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WCAX’s Kelly O’Brien bidding farewell to North Country after five years

Kelly O’Brien Facebook
Kelly O'Brien of WCAX TV

One of our newsroom colleagues in Northern New York is bidding farewell to the region after five years, and speaking on behalf of North Country bureau chief Pat Bradley, we're sorry to see her go. Kelly O'Brien with WCAX TV announced at the end of last month that she's moving on to take a new position. She says the greater Plattsburgh market has become like family. And before she finishes packing her bags, O'Brien spoke with WAMC's Ian Pickus.

How did you first come to the Plattsburgh area?

So, I came here from North Carolina. I worked behind the scenes as a photo journalist at WFMY News 2 down in Greensboro, North Carolina but I was already familiar with this area because I went to school at Lyndon State College in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. So, you know, in my classes, we would watch WCAX, so I was really familiar with kind of the market, at least on the Vermont side, and our newsroom and kind of the on-air talent on it. But I wasn't familiar so much with Plattsburgh. I had never been to Plattsburgh. So, this was a new journey for me, but I had already kind of known the newsroom and what they covered and kind of what this whole area was like, which is why I knew I would love coming back.

What were some of your favorite stories that you've covered over the past five years?

Oh, man. So many, honestly. I've been reflecting on it a lot this last week and there's just been so many. I just love talking to different people in the community and kind of showing the great stuff they're doing. Thinking back on it, during Christmas, I got to speak to a family, it was a grandmother who ended up taking in her grandchildren and her husband had just died. So, the police department stepped up and said, you know, “We're going to buy your entire Christmas list.” Which you love to see stuff like that. But then word got out in the community and a bunch of people raised money and ended up surprising the grandmother on top of fulfilling her entire Christmas list, they gave her, I think it was like $5,000 and then she started breaking out into tears because she could pay off her car and so, like that was a story that just warms my heart so much. During COVID, I mean, I covered so many stories that I felt were so important, during COVID, really lifesaving information at that point. It was so ever changing; we had no idea what was going on. So, I felt it was really important to kind of, be that person giving the information. But also, the community stepping up during it. I remember a restaurant, when they'd gotten word that they had to shut down, they completely had, like cooked up all of their food and delivered it to the hospital. So, it's just stories like that. A little girl who needed surgery, and wanted to help her parents pay the bills for it. So, she started selling her art, and they were so cute. You know, it's just, it's such a wonderful community we have here and I've just been so honored to share the stories of what's going on here.

It sounds like you might be a little bit conflicted about leaving. Take us through that decision.

So, it was a really hard decision to make because I love it here. I do. I love it so much. I love the office. I mean, I know you mentioned Pat Bradley, she works in the building here with me and I've been so grateful for her. Everyone in this building has really formed me into the journalist I am today. But an opportunity did present itself. I haven't announced where I'm going yet, but it was a good opportunity for me in my next step. But I can promise you if it wasn't this opportunity, I wouldn't be leaving.

Outside of work. What did you like about the area and living in New York's North Country over the past five years?

It's gorgeous. I love living here. The weather's great. I love to snowboard, so I enjoy the winter. I love the fall right now. I mean it's so pretty. We've got a beach here, so I would spend the summers on the beach. For people who haven't been to Plattsburgh, it's a smaller area. It's not like a huge city. I think the actual square miles is 5.5 square miles. So, it's really small and really intimate and that's where I live is in the city of Plattsburgh. So, I've been able to walk everywhere. And it's one of those places where when you go somewhere, you're going to likely know someone where you go. So, I've always just kind of loved that. I never felt alone here, you know? I mean, I go to my local Dunkin Donuts and I know everyone who works there because I go every day. Or I go to my local other coffee shop and I know the people who work there. I'll go, you know, get pizza or get a drink at a bar and I always will know someone where I go and I just think that's such a cool feeling and something not everyone gets to experience. It's something I love. It's what I moved back for.

Well, I know the pressures that are on us here on the radio side, in terms of maintaining our news product and filling news hole and then also trying to expand offerings digitally, where people, you know, might find WAMC content in a different way. How do you see your job changing over the past few years and going forward?

Well, we definitely, I mean, we still have our evening news, that's our deadline, you know, we need to make sure that we have everything done for that. But then, I think the web is where you can expand social medias, where you can really interact. I'm someone who loves both of those. My previous station was very digital forward. So, I kind of came with that background already coming into this job. But the way I look at it is, we want to make sure that we get our story ready to go on air for the evening newscast or whatever newscast you're in, because that's, you can't change that deadline. Whereas the web, you know, it's kind of fluid. You can update it when you can, update it before or after. And social media is kind of immediate. You can update people as you're getting that information and they can follow you throughout the day of the story. So, I think it's going to kind of just keep evolving like that, you know? I think that it's become such a big part of our lives, social media and internet and I think it's just going to be another tool in our toolbox essentially.

Well, I know it's kind of baked into the life of a TV reporter. But what kind of emotions are you feeling now as it's time to leave?

I'm sad, you know, but I'm also really excited. I feel really good about my time in the North Country. I feel that I've done a great job. I've been a voice to people who needed it. I think I've helped to this community. It's almost bittersweet, you know, because I am so happy with what I've done here and I love it so much. So, it is really hard to go. But I think that it's always going be great and I keep telling everyone like they can't get rid of me that easy. I will be back, I promise. I'm absolutely going to come back. I'm going to visit. I'll be here a lot. And I've got so many friends here now that I know, you know, I'll have places to stay, people to see. So, they can't get rid of me that easy.

A lifelong resident of the Capital Region, Ian joined WAMC in late 2008 and became news director in 2013. He began working on Morning Edition and has produced The Capitol Connection, Congressional Corner, and several other WAMC programs. Ian can also be heard as the host of the WAMC News Podcast and on The Roundtable and various newscasts. Ian holds a BA in English and journalism and an MA in English, both from the University at Albany, where he has taught journalism since 2013.
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