Visit the TV10 Web page, which is run by the UWEC housing department, to meet Zosia Burkard's coworkers and read about the shows they produce.

View photos of Burkard's hometown and read its history on the Algoma Chamber of Commerce Web site.

UWEC Student Jumps Into the World of Public Affairs

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The campus at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire was a battlefield. Flyers littered the walls, small signs proclaiming allegiances lined the walkways. The opinion column in the campus newspaper The Spectator was filled with heated debates.

It was the fall semester of 2004, and the November presidential elections were fast approaching. Zosia Burkard had just started her freshman year and was already a part of the political process.

She spent many of her nights glued to the TV screen following the presidential debates and watching the candidate's campaigns unfold. This was Zosia's first time voting in a presidential election.

Burkard grew up in the small Wisconsin town of Algoma. Her former roommate Leah Weiland believes that this is where her awareness of politics began, “Zosia is very interested in politics. I think that her parents have a great deal to do with that.  They love politics and have passed that along to her.”

This interest in politics continued in college where she chose to major in Broadcast Journalism. This choice, she said, allows her to debate politics with a wider audience and listen to perspectives very different than her own. She is now a senior and works at UW-Eau Claire’s student-run television station, TV10.

In her time there Burkard has gained experience reporting and interviewing, and a little experience with public affairs reporting. Her boss at TV10, Steve Kelley, explains that, “Something we like to do on our show is provide as many local stories as possible. That could be a story on the city budget or a council decision on Phoenix Park.”

Public Affairs reporting has not really caught Burkard’s eye, she said. However, she views this as more of a challenge than a problem, “I’d like to find a way to make it more interesting, but I don’t know if you can do this fully through writing. As a broadcast major, I would love to take a more multimedia approach.”

Burkard says she wants to change opinions and help people understand issues. She discusses politics when she gets a chance, and enjoys the opportunity to debate, “I don’t know if I’ve affected anyone, maybe informed them. Actually, we inform each other,” Burkard said.

After graduating from UWEC Burkard plans to continue working in journalism. Ideally she would be able to find work as a foreign correspondent or writing feature stories. She's already visited nearly every continent and she hopes to continue travelling through a journalism career.