WESH TV INTERN DUTIES AND QUALIFICATIONS
WESH TV seeks students who want to learn and participate in gathering, preparing and delivering local television news in Central Florida. Our program is designed to be a “hands on” experience, with on the job training. Each student will be assigned an immediate supervisor to oversee their work. Our goal is to have students participating in our news organization, to help them shape their career choices as well as assist our professional staff in delivering the best, most visual and informative newscasts in Central Florida.
To achieve this goal ALL interns should:
-arrive on time, ready to work according to their schedules.
-be genuinely interested in and participate in the work of the news room
-be prepared to ask questions.
-be observant and volunteer to assist and not always wait to be asked to help.
-be aggressive, not passive in helping and participating.
-be knowledgeable and comfortable working on computers especially with Microsoft Word.
-be flexible and willing to work under tight deadlines and sometimes stressful conditions.
-be able to speak clearly and communicate well with staff and the general public.
-be prepared to work a minimum of two days a week or 16 hours at WESH.
-be approved for college credit.
Priority will be given to Juniors and Seniors majoring in Broadcast Journalism for internships but all students are welcome to apply and will be considered. All students will be encouraged to spend additional time practicing their writing and story-telling skills and working on resume tapes if appropriate to their studies. . WESH reporters, photographers, producers and management welcome the opportunity to critique student’s tapes and scripts. We will consider accepting students from other related fields of study including: communications, criminal justice, public health care, government , politics, education. These students are encouraged to apply.
REPORTER INTERNS:
-will work with our Education, Consumer, Medical/Health, Political, Court Beat and Sports reporters on a day shift Monday through Friday. Sports interns will also be assigned to weekend shifts. Reporter Intern positions are available in our Daytona Beach, Ocala and Cape Canaveral offices.
Students should:
-definitely have an interest in their assigned beat and or willingness to learn about that beat.
-be prepared to make beat calls, check e-mails, go on line to research stories
-read daily newspapers concentrating on stories in their assigned beat
-be inquisitive and able to courteously converse over the phone with the general public
-have basic writing skills
-be computer literate working with Microsoft Word
Education Interns will:
-be under the direct supervision of Education Reporter Kathy Marsh on day shifts Monday-Friday.
-make beat calls as assigned by the reporter.
-go on line to research information for stories.
-learn to check out meeting agendas for important stories in the 9 county coverage area.
-learn how to log tapes, pull file tapes.
-learn how to compose stories in the news room and in the field.
-help log tapes for reporters noting best sound bites and assist in story construction.
PAGE 2
Education Interns will:
-accompany reporter/photographer from time to time in the field to assist and observe.
-have to provide their own transportation to get to LIVE shots as there is limited seating in trucks.
Medical/Health Interns will:
-work day shifts Monday through Friday with Medical Producer Ed Rose and Reporter, Dr. Todd Husty.
This internship will help students work on their reporting and story telling skills.
-make beat calls as assigned by the reporter/producer including 9 county health depts.and area hospitals.
-go on line to research information for health and medical stories.
-learn how to log tapes, pull file tapes.
-learn how to compose stories in the news room and in the field.
-help log tapes for reporters noting best sound bites and assist in story construction.
-accompany reporter/photographers from time to time in the field to assist and observe.
-have to provide their own transportation to get to LIVE shots as there is limited sating in trucks.
Consumer Interns will:
-work dayshifts Monday through Friday and will be under the supervision of Special Projects Director Travis Sherwin and Consumer Reporter Michelle Meredith. This is one of the more challenging internships at NewsChannel2 as it requires someone with communication skills in dealing with the public, offering advice to consumer complaints and gathering information from government and business leaders. This internship will help students develop their reporting and story telling skills. Interns for this position should be considering television reporting as a career, should be inquisitive and innovative in looking for solutions to problems. Students studying communications and pre-law will also be considered.
-review voice mail messages from consumers.
