1
Waldsmith
Joanna Waldsmith
Dr. Flynn
Comm 420
23 August 2011
WTAE Summer Internship
Reporting live, Joanna Waldsmith, Channel Four Action News. This entire summer I interned at WTAE in the news department. They rely on their advertisers and viewers to continue to operate. WTAE, Channel 4 Action News, is one out of four new stations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There are many different areas of this corporation to make sure it continues to be able to run thoroughly. Every half an hour WTAE are loud to play local advertisements and promote their station with cliffhangers to keep viewers to stay tuned. WTAE operate and guided off their vision statement:
To be the market leader in community service, news & sales on WTAE-TV & all our digital media. We will achieve our vision by: setting standards of excellence, constantly improving, building relationships, fostering teamwork, trust and respect. Through the passionate exercise of these core values, we will be the choice of the viewer.
I saw this vision being carryout throughout my internship, which was very rewarding.
The newsroom is where the assignment deck and producers choose leading stories for the day, organize the time slots, and keep in constant communication with the community and anchor/reporters to see what is going on in the area. They assignment desk has to weave through the hotline calls, the police scanners, and constantly watch the other competing stations stories through the web and television to make sure they have the latest/favorable story on air.
During my internship there were no set obligations. My internship was based on how much time and effort you wanted to put into it. Being that the news station operates twenty-four seven, seven days a week, we were allowed chose when we want to work. We were allowed to come over our required hours to continue to expand out learning. The opportunities were there and in front of your face. My internship was limitless and it was up to up me to expand as far as I desired with the resources around me.
I typically would start off my day answering the phone helping the assignment desk weed out the calls and obtaining key information that can be passed on to the producers. The head of the assignment desk would try to send us out a reporter or photographer, but it was our responsibly to build relationships and ask to go out or would to lost in the hustle and bustle of the busy work day. When I got to go out with a reporter or photographer I tried to observe and listen. This allowed them to teach me what they have learned throughout their years working in the news industry. They way news is obtained is changing drastically. Soon it’s going to depend on the reporter to write, drive, film, edit, and do all the interviews. It’s important to know how to do everything in the news industry
My internship was very educational and an extreme eye opener. I have worked on several movie sets and the production of the news was very different. Even though both are put on television the news is less glitz and glam. Anchors are filmed in the station with cameras operated by a remote control from a different location. Reporters are placed in the grit and grime with live photographers. No matter what the story, boundaries, or weather condition reporters are expected to get the story. It is up to the reporter to maintain a clean, crisp, profession look for the air. For example, during a house fire we had to walk up hill a mile and during filming we had to stand next the flaming building with thick smoke surrounding us. Everyone but us was wearing fire resistant gear and helmets. Even though reporting can be dangerous I thought it was adventurous. Everyday reporters are faced with a new story/stories to investigate and are constantly on the edge of their seat not knowing what will come up next.
Rege Bobonis, on-site supervisor, was very approachable, down to earth and kind. I liked how I always knew I had someone to go to if anything bothered me or came up that I needed to talk to. The only downfall during my internship he was not the on really running the interns. He basically only told me to fill the paper trays. The workers at the assignment desk were the ones who sent us out, guided us and taught us how the newsroom operates. I believe they were the ones who should have graded the interns, because they are the ones who see us develop the most. When Rege Bobonis was grading he questioned what he should put under the comment section, because he did not want to leave it blank. I ended up telling him where I thought I struggled in my internship.
Starting my internship I already had experience in being in front of the camera, but I did not feel fully prepared for my internship. My video production taught me linear video editing, which was not what WTE used at the start of my internship. At the beginning of my internship WTAE were still using tapes, which made it hard to make a package of my own. They transitioned to linear when my internship was almost done. The transition was to stressful on their employees for me to barrow the equipment to make my own package. Video production prepared me with basic vocabulary, which helped me understand what the photographer and reporters were talking about; for example, b-roll, v/o, and sound bite.
I believe I would have been more prepared for my internship if I took more writing classes like journalism, news writing, video production II, or broadcasting. I had basic knowledge going into my internship, but I feel like if I had more experience in news writing, editing, and developing packages my internship would have been beneficial, but I do believe my internship was more beneficial than sitting in a classroom. It is unfortunate that Slippery Rock University does not have broadcasting and news writing classes available every semester and when they do there is an over bearing desire to get into these classes. This would make you more marketable in the job market.
