Posted: 6/1/05
Hult makes journey from FL to WCCO-TV
 Karla Hult, a Forest Lake High School graduate, is the new morning reporter on WCCO television in Minneapolis. Hult is shown on screen during a news assignment last week. (Photo By Jenniufer Kern) |
Jennifer Kern
Staff Writer
Karla Hultís resumČ reads like a travel guide. As a news reporter, the Forest Lake native has worked in locations such as New York, Alaska and Washington D.C.
But her new position allows Hult to stay much closer to home. In March, she signed on as a morning news reporter for WCCO-TV.
ěI wanted to come back to Minnesota. I wanted to be where my family and friends are,î explained Hult.
A graduate of St. Olaf College, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and political science. She also earned a Master of International Affairs degree from Colombia University in 2000. Though she has focused her career on reporting, she has never taken any journalism classes.
ěI personally feel fulfilled by my indirect path,î Hult described of her venture into her career. She said that while many reporters exclusively study journalism, she wanted to try out other avenues of interest along with her writing and reporting endeavors.
Perhaps that need for variety has allowed Hult to try her hand at different types of reporting. Having worked in both newspaper and television, she has covered multiple topics both in-print and on screen.
Early in Hultís career, she wrote 70-page history of Clear Lake as part of the Clear Lake Association. In 1998 through the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, she took part in developing a newsletter regarding the Pest Management project in the Middle East. During her stint at KEYC-TV in Mankato, Hult served as the Health Watch anchor.
Mornings at WCCO
Her current position as a morning news reporter at WCCO is quite different than what her previous job had been as a evening television anchor and reporter in Toledo, OH.
ěIt couldnít be any more opposite for me,î she said.
Having previously worked nights, Hultís workdays now begin at 3 a.m. when she leaves her house.
Her first live story generally begins at 5 a.m. She begins her second story for the day at approximately noon until she wraps up work by 2 p.m. On average, she said that she works about 10 hours per day.
Hult admits that with her new schedule she is generally sleepy by 6 p.m., but appreciates that she works Monday through Friday and has the weekends off.
ěItís the first time, on the broadcast side (of reporting), that Iíve not had to work on weekends,î she mentioned.
According to Hult, there is another benefit to being a morning reporter.
ěItís an opportunity to show more personality than in an evening reporter position,î she described.
As an example, last Thursday Hult reported live from the 2005 American Society of Interior Designers Showcase Home in Minneapolis. WCCO-TV had followed the transformation of the homeís redesign by a variety of interior designers. Last week, Hult showed viewers the finishing product. She expressively showcased the designs as she moved from room to room in the house.
Along with sharing her personality, Hult also hopes to share her Forest Lake background with viewers as well.
ěThe things I grew up with are now a part of what I am covering,î she described.
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