Hello
A Bit About Me
Hey, I'm Zachary Plisko.
I graduated from Grand Valley State University in the spring of 2023. My multimedia journey started in my sophomore year of high school. I could test into a senior-level, consortium class that created weekly news shows. In my first year, I was mainly an anchor and made some news packages. By my junior and senior years, I was the producer and director. I was fortunate enough to win the highest award honors for a high school news program, the Spartan Award through the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. Towards the end of high school, I tested to be Adobe Certified in using Adobe Premiere.
I continued to pursue multimedia at Grand Valley State University. I learned how to write efficiently through AP Style, I made podcasts, did some on-air radio work, made news packages, and worked on social media pages. I'm most effective working in a collaborative team that can compile and share ideas that mesh well to achieve deadlines and put out a good product of work. I'm well-versed in all Adobe products. I can problem solve, never give up on projects, and ensure to hit deadlines.
As a Multimedia Journalist, I believe in the balance of creativity while still giving factual information to citizens. I believe that news should be reported in a manner that can fairly and easily be understood through contextualizing which a journalist must execute. The creativity aspect comes in through describing the information through visuals such as graphics, photos, video, and any medium to reinforce information to citizens so it can be understood.
Demo Reel
Photography
Article Samples
Linked above is an article I wrote over a three month period about the "hot spots" of larceny incidents around Grand Valley State University. I was able to obtain through the Freedom of Information Act from the Ottawa Sheriff's County Office a Microsoft Excel sheet of all incidents reported within a one-mile radius of the university. I was able to pinpoint where most larceny-specific incidents occurred. I also provided audio elements of an interview with the Chief of Grand Valley's Police Department. I also interviewed students about their personal stories of dealing with theft to add humanism and more voice of the citizen role of holding accountability.
The article above is one of the last article I wrote before graduating. There are many issues journalists face but commercialization came into my mind. Often, private equity companies come in, layoff editors and writers, increase articles published, increase advertising and loss quality of work. Overtime, the private equity companies will suck out any profit generated before letting the media outlet crumble. I discovered a news outlet called, Defector, which gives ownership and authorship to the employees. My story will cover the issue of news deserts, lack of money for employees and how Defector is trying to change the way ownership is handled.
Podcasting
I was a podcasting host at Grand Valley State University for the Alcohol and Other Drug Services through the Counseling Center. Here I made bi-weekly podcast to inform students about the use of substances and how it may affect them. I used Adobe Audition to edit all episodes and worked under one supervisor in which we had weekly meetings to create new topic ideas. I always ensured hit weekly deadlines. I also managed the website to add the episodes, linked the episodes to Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Informing Citizens
Technology is always evolving without much information and transparency to citizens so I designed a website using primary and secondary research to try and contextualize, explain and humanize issues with Predictive Policing. Often, information is hard to find about the topic because the data is owned through private companies so instead I provided localism and non-profit resources to try and serve as a point of intervention for people.
News Packages
Social Media
