Kiersten Riedford
Kiersten's Journalistic Work
These are the best and most recent pieces Kiersten has written, filmed, edited and photographed over the course of her reporting career (2016 to present).
01
Chicagoans with Vision Loss Find New Ways to See
Over the course of four weeks, I worked closely with those with vision loss and people who work with those with vision loss to learn the new ways that visually impaired people are seeing through AI, new technology, braille and more.
This piece is my longest broadcast piece I have written, filmed and edited on my own. It shows my ability to get a surplus of visuals when reporting a story, understand a topic fully and be able to break it down for viewers, and to take on new topics with sensitivity and curiosity.
To view the story, click here.
02
‘Heartbreaking': Rideshare drivers say they were suddenly deactivated, left jobless
This broadcast piece and web story for NBC Chicago tells the story of Uber drivers who were deactivated by the app for false allegations, what legislation is going into place to help rideshare drivers and how drivers are trying to get their jobs back.
This was a piece I worked on with the DePaul Center for Journalistic Integrity & Excellence. My classmates and I worked on this story for 10 weeks. I filmed shots for the broadcast piece, helped in writing the script, and was on-camera for the social media posts to boost the story.
Click here to view the story.
Click here to view the social post. The post amassed over 50,000 views on YouTube shorts, over 44,000 views on Instagram reels and over 23,000 views on TikTok.
03
I am extremely proud of this article. While I have been reporting on politics for a while, this article made me expand my horizons of sources. For this article, I connected with sources in the Secret Service, the city's PR team and the DNC's team.
To read the story on NBC Chicago, click here.
04
This article allowed me to dive into my interest in how independent candidates are rising in popularity in the U.S. despite a predominantly two-party system. For this article, I asked students from several states what their thoughts were on the election, how likely they are to vote as a result of the election being the same two candidates and also how the independent party may be a safer option for younger voters in the 2024 election.
To read the story on The DePaulia, click here.
05
For this article, I reviewed the Illinois State Bar Association's recommendations on candidates for judges in various jurisdictions. I broke down what the evaluations were for, how many of the candidates were qualified, how many were not and how voters can find this information on their own.
To read the story on NBC Chicago, click here.
06
Celebration to Chaos: Highland Park Fourth of July shooting leaves two DePaul alumni and five others dead
Out of all the stories I have written, this is one of my proudest pieces. I spent my entire Fourth of July watching press conferences and reporting on this shooting. While I did cover the event hour-by-hour, this piece is the final article that recaps the information from the day, how the residents were mourning and what is to be expected in the future.
To read the story on The DePaulia, click here.
07
New NCAA women's volleyball rule change draws big controversy online
I had so much fun writing this piece. Being able to combine my love for journalism and volleyball while writing this was amazing. This is an article breaking down what the new double rule is in volleyball, why it's important and what it even means to those who are unfamiliar with the sport.
To read the story on NBC Chicago, click here.
08
This piece was one of the most challenging articles I've had to write. Not from a lack of sources responding, but due to the immense amount of information I had to take in within the day and a half of reporting on it. Before reporting this story, I had little knowledge of zoning, but after reading 160 pages on the proposed zoning ordinances I felt like I could be an urban planner.
To read the story on Current in Zionsville, click here.