Deadlines, Tales and a Love of Cats

When a home is on hearth or elections are underway, native information reporters are prepared to search out out the information. However how do feline companions assist them get by way of the stress of day by day deadlines? Meet some broadcast journalists who assume cats are their savior for his or her sanity.

Miguel Octavio, Reporter WTSP-TV, Tampa, Florida

Activate the night information within the Tampa Bay space, and also you’ll see Miguel Octavio masking the massive tales. New to the job, Miguel is thrilled to be transferring up the journalism profession ladder. However as a TV reporter, it may be a nomadic life transferring from metropolis to metropolis. That’s why he’s grateful the one fixed in his life are his two cats, Cutie Pie, a 13-year-old long-haired, black-and-gray kitty, and Casper, an all-black cat who’s round 10 years previous.

Miguel’s love of cats started within the Philippines, the place he was born to a robust, single mom, who all the time instilled kindness to animals in her son. There, he and his mom would feed and rescue stray cats and canines. When he was 9, he moved together with his mother to the US in hopes of discovering a greater life. Even though they had been new immigrants abroad, their love of animals continued. Miguel and his mother fostered many cats and kittens for a neighborhood rescue group as they pursued the American Dream.

The 26-year-old lately began reporting at WTSP-TV, the CBS affiliate, and is new to the Tampa space. “I moved right here on my own and actually didn’t know anybody or the town. It’s such a pleasant feeling to come back residence and have Cutie Pie and Casper ready on the door for cuddles and pets. I’m by no means lonely due to them. To me they’re not simply pets however a supply of emotional help in a really disturbing, high-profile enterprise.”

Observe Miguel Octavio on Instagram @miguelwtsp

Heidi Wigdahl, Reporter KARE-TV, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Heidi Wigdahl is a multimedia journalist on the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis. In the course of the protests surrounding the homicide of George Floyd, the award-
profitable reporter was entrance and heart and proper within the thick of issues. That’s why when she comes residence, she relishes time to chill out together with her younger daughter Olive and favourite felines, Bunny Pancake and Backpack the Courageous.

“I simply love how my cats make me really feel,” Heidi says. “They’re so soothing, and so they greet me on the door. I’m all the time working to earn their belief and love, as a result of generally they are often shy and fearful.”

Bunny was discovered behind a Goal retailer in Rochester, Minnesota, and adopted from a neighborhood shelter. Backpack got here from a Tennessee cat rescue.  As a lifelong cat advocate, Heidi has all the time taken to special-needs cats. Her late cat, Jazz Mango, had many veterinary points.

“I adopted him in faculty, and his vet payments had been costly. In hindsight, I wasn’t financially ready to tackle these prices. However ultimately, he was so value it.”

When not working, Heidi all the time finds time to present again to her native cat rescues. She’s emceed and volunteered at fundraising occasions for the Bitty Kitty Brigade, a neonatal kitten rescue, and Feline Rescue, the biggest cat rescue in Minnesota.

So what’s her favourite story ever? Embezzlement, extortion or unlawful medicine? No method! It’s reporting on the kittens on the Kitten Bowl when the Tremendous Bowl was in Minnesota.

Observe Heidi Wigdahl on Instagram @heidi.wigdahl

Megan Shinn, Anchor Midday and seven p.m. Newscasts, WRTV-TV, Indianapolis, Indiana

As a tv information anchor at WRTV, Megan Shinn is used to working odd hours. However to her cats, the hours make no distinction. The Indianapolis information anchor is mother to kitties Basil, a Russian Blue, and Odin, a special-needs cat who solely has one eye.

Whereas residing and dealing in Virginia Seashore, Virginia, Megan coated a narrative about hurricane animals on the Virginia Seashore SPCA, the place she seen the lovable one-eyed cat. A couple of weeks later, she began relationship her now-
husband Mike who, a lot to her shock, had adopted the special-needs kitty she remembered from the story.

After Megan and Mike acquired married, Odin joined Basil, who Megan adopted throughout her time as a broadcaster in Eugene, Oregon. Like many broadcast journalists who transfer from metropolis to metropolis, having a pet simply makes life much less lonely. “It looks like each transfer to a brand new market means I get one other cat. They’re the very best companions for journalists. From candy purrs to greeting you on the door and making humorous information bloopers in the course of the pandemic, they make a home a house.”

Observe Megan Shinn on Instagram @meganshinntv

Miranda O’Bryan, Anchor Good Morning KOTA Territory and Good Morning Black Hills, KOTA-TV, Fast Metropolis, South Dakota

Miranda O’Bryan has all the time cherished cats. Rising up in Martin, South Dakota, her household had a number of cats they discovered as strays, in shelters or on farms. That’s why, after graduating from South Dakota State College, she acquired her personal kitty named Jericho, who was a part of a litter from her grandma’s farm. “Jericho has been my rock. He helped me by way of the tip of a severe relationship and modify to residing by myself.”

Miranda began as a reporter at her station however has shortly moved up the ranks. She’s utilizing her love of cats and her ardour for journalism as inspiration for writing a kids’s guide. She hopes to get Jericho the Journalism Kitty printed quickly, to encourage kids to pursue a profession in journalism and writing, all by way of the eyes of her cat. The guide can be a part of a social impression neighborhood challenge Miranda is pursuing for the Miss South Dakota Scholarship Competitors, which is a part of the Miss America Group. She’s been a finalist to be Miss South Dakota beforehand and hopes that with Jericho as her follow buddy and supporter, subsequent 12 months shall be her 12 months to clinch that title.

Observe Miranda O’Bryan on Instagram @mobryantv