Award-Winning Fox News Anchor to Speak at Media Day

Paul Milliken, Fox 5 news anchor, is coming to UWG for Media Day on March 6, 2019. Milliken will be one of the many media panelists in the Media Day event, offering information to students about the state of the industry and what his career has been like.  

Milliken’s first job began in Idaho Falls after college. He then moved back to Orlando, FL., his hometown, to become a morning reporter.  In 2002, he received the Radio Television Digital News Association Award and the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award, which he was awarded with again the following year. In 2008, Milliken received the Muscular Dystrophy Association Broadcast Journalism Award. 

“When it comes to my career, I have a genuine interest in other people and a genuine interest in what they’re interested in,” says Milliken. “I like meeting people and knowing what makes people tick. I think that goes for every kind of story, not just features but day to day news. You have to be able to relate to people.” 

This ability to relate to others was the catalyst that got the ball rolling on Milliken’s career. Milliken left Orlando to move to Richmond, VA., where he became a meteorologist and received certifications with the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association. In 2010, he won an Emmy Award for Best Weather Anchor and Best Weathercast Award from the Virginia Associated Press. After four years in Richmond, he moved to Atlanta, where he received a position at the Fox 5 News Station.  

“Getting here to Atlanta, in this job, the key to my career has been versatility. For young people, it’s important that you are multi-faceted and you can work on many different platforms,” says Milliken. “That’s a big reason I got hired here. I’ve produced, worked the teleprompter, [broadcasted on] the weather, etc. Do every single possible job. It will prepare you for the job you want to do.” 

What made this willingness to be versatile come so easy to Milliken was his passion for journalism. It was a childhood aspiration, and it runs through his veins.  

“As a child, I used to get up and watch the news. There’s a lot of people [who influenced me], but if I had to choose, I’d say my grandfather loved journalism,” Milliken says. “He lived for journalism. He loved that I was going into that path I think about that a lot in my work.” 

Though he had a strong love for journalism through the years, being in the business did provide some challenges.  

“When I started in TV, there was no social media. The first thing I did in the morning was check the fax machine for press releases, but now I can tweet about it,” Milliken says. “The challenge is evolving and keeping up with technology.” 

With the experiences Milliken has had, both good and bad, he believed that they all shaped him to be the journalist that he is today. He wants to share this with the youth in order to give more life to the young journalists coming after him. 

“Technology is giving us opportunities we’ve never had before. I think this is an exciting time to be a journalist.”