Turning Passion into Purpose: Advice from an NLGJA Journalist
As an ABC News Coordinating Producer, no two days look the same for Sam. One day he may be covering a major aviation accident, and the next he’s on a flight to Ukraine or Israel with Martha Raddatz, chief global affairs correspondent reporting for ABC's World News Tonight and Nightline.
Sam’s primary focus at ABC News is transportation and aviation, but he’s also explored other areas in the newsroom. He gathers reports, makes calls, talks to sources, coordinates with correspondents or producers and gets editorial information out across all ABC News platforms. It’s a fast-paced lifestyle, according to Sam, but he never knows what the next story or phone call could bring.
“On a big breaking story, that can mean working with just a few people or coordinating with dozens of people across the network,” Sam said.
The topics Sam covers for ABC News are ones he’s incredibly passionate about, which has made a notable difference in his career.
“Aviation has never really felt like work to me,” Sam said. “Most days, it feels more like a hobby that somehow became my career. I can spend hours reading about an airplane accident, understanding what happened, talking to investigators or pilots and trying to explain something complicated in a way that makes sense to the audience or other people at ABC.”
While not everyone is able to build a journalism career around their passions, Sam said that finding stories or an area of interest can turn a good reporter into a great one.
“People can tell when you actually care about a story,” Sam said.
Sam became connected with The Association for LGBTQ+ Journalists (NLGJA) through members of the journalism community he’s met in his career and said he appreciates the way the organization inspires conversations among journalists that go deeper than just “the next assignment.”
The 2026 NLGJA National Convention took place from Sept. 10-13 in San Franciso, where ABC held a Storytellers’ Summit — a development workshop created by ABC News and the ABC Owned Television Stations designed to bring producers, writers, reporters and content creators together for conversations and training sessions.
The conversations Sam’s had at NLGJA events like the National Convention proved how important being able to introduce yourself to your peers and keep in touch with them is.
“Journalism can sometimes feel like a very competitive business, but the reality is that it is also an incredibly small community,” Sam said. “The people you meet early on in your career can end up becoming colleagues, sources, mentors, bosses or friends.”
Sparking an initial conversation is important, but Sam added it’s important not to assume one discussion will automatically lead to a job or opportunity. In some cases, it takes years to realize the value of a connection.
According to Sam, one of the biggest challenges in the journalism industry is figuring out your place and how to navigate an untraditional career path.
“There is often a perception that the only way to advance in TV news is to be on camera, become a correspondent or eventually become an anchor,” Sam said. “I found that I was happiest and often most useful behind the scenes, helping report and produce stories and becoming someone people could rely on when a big transportation story broke.”
To any NLGJA members interested in a career at Disney, Sam says — “raise your hand.”
Volunteer to help on projects that interest you, offer to help make someone’s workload easier and find ways to be useful in and out of the newsroom. He also said to simply “be curious.”
“The best journalists I know are the people who are genuinely interested in the world around them,” Sam said. “They ask questions, they want to understand how things work and they don’t assume they already know the answer. That curiosity will take you a long way.”
