Justice Project, where she produced an interactive visual investigation of Washington D.C.’s vacant properties, which was a finalist for the 2017 Peter Lisagor Award. She was also a student fellow at the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, which funded her short documentary and photo essay about the psychological toll of the drug war in the Philippines. Her photos, articles and videos have appeared in the American Documentary Film Festival, The Weather Channel, Seeker, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Reader, Chicago Defender, WBEZ Chicago, City Bureau, Narratively, The A.V. Club, The Riveter, Climbing Magazine, Balitang America and Medill Reports, to name a few. She is one of the 2018 nominees for the World Press Photo Foundation's Joop Swart Masterclass. She earned her master's degree in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism where she received the Harrington Award for Videography/Broadcast. She also won a Chicago College Emmy for a video she produced there.  Prior to starting her graduate studies at Medill, she worked as a freelance multimedia journalist for online news sites Rappler, Union of Catholic Asian News and ABS-CBN News and as a part-time photography teacher at St. Paul College, Pasig. She graduated summa cum laude as the batch valedictorian of the class of 2015, with a degree in Film from the College of Mass Communication of the University of the Philippines. She is a member of Kappa Tau Alpha, the national journalism honor society; the Photojournalists’ Center of the Philippines; and the Tokwa Collective.

• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Commercial DP
• Video Editor - News
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Reporter / Journalist
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer
• Music Composer
• Fixer
• Sound Designer
• Translator

I have been a story teller and seeker of truth my entire life. I have been working as a broadcast journalist for more than 15 years. I have been focusing on investigative stories and in-depth pieces for the past several years. I seek out stories that will engage viewers and leave them with something to remember, to add knowledge that can enhance their life in the long term in addition to entertaining them in the short term. I like to spotlight injustices to bring about awareness. These kinds of messages can impact people in a way that motivates them to improve the world. I like to spotlight potential dangers, especially ones involving children, because they are the world's future. My perspective on issues is influenced by my personal life. I am a devoted mother and caring wife. I am a second generation Italian-American from the western suburbs of Chicago. I am a sports fan, bicycle rider, and environmentalist who eschews consumerism but is trapped in the pitfalls of parenthood.

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Commercial DP
• Reporter / Journalist
• On-Air Reporter / Host
• Video Editor - News
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial

I'm a veteran communications professional primarily with a newspaper background, but also university communications and freelance magazine work. The bulk of my writing career has been in feature and sports writing. In features, my areas of specialty have been food (primarily cheese), local history and music. As a sports writer, I specialized in women's sports and was a nationally recognized women's basketball reporter. I sought and continue to seek out-of-the ordinary sports stories and topics. As an editor, I have led a sports copy desk, served as a copy editor in news, sports and features departments and had freelance copy editing/proofreading work for cookbooks, alumni publications and other manuscript work. I'm Wisconsin-based and my newspaper career includes the Wisconsin State Journal, The Capital Times, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, USA Today and the Des Moines Register. Freelance work includes Isthmus, an alt weekly newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin; Milwaukee Magazine; dsm and ia, two regional magazines based in Des Moines, Iowa.

• Reporter / Journalist
• Copy Editor
• Fixer

It's as simple as this: I'm passionate about words. Writing them, editing them, translating them, reading them. In a journey that’s taken me from the Midwest to Spain and back, I have gone from journalism to digital marketing, spanning print (newspaper, magazine), digital (articles, blogs, website copy, social media, email marketing, ads, SEO), B2B, and B2C. I have 13 years of writing and editing experience, 11 years of translation, and 10 years of digital marketing in tech startups, specializing in SEO-optimized content creation, management, and strategy. In my freelance work, I'm a natural-born storyteller whose niche is language, culture, travel, and tourism—especially after spending almost my entire 20s in Europe. I am meticulous, with an unmatched level of attention to detail, and I care deeply about the quality of my work. I feel strongly about creating organizational systems and getting processes down in writing. I enjoy creating guidelines and templates that help everyone succeed. (Yet, I also believe that you cannot schedule creativity and must embrace how each day guides you while still accomplishing what’s necessary.) I believe in open, honest, and transparent communication in all facets of my life, including the workplace. I perform best in a supportive work environment that allows employees to shine and work autonomously, based on mutual respect and trust. I thrive in companies that treat their employees like human beings and understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance, including adequate time to relax, disconnect, and enjoy life as we're meant to. Strengths Finder: Empathizer, Storyteller, Strategist, Coach, Commander Enneagram: 1w2 Adobe Creative Test: Visionary

