“I love working with my team and passing on what I've learned to the next generation coming up,” she explained. “I also love the adrenaline rush of breaking news and executing impactful coverage of an event that matters to our viewers.

“Some say news is a calling because there certainly isn't much money it. We do it because we are passionate about being the public's gatekeepers.”

Her responsibilities include running the news department after other managers go home, working as a team to assign, write/produce and execute news coverage for three hours of live news in the evening.

She edits reporter scripts, reacts to breaking news from both an editorial and logistic angle, moves crews and works with producers to update the rundown to reflect the ever-changing news landscape.

Ms. Rogers is responsible for the station’s social media platforms, including a Facebook page with half a million followers.

(Ms. Rogers featured in the Eastern Sun Press)

“I'm constantly communicating with our web producers to make sure they have the latest developments and are keeping our website updated, as well as Twitter and Facebook.”

She produces a live Facebook chat with her main anchors every night about what is coming up in that night’s newscast.

There have also been several stressful situations where she had to “deal with calling police because a known stalker was outside one of our entrances” and “figure out how to get the newscast on the air when we've had a massive equipment/computer failure.”

Ms. Rogers says the new motto for “every business since 2009 is to ‘do more with less.’ My bosses set the bar exceptionally high.

“Most of our competitors have larger news departments, so we have to be smarter in order to achieve comparable results. As one of my news directors said once, ‘I can't outspend them but I can outthink them.’"

She has worked in TV news for about 30 years and has been a newsroom manager in almost every station she worked in, from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Dayton, Ohio, to Salt Lake.

When discussing career goals, Ms. Rogers acknowledges that she’s “always aspired to achieve the top position in anything I've been involved in, but I'm hesitant to be a news director in my chosen profession because news directors actually get to do very little news.

“They spend their time in meetings. Honestly, that doesn't sound like much fun. My job puts me in the thick of the news process and that's fun-- maddening and frustrating sometimes -- but pulse-pounding fun.”

The late newscast she’s responsible for has won several awards at the SPJ Awards, including Best Newscast.

Working at an NBC affiliate in the home city of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City was “one of the highlights of my career. It was a phenomenal experience.”

She had opportunities to go work in Top 10 markets, but stayed in Salt Lake to “have the experience of the 2002 Olympics. I've never regretted that decision.”

(Ms. Rogers and Shelby at the Olympic Fountain in Feb, 2002)

Ms. Rogers got to field produce coverage of two NBA Finals when the Utah Jazz were contenders. She was there when Michael Jordan took his last shot in the NBA.

“My Salt Lake City TV news career has also included being the liaison between the TV media sponsor and the Sundance Film Festival and flying to Colorado to field produce a series of stories centering on an organization called a Grassroots Aspen Experience.

“Kids from the inner city go to Aspen and learn to ski and share common hardships. That was another incredible experience. Plus, I got to ski in Aspen.”

Ms. Rogers, who grew up in Las Vegas, New Mexico, attended ENMU from 1978-1983. The communication major, with a minor in psychology, chose that field because she has been writing since high school, where she was the managing editor of her high school newspaper.

“I was just a few credits away from having a double major in psychology. I used to joke I'd be trained to write excellent patient case studies.”

(Shelby and Ms. Rogers)

She was in several organizations at ENMU that gave her a “rich college experience,” including working for the school newspaper all four years (serving as editor her junior and senior year), being the Chairman of Publications as a graduate student and serving as a Sigma Nu little sister.

The former dorm officer and summer RA at DeBaca Hall was a member of Alpha Phi Omega and worked in what was then-called the Information Services office.

One of her fondest memories was being in the Information Services booth at Greyhound Stadium, typing out the play-by-play at Greyhound football games.

“I'd always watched football, but I learned a lot about the finer points,” she explained. “There were also some scary moments when the opposing team's coaches pounded on the plexiglass when a play went wrong. We thought they were going to tumble out onto the bleacher below.”

The mother of a 25-year-old daughter first learned about TV news at KENW.

Dr. Larry Bradshaw, the faculty advisor to the newspaper and co-anchor of the live newscast "Scene Three News," convinced her to write copy for the newscast.

“It was a foreign world to me. I didn't understand the lingo, but I quickly became addicted to the immediacy of TV News versus print and got hooked.”

(Ms. Rogers at Fox Control Room)

She is “so grateful to Dr. Larry Bradshaw, Gary Kishi and Mike Slinker. All were my bosses at Eastern and taught me the fundamentals of communication and journalism that evolved into a career I'm proud of.

“I remember thinking Dr. B was crazy when he used to tell me that one day we would be reading our newspapers on a computer screen at our desk. At the time, we were writing scripts on 8-ply carbon paper stuck into IBM Seletrics. Dr. B.’s prognostication of the future sounded nuts, but he was a visionary.

“The leadership roles I held at Eastern have been critical in teaching me how to lead and manage staff. My experience as a manager and an employee is people want a decisive leader they trust and know will have their back. The genesis of that knowledge began at Eastern.”

She has several rescue pets and “loves doing what I can to help the rescue organizations in area get their message out.”

She’s been recognized for Distinguished Service to Animals as the Media Representative of the year from Best Friends Animal Society.

“I also love photography and reading. Escaping into the world of well written book is such a pleasure,” said Ms. Rogers, whose favorite authors are Daniel Silva, James Rollins and Dan Brown.

"I’ve recently discovered House of Cards and find myself binge watching. I totally agree with all the positive fuss over the show. It’s awesome!”