Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE

Name: Natisha Lance | Editorial Producer for the Nancy Grace Show on CNN

Age: 29

Behind the scenes of some of the countries most captivating stories, Natisha serves as the Editorial Producer for the Nancy Grace Show on CNN, “television’s only justice themed/interview/debate show, designed for those interested in the breaking crime news of the day.” Natisha is responsible for finding people that are applicable to various stories that they are working on, and getting them for the show.

She also works as a reporter in the sense that she gathers editorial information, and gets a lot of confirmation on stories. Based on various stories the show has covered, she is also sent into the field to do on the ground reporting. She has been working on her current story for three years, and because of this work she has been given the opportunity to be a reporter on the air, such as becoming an anchor for CNN Student News.

Before she got started in journalism, growing up she wanted to be an opera singer. Then as she got older she decided she wanted to go into musical theatre at NYU, but her parents said they wouldn’t pay for it. Instead she went to Spelman and says that was probably the best decision her parents ever made for her.

One summer while at Spelman, she got an internship at Good Morning America, and to her surprise she fell in love with journalism. She was intrigued with the great responsibility that you are given as a journalist to get information or be there when stories happen. You oftentimes have a front row seat to history being made.

Her favorite story is the current story she is working on, the Casey Anthony case. She points out that there aren’t many stories that come along and capture the whole country.  She hasn’t seen anything like this since OJ or Scott Peterson. Kids go missing all the time, but oftentimes minority kids are not covered in the same fashion that other kids get covered in the media. There is something about this little girl that has kept people drawn to this case.

The idea of one day covering other stories besides crime is something that she has been struggling with lately. She has a natural curiosity for everything. Maybe somewhere down the line she might want to do something less serious and more positive, but she has so much to learn about covering crime stories. She would love to do longer formats like documentaries in the future.

Collectively she admires any woman who could successfully be in her field. You have to be intrepid, fearless, and go into many places where you aren’t wanted. We just learn so much from Lara Logan who is a reporter with 60 Minutes and was assaulted when she was in Egypt. If you look at a situation like that, it takes a lot of guts.

Her first job was at the Gap. You couldn’t work at the Gap into your were 16, but she was at the Gap all the time, so much the store employees mentioned that she should work there. She still had to wait until she was old enough, and eventually got the job.

People might be surprised to know she enjoys the outdoors and goes backpacking. Her favorite backpacking trip was in Honduras  Next she wants to go to Peru to do the Machu Picchu trail.

She lives by the beliefs that “everything happens for a reason”, “be prepared when the opportunity strikes”, and “you dress for the job you want not the one you have”.

She advises people interested in journalism to talk to as many people as you can that are in that field, because everyone has a different path on how they got into the field. You learn so much from listening to other people’s mistakes and what things they were successful with. Always be curious and always speak up. Don’t forget to intern as much as you can.

In the future she would like to continue to improve and get better with her reporting. She wants to be a good story teller, and ultimately increase her opportunities.

http://nancygrace.blogs.cnn.com

http://www.facebook.com/NancyGraceHLN

Next: Muhsinah

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.