Craig Stevens, Pam Giganti, Victor Jorges, and Kenn Venit shared their knowledge and expertise in the 2nd of our Suncoast Spotlight webinars. We hope it helped you to learn how to play to your strengths and demonstrate your talents, giving you the confidence you’ll need to land that internship or next job. The webinar was held Saturday, January 9, 2021, and was streamed LIVE on YouTube.
SPA Suncoast Spotlight Resumes, Cover Letters, and Reels flyer. Download here.
Craig Stevens
Moderator/Panelist
NATAS Silver Circle recipient and Emmy Award winner Craig Stevens co-anchors 7NEWS at 5, 6, 10, and 11 pm weeknights with Belkys Nerey. He has been in television news for more than 30-years, the bulk of that time spent in South Florida.
At 7NEWS, Stevens has reported a wide range of stories: several hurricanes beginning with “Andrew,” the Oklahoma City bombing, elections from the local level to national races, including the disputed 2000 Presidential Election from Austin, Texas. He spent weeks following the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace and the manhunt for Andrew Cunanan, Pope John Paul II’s visits to Cuba and the United States, the death of JFK, Jr., the Elian Gonzalez saga, and Fidel Castro’s visit to the United Nations. In 2015 he reported from Cuba the flag-raising at the U-S Embassy in Havana and the visit of Pope Francis.
Stevens began his career in 1987 in the mailroom at NBC NEWS in Washington. By election night 1988, while still a sophomore in college, he was working full-time in the NBC newsroom as an assignment desk assistant. Eventually, he worked on such programs as “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw,” “Today,” and “Meet the Press” as a production assistant.
Beginning in 1990, he spent two years as a reporter and substitute anchor at WBBH-TV, the NBC affiliate in Fort Myers, before joining WSVN in 1992. Stevens left for a brief stint in 1997, to anchor weekend news at our Boston sister-station, NBC affiliate WHDH, though during that time, much of his work there, was featured here. He returned to WSVN in 1999, anchored weekends and the 5:30 and 6:30 newscasts, before assuming his current duties in May 2001.
Stevens spends a good deal of time working with future broadcast journalists. For several years he served on the adjunct faculty at both the University of Miami and Barry University.
He has received several honors for his work and contributions to the community. He is the recipient of seven Suncoast regional Emmy® Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS).
The Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 2014 also awarded Craig the prestigious “Silver Circle” award, for his years of devoted service to the television industry in the Sunshine State. In 2019 and again in 2020, readers of the South Florida Gay News named him “Best Local TV Personality.” In 2009, he was among those named by the University of Miami as a “Communicator of the Year.” In September 2005, “Florida Monthly” magazine named Craig “Best Local TV News Anchor”. The Broward/Palm Beach “New Times” awarded Stevens with the same distinction in 2003. The city of Miami Beach awarded him a key to the city in 2006, recognizing his charitable efforts.
He is a native of Falmouth, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, and, in 1990, graduated from The American University in Washington, D.C. with a major in Communication/Print Journalism and a minor in History.
Craig lives in Greater Miami with his black lab Parker.
Pam Giganti
Panelist
Pam Giganti is a veteran newswoman and an Emmy Award-winning journalist who has worked in the radio and television industry for the last 31 years. She is currently the host of the public affairs program Your South Florida on South Florida PBS and is the host for UHealth’s Focusing on You segments. Giganti led the morning team at WTVJ NBC 6 as the anchor of NBC 6 South Florida Today for nearly 15 years and has been an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Communication.
Giganti began her television career at WSVN Channel 7 and began her broadcasting career in radio in Pensacola, Florida, and as a radio news anchor, reporter, and traffic reporter in San Diego. She graduated Cum Laude from the University of West Florida’s professionally accredited Communication Arts program in 1990 and is currently working on a Master of Arts in Journalism at the University of Miami.
Giganti is a former board member of the Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She has worked with the anti-drug organization and statewide Red Ribbon campaign founders, Informed Families. She has served as a mentor to at-risk high school girls with Women of Tomorrow since 2002.
Giganti is married and the proud mother of three daughters.
Victor Jorges
Panelist
Victor Jorges was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and moved to the United States in 2007. He has always loved storytelling and acquired many of his bilingual multimedia skills early on. After interning at Discovery Channel and CNN en Español, and working as a news writer at WSVN7 in South Florida, he’s excited to continue his journey as a Multimedia Journalist in Lafayette, Louisiana’s KATC.
In high school, he led and produced a monthly magazine show which later became the Best Monthly Newscast in the country by the standards of the Student Television Network. His sharp skills also earned him two Student Emmys for a PSA about verbal bullying and a feature piece about his school’s JROTC program. He also led the yearbook team as their editor-in-chief. He led both teams towards earning the publications district, state, and national-level awards through FSPA, NSPA, and STN.
Right after graduating high school, he embarked on a production journey to produce a 30+ minute documentary delineating the life of a fashion designer and the ins and outs of the industry. Rosita took Victor to New York Fashion Week, Dominican Republic, and the designer’s home country, Bolivia.
Later, at Florida International University, Victor quickly rose through the ladder of his school’s student-led publication PantherNOW. During his time there, he covered pivotal topics like the red tide in South Florida waters, Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and the story of a survivor of the Stoneman Douglas school shooting. He then became the News Director of the paper, leading the overall design and editorial line of the publication.
He interned at Discovery Channel Latin America/US Hispanic in Miami. Then, he departed to Atlanta to intern at CNN en Español at their headquarters. This internship landed him a freelance Associate Producer position in CNN’s Miami Bureau.
Towards the end of his four-year degree at FIU, he started covering the coronavirus pandemic via daily videos telling the South Florida community the top three stories of the day, including the rapidly rising COVID-19 cases of the area.
Kenn Venit
Panelist
Our guest was an award-winning print and broadcast journalist, a media consultant for TV stations and cable networks from coast-to-coast. He has also been an adjunct instructor in journalism and other courses at Quinnipiac University, Southern Connecticut State University, the University of Bridgeport, and Albertus Magnus College.
Kenn worked for newspapers, radio, and TV stations in his hometown of Philadelphia as well as for print, TV, and radio media in Connecticut. As a consultant for the highly-respected Primo Newservice, Kenn worked with over 200 stations, cable networks, and channels, facilitated media focus groups, and provided coaching for on-air and off-air news personnel, management, and promotion people.
He has been honored with numerous Society of Professional Journalists awards, is a past president of the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists, and has been inducted into the Connecticut Journalism Hall of Fame, as well as Temple University’s Alumni in Media Hall of Fame. He is also a Silver Circle Honoree of the Boston-New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Science. Kenn received a Quinnipiac University Excellence in Teaching Award and a Quinnipiac University Student Government Outstanding Faculty Award.
At 75, Kenn is recently retired but still anchors live election night coverage and League of Women Voters candidates’ forums for Connecticut cable stations. He is developing a media literacy adult education course, “Watching the Watchdogs.” He also continues to mentor what he calls his “TV daughters and sons.”
Kenn has been involved with various media for over 60 years, starting when he was on his high school campus radio station and then Temple University’s AM and FM stations.
Those who know him can attest to his dedication to his passion for quality journalism. He notes that he learned from his bosses, colleagues, teachers, mentors, and others, that a reputation built on authentic objectivity and maintaining fairness in all dealings, were the keystones for his three careers … journalist, media consultant, and college teacher.