• Copywriter
• Content Strategist
• Translator
• Copy Editor
• Reporter / Journalist

Thatch Films is a full service boutique production company specializing in documentary, commercial, corporate and film projects. We are a full service company offering pre-production, production, post-production, multimedia and animation services. We work with agencies and direct clients around the world to tell stories that explore our common humanity, our capacity for joy, and our search for meaning. We work with clients from conception to delivery and are dedicated to open communication and a holistic artistic approach. * Hiring During COVID-19: We are skilled in practicing and maintaining safe production practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.*

• Production Company
• Creative Director
• Post-Production Manager
• Documentary DP
• Corporate Videographer
• Senior Producer / Project Manager
• Non-Fiction Film Director
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Drone Operator
• Line Producer / On-Location
• Production Assistant
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Fixer
• Field Producer
• Commercial DP
• Reporter / Journalist
• News Shooter / Video Journalist

I'm a video journalist based in Chicago, IL. I currently work as a producer and on-air contributor for You & Me This Morning, a morning show airing weekdays 6 to 9 a.m. on WCIU. Before joining WCIU, I worked for 2 1/2 years as a reporter for DNAinfo Chicago, an award-winning neighborhood news website. I've also produced videos for Al Jazeera Plus, Monocle, and Bill Moyers. I graduated with a Master's from Columbia Journalism School in New York and am an alum of Teach for America (DC '09) and University of Kansas.

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Commercial DP
• On-Air Reporter / Host
• Reporter / Journalist
• Video Editor - News
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial

Stephen L. Garrett is a filmmaker based in Chicago, who collaborates with directors, producers, and production companies to develop, shoot, and edit feature-length documentaries, series, and promotional films for organizations large and small. Stephen has a BA in Conservation Studies from the University of the South.

• Documentary DP
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Creative Director
• Field Producer
• Video Editor - Commercial
• On-Air Reporter / Host
• Production Company
• Production Assistant
• Reporter / Journalist
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• Fixer
• Non-Fiction Film Director
• Sound Mixer
• Event Photographer
• News Shooter / Video Journalist

Video journalist with five years of experience working for TV news affiliates, including CBS in Milwaukee. I also have three years experience in Public Relations for high-growth companies in Chicago where I've developed integrated communications strategies and produced corporate videos. I am a member of the Forbes Communications Council.

• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Commercial DP
• Reporter / Journalist
• Mobile Journalist / Livestreamer
• On-Air Reporter / Host
• Video Editor - News
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Production Company

Joel Van Haren is an award-winning journalist and Emmy Award®-nominated cinematographer. Joel's cinematography has been featured extensively on Al Jazeera's Emmy Award®- and Peabody Award-winning program, Fault Lines. His work has been featured by BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Players' Tribune, PBS, VICE and more.

• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Commercial DP
• Documentary DP
• Fixer
• Video Editor - News
• Sound Mixer
• Reporter / Journalist
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Field Producer

I am a fourth-year journalism student at Northwestern University pursuing a full-time career in sportswriting with a focus on furthering coverage of women’s professional and collegiate athletics. Always looking for remote freelance work and/or opportunities in Chicagoland or San Diego. Messages are open.

• Reporter / Journalist
• Senior Editor

Hi, I'm Jonathan. I’m a videographer and editor who believes that stories can make the world better. With a decade of professional experience, I’d love to make something special with you. I was born and raised in Milwaukee. As an alum of UW-Madison in Poli Sci and doc|UWM, I interned with Al Jazeera's Fault Lines. I've worked as a videographer/producer in DC, NY, ND, and WI with More Perfect Union, Human Rights Campaign, TruStage, AJ+, The Guardian, Fusion, Frontline, Voces de la Frontera, PBS Newshour, the CIR, VOA, and ImagineMKE. I was the videographer at Mil Rep, and am a videographer/editor with The Washington Park Media Center. In NYC I was the Senior Producer and DP/Editor of The Laura Flanders Show, and Production Coordinator of the Kennedy Center Honors. My film team and I are finishing up our feature doc, The Sacred and The Snake. When I'm free, I enjoy times with family, friends, and the outdoors. I look forward to making some magic with you. Thanks for stopping by! J