-assist in directing consumers to appropriate agencies and possible solutions to their problems and complaints.
-be involved in story construction.
-be heavily involved in researching consumer stories.
-accompany the reporter/photographer on stories from time to time. but will have to provide their own transportation to live shots.
Court Interns will:
-learn how to find out information in the court system and communicate that to the reporter and the Assignment Desk. This internship will help students develop their reporting and storytelling skills.
-will track high profile criminal cases in our 9 county area making phone checks.
-will routinely go to Orange and Seminole County Courthouses to check out civil cases.
-learn how to log tapes, pull file tapes.
-learn how to compose stories in the news room and in the field.
-help log tapes for reporters noting best sound bites and assist in story construction.
-accompany reporter/photographers from time to time in the field to assist and observe.
-have to provide their own transportation to get to LIVE shots as there is limited seating in trucks.
ASSIGNMENT DESK INTERNS
-will work a day shift Mon-Fri assisting the Assignment Manager and Editors at the desk. The Assignment desk is the control point in the news room, monitoring stories, dispatching crews and communicating with producers, reporters and photographers. This internship will teach interns about the news room organization , how to gather information from various sources and how to communicate that information to others.
-will learn proper phone etiquette, interviewing techniques.
-should be prepared to handle multiple tasks at one time...such as simultaneous phone calls .
-will check e-mails and fax machines and input information into the desk planner.
-will make beat calls and learn how to gather information for breaking news stories.
-will learn to be proficient in directing calls to the staff throughout the newsroom.
-will learn how to page and notify crews in the field.
-will learn to assist the desk in setting up future stories.
-will monitor competition’s newscasts for content.
-will on occasion accompany reporters/photographers to observe and assist. They may need to provide their own transportation if the news crew is in a LIVE truck.
PAGE 3
PRODUCER INTERNS:
-will work with newscast producers and production assistants (PA) before, during and after each newscast. This internship is designed to give students a first hand look at organizing a newscast, planning coverage of stories within the newscast, learning how to write and showcase stories and putting the newscast on the air. This internship is Sunday-Saturday with two shifts: the AM shift is from 4am to 1pm and the PM shift is from 2:30pm to 11:30pm. Interns will be assigned to work with and be supervised by a PA and Executive Producer Carrie Ferenac.
-will prepare scripts for anchors.
-will run and/or assist in running the teleprompter during newscasts.
-will take information from reporters over the phone and learn to put that information into the producer’s rundown.
-will gather information, make beat calls, answer phones.
-will search for file video in the archive computer and library
-will order graphics and maps for the producer.
-will be exposed to writing and producing skills of our producers.
-will from time to time accompany crews into the field.
-will be encouraged to attend planning meetings when possible.
SPECIAL PROJECTS INTERNS:
-will work Monday-Friday day shifts assisting Director Travis Sherwin on investigative stories, web and public files searching for information. The interns in this position should be prepared to work outside normal business hours occasionally. This internship will help candidates develop reporting and story telling skills.
-will log and edit video tape.
-with nonlinear computerized editing experience are preferred but not required.
-should be majoring in Journalism, Political Science, Pre-Law, Communications or a related field.
WEB SITE INTERNS:
-will work Monday-Friday day shifts assisting the web master by rewriting stories and inputting them onto the NewsChannel2 web site, WESH.COM.
-will learn how to write a story for online publication.
-will use AP style for online stories.
-will use online content management system.
-will learn to produce pictures for online publication.
-will learn how to create streaming videos for web.
-will develop a basic news judgement for story publication.
-should have developed good writing, spelling and punctuation skills for this internship and should have passed a college level news writing course.
-will work under the direct supervision of Jeff Cousins, Managing Editor of WESH.COM. His direct line: (407) 691-7703.
SALES/MARKETING INTERNS:
-will work in four areas: Sales, Special Projects, Traffic Dept. and Research. This is a dayside Monday-Friday internship.