Choosing to become a reporter shouldn’t be about becoming famous or the salary. I was shocked to hear that Ashlie Hardway started off making $18,000 in Texas and had to report live out of a van without air conditioning. I was told reporters start off making just enough that they can’t receive food stamps. Becoming a reporter you must work up the totem pole. You do not get the highest pay or the best hours.
Stories are not just handed to reporters. They are sometimes based off the their connections from firefighters and police. Reporters must uphold great connections and network their selves. Police officers and firefighters are constantly working around/with the news. Keeping good connections sometimes allows reporters to get closer the scenes.
On the others hand, sometime reporters are not handed interviews. They must start out on the streets where the story began and hope that neighbors will come out of their homes and talk. Reporters have to be comfortable knocking on doors and invading people personal information to get to the real story. Reporters must be ready all the time to drop what they have been working on and go to another at a blink of an eye. It can be dangerous. Reporters do not just report on animal savings and community events, but they have to deal with shootings, deaths, accidents, fires and many other devastating events. A reporter can not let things get to them emotionally or internally, because they must continue to move on and do their jobs.
Reporters are only allowed to announce the factual information the police station gives to them in a press release. Anything else an officer may tell a reporter is off the record. This makes it difficult to report a completely honest story to their viewers until permitted other wise.
One thing I thought to be interesting is that WTAE using two different trucks when reporting live. A microwave truck operates off tower and relies on a dish to find a signal. The disadvantage of this truck is that reporters can not go live while using this truck if around trees or telephone/ cable wires, because it will snag off the satellite that is has to be raised high in the air. A satellite truck allows reporters to go in a wider range of locations. This truck receives a signal 22,500 miles up to an outer space satellite. This allows the reporter and photographer to go live while sending the live feed over mountaintops.
The photographers helped me the most throughout my experience with WTAE. Photographers are asked to go out to film and interview minor stories without reporters. Reporters get caught up with writing scripts, interviewing and keeping constant communication with producers in a tight time crunch they aren’t really able to help out interns. I was able to record several stand ups. Stand ups are just like public speaking. You must look/face/walk towards the camera, do not chew gum, speak slowly, annunciate your words, fluctuate your voice to excite the listeners, and never convict someone always use references. Writing a stand up is like writing a story in 3 to 5 sentences. You should include who, what, where and when. I learned writing down my stand ups allowed me to memorize or critic them easier. Here are some example of stand ups I did:
About 24hours ago people were leaving The Wave Pool is fear today they are returning optimistic, but aware.
Right behind me at the Alleghany County Court House is where Richard Poplawski is on trial for the murder of three Pittsburgh police officers responding to a domestic disturbance call at his house in 2009.
I’m done killing innocent police officers. Is what Richard Poplawski said on tape just played to the jury at his murder trial at the Alleghany County Court House.
I really enjoyed seeing how many ways I could twist the information into a different stand ups. It was very rewarding doing stand ups after investigating and doing all the interviews on your own. It was as if it was your story.
I was asked to investigate a potential story before reporter or anchor got put on the story. Producer, Paige Harrison asked me to call local vets to see if there has been an increase in lime disease and/or ticks due to the high concentration of snow and moisture this year, because in Massachusetts it had increased drastically. Harrison said I was very thorough and the story was passed on to one of the most well known anchors, Sally Wiggin. I was then asked to go out with Wiggins while she interviewed doctors, nurses, technicians, and one nurse who had lime disease. It was really motivating to see my investigation turn into primetime story.
I really enjoyed my internship at WTAE. Everyone was very helpful and kind. I really felt like I was apart of the team. This internship really opened my eyes on how a news station operates. You can always see things on television and say you want do or be like that person, but this internship allowed me to get a first hand experience of what this job really entail. From what I observed and witnessed there are definitely positive and negative attributes to this profession. I really like how everyday there is a new story to investigate and you are always on the edge of your seat. I couldn’t image myself doing the same thing every single day of my life. I would get bored. The negative aspect of this job is the salary, but I believe with the right education and experience you make your own future. This opened my eyes of more to what of what I don’t want to do rather than what I specifically want to do. I know I don’t want to do retail, work in a cubical, and do the same thing every day. I’ve learned that I love to work with the media, events, and film industry where things are constantly changing. I’m not set on one dominant profession and I will let that guide me to my career out of college.
Work Cited
WTAE.COM. 2001. Hearst Television Inc. 25 August 2011<http://www.easybib.com/reference/guide/mla/website>