Multimedia Reporting (Bradford-Utsler)

Imagine quickly making a forecast and preparing graphics, styling your hair and touching up your make-up, then lights, camera, action, live, on-air in front of a city of viewers, pointing at a large florescent green board as if what the viewers were seeing was actually there, explaining in simple terms an atmosphere that is far from simple. This is typical Saturday and Sunday mornings for Julie Broski, weekend meteorologist for KCTV5 in Kansas City. The job comes with many stresses and challenges, but it is a career she chose and one she loves.

A career in television seemed to fit for Broski who grew up around a television studio. Her father, Fred Broski, has an extensive background in television. In his television career he read commercials, he was a M.C. for children's shows, he read news stories, and finally began presenting weather forecasts, although never having a meteorology degree. "I never really put my feet down in concrete," Fred Broski said. For him what was important was working in television, not what he was doing specifically.

Working for a number of years in the Kansas City spotlight, Fred Broski became very popular among local viewers. He said that while growing up his daughter Julie Broski saw that his television career made him a good living, and that he had fun doing it. Julie said that her father worked often during the evening and night hours so in order to see him she would frequently visit the studio, and she loved being there. After doing some behind the scenes work and some reporting, Julie discovered that is was television weather she wanted to do. She got a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology and Communication from Mississippi State University and has been broadcasting the weather ever since.

Before coming to Kansas City to broadcast the weather, Broski worked in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Hartford, Connecticut. These different cities brought different challenges to Broski's broadcast meteorology career. While in Hartford Broski had to forecast nor'easters, fierce winter storms that form over a large bodies of water and bring strong winds and usually many inches of snow, a weather feature she was not all too familiar with growing up in the Midwest.

Broski began working at KCTV5 in Kansas City in December of 1998. She is happy to be in a place she is familiar with and close to her family, however, that presents is own challenges. Broski doesn't want to feel that she is a part of Kansas City television because of her father's legacy. Luckily, she said that in her previous cities she was able to establish her career independently from her father's well-known glory. Now in Kansas City she enjoys how critical her father is of her work and the good feedback he is able to provide from watching her in the comfort of his own living room.

During this time of the year Broski's broadcast meteorology career seems to get busier. In Kansas City the spring means severe weather. "Severe weather is definitely more challenging," Broski said. This year so far she has been into the studio almost every week during unscheduled hours to help with severe weather coverage. During severe weather coverage she mainly answers phone calls, which commonly ring in from reports and chasers, and analyzes the weather behind the scenes.

Matt Stewart, anchor/reporter at KCTV5, said he wanted to see Broski on-air more during times of severe weather because she doesn't allow the stressful situation to affect her broadcast.

Broski feels that it is essential for meteorologists to keep up with the weather even when not on the clock because it is always changing. Doing this makes forecasting easier when at work. Despite weather watching being a consistent part of her life, she manages to find time to enjoy many hobbies and to help the community outside of broadcast meteorology.

In 2005, Governor Kathleen Sebelious appointed Broski to the Kansas Council on Early Childhood Special Education for a four year term. Broski said the council meets once per month and can share topics discussed during meetings to the Governor or to the House of Representatives. The council's main focus is to provide services to children, aging from birth to five years, who have special needs. Broski's 5-year-old daughter has special needs and so she wants to be involved in what the community is doing to help young children with special needs.

Broski's area of interest in school was not just meteorology. She earned a Masters Degree in Education from Baker University. She said she enjoys teaching because by it she learns. In the past, Broski has taught at different levels of education ranging from giving weather workshops at elementary schools, to teaching a disaster class at Baker University. She enjoys both sides of the educating process, as she is always yearning to take classes about any subject matter she said.

As if teaching, the Kansas Council on Early Childhood Special Education, and broadcast meteorology weren't enough, Broski also enjoys writing. She studied Theater and Film at the University of Kansas and enjoys writing screenplays, and making documentaries. She also enjoys free-lance writing. She has a book published, titled "Being Me." This book focuses on a deaf child having the same interests as other children and wanting to be loved for just being who he/she is.

Broski stays busy with her job and her personal life. Despite receiving random e-mails from viewers about her hair being ugly, which is common for all female broadcasters she said, she likes working on television. Even though the spring usually adds more work to her already busy schedule, she always finds time to be with her family and support her wide variety of hobbies.