In 2023, Matt Shearer had been nominated for a Boston/New England Emmy Award, a recognition typically not given to radio reporters. It was so foreign to him, that he did not even know he needed to buy a ticket to the show.
“We’ve never been nominated for an Emmy before,” Shearer said. “We” refers to WBZ NewsRadio in Boston.
“We had no idea that you had to buy tickets to get into the event,” he added. “So I turned it into a thing where I went out and stood outside the venue holding up a sign that said I was nominated, (saying) I need tickets.”
And when Shearer says he turned it into a “thing,” that is the very reason he was at the Emmys in the first place. He is best known as “Reporter Matt” on TikTok and Instagram, where he has created video versions of his reporting for social media. That has gained him millions of views, likes, and followers across the platforms.
Shearer found a way to attend the Emmys without buying a ticket.
“Amazingly, the absolute saints at Rhode Island PBS came over to me and said, ‘We have an empty seat at our table. Do you want to come in?’” Shearer said. “I said, ‘Yes.’ And I ended up making great friends with the people there, and they all won awards.”
This was all captured in Shearer’s video from the night, including Rhode Island PBS’ Chief Content Officer Jan Boyd inviting him to join the group for the night.
Fast forward nine months and it’s a cold and windy day in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Shearer is walking around town trying to find anyone willing to talk to him. Meanwhile, we have a full camera crew following along to document his process, and what makes his stories so appealing.
The easy answer is that it’s Reporter Matt. He is very likable, funny and has a gift for making people want to talk to him. It’s a skill most journalists spend decades refining. Shearer has figured it out in his mid-30s.
“I’ll see somebody on the street and just become instantly fascinated and want to understand who they are, what their story is, and I love that I’m in a job right now where I get to get those answers,” he said.
But underneath Shearer’s personality is a very meticulous and precise design to his work. He makes it look easy, but Matt is operating on multiple levels while he is out being goofy and making connections with people. If you have seen his videos, he is always carrying around a backpack and wearing headphones.
This is not just a costume he wears to be easily recognized. Shearer is recording audio nonstop while filming his stories. He has headphones on so he can monitor audio while staying present and in the moment. On top of all this, Shearer is filming on his iPhone, cataloging both interviews and random moments like trash rolling down the street or a squirrel climbing on top of a stop sign.
“I want not just authentic people and authentic answers and quotes, but authentic moments too,” Shearer said. “When you actually show up to a place and something happens that you didn’t expect, you’re taking the viewer or the listener along with you into that moment, and that’s fun to be along for the ride with somebody.”
In Attleboro, we followed along as Matt roamed the streets asking strangers what they liked about living there. Then he went into a tattoo parlor, and then a hot dog diner. After spending the entire day in Attleboro, Shearer drove to Foxborough to surprise Steve, someone he met that day, with hot dogs while he was working at Stop & Shop. An authentic moment, indeed.
“I always find myself coming out of doing this, having made friends, I’ll come away with this and I’ll keep in touch with the people that I interview, and that’s something that I know a lot of journalists try to stay away from,” Shearer said. “They don’t want to have a friendship with somebody that they’re doing an interview on because it makes them, I don’t know, no longer impartial in the story.
“But I don’t know, man. I feel like building a connection, that’s what gets people to open up to you and give you the best answers.”