• Documentary DP
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Production Company
• Fixer
• Creative Director
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Field Producer
• Sound Mixer
• Video Editor - News
• Reporter / Journalist
• Corporate Videographer
• Video Editor - Commercial
• TV News Producer

Yana Kunichoff is an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist covering inequality, urban issues and social movements. She's covered stories from the Arab Spring protests in Bahrain to a chronicling of the human casualties of rapidly disappearing affordable housing in Chicago for news organizations including Al Jazeera America, DemocracyNow! and In These Times. She is currently a producer for Scrappers Film Group, which provides film production work to journalistic, documentary, and socially motivated clientele using cinéma vérité and naturalistic techniques. Scrappers Film Group takes their name from their inaugural documentary Scrappers, which chronicles the story of two men who collect scrap in Chicago’s alleyways and was named one of Roger Ebert’s best documentaries of 2010. Most recently Scrappers Film Group created Central Standard, a web series about America’s institutions in transition for PBS Digital Studios.

• Documentary DP
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• Reporter / Journalist
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Video Editor - News
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial

Kulsoom Khan is a freelance multimedia journalist currently based in the Greater Chicago area. She has worked with Voice of America, Chicago Tribune, the Associated Press, AFPTV and China Plus News, the digital platform of China Radio International. Kulsoom has experience in print, digital, and broadcast platforms in both local and national newsrooms in Pennsylvania, New York, and Washington D.C. Among other news outlets, she has also worked for the Times Leader, PBS Newshour, and MSNBC. Kulsoom also served as a research assistant for the biography: “The Voice of America: Lowell Thomas and the Invention of 20th-Century Journalism”, winner of the 2018 Sperber Prize. In 2014, she reported on the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombings from Boston and the growing Latino community in New Orleans as part of a special project sponsored by New York University’s Reporting The Nation graduate program. Kulsoom is specifically interested in how politics and international conflicts affect people as well as human rights, terrorism and immigrant communities. Regardless of the medium or the topic, storytelling is an art and she hopes to do it justice through her endeavors.

• Reporter / Journalist
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Field Producer
• TV News Producer
• Production Assistant
• Copywriter
• Copy Editor
• Video Editor - News

I'm Donna Gehl, owner and CEO of Image Studios. We are a full service, award winning video production company located in the midwest specializing in broadcast and corporate productions. We're well equipped for location productions as well as offering 20,000 square feet of studio space. With high speed cameras from drones to movi's and various formats of video and photography gear. We can offer post production capabilities from retouching to video editing, even script writing and storyboarding. Please call or email to learn more. x

• Commercial DP
• Fixer
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• Reporter / Journalist
• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer
• Translator
• Video Editor - News
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Corporate Videographer
• Executive Producer

I have a passion for visual storytelling. I cut my teeth in photography by covering sports for a small newspaper in Chicago. But I didn't do it by covering prep sports...I spent two years traveling the country covering the UFC. A few years later, I found myself at the Medill School of Journalism honing my video skills and added a new dimension to my passion. While I love sports, I'm not a one-trick pony. I'm a journalist...the world interests me. Everything from social justice to technology...I don't want to limit myself to just one beat.

• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Documentary DP
• Video Editor - News
• Reporter / Journalist
• Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
• On-Air Reporter / Host
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial

I am a Producer/Shooter/Editor with over 15 years experience working for some of the top media outlets in the world including Associated Press, Reuters, Getty Images, ABC and CBS News. I can write, edit, shoot, produce, and report and of course also interview, one of my best journalistic skills. I also have good editorial judgment and can work fast and under a tight deadline. I am based in Chicago but frequently travel to London so am available to European stories. Equipment:

• Documentary DP
• Sound Mixer
• News Shooter / Video Journalist
• Commercial DP
• Fixer
• On-Air Reporter / Host
• Video Editor - News
• Video Editor - Documentary
• Video Editor - Commercial
• Field Producer
• TV News Producer
• Reporter / Journalist
• Mobile Journalist / Livestreamer
• Full-Service Live Production
• Senior Producer / Project Manager