-in Sales will post contracts by pulling household ratings by invoice for specific clients; pull pre-logs and post-logs for clients; assist in over all department operation such as answering phones, faxing, copying, filling dub requests, creating competitive reports, filing, mailing and learning about overnight ratings.
-in Special Projects will work with the director assisting with multi media projects and presentations from conception to implementation using Power Point and other software.
-in Traffic will assist in clearing orders and placing them in the logs.
-in Research will assist in developing reports as needed and producing information for sales presentations.
-will be under the supervision of General Sales Mgr. Joe Chaplinski and Sales Office Mgr. Olga Faubel. Phone number: (407) 539-7403 or (407) 644-2222.
PAGE 4
GRAPHIC ART INTERNS:
-will be assigned to work in the Art Dept using state of the art computer programs to create graphics for newscasts and other programs. This is a 2 or 3 day internship and may involve a night shift and weekends.
-will be trained on 200 tutorial pages of software called Liberty Paint and Animation Program.
-will work on Macintosh Systems running the following programs: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, QuarkExpress and Adobe Streamline. Familiarity with some of these programs would be beneficial.
-will have hands on experience generating graphics such as Over the Shoulder, Live 2 Boxes and 3 Boxes, Full Screens, Mugs, Monitor Graphics, Maps, Camera and Pinnacle system.
-at the end of their internship should be able to create their own graphics package for their portfolio.
-should be prepared to display 3 projects from their portfolio.
-will be under the supervision of Lia Lim, WESH Art Director. Phone: (407) 654-2222.
PROMOTIONS INTERNS:
-will work along side professionals involved in promoting WESH newscasts, talent and specific stories. This internship is a dayshift Monday through Friday.
-will learn to write for TV promotion.
-will learn to edit and create spots.
-will maintain PR database.
-will be involved in some clerical work such as copying and filing.
-will research for producers using ENPS, the news dept. computer system, locating video b-roll, checking facts and background information.
-will attend from time to time morning or afternoon news department planning meetings.
-should be proficient in Microsoft Office software such as MS Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint
-should expect to help handle or grip lighting and production equipment.
-may occasionally go into the field for promotional shoots.
ENGINEERING INTERNS:
-will learn the “technical” side of broadcasting and will assist a staff of professional engineers involving analog, digital and high definition video signals; computer, robotic, newsgathering, telephonic, intercom, audio and IFB systems. This internship is 3 days a week and may include some weekend hours.
-should have an electronic or mechanical aptitude.
-possess basic computer skills.
-be familiar with Microsoft Excel and Word, drawing programs of AutoCAD or TurboCad.
-be willing to stay with a project until it is completed.
-be able to lift 25 pounds and climb ladders.
-will be under the supervision of Assistant Chief Engineer Brian Darragh. Phone # (407) 539-7825 or
E-mail address: .
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER/EDITOR INTERNS:
-will work with WESH’s photojournalists and editors in assisting on Live shots and shooting stories on day shifts Monday through Friday.
-will shoot portions of stories if the WESH photographer feels they are ready.
-will learn how to operate a microwave truck.
-will learn editing skills on both linear and non linear equipment On non linear systems intern will learn how to load in all the video (sound bites, track, nat sound and b-roll) and then work with the photographer to edit a longer form package.
-will assist in consolidating video onto one tape for archiving purposes.
-will under supervision of a photographer set up and shoot live shots in the station.
-will learn to edit re-tracked packages that air on a regular basis such as Consumer Reports.
-who have exceptional skills and experience could qualify to assist newscast editors editing voiceovers and teases using linear equipment.
PAGE 5
PROGRAMMING INTERNS:
-will work under the supervision of Programming Manager Lenora Boutte on days shifts Monday through Friday.
-will plot prorams on daily grids.
-will distribute station programming to listing services.
-will assist with filing of Federal Communication Commision reports.
-will assist the manager with public relations activities for non-profit organizations.
(08/22/04)