#MediaMonday – Devyn Shea
This week’s #MediaMonday feature comes to us from Devyn Shea, host of Tucson Now, the streaming news show from KOLD.
Take it away, Devyn!
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Rockwall, Texas.
How did you get your start in working in media/broadcasting? Tell us your story and experience.
After graduating high school in 2012, I completed a whole semester at TCU before moving to Los Angeles to pursue professional acting, a profession I had begun at 16-years-old. What was supposed to be a single semester off turned into six years of working in the film and television industry as an actress. Eventually, I became more interested in highlighting real people with powerful stories making a difference around us that we don’t hear about every day. Thus, my heart for journalism began. I moved back to Texas with a husband and German shepherd puppy in tow and enrolled at UNT, graduating with a degree in Journalism during Covid and having two babies in two years.
Upon graduation and while looking for traditional reporter roles, I met a news director out of Tyler, Texas who told me he had a streaming desk he thought would be a good fit, combining my acting and journalism background. I saw the potential in the streaming desk and was the host for three years before teaming up with KOLD to begin a whole new streaming desk right here in Tucson from the ground up!
Tell us more about your role at KOLD and Tucson Now. What types of stories are you interested in or would like to be pitched?
I am the host of the streaming news show, Tucson Now. I stream six hours a day, Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (so when we aren’t in a newscast).
On average we have three to four guests on the show, either in-person in the KOLD newsroom, or via Zoom, to have long-form podcast style conversations about what is going on in our community, resources, events and specific topics of interest to Tucsonans. Those conversations are streaming live on our interactive Tucson Now app, and the recording is then posted to our website by the end of the day, so there is a link to share.
We’re interested in whatever you believe Tucsonans are interested in! Truly, we are the place to learn about everything that is going on in Tucson…right now.
Any memorable/favorite coverage moments, past or recent?
Chatting with Becky Burke for the first official interview she did after being announced as the University of Arizona’s women’s head basketball coach was a personal favorite. I also held my first snake from a rescue while on the desk, and I truly love when I get an update from people that tell me our conversation reached the right people that resulted in record numbers of applications, or attendance or just the right person for an animal needing a home. The impact Tucson Now has made in our seven months of streaming has been the greatest reward.
Best advice for PR people pitching you?
Show me the “new”ness of the interview, and the heart or call to action for our listeners and audience.
What are some of your hobbies?
I love playing with my four-year-old son and joining his little world of pretend, collecting typewriters and reading. I recently fell in love with kickboxing!
Do you have any favorite local spots?
I’m new to SoAZ and I live all the way out in Vail, but if you make it to my neck of the woods, order the elote dip from Coronado’s family restaurant and tell ’em I sent ya.
What is the best way to reach you?
My email! Texts get lost in the shuffle for me, so email is the best system to engage in conversation and get interviews confirmed and on the calendar.
Contact email: Devyn.Shea@kold.com
