Graduate pursues true passion

ALBANY, Sept. 19^th – Landing a dream job right out of college is rare for many students. Jennifer Birnbach was one of these students. Birnbach, a 23-year-old Saint Rose alumnus from the Class of 2005, is currently putting her communications degree to work at News Channel 13 WNYT. In addition to that, she plans to get married soon and eventually settle down with a family.

            At her new job, Birnbach is responsible for editing of the noon, 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 6 o’clock news broadcasts. On weekends she arrives to work at 5 a.m. to edit the morning news and run the teleprompter during filming. Afterwards, she gathers her equipment and heads out in the field with a reporter to shoot b-roll footage or segments for the network. She has only been going out on these field assignments since June and has already worked with all of the network reporters except for Jim Kambrich.

            Birnbach said she makes “enough to get by” and the long hours can be hard but she sees it as a constant learning experience that is well worth it. Out in the real world, her deadlines have shrunk from a week down to 30 minutes to produce the final product. Working in the field she has covered shootouts, fires, and reported from dangerous streets finding it much more unpredictable than classroom filming. She is someone who honestly loves the career field she has chosen.

“The coolest thing I’ve done is work in one of the satellite trucks and get to cut and edit film for a broadcast starting minutes later,” Birnbach said.

            Landing her position at News Channel 13 wasn’t by accident. “She did not sit at home waiting for a job to find her, she found me,” said former WNYT news director Paul Conti. The two met at a New York State Broadcasters job fair where Birnbach presented a resume tape, which Conti found to be quite strong. Even after being hired, she continued to impress him, “She knows she is a very young person in a room full of seasoned veterans. She seeks their counsel.”

            Before graduating from Saint Rose, Birnbach completed a summer internship at the New York State Police Department. There she received plenty of hands-on experience for the work she does now by filming training exercises and interviews.

While at college, she moved through many production classes as fast as she could. “Besides a good eye, she has a good sense of what to anticipate in shots, which means she often comes away with some very good footage,” said professor Fred Antico, chair of the Communications Department at Saint Rose. Antico instructed Birnbach in several classes and worked with her on field assignments as well.

Her Saint Rose education taught her the basics of shooting and non-linear editing. She has started to develop her own style in doing interviews and learning how to frame shots.

Formerly of Niskayuna, where she attended high school, Birnbach moved to DeFreestville, NY in May to live with her fiancé. Picking a job that she enjoyed truly helped with her success.

“Beyond her skills, her enthusiasm for what she is doing is what makes her competitive in the field,” Antico said.