Starting next month, there will more first-hand coverage on the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. NBC Southern California newscasts of stories from Long Beach, Torrance, Inglewood, Palos Verdes, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. That’s when Hetty Chang (pictured) starts as the station’s South Bay multimedia reporter.

Chang is a vivid reminder of just how valuable and beneficial it can be for media aspirants of all experience levels to get their foot in the targeted door, through internships or other means. In her case, she was, back in 2011, the first digital media fellow sent to NBC4 under a pilot program with the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). From today’s announcement:

“We are thrilled to welcome back Hetty to NBC4,” said Todd Mokhtari, vice president of new for NBC4 Southern California. “We know from experience that she is a smart and assertive journalist with an impeccable work ethic. She will be a tremendous asset to our newscasts and will significantly increase the amount of news coverage out of the South Bay.”

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KNBC has hired TV journo Hetty Chang to become its first Digital Media Fellow, under a new program launched in conjunction with the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). As part of her duties, Chang will be reporting for NBC.com, as well as learning how to handle the station’s Twitter and Facebook feeds. Chang is an LA native, but most recently worked as a reporter for KSNV-TV in Las Vegas.

The timing of the new hire couldn’t be better for KNBC, which has been heavily criticized for a lack of diversity in the wake of the demotions of several Latino anchors. Chang’s hire will likely do little to satisfy the complaints of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists–who recently wrote an open letter to the station to complain that, in a city that’s 48 percent Latino, KNBC doesn’t have a single Latino anchor. That said, the move at least shows the station is attempting to diversify.