Crossing the Line: Print to Broadcast

By Lisajoyce Vergara

Syeda Jafri was outspoken, inspirational and motivational.

Growing up: Jafri was born in Karachi, Pakistan and raised in Rialto, California. Her father was a judge and wanted Jafri to follow in his footsteps. Her siblings followed the path encouraged by her parents — one went into medicine, the other, education. For Jafri, she took the road less traveled and followed her heart into journalism after graduating high school.

Starting line: In order to pursue a dream, there is a starting point. Jafri’s first job was as a gofer/errand girl for the old Los Angeles Herald Examiner. She figured this would be a good start. After six months, that job ended. Jafri was frustrated and started to question herself about her desired profession. But she wasn’t about to fall back on law and let go of her dream.

Border line: She went to college, majored in broadcasting and minored in journalism. Jafri got odd jobs, among other things interviewing one-hit wonders over the airwaves early in the morning. After receiving her college degree, she decided to shift to print journalism.

In 1995, Jafri took a job as a reporter for the Inland Empire community newspapers. The newspapers covered the Colton, Rialto, and San Bernardino area; she also worked for El Chicano newspapers.

“You get a chance in community reporting to take national news and bring it home,” she said. She got that chance when she covered a story on a mother of a Marine who found out that her son died by watching his execution on television.

Major network and newspaper reporters surrounded the grieving mother’s home but it was Jafri who got into the house because the woman felt like she was not one of the “vultures” outside.

Jafri, who believes that there is room for compassion in journalism, cried with the woman and comforted her until she was ready to tell her story.

Jafri said you have to be a person first because if you are not a person first you have no business being in the storytelling business.

Jafri later joined KFI-AM radio as a show co-host. And she became a field reporter for public television.

Finish line

Syeda said she accomplished her goals because she had faith in herself. You can do almost anything with a communications degree, she said. Be persistent, take internships where you can learn and most important, know your worth. You need to have the knowledge, the speech and what’s in your heart to make it in the field.