At the beginning of the semester,
the idea of learning the operations of a news station overwhelmed and
intimidated me. Over the course of the semester, I learned how to: set up a
newsroom, video record a live sporting event, write broadcast readers, anchor a
news show, write a sports show script, produce a news show, operate a
teleprompter, edit video, and conduct interviews for news packages. Although I
learned the basics of all of these practices, I became an expert at writing
readers, interviewing for packages and producing a news show.
Throughout the semester I wrote
many broadcast readers for the news show. I learned how to write readers in
broadcast writing, but I became an expert during my time in practicum. During
Broadcast Writing I struggled mightily with transitioning from story to story.
Rachel Belli taught me how to better transition my readers to link multiple
stories together. I specialized in national sports stories, but I was able to
adapt and research to information on local stories. I learned that conciseness
is key when writing broadcast stories, and that the inverted pyramid template
from media writing is more of a diamond structure in Broadcast Writing.
I used to think the interviewing
process was a simple question and answer seminar. After learning about packages
in Broadcast Writing and shadowing my Practicum mentors, I learned of the
complexity of the interviewing process. Before Practicum, I was unaware of the
miscellaneous dos and don’ts of the interviewing process. I never realized that
the interviewing process involved selective environmental placement and
required items such as sunglasses to be removed from one’s face. Tony D’Angelo
provided an interesting outlook on the interviewing process, and told me it was
best to add your own personal twist to the interviewing package. The biggest thing
Tony taught me was about environmental awareness. I learned that if you are
able to interview someone in a place with a background similar to the package
topic that you should do so. Tony also enjoys asking participants odd questions
in order to elicit interesting responses. I acknowledge some of his tactics to
be unusual and not advocated, as he often chooses to wear sunglasses during
filming and film his stand-ups sitting down. Although many of his procedures
are highly unadvisable, his ability to put his personality into his work must
be recognized and commended.
The final thing I became an expert
in was producing a new show. Throughout the semester, I examined how Rachel
Belli interacted with other Practicum students and almost single-handedly
produced the news show. I learned about the importance of getting news show
readers in on time, and the importance of linking topics so the news show
maintains fluidity. In Broadcast Writing I had to produce my own news show, and
found the experience to be unbelievably stressful. If anything else, I learned
that I am not suited to produce a news show.
Although the experienced Broadcast
students in Practicum intimidated me at first, I was able to learn all the basics
of a news operation. The ability to find my niche and become an anchor on “Mocs
Take” greatly improved my confidence and comfort level in practicum. All in
all, I was glad to experience the newsroom atmosphere of Practicum and learn
the ins and outs of a news show.
