BW communications grad reports from Poland-Ukraine border

A Baldwin Wallace University graduate has been on the ground at the Ukraine-Poland border, reporting from one of the epicenters of the humanitarian effort to help the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have fled the country during the Russian invasion.

Keith Kocinski '11, who studied broadcasting, mass communications and public relations at BW, is a reporter for News 12 New Jersey.

His most recent assignment has taken him to a refugee center in Przemysl, Poland, where he called the situation "heartbreaking," but interviewed people from New Jersey who are in the region to help.

Reporting on global stories

Kocinski has been working at outlets in and around New York City for almost a decade, including the New York-based Channel One News, where he was not only a reporter but hosted a daily show broadcast to over 5 million middle and high school students across the country.

This is not the first time the Parma Heights, Ohio, native has traveled the globe for an important story.

As Kocinski's broadcast newsreel demonstrates, he's journeyed to destinations far and wide, where he would often report, produce, videotape, write and edit his stories.

"I'm what you call a media utility player," Kocinski writes. "I can play every role on a broadcasting team and have a lot of experience doing it. I've worked from nearly every continent (minus Antarctica), documenting some of the most significant stories of our generation like Climate Change in the Arctic, Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Pollution in the Ganges River, and 10th Anniversary of the Boxing Day Tsunami in Indonesia."

He has also taped high-profile interviews with such well-known figures as the Dalai Lama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry, who now serves as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, and film director James Cameron.

Valuable Internships and experiential learning

As a BW student, Kocinski was active in campus media, both at Buzz TV and WBWC-FM 88.3 "The Sting" radio, and he led a team that produced a 50th Anniversary retrospective on WBWC.

He also notched a number of internships and job experiences off campus, serving as a summer intern at CBS News, a sports intern at Newschannel 5 in Cleveland, and as an associate producer and reporter for Parma Area Community Television (PACT TV).

He also found time to get involved in BW's Circle K service club.

After graduation, Kocinski spent two years reporting for an NBC affiliate in Wyoming before heading to the New York area. BW faculty say Kocinski always takes time to visit with BW students when they travel to New York City for the annual student broadcast conferences.