NSCM students had a unique opportunity to engage with a TV journalist when Nicholson journalism alumna Mary Kay Kleist, meteorologist at CBS News Chicago, attended the weekly broadcast of The Charge On-Air this past month. After graduating from UCF, she began her career at WJCL-TV in Savannah, Georgia as a news anchor as well as a weekend weather anchor. From there, she worked in Tampa, Florida as a meteorologist for WFLA-TV and finally landed her current position at CBS Chicago.
The Charge On-Air is a weekly broadcast made by students in the Journalism and Media Production and Management majors for all students at UCF. Daily newsgathering and production decisions are conducted by students in the broadcast journalism major under the advisement of an instructor functioning as news director.
Kleist began her career at WJCL-TV in Savannah, Georgia as a news anchor as well as a weekend weather anchor following her graduation from UCF. She’s also worked in Tampa, Florida as a meteorologist for WFLA-TV before landing her current position at CBS Chicago.
While visiting, Kleist remarked about her fond memories at UCF when she was a student and the benefit of the newer technology for students today. “I think it [learning with fellow students] was the best part of my college experience, and it was great to experience it again with this group as they work on a television broadcast together. Now, we didn’t have that luxury because we didn’t have the technology at UCF at that time. However, we still had the camaraderie and that excitement that we all wanted to be journalists.”
In her visit, Kleist saw the new and improved ways that UCF journalism students create and edit content. “What these students are working with today and watching their teamwork both behind the scenes and on camera in the studio and in the control room, is like a real TV station,” said Kleist. “It’s actually a nicer setup than what I saw in my first job in TV and as professional as some of the studios I previously worked at.”
Kleist was impressed by the improvements of the studio since her time as a student and shared her thoughts. “When I was here, it was quite different. We were taking audio recordings to make a package, or a story and the soundbites would be reel to reel,” she said. “You would actually splice the tape and tape them back together to make the package and it was only the audio, we didn’t even have video. So, we really took advantage of internships at the time to be able to learn what these students are learning right here at UCF.”
During the interview, Kleist said that people want to go into journalism for different reasons. She highlighted that the reason she went into journalism was her love and passion for weather reporting. Her spark for weather reporting began during her sophomore year during Hurricane Hugo. While she was here alone preparing for the storm, a friend of hers invited her to volunteer at the CBS affiliate to help answer the phones. Her experience answering questions from viewers that called in gave her a chance to have face-to-face interaction with the chief meteorologist.
And it hit me like a ton of bricks; I turned to ask, and it was a 26-year-old female, and I thought wait a minute…I thought weather men were old science teachers…and she could be my sister, I was 18. After that night I asked her “do you have an internship like my friend is doing down the hall in sports?” And she said no, but after what we just went through, I’m going to set one up. So, she set up a special internship in weather only at WKMG here. This led to an opportunity for Kleist to intern for two years at WFTV.
While news reporting had its challenges, Kleist recognized she consistently looked forward to weather reporting. “But I realized weather was my happy day from experience at previous jobs,” said Kleist.”
Looking back on her experiences, Kleist offered some words of encouragement for current and future students looking to get into the industry. “I think it’s part of you, and you have to feel in any career you choose, that you can’t believe someone’s going to pay you to do this today because you like it that much,” said Kleist. “There are news journalists who want to go to the front lines of war and tell the story or get to the heart of the biggest cities through storytelling because that’s their passion. Many sports anchors want to be in it; they want to be at all the spring trainings and super bowls and everything else in between because they would be watching them on their day off anyway. And I think that’s how I am as a meteorologist. My favorite thing is to watch a rocket launch and then watch a major thunderstorm and see how it all plays together. I love the sky, the energy, the blizzards, and the tropical systems, and it’s part of who I am as well. I think once you find whatever you think is that lights you up, then you just go with it. It’s not really work anymore because it’s your passion.”
Don’t miss out on the latest stories, insights, and conversations. Stay informed by tuning into The Charge On-Air.
Written by Majdulina Hamed.
Published to Nicholson News on March 10th, 2025.
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